Ligon Duncan on "My Friend" C.H. Mahaney

Ligon comments on his good friend and fellow Board Member at APE (Alliance of Professing Evangelicals). Essentially, it is a plea to avoid speculation and internet expressions thereon and therein contained. (And then he takes to the internet to express his own opinion, including the obiter dicta of Judge Duncan that the charges are so evidently self-serving and spurious accusations    While telling others to avoid the internet expressions, he gives several links of his own...one's we've already posted.)  And given Ligon's support of his "good Baptist friends" in the past, a phrase of noted frequency with him, a position adopted that compromises himself on covenant baptism, we accept his opinion for what it's worth or not worth. 

http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2011/07/a-word-about-cj-mahaney-and-so.php

A Word about C.J. Mahaney and Sovereign Grace Ministries

If you have been confused or discouraged by things you have read on the internet concerning my friend C.J. Mahaney and his leave of absence from the board and presidency of Sovereign Grace Ministries (SGM), I would encourage you to read this and this and this and this, if you want to understand what is really going on.

I would then encourage you to ignore the assaults of wounded people on attack websites and blogs, and that you discount the opinings of those who have no real knowledge of these matters or relation to SGM or authority to comment upon them, and that you refrain from assuming that you (or they) are in a position to render judgment on these things.

It is clear that far from a scandalous cover up, our brothers at Sovereign Grace are taking these matters with utter seriousness and are endeavoring to walk in Gospel repentance and humility and fidelity. C.J. knows of my complete love and respect for him. And my brethren at Sovereign Grace know of my support and prayers for them. Al Mohler has spoken about this here. And, of course, C.J. has reached out to Mark Dever for counsel and accountability, but I want to emphasize that we fully respect the process that SGM is taking to review the entire situation and that we have no intention whatsoever of joining in the adjudicating of this case in the realm of the internet - a practice as ugly as it is unbiblical.

Our response ought, positively, to be to pray for SGM. Indeed, they have asked us to: "Please pray for the people involved and for our network of local churches. This is a difficult time for us, but we see God using these events to refine us and prune us (June 15). We want to embrace all God has for us in this time and pray it will lead to greater fruitfulness. Psalm 37:3 & 5 carry a precious promise: "Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness ... Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act."

If you read this, you will get a taste of the fruit of Gospel repentance that is already being borne in SGM. It would have been very easy for the leadership of SGM to ignore and dismiss these charges, because so many of them are so evidently self-serving and spurious accusations. But instead, the leadership of SGM has taken the high road, or rather they have chosen to go the way of self-examination, submission to outside review and correction, self-abasement and repentance. It just makes me love and respect them all the more.