Woman crying in church. cotonbro@pexels
“Nothing can be more cruel than the leniency which abandons others to their sin.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Edgefield Nashville: SBC and 9Marks aligned, and this causes confusion.
For purposes of this post, which is to focus on the pedophile and the church’s response, the couple will go by Paul and Mary Smith. They moved to Nashville from London in 2020. A friend in the UK recommended Edgefield Nashville due to Jonathan Worsley, the associate pastor at the time, from England. He writes for 9Marks and has recently left to plant Emmanuel Baptist Church in Exeter, UK. Edgefield is affiliated with the SBC and has ties to 9Marks due to Pastor Matt McCulloug’s frequent publications in the venue. Paul and Mary remarked that they were unaware of the 9Marks connection and wished the church had been more open since it explains the very real problems in the church.
The SBC and statement of beliefs are mentioned on the website. Many are aware of the problems with the SBC and its response to sex abuse in their churches.
However, church members conveyed to them that 9Marks is not internally mentioned in the church, and congregants are not aware of this connection. If there were more transparency on this issue, it would be easier for people to assess the dangers of the church following this doctrine.”
There appears to be a contradiction in terms of the way that 9Marks churches are run. On the one hand, they describe themselves as “congregational and elder-led,” with the congregation being asked to vote regularly. On the other, the leaders consider themselves a higher class of Christian. In Paul and Mary’s experience, the leaders refer to each other in such exalted terms, while the congregation members are foolish sheep jumping into ditches. How can a church be congregational when the congregation doesn’t even know about the serious risk of the wolf in their midst?
The issues:
- A pedophile whose crimes were not carefully researched had too much freedom in the church.
- When a couple easily finds out what the church leadership didn’t take the time to find out.
- 9 Marks: When church membership trumps safety.
- 9 Marks: When authoritarianism trumps kindness.
- 9 Marx: Known for being Hotel California: You can check in, but you can never leave.
- The SBC is well known for church autonomy and an inability to address sex abuse effectively. Therefore, the SBC doesn’t really care what happens in their churches.
- 9 Marks: According to Jonathan Leeman, every church is autonomous. I think that 9Marks doesn’t care what happens in its churches.
More importantly, Paul and Mary (as well as Todd and I) believe that there is a contradiction in how 9Marks churches are run. On the one hand, they describe themselves as “congregational and elder-led,” with the congregation being asked to vote regularly. On the other, the leaders appear to consider themselves a higher class of Christian (and, in our experience, refer to each other in such exalted terms) and the congregation as foolish sheep jumping into ditches. How can a church be congregational when the congregation doesn’t even know about the serious risk of the wolf in their midst?
The criminal history of the pedophile, Michael Brake
- In 1984, he was arrested in Illinois for the rape of two boys. One count was aggravated, one not, showing the abuse was happening on either side of a child’s 13th birthday. This is a relevant point since it shows the abuse was sustained over some time, and there were at least two victims. He also was convicted of assaulting a female police officer. He was given 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to offenses against one of the boys. While in prison, he received a university degree and was released sometime in or before 1990.
- In 1990, he was arrested again for the rape of a 9-year-old boy who was interviewed by police while the boy was in the hospital. He pled guilty to aggravated rape and was given 20 years. He was released from prison in 2004.
- In 2004, he quickly married a woman with two boys in his target age range.
- In 2007, he pled guilty to falsifying information for the Tennessee sex offender registry. He lied about his date of employment in two jobs and told the sheriff that his employment at one job was ongoing when it had already ended weeks before, and he was sentenced to 11 months probation.
We are looking at a violent child sex offender as well as a man who assaulted a law enforcement officer. He is also a liar. He is a danger to children and adults, and he lies.
We believe Michael Brake is a danger to the people of Edgefield Nashville and other churches in the Nashville, TN. area.
Apparently, Brake and his wife, Erin, are leaning towards not seeking to be restored to Edgefield and that the elders would help find him another church. So, he is a potential danger to the churches of the Nashville area. Will the new church be told of his crimes?
Until the day I stop blogging, I will repeat the following until every adult understands that pedophilia is a dangerous disorder. Those with paraphilias will most likely reoffend. That means a pedophile looks at the church as a hunting ground since it is full of trusting adults and lots of children. Those who are wise will remember that the priority is always to protect the children first.
Here is something I wrote about 3 people in the news with probable paraphilias.
What is a paraphilia? Isn’t it just another sin?
I have used this blog to expose pedophiles in the broader Protestant church. However, my goal in writing has little to do with exposing “one more pedophile.” There always seems to be more than one more pedophile. I have hoped that the reader will understand the complicated topic of paraphilias. Comprehending the difficulties inherent in such behavior is essential to protecting you and your family.
Here is a link at the National Institutes of Health: Paraphilia by Kristy A. Fisher and Raman Marwaha that explains this.
Paraphilias are persistent and recurrent sexual interests, urges, fantasies, or behaviors of marked intensity involving objects, activities, or even situations that are atypical in nature. Although not innately pathological, a paraphilic disorder can evolve if paraphilia invokes harm, distress, or functional impairment on the lives of the affected individual or others.
…The DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for paraphilia states explicitly that the patient must have experienced intense and recurrent sexual arousal from deviant fantasies for at least six months and must have acted on these impulses. A paraphilia becomes a pathology, or a paraphilic disorder, only when this behavior causes significant distress and impairment of functioning to the individual or if the paraphilia involves personal harm or risk of harm to others
…However, due to the patient’s reluctance to seek treatment or the legal obligation to obtain treatment, psychiatrists are often forced to exceed the call of duty to the patient to reduce distress but rather focus efforts on protection against potential victimization.
Those with paraphilia are often reluctant to seek treatment. Even when they do, the counselor must focus on preventing harm to another victim.
Read the section called Prognosis. It appears that those with paraphilias are likely to reoffend.
Despite the psychological and pharmacological interventions designed to manage paraphilias and paraphilic disorders; an ultimate treatment or change has yet to be established. Existing interventions merely allow for increased voluntary control through self-management skills over sexual arousal and reduction in sexual drive, with the best-yielded prognosis only from those individuals who are actually motivated to change.[2] Those who do participate in either therapy alone or, ideally, the combined management of psychological and medicinal intervention show improvement with a marked reduction in the intensity and frequency of deviant sexual arousal and resultant behaviors.[18] However, the literature suggests that most sexual offenders are likely to re-offend.[2]
Michael Brake comes to Edgefield Baptist Church and becomes “Uncle Phil,” beloved by kids and adults alike.
- Sometime in 2007/2008, Michael Brake and his family came to Nashville and, by 2012, began attending Edgefield Baptist Church, which would become Edgefield Nashville when it merged with Trinity Church in 2021. The lead pastor in 2012 was Stephen Saunders. Paul and Mary do not know when he became aware of Mike’s status, but he allowed all of the following to happen under his watch.
Pay close attention to the next entry. There should be red flags waving wildly at this point.
- Sometime before 2015, he directed a play featuring himself and children in the context of the church, “Uncle Phil’s Diner,” with him in the starring role. Directs other plays during this time, uploading videos of children in the church to YouTube. Here is a link to Brake’s YouTube page. In 2015, he hosted a group viewing of a film for the church open to everyone at his own house and earned the nickname “Uncle Phil.” Does anyone see the danger of a violent pedophile being called “Uncle Phil?”
- In 2015, takes an illegal job as a church cook (an elementary school opposite the church.) The employment was not reported to the Tennessee sex offenders register, which is an additional offense. The statute of limitations for reporting this crime was later allowed to expire by the new elders of Edgefield church in 2021.
- In 2020, he resigned from his position as church cook immediately before the merger of Edgefield Baptist Church and Trinity Church. Trinity Church’s leadership became Edgefield church’s leaders, which is very similar to the church’s current leadership (same pastor, most elders the same), and the church remained the same legal entity as Edgefield Baptist. This is relevant because it means the church today is legally responsible for any abuse that happened historically under Saunders that should have been avoided, especially if it occurred in the context of his employment or other roles in the church.
- In January 2021, Edgefield Baptist Church and Trinity Church merged. For some time, Mike is “chaperoned” by his wife, Erin. ( A wife cannot be relied upon to report her husband’s wrongdoings.)
- In 2021, Mike attended small groups in the McCullough house (the pastor). No other members of the small group were told of Mike’s status. One evening, Matt McCullough was out of town, and the small group met anyway, with Mike’s wife, the only other person aware of his status. Children of his target age and gender are present.
- By November 2023, an actual chaperone policy was introduced. Mike had to check in with an elder who then sat within eyesight of Mike for the duration of Sunday morning services.
Nearly three years pass without disclosing Break’s status when finally they disclose and discuss the church’s policies.
- 11/13/2023: The church is informed about his status and describes him positively despite his background. The church is encouraged to “love on” Mike and Erin. There is a new sex offender policy, although it is not attached to the disclosure.
- 11/19/2023: The first members’ meeting, at which the issue was discussed. The Smiths asked questions concerning the 2007 conviction and the bathroom policy specifically.
- The disclosure email says, “More than 30 years ago, Mike was convicted of a sexual crime against a minor. For this crime, he served fourteen years in prison.” The elders told us that Mike approved this email, which was a false witness.
- “His life is a trophy of God’s grace, the kind of miracle that we always long to see.” – how can they write this about a pedophile? Did it never cross their minds that he might not be honest with them, and how awful would it (and now does) look if he was not?
- The policy, in particular, is a grooming document. First, it starts with 3 reasons I A/B/C. A, the first of these, talks exclusively about how the document aims to create a safe space for the offender!! B is about visitors, and children are only briefly mentioned last, with the least amount of text given to their reasoning.
- Immediately after this, it contains a long section (section II) about how everyone is sinful, titled “Our only hope is the gospel of Jesus Christ.” Yes, but as Diane Langberg says, we don’t all build Auschwitz.
- The policy allows the elders to place the offender in a small group at their discretion, only requiring that they inform the other small group members (not that anyone would have the right to say no). It leaves the door open to the offender being given another job in the church, even though the elementary school opposite makes this illegal.
- The bathroom policy: Mike is allowed to share a bathroom with the gender and age of his victims. When this is put to the elders at the members’ meeting, Bill Heerman defends it by saying there would be a chaperone present. Chaperone or not, a pedophile who abuses young boys should never be in a bathroom with open urinals and a changing table for babies.
The Smiths do more research on Michael Brake. Not surprisingly, they found more.
- 12/21/2023: The Smiths run an Intelius report on Michael Brake, discovering more historical convictions, and request criminal records from Wakeugan, Illinois, Dickson County, Davidson County, Tennessee.
- 1/4/2024: Mee with Pastor Matt McCullough, who did not know about the Illinois convictions or the truth of the 2007 conviction for falsifying information.
- 1/6/2024: Bill Heerman sent an updated disclosure email informing members of the 1984 convictions, although he needed help to get the details right (2 convictions.) Interestingly, There is no apology that they were unable to find the information that untrained folks were able to find.
The leaders appear to believe that Michael Brake has a different version of events, and the church doesn’t know if they believe him or the sheriff and witnesses.
2/4/2024: Members meeting. Bill Heerman presents a long and sometimes inaccurate account of events. On questioning, Matt McCullough says they do not declare Mike as having been dishonest. Mike apparently has a different version of events of the 2007 conviction, and the elders are unable to discern who is telling the truth – the sex offender or a deputy sheriff with two witnesses.
Concerning slides from a member’s meeting.
The following slides were shown in a members’ meeting. The church leadership prepared them. They inadvertently give a birds-eye view into the problems with the church leaders throughout Brake’s tenure at the church.
Slide 1: Leaders are made aware of further offenses, saying there have been no additional offenses.
There are two serious concerns from this slide.
- Elders were made aware of Brake’s further offenses They should apologize to the church for not performing due diligence. It appears they felt it was more spiritually efficient to “love on the pedophile.” as opposed to due diligence.
- They say there have been no additional accusations since 1990. Most pedophiles reoffend. Brake certainly did. It is very easy to hide child sex abuse. Most pedophiles are never caught. Just because there are no accusations does NOT mean that abuse has not occurred. Caveat Emptor, people. Be smart, unlike your leadership has been in this situation.
Slide 2: Is Brake really “not deceptive?”
The main concern about this following slide is that they are not saying that Brake withheld knowledge of the 1984 convictions “in order to deceive us.” Of course, he withheld that information, or he would have told you if he was honest. People don’t suddenly forget their convictions. At the beginning of this post, I demonstrated that Brake was found to be lying. Therefore, they should know he lies. I am concerned that the church leaders are not educated on the problem of child sex abuse.
Slide 3: To disclose or not disclose and, by golly, don’t do a full investigation. Who knows what you will find?
I have some serious reservations about the advice the church claimed that they received from “multiple lawyers.” The multiple lawyers that I know who are well-known in the sex abuse community would most likely disagree with these two statements.
- Church-wide disclosure is most definitely recommended, or perhaps these lawyers have not heard of what happened when church members found out that sex offenders were wandering around their churches. Transparency is the hallmark of our Lord. Secrecy that could result in disaster is not recommended.
- These lawyers appear to be afraid of a third-party independent investigation because such thoughtful deep dives into a church can expose a predator. This smells like institutional protectionism. I am not surprised that authoritarian-based churches emphasize church leadership over the least of these.
- A question was asked: “When would this change from an internal investigation to an external investigation?”
Answer: “First step would be if the police wanted to investigate after our disclosure. Another difficult issue is that opening a formal investigation without any allegations of abuse opens the church up to legal liability for defamation.”
Slide 4: The bathroom policy is discussed. Mike gets to be in the bathroom with a chaperone.
Mike is allowed to share a bathroom with the gender and age of his victims. When this is put to the elders at the members’ meeting, Bill Heerman defends it by saying there would be a chaperone present. Chaperone or not, a pedophile who abuses young boys should never be in a bathroom with open urinals and a changing table for babies.
Slide 5: Brake was with children but never alone…to their knowledge. Seriously?
Slide 6: When lowly pew-sitters show leaders just how easy it is to research sex abusers. Excuses instead of apologies.
I wonder about this slide. So, the Smiths, from another country, quickly found more convictions from “so long ago,” but it was OK that they did not because the lawyers told them so. This smacks of legalese. Maybe the Smiths cared more for the children in the church than the leaders cared. Shame on them.
Slide 7: Keep the sex abuse secret from the members. Trust the leaders to decide.
Was everyone in every group aware of Brake’s conviction for violent sexual abuse?
Slide 8: Let’s get those sex offenders into church even though we don’t know what we’re doing.
Slide 9: Church leaders don’t know who to believe: law enforcement or the offender.
The sheriff said they lied, but Mike, the lead pastor, implied that he was off by a few weeks.
Slide 9: Brake cannot attend church for now
Here are some final thoughts by Dee. (These are my impressions from the above information.)
- Another SBC church mishandles a sex abuse situation. When will the SBC wake up to the serious problem of sex abuse in the church?
- It is my opinion that the church seemed more concerned about keeping the violent sex offender in church than protecting the children. I believe that the emphasis on church membership, a 9Marks distinctive, falls apart when it comes to pedophiles.
- The church leadership should be ashamed that the Smiths easily found out the extent of Michael Brake’s violent abuse background. Their excuses are silly. I believe they didn’t care enough about the safety of the children in their church. Instead, they appeared to focus on the protection of Brake.
- The church should be more forthcoming in its adherence to typical 9Marks directives. They spend time having the congregation read their “church covenant” biweekly. It’s kind of like a Gregorian chant. It sounds nice, but what does it mean in practice? It is left intentionally vague so that leaders can assert control in many aspects of the members’ lives. Are the members aware of this?
Under US law, people have the right to withdraw from contracts, yet 9Marks refuses to let people go unless they join another church. They claim this is “caring” for the members. It is not. It is controlling the members. They did this to Todd Wilhem, who helps with this blog, and they do so to many others. In this church, they debated whether or not joining a Greek Orthodox Church by a former member was allowed. They finally consented after much deliberation. Many members may not understand this. - Most importantly, the leadership made decisions to keep Brake’s abuse history from the members. This is an example of authoritarianism run amuck. I would be surprised if the church members believe this is conducive to the safety of their families. I also think those who kept this secret from the membership should resign.
- I am left wondering if there are victims in this church. Pedophiles, even those who say they found Jesus, reoffend. I believe a third-party, independent investigation is called for in this situation. Often, children do not report their abuse, and Brake had access over a long period. The “Uncle Phil” stuff was downright dangerous, and apologies should be given for encouraging this behavior.
- If “Uncle Phil” goes to another church, I hope Edgefield reports his background.
- There is more to the story, and there may be a second post.
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Are the two people who ran the Intelius report the same “couple will go by Paul and Mary Smith”? (If so might need to do another search+replace to make them Paul and Mary…)
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“the leaders appear to consider themselves a higher class of Christian (and, in our experience, refer to each other in such exalted terms)”
Ahhhh, to be in The Inner Ring! … to possess position, prestige, and power … to be a member of the ruling class of Elders … to be an overlord, controlling pewpeons with an iron fist … to be invited to “the sacred little attic or studio, the heads bent together, the fog of tobacco smoke, and the delicious knowledge that we — we four or five all huddled beside this stove — are the people who know” (C.S. Lewis).
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Like I keep harpin’, sooner or later there’s gonna’ be a bombshell civil case in court, that will very likely bankrupt the SBC after the payout(s).
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A good tort lawyer can smell money like a good hound can smell treed possums.
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And not an atheist or drag queen in sight. Also, you can’t fix stupid
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Considering Pedos have quite an Appetite, YES.
What’s the usual ratio?
For every identified victim there’s 20, 30, 50, 100+ who never come forward?
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And these rapes on record were SAME-SEX as well ass having a target age centering around 10..
In Christianese, isn’t that HOMOSSEXUALITY(TM)?
Or (actual Pedo logic), they haven’t hit puberty so they’re not REALLY male and it isn’t REALLY same-sex?
P.S. “Uncle Phil”?
Why does that remind me of “Uncle Raggy”?
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Depends how long they were predators and what kind of target rich environments they prowled. But I think it is safe to compare the ones ID’ed to a tip of an iceberg (so at least 90% is beneath the surface). As an aside, solid gallium and silicon are also less dense than their liquid phase. Actually a negative slope in the solid-liquid phase boundary in the phase diagram of a material means the solid form is less dense that the liquid form.
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So his wife married him right after he got out of prison for raping 3 boys, even though her own boys from a previous marriage were roughly the same age as his victims?
Sounds like something is wrong with her.
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Uncle Phil is a very bright, flashing, red light….
I am so sick and tired of “the church” not giving a da$# for the safety of minors. There is NO EXCUSE….
A multiple, convicted pedo is even more damming …. Argggg
Just sit back and ask yourself… how many men do you know call themselves “uncle xxx” and do stuff with kids like that? AND the leadership knew, ever so superficially, there is something shady in his background???
These 9 Marks outfits really do take pew sitters as fools to be abused….
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Oh my, the pedo’s wife worked for the church!
And look what the church elders/pastor have tried to present in their slides – an honest pedo… “within 48 hours Mike updates the local authorities….” LOL HAVING LIED TO THEM FOR YEARS! You can’t make this up, it’s beyond satire.
The leaders of this church are still grooming their congregation- probably more pedos somewhere in the closet… there always is!
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Many of them have hotlines for this kind of thing and will respond quickly when called.
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I was trying to decide whether to post or not. But I’m a member of this church, and this article is very one sided and unfair. It only presents half the facts. The author should consider the source more carefully. The former members of the church who provided the information (it is obvious to all of us who it was) have mischaracterized what the elders said in these meetings and only shared part of the information. These elders are Godly men who love the Lord. They are trustworthy and are working hard to both show grace and provide protection. The extensive measures taken to safeguard the congregation, including the involvement of outside experts and authorities should not be downplayed. And not only that, this is the opposite of a cover up. The elders are doing everything in the name of transparency, including asking other members to be involved in all the decisions, and working with outside organizations to do independent investigations. They hired a formal federal prosecutor of sex offenders to provide advice and counsel on our approach. For anyone reading this, I just encourage you to consider that you may not have all the information in passing judgment.
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Church Member,
So, the bottom line is when did the elders know he had MULTIPLE convictions for child abuse??
If he at all lied, or covered this up, all doing the “Uncle Phil” routine, it is inexcusable…
I have first hand experience with a pedo, and a cover up, in a Christian school as a boy; the pedo went on to abuse multiple boys and spend many years as guest of CA prison system…
It is no different than letting commercial airline pilot, convicted twice for drucken piloting, getting at the controls of a commercial airline again…
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Re: church member.
Your attitude is symptomatic of many of the church members at this church. You are supposed to worship Jesus, not the elders. (are you yourself an elder, I would ask?!)
All information was provided to the Wartburg Watch, with nothing omitted. You make a false claim that only part of the information was shared, which you should immediately apologise for and withdraw. But I’m sure, just like your elders, you will throw around such accusations and not bother to go back and address them.
Your church claims to love one another and be a community. Yet we had entirely reasonable objections and just like nearly every other member bar one or two, you sat there and said nothing and did nothing when the elders turned the tables and started making accusations towards us. The members who were the only people who were bothered to properly research a sex offender attending your church – you didn’t, your elders didn’t, and your lawyers didn’t. Without this research, the wolf would still be amongst you, under the deceit of it being a “one time mistake”. It’s never a one time mistake.
Do you know what your “trustworthy” and “transparent” elders said to us the day after asking us at the members meeting to continue the conversation with us privately? They no longer wanted to, and said no further meetings with us would take place and the whole thing was a misunderstanding. A misunderstanding, that no-one will explain to us. Go check the member minutes, it’s in there, and if you would like a copy of the full minutes detailing this question, you can email me, since you apparently know who we are, you can identify yourself to us there.
You should be thanking us. Instead, as a body of a church, you attack us. Shame on you, you have shown your true colors.
If this version of events, which is entirely backed up with documentation, is so wrong, you are of course free to write your own account also backed up by evidence. A good, honest, open debate about what happened we would absolutely invite. Perhaps 9Marks would publish the article for you?
Will there be an investigation into whether abuse occurred, or is your church still worried about the legal ramifications of such an investigation? Are you aware one of your elders has a family member formerly on the sex offenders registry? Does this concern you that this elder continued to adamantly argue against disclosure to the last?
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Church Member,
Neither should it be downplayed that this man has abused at least three minors, falsified info on the registry, and and lied to the sheriff.
It definitely should not be downplayed that the church is located directly across the street from a park to the NW and an elementary school to the SW, and a large residential area to the SE and East…… narrow streets, easy walking distance from the park and school….. the school the pedophile worked at.
And, how many children did he have access to on church grounds and at the school before anyone knew about his criminal history?
How long did this man attend Edgefield/Trinity before the congregation knew of the circumstances?
Just want to say that I’m fairly familiar (Southern Kentuckian) with the MNDC area (and the TRAFFIC), if you have to go I-24 to get to church, you deserve a big pat on the back just because of the drive! I’ll bet it’s awful when the Titans have a home game!
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Robert Jeffries (SBC) is burning, literally.
https://www.fox9.com/news/downtown-dallas-fire-smoke-ervay
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I assure you I did, and I believe my sources are impeccable. My fifteen-year history of writing this blog also speaks to that fact.
Church Member: And not only that, this is the opposite of a cover up.
The entire church membership was not told that “Uncle Phil” was a molester for a long time. I would not be surprised if many new members are not told on a routine basis. This post will permanently inform them of that fact and the fact that your leaders make this sort of judgment. This is inadvisable and dangerous. The membership has the right to know the parameters of the pedophile’s movements and to make an informed decision about what is in the best interest of each family. They don’t need pastors who decide what families have the right to know.
Did you know that your answer is the one that most churches use when caught in these awkward situations? “You don’t have all the information.” No one ever has “all the information, but I have enough. I believe that the Godly leaders were wrong in their approach. It was quite controlling, wasn’t it? You need to be smarter in dealing with these situations and not apply the obvious canards.
Your church should do a third-party, independent investigation. Your Godly leaders didn’t take the time to carefully investigate Brake and were shown with egg on their faces. They should be ashamed. They should apologize to the congregation, and those involved in not fully investigating Brake should step down. This was dangerous and they are not acting like shepherds or like Godly leaders, in my opinion.
When you are called to be the light on the hill, you do not get to tell people what they see when that light shines. Pedophilia is a serious problem. It is more than a sin and a crime (or multiple crimes.) Most reoffend throughout the years. It is a deeply entrenched psychiatric disorder, and anyone who thinks that one can trust the repentance of a pedophile needs to do some reading. The evangelical church needs to wise up.
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Church Member,
I just remembered! I left a message at the church and asked if they would like to make a statement. Is your comment their statement? My guess is that you are more than a simple pew sitter at Edgefield. Here is the deal. If the leaders provide a statement, I will post it in its entirety with one caveat. TWW readers will get to comment on that statement. Unlike articles written in specific venues, we allow both pro and con comments.
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Nancy2(aka Kevlar),
They must be on satan’s hit list.
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Maybe he is channeling the ancient Greek and Roman practices of pederasty.
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Church leadership failure. Mega.
Parents, do you want to go to church, a place of trust for the faithful to God, and have your children engage witb and call a pedophile, their “Uncle Phil”? Is this what God has to offer?
He’s not their “Uncle”. He’s their predator.
Is this what church is? Pastors pimping child predators to families?
If this is what church is, perhaps parents need to teach their children about God themselves.
When and where schools are inappropriate, parents have homeschooled. Parents can homechurch, and save a few bucks along the way.
In any case, church leadership that gives a child predator free reign and free range is an indication that families should flee the institution for the health, safety, and wellbeing of their children.
This evil ignorant church leadership goes way back. Pressler just died, an old man predator who was active in the church a loooooong time. Pressler used his power to prey. Victims were isolated and intimidated.
The Internet is facilitating intervention. The victims are no longer alone and intimidated. Church leaders can’t control the narrative as gatekeepers about what REALLY goes on in churches.
Perhaps the church pedophile party is finally being exposed for what it is. Thank God for the Internet that is foiling the myth of The Good Ole Days of Pedophile Pimping Pastors running churches.
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Church leaders, Christian publishing, Christian music and filmmaking (i.e., Steve Greisen) have all controlled the narrative about what REALLY goes on in churches, as the Pastor Predator Party has been in full swing.
Church Polite Society, Leadership, and Media, will never inform that Uncle Phil and Paul Pressler and Steve Greisen, et al, are after parishioners’ kids – that church (and church camps, schools, Christian Media, etc.) are actually just Pastor Pimping Predator Parties.
The Internet is breaking up their Party since they can’t control the narrative as gatekeepers that silence and shut out the truth: what really goes on in churches, which is the Pastor Predator Pimping Party.
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dee,
I would love to see a specific response from the chuch leaders…. So often we get these types of posts, with vague attacks, and then no follow up with details..
Show me the DETAILS!
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Remember, this is a New Calvinist church. They have a different way of handling total depravity than the rest of Christendom.
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The link in the OP about Exeter Baptist Church, UK points to a page on the Edgefield Church web site that no longer exists!
The URL was https://www.edgefieldnashville.org/exeter-church-plant
Aside: Not to be confused with Exeter Baptist Church in Ontario, Canada.
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Frank David,
Thank you for pointing this out. Here is the updated link.
https://www.emmanuelexeter.org
I double-checked, and it is in the UK. 🙂
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dee,
PS: On the home page, it states it is affiliated with 9Marks. Buckle up, UK. Y0u can check in, but you can never leave.
https://www.emmanuelexeter.org
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dee,
Ooohhhh…… in ‘close partnership’ with 9Marks!
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Church Member,
“These elders are Godly men who love the Lord.”
++++++++++++++
all i really want to say at the moment is ‘so what’.
‘Godly men who love the Lord’ means nothing; it is no qualification at all.
Godly men who love the Lord do shockingly egregious things. Often with a clear conscience, with no awareness of the ethical / moral error (let alone a lawful error).
in context, this statement is manipulative. it is designed to play on emotions for a desired result: to give the elders automatic unqualified, unearned credibility. to silence the speaker(s).
just like Godly men who love the lord can do cruel, foolish, & unethical things without awareness, christians can say and behave in manipulative ways without awareness.
(because amazingly enough, it’s all ingrained in christian culture as normal)
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FOR CRYING OUT LOUD LET THIS CONVICTED SEXUAL PERVERT DO ONLINE CHURCH WITH HIS ENABLING WIFE EVERY SUNDAY
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elastigirl,
Yup….
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Dear Church Member,
You gave it your best shot, although perhaps you could have spent more time organizing your thoughts, and reflecting on your message. Being anonymous, while seeming to be one of the elders, ok, that didn’t help.
How do you think it went, after reading these replies?
Did you read them?
Are you coming back to address your interlocutors? Or was this a one-time fly-by?
Perhaps you will bring one of the elders to this site to clarify things?
I am really wondering what you are thinking, now, after your somewhat disastrous first engagement.
Please reboot and give it another shot!
Love,
Sandy
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You couldn’t make this up…
The perp’s wife is a fan of the Nashville Predators!
https://www.facebook.com/erin.brake
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“His life is a trophy of God’s grace …”
Since they are handing out trophies, Edgefield church leaders need to present Paul & Mary Smith a big one for providing details of Uncle Phil’s violent abuse background and for their concern to protect children. These are not whistleblowers, they are watchmen. They should not be attacked by members of the church – they should be honored in the trophy room.
The New Calvinists talk a lot about grace-this and grace-that, but should not be so open-minded about grace that their brains fall out when it comes to matters like this. The grace they so often refer to in their aberrant belief and practice is not Grace at all.
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Max,
Amen…. I like the term “Watchmen”…
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Scripture says they play a critical role to inform and warn. I believe God desires to place watchmen “on the wall” of every church, but they are too often not received by church leaders – viewed as whistleblowers and troublemakers for upsetting the status quo, for questioning the actions of church leaders – rather than respected for their ministry in the Body of Christ.
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What’s more pathetic – an elder posing as a mere member, complimenting himself as Godly or a group of elders who’ve been left holding their d**ks in an ‘oh too predictable’ sex offender scandal?
There is a plethora of evidence these elders have failed in their safeguarding responsibilities. It seems this pedo had an all access pass to the kids – evidenced by his videos and the involvement in a home group with kids.
Wise, trustworthy, godly men would have made good decisions they could stand by. Instead it appears they are scrambling, deleting webpages and tags on X. Hiding, because they extended cheap grace to an unrepentant pedo and they are unrepentant too.
Not everyone is sloppy and inept. Some good people care for the safety of kids. Just like a man who says he is a woman is not a woman, also, an elder who does not meet the qualifications, is not an elder. You are not above reproach. Your values are perverse. You are not worthy of this calling. #stepdownnashvilleelders
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The problem is that those sort of Christian leaders are in short supply in New Calvinism. Most of the NeoCal churches, particularly church plants, have young inexperienced pastors with a young group of inexperienced elders … most of these are hand-picked yes-men dudebros. There was an SBC church plant near me with a 20-something pastor and a team of 20-something “elders” … they hung out in a local coffee shop through the week tweeting their lives away … they didn’t make hospital visits, pray with folks in nursing homes, preach funerals … pastoring wasn’t in their tool kit … they didn’t last long, the church closed after a few years. SBC plants 1,000 churches per year, with mostly fresh seminary graduates who are mostly reformed in belief and practice … I’ve not seen any records of how many of these plants actually make it for more than 5 years, but I bet it’s a small percentage. Yep, there appears to be a short supply of “wise, trustworthy, godly men” in church leadership these days. The American church is in need of revival and spiritual awakening, but I haven’t seen much movement in that direction.
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Actually given the the word ‘man’ in English can refer to a member of the human species of any gender, that statement is not true even before one considers people who are transgender or intersex. I’m baffled about why that comparison was made instead of say ‘a medical doctor who does not meet the qualifications, is not a medical doctor”.
Also and in regards to another post whistle blowers serve a useful purpose, embrace it (watchers on the wall could be using whistles). Note the term’s literal meaning is to blow a whistle to point out danger or call for help.
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That, and the most important thing is dogma, not people.
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Indeed! New Calvinism is focused on leaven of the Pharisees, not the love of Christ … doctrines of grace, not Grace.
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Muff Potter,
Exactly
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Just like the Communists of the last century.
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Which is PROOF that they are More Godly Than Thou.
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Church Member,
Sock Puppet/Flying Monkey/Truth Squad detected.
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Including “More Utterly Depraved Than Thou” as Bragging Rights and One-Upmanship.
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After all, Pastor and Elders are The Elect, with Get Out Of Hell Free cards signed by God before the creation of the world. As for the pew sitters…
“ARE THEY GOD’S CHOSEN? ARE THEY GOD’S CHOSEN?”
— Gordon Dickson, “Soldier, Ask Not” (bot the Hugo-winning novella and the full novel)
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And that’s the church leaders!
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Here’s some very talented people who describe this quite well with music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BS-f9rhS7Q
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Very true.
Notably, church participants would be wise to not only be aware of the pastors’ legitimacy but also the elders or board members legitimacy.
Who and what are we dealing with at our local church? Do we even know? Drop your children off at the nursery? Bring your teens to Youth Group? Is it worth it? Are families safe at church? Who are the people running our churches?
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These church leaders are stupid and nuts. The uncle I was never allowed near “loved” little boys. He had several prison stints. They let him out early when he was in his early 80s because someone decided he was no longer a threat. A few months later he was back in prison for enticing little boys into his half-way house room with candy. He was taken back to jail , where he died (and can no longer hurt anyone else). If a pedophile is allowed in church they need constant supervision and cannot be near children. Period.
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Yeah, it’s a Point of Spiritual Pride with them.
Who cares what that Rabbi from Nazareth sez when CALVIN Has God All Figured Out?
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Headless Unicorn Guy,
There in lies one of the most important problems……. Anyone thinking they even are beginning to ‘understand G$d” is the ultimate in arrogance..
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Letting the old guy out was a big mistake.
Andrew Denney’s research, UTC, confirms that as a pedophile ages he is still a highly active pedophile. Age just increases his opportunities and the number of kids he damages. Everyone thinks he is Grandpa. Access.
Absolutely false. An aging pedophile is in every way, a dangerous dirty old man, an old guy pedophile, as much a pedophile as he ever was, maybe more so.
One of our now passed past US Presidents, from a wheelchair groped a girl during a photo shoot. Yes, he always had a kept mistress overseas for his own personal retreats and his wife knew but it wasn’t in the news much so don’t even go there with the usual suspects. However, point is, even an admired leader groped a girl’s backside in his old age from his wheelchair.
Boundaries, people, boundaries. Distance. Stay away from men, even a Grandpa or an Uncle Phil you don’t know well.
Stop trusting titles, power, legacy, appearance, social standing, talent, PhDs, badges, public service, church, youth programs, counselors, doctors, camps, coaches, teachers, and money.
For the pervert, all of the above are access.
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I just wonder how you all feel about Dr. Heath Lambert at First Baptist Jacksonville today announcing both on x.com and in the church service that his unwed teenage daughter is pregnant. Personally, I think it should be kept private as much as possible and the girl should not be publicly shamed. The unwed daughter of the associate pastor at First Baptist Daytona became pregnant when I was member over 30 years ago, and the associate pastor, Bro. Doug Williams, kept it quiet and did not shame his daughter. The daughter was in her 20’s and not a teenager. I feel Bro. Doug handled the matter much better than did Dr. Lambert.
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Troy,
Lambert holds a Reformed view of church membership. If his daughter had joined the church, she would have been considered a member, and therefore, he would have to discipline her as such. In these groups that use a template for dealing with the members “who go astray,” there’s no possibility of deviating from a rigid and set course.
If you know me from reading TWW, you would find that i take more of a grace approach to sin. I. was sorry when Lambert came to your church since i knew he would act in this method.
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“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the flock of my pasture,” says the Lord.
“Therefore,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, against the shepherds who shepherd my people: “You have scattered my sheep and driven them away. You have not cared for them, but I will take care to punish your evil deeds.”
“I myself will gather the remnant of my flock from all the lands to which I have banished them and bring them back to their folds; there they shall be fruitful and multiply.”
“I will raise up shepherds for them who will shepherd them so that they need no longer fear or be terrified; none shall be missing,” says the Lord.
“See, the days are coming,” says the the Lord, “when I will raise up a righteous branch for David; as king he shall reign and govern wisely, he shall do what is just and right in the land.”
“In his days Judah shall be saved, Israel shall dwell in security. This is the name to be given him:
‘The Lord our justice.'”
From Jeremiah 23, the Daily Reading for 21 July 2024.
Apparently, God is not fooled by church leaders who deceive and mislead His people. Suffering the wrath of our Creator God is never an enviable place, even with $100M+ personal pastor wealth gathered and pocketed from churchfolk.
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Lord let it be! We’ve experienced enough of the counterfeit!
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“Brothers and Sisters:
In Christ Jesus you who once were far off have become near by the blood of Christ.”
“For he is our peace, he who made both one and broke down the dividing wall of enmity, through his flesh, abolishing the law with its commandments and legal claims, that he might create in himself one new person, the Body of Christ, in place of the two [Jew & Gentile], thus establishing peace, and might reconcile both [Jew & Gentile] with God, in one body, through the cross, putting that enmity to death by it.
“He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.” – from Ephesians 2, also in the Daily Reading for 21 July 2024.
Praise be to God.
(I saw your response comment and thought of today’s reading.)
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Come, Lord Jesus.
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The New Calvinists take a hardline approach to disciplining members – in this case, even their own child! They are known more for their dogmatic approach to doing church, rather than their love for one another. They mete out shaming, shunning and excommunication without blinking an eye. Arrogance is the overriding characteristic of New Calvinists, not love. I’m sure Dr. Lambert earned extra brownie points from the New Calvinist elite for publicly shaming his daughter.
As reported in a previous TWW article “Lambert appears to claim that making sure that sin in the life of the believer should be prosecuted. Therefore, the counselor must work with the leadership of the church to make sure that discipline happens.”
https://thewartburgwatch.com/2018/09/26/another-reason-to-avoid-biblical-counseling-confidentiality-is-not-guaranteed-when-sin-is-involved/
Sadly, Dr. Lambert used his own daughter as an example of what ‘he’ believes. As soon as she is able, she will most likely flee his brand of religion – it’s just too cold and oppressive, particularly for female believers.
Jesus wept.
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Might as well say it again, ‘church’ is the happiest hunting ground for chester-the-molester.
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One day there will be a reckoning.
Despite their delusions, that they are the Lord’s anointed.
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It’s also on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNPp5i8zf5E
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Max,
I just prefer how Joseph was prepared to handle things in Matthew 1:19 to what Lambert did. But maybe Lambert put himself in a box with that statement on biblical sexuality he made members sign last year.
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Troy,
Yet, many of these “leaders” ignore the misbehavior of their “fellow leaders”…. Sigh…..what about the other half that created the child?
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“Joseph was not willing to make her a public example” (Matthew 1:19) … but Lambert made his daughter the subject of a Sunday morning sermon.
We must remember that New Calvinists prefer to hang out in the epistles of Paul rather than the Gospels. So Lambert may have not been familiar with how Joseph was prepared to handle things. The NeoCals are masters at twisting Scripture to make it fit their theology; they regularly torture Paul’s writings to make him say what they want him to. When I get the opportunity, I tell them that if they read Paul first (epistles), they might get things wrong … but if they read Jesus first (Gospels), the writings of Paul come into perspective. But, the know-it-alls seldom listen to what this ole guy has to say … they’ve put the mind of God into a neat systematic theological box and have it all figured out.
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Yup… isn’t that the original “sin”….
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From Calvin to Darby…
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He’s got the d*ck, so that makes it OK.
Just like the Andrew Tate Manosphere, Except CHRISTIAN(TM) — “PENETRATE! COLONIZE! CONQUER! PLANT!”
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The poor daughter, I hope she has some relatives who don’t want to publicly shame her and will give her proper support.
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Shame, shun or spurn … it’s the NeoCal way!
May this young girl know and feel the love of Jesus and the compassionate support of family and friends, while authoritarian religion swirls around her.
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Why are some fundagelicals so obsessed with human sexuality?
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Max, I remember when in the SBC you were taught to start with the gospels. Then read the NT and understand it in the light of the gospels. If Jesus said do “A” you do “A” no matter what you might think Paul said. Paul would not disagree with Jesus, but your understanding of Paul might be flawed. Then move on to the OT and understand it in the light of the NT and mostly in the light of the gospels.
When you do that, you find a loving God. You find a God who defines sin as sin BECAUSE He loves people. You find a God who spent centuries preparing the cure for His sick people, and being the sacrifice that could cure them. And you find a relentless God Who never gives up on loving us. He doesn’t love all our deeds. He knows which ones hurt us. And He uses many forms of discipline to stop us from hurting ourselves and others. But He also always gives us the free will to reject Him.
Not at all the God of the SBC today.
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Muff Potter,
“Why are some fundagelicals so obsessed with human sexuality?”
+++++++++++++++++++++++
1) maybe it’s the ultimate sanctimonious one-upsmanship, in the game of who is spiritually superior?
—–
2) in a religious setting, an easy way to control people: you get to control both the out-group and the in-group.
-for the out-group, an easy-access weapon to wield against them (figurative pitchfork). (child play ground bully)
-for the in-group, an easy way to rally a following of people to form a crusade of sorts (more child playground stuff)
you get to be ‘the leader’ of said crusade (more people to control)
the followers get to be part of something bigger than themselves
.
.
really, for all parties except for the out-group, it’s just a pathetic solution for lack of purpose, boredom, loneliness (let alone a need for control)
i see through people like Heath Lambert.
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Sounds like we’ve got a Mrs Jerry Sandusky or Mrs Doug ESQUIRE, but there’s no record of “Uncle Phil” (unlike “Uncle Raggy”) holding a high position in Edgefield Baptist.
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Headless Unicorn Guy,
Or maybe this is flat-out Hebrestophilia(?), i.e. Harley Quinn finding her Joker?
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Actually it is spelled Hybristophilia:
A paraphilia in which sexual arousal are responsive to and contingent upon being with a partner known to have committed an outrage, cheating, lying, known infidelities, or crime. Hybristophilia or scelerophilia is a paraphilia where someone is romantically attracted to mean people or delinquents.
Harley Quinn is a perfect example.
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For the NeoCals, it comes with being totally depraved.
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Why don’t they just call it ‘Paulianity’ then?
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Give them time …
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You’re actually articulating the funda-men-boys here, living their lives between their legs, in thought and word anyway, sometimes in deed. Unfortunately. That’s all there is to it. Which is not a whole lot. Simple minded. Empty hearted. Completely narcissistic, irresponsible, and self-driven self-centeredness. Raw desire targeting women as objects. Sick.
Even more unfortunate are their fangirls, who end up with the consequences. Serious consequences. Nothing light, funny, shallow, or simple about the consequences. Completely life changing, life altering. While the guy is long gone.
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Absolutely agree. The weird world of the authority/submission obsessed in-group. Women that seem to want to behave like little girls and men that seem to like it. Which seems like the 50shades version of christianity! Just weird and gross and dangerous.
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I have almost zero sympathy for their fangirls.
Deep inside, they know better.
What can they claim?…. I was caught up in it?…. satan deceived me?
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Sympathy or not, reality is:
The consequences are completely different for men and women who get involved, and then the unintentional happens.
She’s got to completely change course, face reality and deal with the consequences, a very serious life altering big deal.
The guy goes on his jolly way, moves on to his next involvement, his next fangirl.
Nothing is simple or casual about this… for the girl or woman.
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Headless Unicorn Guy,
He was the church cook – a paid position. His wife was paying him as she was the administrator. It was an illegal job on 2 fronts – proximity to school/ playing fields and not reported to sex offender register. You can find it all on their original Facebook page. Knowing it was illegal, he stepped down from it before the takeover, but the new eldership knew about it. You’d have to be stupid to miss it – due diligence….and all… this gave him access to the kids. Check out the photos on their previous Facebook page.
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I can see, Maybe, putting the knowledge of her pregnancy out in the open to stop the backhanded gossip that will go on when people find out? (though there must be a better way to do so!) I have no idea what his intent is with this approach.
Many years ago, I got a letter from a cousin that I had not been in contact with for years, telling us their teenaged daughter was pregnant and would be placing the baby for adoption. I see it now as an attempt to be open about the situation rather than shameful, which is a good thing in some ways. (unlike women in the ’50’s being shipped to Unwed Mothers’ home or ‘Aunt’s’ house to give birth in shame and secret, then having the baby taken from them no matter what they wanted).
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Ava Aaronson,
Good points all Ava.
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That’s why it’s commonly called “Harley Quinn Syndrome”.
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“The only reasson 50 Shades of Grey is a bet-selling Romance is the guy’s a Billionaire. If he was living in a trailer park, this’d be an episode of Criminal Minds.”
P.S. When 50 Shades was on the best-seller lists, I think some Megapastor (or his hired ghot) pubbed a Christian book titled 50 shades of Grace. Talk about knockoff titles!
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To the point they even play one-upmaship games with each other about being “More Totally Depraved Than Thou”.
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I wonder if FBC Jax Watchdog approves of this.
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She probably believes that all ‘sin’ is the same.
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If it ain’t made in Milwaukee, it ain’t a Harley.
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‘Grace’, in the context of neo-calvinism and 9-marks nonsense, is as worn out as the bald tires on a big rig.
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Muff Potter,
So, just what is ‘Grace’ anyway?
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To me, when I refer to “Grace” vs. “grace” in the context of New Calvinism’s frequent reference to grace-this and grace-that, I think of Christ who ‘is’ Grace – who dispenses Himself to us in His loving and gracious character, it is the undeserved favor of God given to genuine believers. There is nothing loving and gracious when hardcore discipline is dispatched at the hands of New Calvinists … they may call it grace, but it is just a word they use … it is not Grace, IMO.
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Muff Potter,
well, it’s supposed to mean unmerited divine assistance, & courteous goodwill,…
but my silly religion redefines so many variables to pretend any number of self-interested, cruel, & nonsense algebraic equations solve as true.
it’s entertainment at least.
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Reminds me of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTRKCXC0JFg
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Like the Fred Phelps minion who in an interview literally spat out “We Believe in the Doctrines of Grace!”