My earliest recollection of Todd Pruitt was when I stumbled across “The Mortification of Spin,” a podcast hosted by The Allegiance of Confessing Evangelicals. The title was a takeoff on Puritan John Owen’s book, The Mortification of Sin. I am unsure of when the podcast started, but I believe I started listening in 2011.
The podcast was hosted by Aimee Byrd, Todd Pruitt, and Carl Trueman. The three together were a great combination. Trueman, an OPC pastor in Philadelphia and a professor at Westminster Seminary was brilliant with a great sense of humor. Pruitt was a pastor at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Harrisonburg, VA. He was a graduate of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and was originally in the SBC prior to his views changing, which led him to become a pastor in the PCA. Pruitt seemed like a “meat and potatoes” kind of guy, he was well-versed in the Scriptures yet didn’t take himself too seriously. Byrd possessed a “down to earth” sensibility, a keen mind, and also had a great sense of humor.
I was impressed with this statement made by Carl Trueman at his first (and last) appearance on the stage of Together For the Gospel at their 2012 conference. He spoke out strongly against the Celebrity Christian culture and was heartily applauded by the T4G audience. Not surprisingly, his speech had little impact as the next T4G conference had the same old celebrities on the stage. (With the notable exception of C.J. Mahaney who withdrew because of the sexual abuse scandal he was embroiled in.)
In 2020 Aimee Byrd had the book below published:
The Pharisees in the OPC, specifically a group of men within the “Geneva Commons Group” were enraged by Byrd’s book and a nasty firestorm of comments ensued. The end result was Aimee Byrd was removed from the Mortification of Spin team by The Alliance for Confessing Evangelicals Board. To my knowledge, neither Carl Trueman nor Todd Pruitt spoke a word in defense of Aimee Byrd. My respect for Trueman and Pruitt was greatly deflated. Were I one of the team I would have resigned in protest. I listened to a few of the podcasts after Byrd was off the team, but in my opinion, the podcast wasn’t the same without her presence.
Update: Lowlandseer, a reader of this blog, forwarded the text of an article written by Todd Pruitt on March 11, 2022. In the article, Pruitt retracted his endorsement of Aimee Byrd’s book “Recovering From Biblical Manhood & Womanhood.” Below is a screenshot of the article which was saved to The Wayback Machine.
I surmise that Pruitt was pressured by those he most admired – the elite members of the Gospel Reformation Network – to make this retraction. To not do so would likely result in Pruitt being out of the inner circle of PCA fundies.
I did some checking on The Wayback Machine to determine when Pruitt became a member of the Gospel Reformation Network General Council. It’s probably not a coincidence that six months after his retraction of the endorsement of Aimee Byrd’s book he was listed as a member of the General Council.
From looking at the documents in The Wayback Machine there was no General Council on the 19th of August capture. On the 22nd of September capture the General Council showed up and Pruitt was a member.
Below is a note authored by Robert Brady, a man I assume to be a member of The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals Board of Directors. Knowing how things operate in the world of Christian organizations I would guess the bottom line for the removal of Aimee Byrd was The Alliance’s concern for their financial bottom line.
Up until yesterday, I hadn’t listened to The Mortification of Spin in three years. The last I heard, Todd Pruitt had closed his Twitter account. The clip below was recorded from a MOS podcast on 7-29-2020.
Did you hear what Pruitt said?
“There may not be any more corrosive piece of technology, or facet of technology than social media today. I’m deeply happy that I got off of Twitter. The bottom line was it was so polluting my soul and my heart and turning me into a horse’s rear-end that I had to get off of Twitter.”
As you also heard in the recording, this was the second time Pruitt was getting off Twitter, but this time was going to be permanent because he deleted his account! Yet I was made aware of these two Tweets by Pruitt this past Saturday:
Pruitt started his new Twitter account in October 2022. Kudos to him for staying off the corrosive, soul and heart-polluting Twitter for two years. Unfortunately, like a crack addict who is powerless to kick his ruinous habit, Pruitt just couldn’t shed the grip of social media, even though it’s turning him into a horse’s ass!
Back to the two Tweets above. Pruitt seems to have lost his courage when it came to supporting Aimee Byrd three years ago (if he ever possessed any) and he doesn’t seem to have found it yet. He published two cryptic tweets, leaving us to guess what he is talking about. How did he come up with the 25 years when he stated “I am not who I was 25 years ago?” Is that time period significant?
Yes, I believe it is.
In Dee’s post this past Friday, Elisha Boggs stated to Jon Payne: “I give you back the memories seared in my mind – my nightmares for 25 years.” Coupled with the other Tweet about “scandal mongers vandalizing the church,” I believe Pruitt’s Tweets are in response to Dee’s latest blog post.
Based on this blog post of Pruitt’s, it is a safe bet that Pruitt is friends with his fellow PCA pastor and Executive Director of GRN, Jon Payne. He “bravely” sticks up for his friend, because, unlike Aimee Byrd, it will likely cost him little and, in fact, will likely enhance his standing among his PCA pals. Of course, not naming The Wartburg Watch allows him some plausible deniability that he was Tweeting about Dee’s post.
Update: My thanks to Jerome, one of our readers, for informing me that Todd Pruitt is a General Council Member of the Gospel Reformation Network. 2023-07-04
Todd Pruitt has been granted a seat at the table with the elite of the Gospel Reformation Network.
Quote from Pruitt’s blog referencing his friends on the GRN council:
I know for a fact that members of the GRN counsel are in regular conversation with brothers on the more progressive end of the PCA in order to promote understanding and ensure they do not misrepresent their brothers. I appreciate this about them.
In case you are wondering, I have no formal relationship with the GRN though I count several of their council members as good friends. I do not write content for them. I do not advise them. I do not contribute financially to them (though, I’m considering it). What I am, is deeply appreciative of the GRN.
Here is a partial screenshot of Pruitt’s blog containing the quote above.
Here is a partial list of the men who comprise the Gospel Reformation Council. You will notice that the good old Rev. Dr. Ligon Duncan III is a member. You can bet he will be defending Jon Payne, just as he defended C.J. Mahaney and Sovereign Grace Ministries in their sexual abuse scandal and the Rev. Dr. Derek W.H. Thomas in his plagiarizing scandal. That is, after all, apparently what principled men do!
Most humans intend to use their power for good. They want to earn more money, grow the church, protect good programs, or preserve a good reputation. Adam and Eve told themselves they were pursuing a greater likeness to God. They seemed blind to the fact that they were pursuing a seemingly good goal through utterly ungodly means. We do the same thing. We tell ourselves that measures such as membership growth and financial gain in a ministry are proof of likeness to God. We then make decisions that silence unwelcome truths about fraud or abuse and tell ourselves the cover-up “preserves God’s honor.” We say we are using our power to seek likeness to God when in fact what we are doing looks nothing like him. It is not difficult to be seduced into such thinking.
…We often trust others in positions of authority because we assume that those with knowledge, intellect, and skill must be trustworthy. But that is not always the case.
“Redeeming Power – Understanding Authority and Abuse in the Church,” Diane Langberg, pgs 62, 66.
Back to analyzing Pruitt’s Tweets – he seems to think that because the alleged crimes happened twenty-five years ago and Payne is a changed man, posting about Elisha Bogg’s sexual abuse at the hands of Payne now is nothing more than scandal-mongering gossip! It should all just be water under the bridge.
But not so fast. How do Pruitt or Payne’s elders know there haven’t been more incidents? More to the point – if the alleged crimes should have disqualified Payne from the role of pastor 25 years ago, they should disqualify him today.
It may be helpful to point out that supporters of Ravi Zacharias, Johnny Hunt, Tulian Tchividjian, Brian Houston and Bill Hybels (among others) stood solidly behind their celebrity pastors. They just knew they were great men that would never do the things they were charged with.
To prove my point, I quote from the New York Times, speaking about the scandal involving Pastor Bill Hybels:
“The lead pastor and the entire board of elders resigned on Wednesday night from Willow Creek Community Church, one of the nation’s most influential evangelical congregations, saying that they had made a mistake by failing to believe the women who accused the Rev. Bill Hybels, the church’s founding pastor, of sexual harassment.
“To all the women who have come forward,” said Missy Rasmussen, one of nine elders, speaking to the hushed congregants, “we are sorry that we added to your pain.”
“We have no reason to not believe any of you. We are sorry that our initial statements were so insensitive, defensive and reflexively protective of Bill,” she said, while some in the church’s cavernous auditorium, in South Barrington, Ill., wept openly. “We exhort Bill to acknowledge his sin and publicly apologize.”
Would Todd Pruitt also have been advocating for the release of convicted murderer, Karla Fay Tucker?
After she was sentenced to death she became a born-again Christian. Her life in the 15 years since the murder demonstrated that she was a changed person. Pat Robertson went to Tucker’s defense, claiming much the same of what Pruitt seems to be claiming about Payne.
If Payne has seriously repented he is, without a doubt, forgiven by God. But that doesn’t mean that he is free of the consequences of his actions.
Pruitt is a hard man to figure out. He seemingly defends his friend Payne, yet he spoke beautifully on behalf of victims of sexual abuse in Sovereign Grace Ministries. Here, in part is what he said:
“Pastors, we must be vigilant in these matters. The impulse to protect our reputation or that of our church must never be considered when abuse is revealed. We have an obligation to the vulnerable. We also have an obligation to the civil authorities.”
Is it possible that Pruitt’s double standard is a conscience decision to speak in defense of survivors of sexual abuse unless the abuser is his pal?
Or perhaps Pruitt isn’t a logical thinker. For example, in the screenshots below you will see that Pruitt was evidently opposed to pardoning college loans for individuals, yet his church received a government PPP loan to the tune of $229K. The “loan” that many evangelical churches and para-church organizations took advantage of was forgiven in about 99% of the cases. Pruitt’s church had their loan forgiven. Does he not see the inconsistency in this?
Just as sin has corrupted the will of man, so it has blinded the intellect of man. As we will see… the mind is in great need of God’s work of renewal, as is the whole heart. We need a prophet who can show us what we need to know, SO that our knowing will truly become better and better.
“With All Your Heart – Orienting Your Mind, Desires, and Will toward Christ,” A. Craig Troxel, pg 47
Pruitt in 2019: “In case you are wondering, I have no formal relationship with the GRN though I count several of their council members as good friends. I do not write content for them. I do not advise them. I do not contribute financially to them”
Pruitt has since been added to The Council. Scroll down on Gospel Reformation Network’s website:
https://gospelreformation.net/council/
and there he is
“Rev. Todd Pruitt
Covenant Presbyterian Church
Harrisonburg, Virginia”
Pruitt was welcomed onto the Council by Jon Payne last year.
Jon Payne: “The GRN Council will add approximately 15-20 new members…At the GRN Fall Gathering on Saturday, September 17th, I will announce the new GRN Council Members…a delicious catered lunch will be served for all who register and attend”.
https://gospelreformation.net/gospel-reformation-network-fall-gathering/
Also on The Council of this ‘Gospel Reformation Network’ faction of PCA elders:
David Strain, Senior Minister of First Presbyterian Church of Jackson, MS
[welcomed abuser David Sills, former SBTS professor, into church membership] See previous post:
https://thewartburgwatch.com/2023/05/24/david-sills-claims-he-repented-and-is-obedient-to-the-rules-of-the-sbc-but-he-and-mary-are-still-shunned-they-are-expanding-their-lawsuit/
Pruitt has since been added to The Council. Scroll down on Gospel Reformation Network’s website:
https://gospelreformation.net/council/
and there he is
============
Great find, Jerome. Todd Pruitt’s tweets were obviously defending his friend, Jon Payne.
Todd Wilhelm,
You sure work fast! Looks like someone deserves a hot toddy! Thank you for this post. I learned some things I didn’t know. Todd Pruitt” Defender of the Indefensible.”
Jerome,
As always, than you, Jerome.
Ahhh, the Inner Ring … where council members promote, cover and protect each other through thick and thin … until the mud becomes too thick to travel through … until the potato becomes too hot to handle. And all of this done in the name of religion, the most shameful Inner Ring of all.
Max,
Yup… sigh….
If Mr. Pruitt had chosen to remain a Twitter non-participant, he might have taken the time to say to himself, “Maybe I can wait a while and see what other information emerges before I make any public statements about this matter.” He could even have sent a supportive email to his friend Mr. Payne if he wanted to, and if he believed Mr. Payne wouldn’t make it public.
Quotes from Todd’s post: (Thank you, Todd. Excellent post; great research. Well done.)
“Pruitt is a hard man to figure out. He seemingly defends his friend Payne, yet he spoke beautifully on behalf of victims of sexual abuse in Sovereign Grace Ministries.”
“Is it possible that Pruitt’s double standard is a conscience decision to speak in defense of survivors of sexual abuse unless the abuser is his pal?”
– His speaking in defense of survivors was in response to Rachael Denhollander & Dr. Larry Nassar. Denhollander’s case had nothing to do with the church. She’s the poster person for churchmen trying to sound woke to the abuse of women and children – not her fault. She’s a celebrity herself – also not her fault. Elisha is no celebrity and her abuser is now a pastor, a churchbro. Pruitt and RevDoc are churchbros, circling the wagons.
“Or perhaps Pruitt isn’t a logical thinker. For example, in the screenshots below you will see that Pruitt was evidently opposed to pardoning college loans for individuals, yet his church received a government PPP loan to the tune of $229K. The ‘loan’ that many evangelical churches and para-church organizations took advantage of was forgiven in about 99% of the cases. Pruitt’s church had their loan forgiven. Does he not see the inconsistency in this?”
No, he doesn’t, obviously. Major disconnect. Fortunately, the internet (that Pruitt hates) and social media via Todd’s research (Pruitt also hates SM), connect the dots. Oh, Gee Whiz, social media is at it again, connecting the dots of another social media and blog hating hypocrite preacher.
He also doesn’t see the inconsistency of pastors with their pulpits broadcasting anything they please as the only voice allowed in their room VERSUS the internet where others like the average Joe have the opportunity to share without the religious network gatekeepers (that keep pastors in power as the only voice in their highly controlled rooms/churches) shutting them down and out.
Preachers that hate social media wish to remain the only voice in the room. They can do that, in their room. The printing press was God’s gift to the Reformation, and has been giving ever since, with Bibles printed everywhere. The internet is God’s gift to the Body of Christ today, to share their gifts, and perhaps at times, to set the record straight about what is really going on: Pastor Planes, Hybels’ yacht activities, Falwells’ wife and pool sagas, and yes TWW’s posts about untoward pastor activities on the Dark Side that pastors prefers to hide and lie about, etc. Thank you, God.
Regarding Social Media: We participate in Traci Rhoades’ Read the Whole Bible Chronologically in a Year Together Facebook page with 1,000s of others. We are in the end of Proverbs. Rhoades posted a link to a Rachel Held Evans’ post about Proverbs 31, the virtuous woman:
https://rachelheldevans.com/blog/3-things-you-might-not-know-about-proverbs-31
Reading this, with the recent TWW RevDoc post in mind, it’s obvious that Elisha was being the virtuous woman but that’s NOT what the RevDoc had in mind with her. The post reads:
1. “The [Proverbs 31] author is essentially showing us what wisdom looks like in action.’ RevDoc was in NO WAY wisely seeking a woman of wisdom in action. He was leading Elisha down a very unwise path.
2. “The ‘Target Audience’ of Proverbs 31 is Men” – directing men to seek a virtuous woman as a lifelong partner. The RevDoc was NOT looking for a virtuous woman as a lifelong partner. He was seeking an object, an unsuspecting and obedient female robot, to attack with his appendage, to work his appendage for his sexual blitz whenever he wanted, even in all the wrong completely inappropriate circumstances – bringing his actions to the criminal level.
3. “Proverbs 31 celebrates valor.” In her testimony, Elisha is seeking to be a woman of valor. RevDoc is not. He is seeking the title, public image, and privileges of valor but he is living a life of crime in how he treated Elisha. Her hands were not for the Lord’s work but for working his appendage, as he forced this on her.
Thank you, God, for the internet and for those in the Body of Christ who bypass the hypocritical religious gatekeepers/fee collectors. Body-of-Christ-members share their gifts (free from the Holy Spirit and free on the internet) via Social Media.
In Jesus’ day, the religious elite hated Jesus’ miracles that He performed without the permission or profit of the religious elite. In the end, the religious elite hated Jesus so much that they executed Jesus, the Son of God. Are we there yet?
Ava Aaronson,
Thanks, Ava. I really appreciate your comments on all the articles.
Todd Wilhelm,
Welcome. Mutual.
I had such a similar reaction to Aimee Byrd’s removal from “Mortification”. Pruitt and Trueman, to my knowledge, never talked about her again on the podcast. I couldn’t stomach it and stopped listening. At least say SOMETHING about it. Pruitt and Trueman acted like her good friends and suddenly, “Poof!” she vanishes without a trace. I lost a lot of respect for those guys. And Aimee got absolutely crushed into the ground by Geneva Commons and the OPC. What a mess.
Paul K,
“I couldn’t stomach it and stopped listening.”
Same.
Aimee challenged the patriarchal lie about “biblical” manhood and womanhood, revealing Scriptural support for a female believer’s equal participation with men in the Kingdom of God on earth in the here and now. The NeoCals had no option but to silence her to protect the “beauty of complementarity” … which is an ugly mess for sure.
Ditto.
In a Holocaust doc, a Jewish family from a village in Poland said that their family was shocked when the village turned their back on them when Hitler’s army showed up.
“We thought they were our friends but they did and said nothing when we were banished.”
Telling.
Ava Aaronson,
Makes sense, in a way….. Shorthand: The secular world must do as we say, but not as we do.
~~~gettin’ kinda typical nowadays~~~
Ava Aaronson,
The same thing happened in Latvia and other Eastern European countries. Not everyone, though. Some people helped their neighbors, at the risk of their own lives.
Meanwhile, what would have happened to Trueman and Pruitt if they’d publicly stood up for Aimee Byrd? A few sneers? Not being on a panel or a board with a bunch of hypocrites?
Max,
Aimee’s book is a complementarian book! That’s the crazy part. She was arguing for equal access to discipleship for women as for men – not equal access to leadership. At least that is my reading of it. That book is so good – everyone should read it.
A bold voice … I have a feeling she’s not done speaking into the comp mess when the PTCD wears off (Post-Traumatic Church Disorder). The New Calvinist dudebros need to be concerned … she may be getting ready to set the captives free. A good writer who paints a good picture with her words.
They would have been exiled from the Inner Ring.
Max,
They would have lost their status – demoted to the same level as women.
They (Trueman and Pruitt) are cowards, plain and simple.
If they let T4G fizzle out for show (it sounds rather Y2K), there are all those other middle and outer circles within circles they can bundle onto. How much “reforming” does Reform need? Reformed is sometimes the name for soggy meat in packets. (Says he, about to join a superior kind of “reformed” church 😉 )
Ava Aaronson,
???
Prov 21: 10-31 is about the Kingdom of God – same as Jesus’ parables – the servants who don’t ration the rations of their fellow servants (orphans and widows). And to treasure all the gifts as rare.
Why is everybody denying belief in the meanings of Holy Scripture?
A person hasn’t got teaching authority because they wheedled their way into some position or so-called “perceived” position somewhere. Come to your senses everybody – whether you are “allowed” or not!
Trueman’s social critique like Carson’s is very distorted because he doesn’t acknowledge the role of the dominionists in pulling the world down. (Unfortunately he still has an entree among some of the presbyterians. We should pray continually for all the churches and about the organisations wrongfully controlling them.)
Complementarianism = gift vetoing
Complementarianism = dominionism
Both High Blasphemy according to Holy Spirit inspired and imparted meanings of Holy Scripture
This is what I mean by seniors not staying in lane. Ordinary wouldbe believers – boys and men – do not be content for a wedge to be driven between you and your sisters – you are meant to stand together – male AND female He created THEM as joint category. On false grounds. The not so True Man is not genuine. DOn’t be a sheep that listens to him.
Boys and men – YOU AND YOUR SISTERS have soul competency – YOURS is the priesthood so be Believers and not defined by these liars who have no priesthood.
In my day it was the young that rebelled against Stott’s prayerless high handedness, it only went wrong because some of our elders (Stott party) pretended to go with us.
Boys got verbally sexually shamed by the hangers on of the Ryle / Winnington-Ingram party, that’s why boys are obedient to Pilavachi and Pruitt.
Even Wartburgers normalise the way we were spoken to sexually – but I don’t.
Nancy2(aka Kevlar),
Look what big guns in the world now damn feminism outright.
The goons use some genuine non-binary people I know as human shields. DO NOT BE DECEIVED.
Falwell Senior, whom most of you were speaking well of till the other week, and his non-protestant equivalents have pulled the world down.
Stop manoeuvring (material dialectic) and pray !!!
ps 137 last verse, the “little ones” of babylon (high handed ones, the theology of Nimrod) = dwellers in quangoes and parachurches within parachurches – what is the metaphorical meaning of the theatrical-sounding “being dashed against a rock”?
The heart of the core meaning is that we are to pray that they will as diverse individuals have enough of a jolt meeting with inherent spiritual stability, to come to their senses and not call themselves the little ones of Nimrod any more.
We should pray that those who trouble the faith of our girls and boys, themselves come round genuinely unless they are sufficiently determined not to. Is this not throughout Scriptures? This is why eye rolling hand wringing finger wagging &c which they “hope” to provoke us into is a too feeble “manoeuvre”, but advocating for boys and girls jointly by calling out the wrongs against them, as well as praying is good. Against all the boys and all the girls from my and your generation AND before. Not just against this woman or that woman. Those of you that called out the high handed barring of girls and women from all discipleship have got it right (because that means the boys as well – as they already meant towards me in my day).
Anathema = purely and simply cease listening to their teachings. Not nasty at all. Words allude. When allusions intersect we can get meanings. Reality is intersectional, like all of us. Be God’s meaning where you are. God’s meaning – pray (disobey those eminent religious luminaries who told us to generally stop praying, deprive them of the power they seized over you).
The manipulative dominionists themselves try to establish literalism in Bible reading, because literalism undermines truth.
Note the prayer of Daniel 9: 3-21. Who dares repent by proxy for their forebears and betters?
Types, celebrated in sacred and secular history alike, reflect the ultimately fragile grip of this kind of “churches within churches”. To become fragile but far from non existent now. Those elements may appear to come round a little bit every now and again.
“ Almost two years ago, on an episode of Mortification of Spin, I offered a verbal endorsement of the book Recovering from Biblical Manhood and Womanhood by my friend and cohost Aimee Byrd. Many people were understandably confused by my positive, critique-free words of commendation. Since then I have been asked more times than I can calculate why I chose to endorse a book which, for many, contains significant points of concern for those who hold to the biblical pattern of male headship as I do. The questions are entirely justified.
The question I get most often these days is, “Do you regret endorsing Recovering from Biblical Manhood and Womanhood?” In order to avoid any confusion, I will respond directly without any nuance – Yes, I regret it.
My conscience demands that I offer this retraction publicly, since my error was public. I know that some will be quick to respond in anger toward me. I accept that. It won’t be anything new. Others will be frustrated that I have not gone far enough, that I must publish an attack on Aimee Byrd herself. That is something I will not do.
Insofar as my early, positive assessment caused confusion and vexation among my brothers and sisters, I am sorry. I should have been forthright with my reservations and questions. Instead, I chose a way which I thought initially was kind but truthfully served no one well. For that I am sorry.”
(Todd Pruitt, Reformation 21, 11 March 2022)
Egad, what could be worse!?
It’s interesting that Mr. Pruitt’s comments from March 2022, supplied by Lowlandseer above, don’t mention anything incorrect in Aimee Byrd’s book, but only the reaction from others to his original, positive assessment. To wit: “a book which, for many, contains significant points of concern’ and “caused confusion and vexation among my brothers and sisters …”.
It creates the impression that he has no center. If he had real points to make, wouldn’t he have said something like, “On further reflection, I found that I think [this point and that point] are wrong.”?
At least he won’t have to retract his support of his good buddy Mr. Payne, because it was so vague that he can easily deny it had anything to do with the specific situation.
2020, Todd Pruitt and Carl Trueman gabbing with their friend Jon Payne, Executive Coordinator of the ‘Gospel Reformation Network’ faction of PCA elders:
https://mortificationofspin.podbean.com/e/semper-reformanda-gospel-reformation-network/
at 4m15s, Payne: “[chuckle] Always good to be with my friends [chuckle].”
10m50s Gospel Reformation Network is “a kind of 9Marks for the PCA”
13m55s, Payne on GRN’s ‘Vision & Distinctives’: “Fifthly, godly leadership…to, uh, encourage piety in the pastorate”.
Jerome,
Gospel Reformation Network reminds me of Institutional Revolutionary Party: sort of an oxymoron. Why does the Gospel need to be Reformed?
Paul K,
You have got it exactly right. But even more than that, when you look for common threads among the GC community, you find Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary (GPTS). Priutt and Trueman actually went to GPTS in March of 2022, Trueman speaking at their conference, and from there Todd Pruitt writing his devastating blog post “Mea Culpa” (Reformation 21, March 11, 2022).
The new reformers are not out and about to reform the gospel … they are on a mission to reform you with another gospel which is not ‘the’ Gospel at all.
Do you reckon Mr. Pruitt will get around to regretting the endorsement of his dudebro Jon Payne?
Too bad he didn’t know that during his youth pastor days.
Imagine Judgment Day, when all the diaper changers and toilet cleaners and carpet shampooers and coffee urn scrubbers are called up FIRST for rewards, and receive the highest ones available for church service.
Imagine the shock on the faces of the theodudebros.
I can only imagine. (Might be a song in there somewhere.)
As we in the USA celebrate freedom, let’s really celebrate our freedom in Christ and honor the cost He paid to win it for us!
Happy 4th! May not be around much for a few weeks, as I have upcoming eye surgery.
“But many who are first in this world will be last in the world to come; and the last, first.” (Matthew 19:30 AMP)
“Many will say to Me on that day when I judge them, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, and driven out demons in Your name, and done many miracles in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them publicly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who acted wickedly disregarding My commands’.” (Matthew 7:22-23 AMP)
And Happy 4th to you, Linda!
I prayed for you just now … that you will have a full and quick recovery from your surgery.
Thank you for your spiritual insight on TWW posts. Seeing spiritually appears to be on the decline in the American church.
Lowlandseer,
I just read Pruitt’s original blogpost thinking he would go into greater depth in his critique of RFBMAW. I was very surprised to see what you posted here IS almost the entire post. When I read it, I see no reason given for a retraction except…
“Since then I have been asked more times than I can calculate why I chose to endorse a book which, for many, contains significant points of concern for those who hold to the biblical pattern of male headship as I do.”
So, the endorsement is retracted because “many” people disagree with the book’s take on male headship? Pruitt doesn’t even mention what HE thinks.
It’s been a while since I read RFBMAW, but it seemed thoroughly on the side of exclusive male leadership and authority. What it was trying to do was show how Piper and Grudem’s “complementarianism” made women, made in the image of God, second-class disciples by limiting their education and access to the same resources as men.
There were no second-class disciples in the New Testament … any believer – regardless of race, class or gender – could drink freely from the water of life … as it should be today. Any church leader who “preaches to men” (to quote Matt Chandler) are second-class preachers in the Kingdom of God on earth in the here and now. Women as derivatives of men, and not truly in the image of God, is an ungodly doctrine. The NeoCals even tried to make Jesus a second-class deity with their Eternal Subordination of the Son doctrine! This sort of stinkin’ thinkin’ borders on heresy.
God bless you!
We appreciate your comments.
Improve on Jesus? Hubris on steroids.
Ava Aaronson,
Maybe that’s not what they intended to convey, but it’s what the words say: a network that exists to reform the Gospel.
Who need a gospel of Christ when you have The Gospel of CALVIN?
CALVIN who alone Has God All Figured Out?
But then who does Biblical Manhood have who they can be better than?
(Like a Fifties trailer-trash Ku Kluxer whose Whiteness is all they have to “make them better than”.)
Channeling Charles Taze Russel (founder of the JWs), are they?
Who (like Screwtape’s Our Father Below) will in Righteous Anger turn and walk out of His presence — “HOW DARE HE???????”
Because Christ couldn’t get it right and now we have Calvin and the Dudebros who CAN?
You mean Castrated by their former BFF Bros?
Or “Made a Woman out of Him” like in a prison shower?
Just like German Jews found out about their goyisha lifelong friends and neighbors on Kristallnacht.
No matter what, they were still Filthy Juden.
Headless Unicorn Guy,
That seems to be the concept.
Thank you for this information, Lowlandseer.
I will update the blog post to include this. I surmise that Pruitt was pressured to make this retraction to remain in the good graces of those whom he admired – the elite men in the Gospel Reformation Network. Six months after he made the retraction he was rewarded with a spot on the General Council of the GRN. Coincidence? I think not.
How Aimee Byrd was treated makes me think of the following quote by the 19th century Austrian writer Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach:
“An intelligent woman has millions of born enemies: all the stupid men.”
Perfect. Well-stated.
Note to fellas: Don’t be THAT GUY.
I love that quote!
Gus,
Men of the OPC and other “Reformed” churches didn’t, to my knowledge, explain why Aimee Byrd was in error about anything theological. They just said, “She’s a woman.”
In a similar way, I’ve read many comments that Beth Moore is a “false teacher,” but I’ve never seen a specific theological point of error mentioned.
As a Roman Catholic, I obviously would find points where standard Protestant teaching on the Sacraments, for example, differs from what my church teaches. However, that doesn’t explain the beef various Baptist or Presbyterian men have with Ms. Moore or Ms. Byrd.
‘Cuz you’re one of the good guys, Todd. You get it.
Appreciate your work, Dude.
CynthiaW.,
John Paul VI, 1965’s NOSTRA AETATE:
“5. We cannot truly call on God, the Father of all, if we refuse to treat in a brotherly way any man, created as he is in the image of God. Man’s relation to God the Father and his relation to men his brothers are so linked together that Scripture says: ‘He who does not love does not know God’ (1 John 4:8).
“No foundation therefore remains for any theory or practice that leads to discrimination between man and man or people and people, so far as their human dignity and the rights flowing from it are concerned.”
(Assuming “man” is generic, as on person.)
Ava Aaronson,
Paul VI, not John Paul VI, there have been only 2 Popes John Paul. That said, he was right, of course. We have to treat every man as a brother, every woman as a sister, and that’s it.
CynthiaW.,
Thx for the correction.
NeoCal women are supposed to sit down and shut up, submit to patriarchy without question, and stay within the roles assigned to them by men. Aimee was essentially shunned and excommunicated from NeoCal ranks by silencing her voice when she cast doubt on some of their teachings. They used her as a token woman when she was supportive of every jot and tittle of NeoCal belief and practice, but ditched her when she strayed outside the boundaries. She may always be “Recovering from Biblical Manhood and Womanhood” – suffering with Post-Traumatic Church Disorder (PTCD), like so many of the Wartburgers. I’ve been to NeoCal churches where you can see the oppression on the countenance of young women. The beauty of complementarity is an ugly thing. This madness needs to end!
Pay to play. The Council rejoiced … Jesus wept.
It’s amazing how many of those stupid men are in NeoCal ranks, thinking they are intelligent.
Gus,
““An intelligent woman has millions of born enemies: all the stupid men.””
+++++++++++++++++++++
indeed.
how apropos.
Used then ditched.
Standard practice for narcissists.
How to get all the religious narcissists in one room? Style a denom for them, complete with theology to back up their practices: degrade women, permit only one booming voice in the room, hide finances, hate the round table of social media, promote celebrities, shun empathy, control the narrative, provide cover for predators, despise experts in their fields, etc.
This is beginning to sound like despots … if the shoe fits.
They couldn’t explain, because they have nothing beyond a sneaking suspicion that she may be
a) right
b) more intelligent than them.
And they can’t have that.
Mind you, given the general intellectual level of the discourse at genevancommon, being more intelligent than the mob thre is not that hard. It generally barely wet your toes – at least what I know about from the screenshots¹, but there is very little reason to suppose that the rest would be much better.
Aymee Byrd on the other hand: intelligent, well-argued, thoughtful, graceful – thank you for that!
—
¹That’s why they were so miffed about the publication of the screenshots – the screenshots exposed the whole extent of their spiritual and intellectual bankruptcy.
CynthiaW.,
“However, that doesn’t explain the beef various Baptist or Presbyterian men have with Ms. Moore or Ms. Byrd.”
++++++++++++++
hysterical rather than critical thinking.
i dunno, seems to me christian men who cite female stereotypes as ‘reasons’ match the stereotype themselves.
those who act on the impulse to merely parrot what other christian men are saying are like my pink squishy Drowsy doll i had when i was a toddler — pull the string and she repeats programmed sounds.
so silly.
Max,
The OPC is a very small group which, as I understand it, found the PCA to be not sufficiently “leader”-dominated. You’d think they wouldn’t want to drive out members of their own church.
Let’s face it, these guys hate women.
They’re jealous of their primal power.
Max,
The “pseudo- intellectuals” in evangelical and fundamentalist world are almost “comical”…. And I am speaking from the perspective of an academic in a “secular humanist” world…. But, parading around as a “intellectual theologian” is nothing to laugh at, unfortunately…
Gus,
And considering how small the OPC is, there was probably a substantial percentage of their clergy displaying their wisdom and grace at Genevan Commons. An excellent advertisement for the denomination.
No idea how the Presbyterians keep it all straight. And these are only the brands in the USA. Various countries have more. Sorry, I really don’t get it.
“The nation’s largest Presbyterian denomination, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) – PC (USA) – can trace its heritage back to the original PCUSA, as can the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC), the Bible Presbyterian Church (BPC), the Cumberland Presbyterian Church (CPC), the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC), and the Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians (ECO).
“Other Presbyterian bodies in the United States include the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA), the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (ARP), the Reformed Presbyterian Church in the United States (RPCUS), the Reformed Presbyterian Church General Assembly, the Reformed Presbyterian Church – Hanover Presbytery, the Covenant Presbyterian Church, the Presbyterian Reformed Church, the Westminster Presbyterian Church in the United States, the Korean American Presbyterian Church, and the Free Presbyterian Church of North America.” – wikipedia
So many brands under the banner of Presbyterian.
Apparently, once Calvin improved on Jesus, with his “Reformed” brand, many since then are improving on the next guy. Or, so they claim.
Too bad the end results of today’s churches don’t seem much improved.
Ava Aaronson,
It’s not an issue unique to Presbyterians, though. There are many denominations each under the Baptists, the Lutherans, the Methodists, etc. denominations as well. Even many different Catholic groups and Orthdox Groups under each of those banners. The whole thing is tragic, no matter how one slices it.
I’m pretty sure this is a tongue in cheek question. However.
It is merely a label. I am sure you know this. Reformed is a name for those who hold pretty much to the Calvinistic and Presbyterian belief systems (Although there are ‘Reformed” denominations like ‘Dutch Reformed’). In my opinion, it is meant to sound like it is the only faith that came out of the Reformation, but we all know that is not true. Protestantism, in my opinion, is so sectarian and institutionalized that it is really, really hard to separate real, biblical, Christ centered Christianity from that which is practiced and carried out in the Denominations.
I was in Campus ministry for years and one of the most common questions among students was “Why are there different denominations, if they all claim their system and theology comes from the Bible?” There is no easy, blog type of answer to that other than, “We are fallen creatures, and when we develop a system that we think is right, in our pride, we will defend it, even if it is shown wrong.”
People in many systems think theirs is the only one. Independent Baptist surely do. And most “reformed” types do as well, both NeoCal (as you call them) and traditional Reformed.
Bob M,
Thx for your straightforward explanation to the obvious (students-are-right) questions regarding all the We-Have-THE-Code sects.
Surely there’s more to it, but this is a great start.
I originally thought “Reformed” meant simply “Protestant” and wondered why it was being emphasized. Then I realized it was an in-group signifier, although I’m still not certain what – other than identifying with the term – distinguishes that in-group.
Ava Aaronson,
I’ve heard of most of those, but not the Bible Presbyterian Church. I have to wonder if they believe other Presbyterian sub-groups aren’t familiar with the Bible …
Generally, not always, it is people who hold to the Westminster Confession of Faith, a decidedly Calvinistic and Presbyterian document.
Bible Presbyterians came out of Westminster Seminary in 1937, Carl McIntyre leading. Very right wing politically.
Good point.
Personally, coming from ground zero re: all these sects, no clue.
“The earliest known creed in Christianity, ‘Jesus is Lord’, originated in the writings of Paul the Apostle…
“One of the most widely used Christian creed is the Nicene Creed, first formulated in AD 325 at the First Council of Nicaea…
“A shorter version of the creed, called the Apostles’ Creed, is nowadays the most used version in Christian services.
“Some Christian denominations do not use any creeds.” Non-creedal.
“Many Christian denominations did not try to be too exhaustive in their confessions of faith and thus allow different opinions on some secondary topics. In addition, some churches are open to revising their confession of faith when necessary.
“The Westminster Confession of Faith in 1647 was the work of the Westminster Assembly of Divines and has commended itself to the Presbyterian Churches of all English-speaking peoples, and also in other languages.”
-wikipedia: “Creed” similar to the longer version, Confession of Faith
More on the Westminster Confession of Faith of 1647:
“The confession is a systematic exposition of Calvinist theology (which neo-orthodox scholars refer to as ‘scholastic Calvinism’), influenced by Puritan and covenant theology…
“It states that the Pope is the Antichrist, which was a very common belief in seventeenth-century England. It also stated that the Catholic mass is a form of idolatry, that the civil magistrates have divine authority to punish heresy, and rules out marriage with non-Christians…”
“The confession teaches that under the gospel, the covenant of grace is dispensed more fully through the preaching of the Bible and the administration of the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper…”
-wikipedia: “The Westminster Confession”
That last quote from The Westminster Confession, about grace coming through preaching, sheds light on the pastor-centric, pulpit-centric phenomenon that seems to trip up some churches.
“On Jan. 5, Anthony Bradley, professor of religious studies and director of the Center for the Study of Human Flourishing at The King’s College in New York, tweeted: ‘The main cause of the vitriol against Du Mez et al is that the TGC, SBC, DG, 9 Marks, Acts 29, Calvinist etc. world never saw itself as a sociological object of critique. There is now an entire academic world focused on their failures & Reformed men are losing their minds.’”
From a post on Baptist News Network.
Sorry these guys have to lose their minds when they find out the women have theirs – intelligent minds, that is.
Sorry, not sorry.
IMO, a demon (vs. denom) has already been styled for them … some of the activity within NeoCal ranks can only be described as demonic.
Pruitt got his start in Southern Baptist waters (as an MBTS grad). A lot of the theological window dressing changed with the PCA, but unfortunately he didn’t have to change his bully pulpiteering and Complementarianism at all.
The progressive sanctification tweet might be the biggest theological truth he got right…while at the same time dropping an ‘own goal’ in the process. For indeed, we give thanks that the Lord has worked on Todd for the past 25 years. But if this is the work in progress after 25 years, what was he like 25 years ago!?!? Eeeks
Yes, it does. “Preaching the Bible” is also wording that I’ve always found odd. Doesn’t the New Testament say that the Gospel is what is preached? “The Bible” (or “the Scriptures”) is a book with a lot of different stuff in it. How does “preaching the Bible” work?
Of course not.
All the others are HEATHENS and HERETICS, WE are the Only True Church.
(Just like the COGs, the JWs, the Moonies, Calvary Chapel…)
Headless Unicorn Guy,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible_Presbyterian_Church
It has a total membership of about 3,500. “The Church of Me and You and I’m not too sure about you.”
CynthiaW.,
Paul speaks of preaching the word in 2 Tim. 4:2. He talks about proclaiming to the Ephesian elders the whole counsel of God in Acts 20. Preaching the Word/Bible at its best just means proclaiming all of the Scriptures in light of the person and work of Christ.
Paul proclaimed “Woe is unto me, if I preach not the Gospel!” (1 Corinthians 9:16)
Paul would be shocked to know that certain corners of Christendom think more highly of him than they do of Jesus! They preach from his epistles and largely ignore the Gospels. They make disciples of Paul, not Christ. It’s another gospel which is not ‘the’ Gospel at all.
“When one of you says, ‘I am a disciple of Paul … are you not proving yourselves unchanged, just ordinary people? … Who is Paul? Just a servant through whom you believed in Christ” (1 Corinthians 3 AMP).
The Gospel is good news and the Good News is this “God so loved the world, that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Jesus should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
“There must have been some magic in that old top hat they found;
“For when they put it on his head, he began to dance around…”
Reading the Bible with prayer daily, can be a good discipline for disciples of Jesus.
Studying the Bible among scholars is also valuable.
But you are right, there’s something off about the incessant pulpit preaching of the Bible by the same one guy voice in the room Sunday after Sunday to the crowd that just sits there and takes it in as if every Sunday were Pentecost and each Sunday everyone’s soul needs to be born again and saved one more time. It’s tradition, mostly. And control.
The tradition is so misguided, it turns into a course for financial success, or how to win friends and influence people, or the power of positive thinking, or the latest pastor capital campaign, or just entertainment. Cults have this down to a science, to get your money.
The Gospel is never for sale and the Body of Christ is not a business.
Love God – that’s relationship.
Love your neighbor as yourself, more relationships.
The Body of Christ is all about healthy relationships.
IMHO, many churches qualify for banner.
Why? The leader seeks to control his following.
And that leader certainly doesn’t want his following studying the Bible in prayer for themselves everyday.
Hence the sacrament of preacher guy preaching the Bible from the pulpit week after week, for his purpose of running his church as his personal lucrative business, building his brand and dynasty.
No disciple of Jesus built a brand with a dynasty. Jesus was the brand. And there were no dynasties built in the early church. No brick and mortar. Not even one brick. Jesus said to worship God in Spirit and truth.
Truth is missing from churches today. And the Holy Spirit? His gifts are being sold, which means the pastoring and teaching are not gifts from the Holy Spirit.
A greater truth was never told! When Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14), He meant it! Yet, much of the 21st century church does not approach their brand of religion with that in mind. It’s all about the man in the pulpit, his theology, and celebrity idols who promote their brand. Finding a church where “they that worship Him, worship Him in spirit and in truth” (John 4) is like looking for a needle in a haystack, a rare and endangered species, a treasure buried in a field. The American church has lots to offer in celebrity and entertainment, but little to offer in spirit and truth. Come Lord Jesus!
As a layman I think it is fair to say that the “reformers” highly prized the Bible as the Word of God for their foundation, like the apostles, and also held in high esteem the creeds of the early church and that made them confessional in their outlook. Thus they would “preach the Bible” not instead of the Gospel but because it was the Gospel. Paul sometimes gets a lot of adverse comment as if what he taught and wrote was somehow different from the Gospel but that’s not accurate either because he was appointed by Christ to do exactly what he did. That’s why he could warn the Galatians that anyone who “preaches any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”
As for the Reformation itself and all its complexities, it’s helpful to read Richard A Muller’s many works on the subject. For example, in his introduction to “Calvin and the Reformed Tradition: On the Work of Christ and the Order of Salvation” he writes – “ The teachings of no single theologian, not even one as important as Calvin, can account for the development of the Reformed tradition, not even in his own time, much less over the course of nearly two centuries. Nor does analysis of such debates as those with Rome, or with the Lutherans, or over the teachings of Arminius give an adequate picture of the development, given the large number of debates that did not rise to the confessional level and the even larger number of doctrinal points that were developed with some diversity of formulation but did not become the subjects of significant debate.[ 2] And, of course, neither the Reformation in general nor the Reformed tradition in particular arose ex nihilo: there was not only a broad late medieval background of the Reformation; within that broad religious and theological culture of the later Middle Ages, there were also diverse currents that carried over into the Reformation and into post-Reformation Protestantism, the reception of which varied from theologian to theologian. Recent studies of this development have begun to emphasize its complexity and variety, setting aside the over-simplified narratives of much of the earlier scholarship. The Reformation itself, once described as an almost hermetically sealed theological box, is now understood in the context of broader cultural patterns extending back into the Middle Ages and forward into the early modern era. Individual Protestant theologians are now understood not as creators of an entirely new and radically biblical theology but as fairly conservative Reformers whose immediate theological roots are to be found in the theological milieu of the later Middle Ages and whose positive sources included the greater part of the older tradition of the church. Beyond this, a larger portion of the scholarly community has recognized that individual Reformers like Luther, Melanchthon, Zwingli, Bullinger, and Calvin cannot rightly be understood as creators of unique theologies abstracted from the thought of their teachers and immediate predecessors or from the theological formulations of their contemporaries. The importance of this approach to the complexity and variety of Protestant theological development is particularly evident in the specific case of the Reformed tradition, often identified as “Calvinism.” Given that a significant number of Reformers contributed to the development of this tradition in the generation prior to Calvin, including several who either individually or in accord with others produced the first layer of Reformed confessional documents, and given that Calvin’s own theology developed both out of this prior context and in dialogue with other Reformers of his own generation, the rise of Reformed theology, indeed, the formation of a specifically Reformed tradition cannot be adequately analyzed or properly understood if individual thinkers are abstracted from this broader religious and theological context. The theological formulations of the individual writers, in other words, cannot be rightly understood either in isolation or in one-to-one comparisons.”
CynthiaW.,
You’re not supposed to be asking those kinds of questions.
Lowlandseer,
Nobody cares about old dead bearded sages anymore, trust me, they don’t.
Hard to believe given the way folk get so animated here. I find what they say quite refreshing most of the time. Lol
I’m not sure I understand what you are trying to say, overall?
Hebrews 10 says we should not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. That, the Fundamentalists get right. They meet a lot.
BUT, it also says “but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” One Another. Not one guy “exhorting” (old King James translation, interpreted as preaching), or encouraging everyone. How did we get to this place where one person does all the talking?
The picture is of each person speaking to each other, and interacting in ways that strengthen each other by grace, in a gathered group. Not on the internet.
I’ve often thought that passages implies that the Body of Christ is to “assemble” itself with all the spiritual gifts in operation … each believer having a part (the 18 gifts often listed by Ava Aaronson) … without distinction of race, class or gender … all members assembled together as Christ intended for His Church, not ‘our’ church. Lord knows we’ve made a mess of things by not operating according to the Biblical model for doing church. We’ve become pastor-centric rather than Christocentric; thus, we’ve forsaken the divine plan which the writer of Hebrews warned us against.
Bob M,
“How did we get to this place where one person does all the talking?”
+++++++++++++++++++
-it creates jobs
-monetized ministry
-lack of imagination
-lack of critical thinking
-church as service industry (like insurance brokers, investment manager, mow and blow lawn care, dentist, chiropractor) — someone to manage our faith for ‘us’
not me, though.
i’ve taken it back. it’s mine (or course it it – our faith belongs to us), to live out according to my own integrity, minus shiploads of nonsense.
Bob M,
First, I was trying to figure out What is Presbyterianism. Turns out there are MANY variations.
Then the Westminster Confession of Faith, which was quite shocking in what it said about the Pope and mass.
Finally, I looked at Creeds & Confessions since we do say the Nicene Creed during mass, so it’s very odd, IMHO, that the Westminster Confession was so anti-Catholic.
In other words, we should be able to agree on our faith, basically. But it seems we don’t, unfortunately.
That would be wonderful. I pray for all 18 gifts to be present in the church life of our family.
Ava Aaronson,
“In the last days, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions … And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Joel 2)
Just to extend the discussion, not take issue with anyone’s points. The Westminster Confession of Faith of 1646 was produced at a time of of civil war in England, which had substantial religious overtones. (I’ll defer to our UK commenters to talk about Charles I, Cromwell, and so on.)
Meanwhile I have an edition of the King James Bible printed in the 1950s, which includes anti-Catholic material in an old preface, mentioning “Popish persons.” The KJV was intended, in part, to put an English-language Bible into the hands of English-speaking readers, so that they did not have to hear Scripture in Latin and rely on the (Catholic) church to provide and interpret content. Today we prize the act of reading the Bible at home, but that was rooted in rebellion against the authority of the Pope.
I am sure that some of our Catholic commenters have run across anti-Catholic bigotry—plain old bigotry, nothing to do with abusive priests—that they might choose to share.
And I thank the Great Pumpkin that the Founders of our Nation took careful steps to ensure that we’d never have a State Religion.
JFK had to explicitly say the Pope would not rule the US, to override fearful hate of his day, long after the Westminster Confession was revised in the US.
Further back, Luther climaxed his own journey with anti-Jewish bigotry.
While yes, reading the Bible in one’s own indigenous language is essential (that required monumental change), it is equally important to not end up being a tool of bigotry.
Change agents can end up being fiercely misguided soapbox activist egomaniacs, too, apparently.
Today, little men are fearful of empowering anyone outside their gender and race. Times up.
Let’s not replace those guys with booming voice miscreants of another look or brand but same egotistical spirit of My truth, the only truth, and nothing but my truth.
Thank you for the clarification. I get it now.
Unfortunately, that mindset is prevalent in almost every denomination in America, at least, and the world, probably.
My truth, the only truth, and nothing but my truth…..and my 3000 followers on Twitter or tithers at my local religious club.
Back to the OP. Todd Pruitt. Jon Payne and the clear and definite abuse of Elisha Boggs. The crappy treatment of Elisha Boggs says that these people may not even be genuine followers of Jesus. My opinion, based on 39 years of reading the Bible, 30 in the original languages. No one’s opinion but mine, and Nothing but my opinion.
One could argue that Germany’s ‘final solution’ had its roots in Luther.
Exactly. “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; He rescues those whose spirits are crushed” (Psalms 34:18). You won’t find Him in the lives of those who break hearts and crush spirits … who abuse and cover abuse in the Body of Christ. Just because you hold the title “Pastor” or “Elder” does not necessarily mean you genuinely know Jesus and are known by Him. These are not the acts of Christ-followers. Those who represent Christ run to the hurting, not away from them … they minister to victims and cast out wrongdoers… they don’t turn their ears from those who have been abused, while supporting and promoting abusers.
A common thread runs through these abuse stories. You never hear from the wives of these bad actors. Of course, they can’t say or do anything … they are oppressed themselves. Like a coyote ensnared by a steel trap, they would have to chew their arm off to get away. The beauty of complementarity is that ugly.
Matthew 5.30.
Jesus is not proposing giving up an arm, IMHO.
However, the Grand Dames of the grand dynasties may have to change their grand lifestyles if Dear Leader is out of power.
The Grand Dame may be complicit.
Friend,
It’s prophetic. Whether the home state church or a foreign (not so micro) state church it doesn’t make sense to look to it. Nietzsche did warn us. So did Kant whom Sproul tellingly condemns.
According to St Paul those who don’t remember to honour the gifts become dead hands, dead on their feet, dead wood, dead in the water and deadbeat.
Muff Potter,
My opinion is that any king called Charles is bad for Scotland and Christianity in our islands. The latest is no different. 🙂
I trust you got through the eye surgery with no problem and that things are coming back into focus for you now. I prayed for you.
linda,
I wish you well. I just prayed for you.
As cursed a royal name as John?
In three words:
QUEEN BEE SYNDROME.
At the bare minimum, Luther provided The Celebrity Endorsement.