20 Apr 1996 AD: Dr. James Montgomery Boice, Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, & 5 Solas

20 April 1996 A.D. Under the leadership of the Rev. Dr. James Montgomery Boice, the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals has its beginnings with the Cambridge Declaration, a reaffirmation of the Solas of the Reformation.

The Cambridge Declaration

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April 20, 1996

Evangelical churches today are increasingly dominated by the spirit of this age rather than by the Spirit of Christ. As evangelicals, we call ourselves to repent of this sin and to recover the historic Christian faith.

In the course of history words change. In our day this has happened to the word "evangelical." In the past it served as a bond of unity between Christians from a wide diversity of church traditions. Historic evangelicalism was confessional. It embraced the essential truths of Christianity as those were defined by the great ecumenical councils of the church. In addition, evangelicals also shared a common heritage in the "solas" of the sixteenth century Protestant Reformation.

Today the light of the Reformation has been significantly dimmed. The consequence is that the word "evangelical" has become so inclusive as to have lost its meaning. We face the peril of losing the unity it has taken centuries to achieve. Because of this crisis and because of our love of Christ, his gospel and his church, we endeavor to assert anew our commitment to the central truths of the Reformation and of historic evangelicalism. These truths we affirm not because of their role in our traditions, but because we believe that they are central to the Bible.

Sola Scriptura: The Erosion of Authority

Scripture alone is the inerrant rule of the church's life, but the evangelical church today has separated Scripture from its authoritative function. In practice, the church is guided, far too often, by the culture. Therapeutic technique, marketing strategies, and the beat of the entertainment world often have far more to say about what the church wants, how it functions and what it offers, than does the Word of God. Pastors have neglected their rightful oversight of worship, including the doctrinal content of the music. As biblical authority has been abandoned in practice, as its truths have faded from Christian consciousness, and as its doctrines have lost their saliency, the church has been increasingly emptied of its integrity, moral authority and direction.

Rather than adapting Christian faith to satisfy the felt needs of consumers, we must proclaim the law as the only measure of true righteousness and the gospel as the only announcement of saving truth. Biblical truth is indispensable to the church's understanding, nurture and discipline.

Scripture must take us beyond our perceived needs to our real needs and liberate us from seeing ourselves through the seductive images, cliches, promises and priorities of mass culture. It is only in the light of God's truth that we understand ourselves aright and see God's provision for our need. The Bible, therefore, must be taught and preached in the church. Sermons must be expositions of the Bible and its teachings, not expressions of the preacher's opinions or the ideas of the age. We must settle for nothing less than what God has given.

The work of the Holy Spirit in personal experience cannot be disengaged from Scripture. The Spirit does not speak in ways that are independent of Scripture. Apart from Scripture we would never have known of God's grace in Christ. The biblical Word, rather than spiritual experience, is the test of truth.

Thesis One: Sola Scriptura We reaffirm the inerrant Scripture to be the sole source of written divine revelation,which alone can bind the conscience. The Bible alone teaches all that is necessary for our salvation from sin and is the standard by which all Christian behavior must be measured. We deny that any creed, council or individual may bind a Christian's conscience, that the Holy Spirit speaks independently of or contrary to what is set forth in the Bible, or that personal spiritual experience can ever be a vehicle of revelation.

Solus Christus: The Erosion of Christ-Centered Faith

As evangelical faith becomes secularized, its interests have been blurred with those of the culture. The result is a loss of absolute values, permissive individualism, and a substitution of wholeness for holiness, recovery for repentance, intuition for truth, feeling for belief, chance for providence, and immediate gratification for enduring hope. Christ and his cross have moved from the center of our vision.

Thesis Two: Solus Christus We reaffirm that our salvation is accomplished by the mediatorial work of the historical Christ alone. His sinless life and substitutionary atonement alone are sufficient for our justification and reconciliation to the Father. We deny that the gospel is preached if Christ's substitutionary work is not declared and faith in Christ and his work is not solicited.

Sola Gratia: The Erosion of The Gospel

Unwarranted confidence in human ability is a product of fallen human nature. This false confidence now fills the evangelical world; from the self-esteem gospel, to the health and wealth gospel, from those who have transformed the gospel into a product to be sold and sinners into consumers who want to buy, to others who treat Christian faith as being true simply because it works. This silences the doctrine of justification regardless of the official commitments of our churches.

God's grace in Christ is not merely necessary but is the sole efficient cause of salvation. We confess that human beings are born spiritually dead and are incapable even of cooperating with regenerating grace.

Thesis Three: Sola Gratia We reaffirm that in salvation we are rescued from God's wrath by his grace alone. It is the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit that brings us to Christ by releasing us from our bondage to sin and raising us from spiritual death to spiritual life. We deny that salvation is in any sense a human work. Human methods, techniques or strategies by themselves cannot accomplish this transformation. Faith is not produced by our unregenerated human nature.

Sola Fide: The Erosion of The Chief Article

Justification is by grace alone through faith alone because of Christ alone. This is the article by which the church stands or falls. Today this article is often ignored, distorted or sometimes even denied by leaders, scholars and pastors who claim to be evangelical. Although fallen human nature has always recoiled from recognizing its need for Christ's imputed righteousness, modernity greatly fuels the fires of this discontent with the biblical Gospel. We have allowed this discontent to dictate the nature of our ministry and what it is we are preaching.

Many in the church growth movement believe that sociological understanding of those in the pew is as important to the success of the gospel as is the biblical truth which is proclaimed. As a result, theological convictions are frequently divorced from the work of the ministry. The marketing orientation in many churches takes this even further, erasing the distinction between the biblical Word and the world, robbing Christ's cross of its offense, and reducing Christian faith to the principles and methods which bring success to secular corporations.

While the theology of the cross may be believed, these movements are actually emptying it of its meaning. There is no gospel except that of Christ's substitution in our place whereby God imputed to him our sin and imputed to us his righteousness. Because he bore our judgment, we now walk in his grace as those who are forever pardoned, accepted and adopted as God's children. There is no basis for our acceptance before God except in Christ's saving work, not in our patriotism, churchly devotion or moral decency. The gospel declares what God has done for us in Christ. It is not about what we can do to reach him.

Thesis Four: Sola Fide We reaffirm that justification is by grace alone through faith alone because of Christ alone. In justification Christ's righteousness is imputed to us as the only possible satisfaction of God's perfect justice. We deny that justification rests on any merit to be found in us, or upon the grounds of an infusion of Christ's righteousness in us, or that an institution claiming to be a church that denies or condemns sola fide can be recognized as a legitimate church.

Soli Deo Gloria: The Erosion of God-Centered Worship

Wherever in the church biblical authority has been lost, Christ has been displaced, the gospel has been distorted, or faith has been perverted, it has always been for one reason: our interests have displaced God's and we are doing his work in our way. The loss of God's centrality in the life of today's church is common and lamentable. It is this loss that allows us to transform worship into entertainment, gospel preaching into marketing, believing into technique, being good into feeling good about ourselves, and faithfulness into being successful. As a result, God, Christ and the Bible have come to mean too little to us and rest too inconsequentially upon us.

God does not exist to satisfy human ambitions, cravings, the appetite for consumption, or our own private spiritual interests. We must focus on God in our worship, rather than the satisfaction of our personal needs. God is sovereign in worship; we are not. Our concern must be for God's kingdom, not our own empires, popularity or success.

Thesis Five: Soli Deo Gloria We reaffirm that because salvation is of God and has been accomplished by God, it is for God's glory and that we must glorify him always. We must live our entire lives before the face of God, under the authority of God and for his glory alone. We deny that we can properly glorify God if our worship is confused with entertainment, if we neglect either Law or Gospel in our preaching, or if self-improvement, self-esteem or self-fulfillment are allowed to become alternatives to the gospel.

A Call To Repentance & Reformation

The faithfulness of the evangelical church in the past contrasts sharply with its unfaithfulness in the present. Earlier in this century, evangelical churches sustained a remarkable missionary endeavor, and built many religious institutions to serve the cause of biblical truth and Christ's kingdom. That was a time when Christian behavior and expectations were markedly different from those in the culture. Today they often are not. The evangelical world today is losing its biblical fidelity, moral compass and missionary zeal.

We repent of our worldliness. We have been influenced by the "gospels" of our secular culture, which are no gospels. We have weakened the church by our own lack of serious repentance, our blindness to the sins in ourselves which we see so clearly in others, and our inexcusable failure to adequately tell others about God's saving work in Jesus Christ.

We also earnestly call back erring professing evangelicals who have deviated from God's Word in the matters discussed in this Declaration. This includes those who declare that there is hope of eternal life apart from explicit faith in Jesus Christ, who claim that those who reject Christ in this life will be annihilated rather than endure the just judgment of God through eternal suffering, or who claim that evangelicals and Roman Catholics are one in Jesus Christ even where the biblical doctrine of justification is not believed.

The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals asks all Christians to give consideration to implementing this Declaration in the church's worship, ministry, policies, life and evangelism.

For Christ's sake. Amen.

This declaration may be reproduced without permission. Please credit the source by citing the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals.

SGM-Mahaneygate: First SGM Community to Secede (Charlottesville, VA)

http://www.brentdetwiler.com/brentdetwilercom/2012/7/25/news-alert-redeemer-church-of-charlottesville-va-first-to-le.html

News Alert! Redeemer Church of Charlottesville VA First to Leave Sovereign Grace Ministries

Wednesday, July 25, 2012 at 3:04PM

The following joint statement was sent out yesterday to all the SGM pastors.
July 24, 2012

A Joint Statement: Redeemer Church of Charlottesville, VA and Sovereign Grace Ministries

We want to let you know that Redeemer Church of Charlottesville has decided to end their association with Sovereign Grace Ministries. Though saddened by this news, we are supportive of their decision. We are very grateful for the humble and careful way they have worked through this and the peaceable and respectful way we have been able to discuss our differences. But mostly, we are grateful for the long relationship we have had with Keith Breault. He continues to be a man whom we love and respect. We wish him, his leadership team, and Redeemer Church great blessings and success in the future. Though separating in formal association, we are not separated in mutual affection, mutual respect, and mutual passion to see God glorified through gospel-centered local churches.

Below is a letter from Keith explaining this separation from their perspective.

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I’m writing on behalf of Redeemer Church of Charlottesville to inform you that on July 9^th we separated from SGM.

As you can imagine, this decision was difficult for every member of our leadership team and for many in our church -- who have a long history with SGM. We have enjoyed a rich partnership with SGM and thank God for the ways in which we have been trained, strengthened and fed through this wonderful group of believers. The relationships we’ve forged within SGM over the years are some of the dearest we possess, and we hope changing our affiliation won’t alter the deep fellowship God has wrought and nurtured.

Over the past year, we have been watching events unfold while simultaneously planting this new church in Charlottesville. Naturally, we have been evaluating SGM’s leadership in light of how it corresponds with our own priorities and values. “Consistent divergence” describes the dynamic between SGM’s leadership and our own instincts and convictions. We love the people of SGM and we love the leaders of SGM, but differences in some key areas make peaceful departure our best option.

This decision and its rationale were expressed in detail to SGM by letter on July 9, with our commitment to uphold respect and goodwill. In phone calls the following day with C.J. Mahaney, Dave Harvey, and Mickey Connolly -- and a conference call Thursday between Mickey and our leadership team -- we exchanged expressions of mutual encouragement and respect for our varied perspectives. We also exchanged commitments to conduct this transition peaceably, with the Gospel in mind, wishing each other maximum joy and fruitfulness as we all continue to follow Jesus.

Thank you for your friendship and support throughout our years of SGM partnership. We invite your prayers as we continue spreading the Gospel in Charlottesville.

With our brotherly love, in Christ
Keith Breault

##

Five Observations

1. It Took Courage to Separate

• “I’m writing on behalf of Redeemer Church of Charlottesville to inform you that on July 9th we separated from SGM.” (Keith Breault)

• This took courage and it is a big deal especially since Keith has been a poster boy for SGM for a long time. Furthermore, he wrote this letter to the SGM pastors. There are serious relational implications (or ramifications). Keith and the men around him have little idea what life is like outside of SGM. Others churches will leave SGM and join them but it is still a frightful prospect. What’s best about the decision is it was based upon principle. Keith, Steve Patterson, the other leaders and church are to be commended.

2. The Only Way to Get C.J.’s Attention

• “In phone calls the following day with C.J. Mahaney, Dave Harvey, and Mickey Connolly -- and a conference call Thursday between Mickey and our leadership team -- we exchanged expressions of mutual encouragement and respect for our varied perspectives.” (Keith Breault)

• Drastic action is the only way to get C.J.’s, Dave’s and Mickey’s attention. They are unresponsive to correction or criticism until there are negative consequences that affect them. Then you get immediate attention. That’s the way it was with me. Only when I indicated that I planned to share my documents with the SGM pastors did C.J. promise to confess his sins, address my charges of deceit, and provide a thorough response to my writings. That’s the way it’s been in countless situations. You are ignored or rebuffed like Covenant Life Church and Sovereign Grace Church Fairfax until there are negative repercussions for SGM. Then they will negotiate with you. The day after C.J., Dave and Mickey received Keith’s letter they were on the phone. Damage control began immediately. They did not want the details of Keith’s July 9^th letter getting out! Last Thursday, Mickey expressed “mutual encouragement and respect for our varied perspectives” because Keith and the leadership team agreed those “varied perspectives” would not be aired in public. 

3. They Evaluated SGM’s Leadership

• “Over the past year, we have been watching events unfold while simultaneously planting this new church in Charlottesville. Naturally, we have been evaluating SGM’s leadership in light of how it corresponds with our own priorities and values. “Consistent divergence” describes the dynamic between SGM’s leadership and our own instincts and convictions. We love the people of SGM and we love the leaders of SGM, but differences in some key areas make peaceful departure our best option. We love the people of SGM and we love the leaders of SGM, but differences in some key areas make peaceful departure our best option.” (Keith Breault)

• This is the most important paragraph. Keith and the leadership team have been evaluating [i.e. doing some godly judging] the actions and decisions of SGM leaders for a year. Thank God! Based upon this evaluation they observed a “consistent divergence” between their “priorities and values” and those of C.J., Dave, Mickey and other SGM leaders. Also between their “instincts and convictions” and those of C.J., Dave, Mickey and other SGM leaders. They should openly define these priorities, values, instincts, convictions and differences in key areas instead of remaining silent.

4. SGM Supportive of Decision to Leave

• “Though saddened by this news, we are supportive of their decision. We are very grateful for the humble and careful way they have worked through this and the peaceable and respectful way we have been able to discuss our differences…. He continues to be a man whom we love and respect.” (C.J., Dave, Mickey, et. al)

• The only reason SGM is “supportive of their decision” to leave is because of the confidentiality agreement agreed to by Keith and the leadership team. As a result, Keith “continues to be a man whom we love and respect.” If Keith exposed SGM this positive assessment would change immediately! If you want the commendation of SGM you must be willing to conceal their faults and agree to their terms. If you speak openly and honestly about the serious problems that exist in SGM you will be hammered.

5. Exchanging Commitments

• “This decision and its rationale were expressed in detail to SGM by letter on July 9, with our commitment to uphold respect and goodwill…. We also exchanged commitments to conduct this transition peaceably, with the Gospel in mind, wishing each other maximum joy and fruitfulness as we all continue to follow Jesus.” (Keith Breault)

• I’m glad Keith and his leadership team expressed their rationale for leaving in detail to SGM but they should also be willing to do the same in public. They need to disturb the peace (not keep an ungodly peace) and call for C.J.’s, Dave’s and Mickey’s repentance “with the Gospel in mind.” That is the only thing that will result in “maximum joy and fruitfulness” for them as individuals and for SGM as an organization. This capitulation won them the support of SGM but lost them favor in the sight of God. I hope other churches follow the example of Redeemer Church of Charlottesville in leaving SGM. I hope no one follows their example in not openly calling for repentance, confession, and restitution like we find throughout the Bible. Keith and the leadership team should post the detailed letter they sent C.J., Dave and Mickey on July 9. That would do far greater good then simply separating from SGM in silence!

Abusive Leadership Similarities: SGM-Mahaneygate v. Sandusky/Penn State

http://www.brentdetwiler.com/brentdetwilercom/2012/7/13/sovereign-grace-leaders-conceal-spiritual-abuse-like-penn-st.html  

Sovereign Grace Leaders Conceal Spiritual Abuse Like Penn State Leaders Concealed Sexual Abuse

Friday, July 13, 2012 at 4:51PM

“In clear, calm, concise and unrelenting words, a report from an independent investigation into Penn State’s handling of the Jerry Sandusky sexual molestation case assigned blame in harsh terms to a wide-ranging group of high-ranking officials.

“From iconic football coach Joe Paterno, to now fired president Graham Spanier, to a detached Board of Trustees, the failures, lack of concern and ceding [giving up] of oversight, no one escaped blame in failing to stop Sandusky’s 15-year plus reign of terror in central Pennsylvania.”[1]

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“Former FBI director Louis Freeh said Thursday that the most “telling” piece of information in his nearly eight-month investigation into the university’s handling of Sandusky’s misconduct is a 2000 incident in which a Penn State janitor witnessed the once-revered coach performing oral sex on a young boy in a university locker-room shower.

“The janitor who observed it says it’s the worst thing he ever saw,” Freeh said, outlining the explosive findings of his 267-page review, which found a complete failure of the university leadership to stop Sandusky. “He’s [the janitor] a Korean War veteran. … He spoke to the other janitors. They were awed and shocked by it. But, what did they do? They said they can’t report this because they’d be fired. They were afraid to take on the football program. They said the university would circle around it. It was like going against the president of United States. If that’s the culture on the bottom, God help the culture at the top.”[2]

##

Just like the insularly environment at Penn State University, the same sinful dynamics have been at work in SGM since 2004. Leaders around C.J. and people under C.J. haven’t reported spiritual abuse[3] or taken a stand “because they’d be fired.” Men like Harvey, Shank, Kauflin, Harris, Maresco, and Layman were “afraid to take on” C.J. Instead they “circled around” him. Going up against C.J. was “like going up against the President.” It still is and will continue so long as root issues go unaddressed and unconfessed.

I’d encourage each reader to look over “The Report of the Special Investigative Counsel Regarding the Actions of The Pennsylvania State University Related to the Child Abuse Committed by Gerald A. Sandusky.” Here is the link.

http://l.yimg.com/dh/ap/default/120712/freeh_report_final_071212.pdf

This is the kind of investigation and report, Ted Kober and Ed Keinath of Ambassadors of Reconciliation, should have done and produced for Sovereign Grace Ministries. Unlike former FBI Director, Louis Freeh, they refused to ” blame in harsh terms a wide-ranging group of high-ranking officials.”

“Over and over, Freeh’s damning report referred to a pervasive and damaging culture at Penn State where the levers of power were tightly controlled by four men — university President Graham Spanier, head football coach Joe Paterno, Athletic Director Tim Curley and Vice President Gary Schultz — whose repeated failure to deal with troubling allegations lodged against Sandusky always seemed to be directed by one goal: ‘to avoid the consequences of bad publicity.’”[4]

“The Freeh Group believes the interest of avoiding bad publicity allowed Sandusky to remain free, where he would go on to abuse additional boys and maintain near full access to Penn State facilities and the inner workings of the football program.”[5]

“It is more reasonable to conclude that, in order to avoid the consequences of bad publicity, the most powerful leaders at Penn State University – Messrs. Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley – repeatedly concealed critical facts relating to Sandusky’s child abuse from the authorities, the Board of Trustees, Penn State community, and the public at large. Although concern to treat the child abuser humanely [Sandusky] was expressly stated, no such sentiments were ever expressed by them for Sandusky’s victims.” (The Report of the Special Investigative Counsel Regarding the Actions of The Pennsylvania State University Related to the Child Abuse Committed by Gerald A. Sandusky)

The same is true with “the most powerful leaders” at SGM. There has been a “repeated failure to deal with troubling allegations lodged against” C.J. Instead, Harvey, Shank, Harris, and Loftness focused on making sure C.J. was treated “humanely” while they expressed “no such sentiments” for those who were treated inhumanely. There will be restitution by Penn State University for the eight victims of sexual who testified before the Grand Jury. There will be jail sentences for Sandusky, Spanier and Schultz. There will never be restitution by SGM to its victims and there will never be discipline for Mahaney, Harvey or Shank. That’s one reason I considered using a civil court in which to press my charges.

“During her time as the vice president for student affairs at Penn State from 2003-07, Vicky Triponey says she witnessed the power that Paterno wielded over the administration. Which is why nothing in the Freeh report about how the scandal was handled surprised her, she told USA TODAY on Thursday. Triponey says the reluctance of the school to act on Sandusky was more than just the fear of bad publicity, as Freeh suggested. ‘I think it’s about the image, the whole package of what Penn State football and Penn State became,’ said Triponey, now the interim vice president for student affairs at the College of New Jersey. ‘Penn State became … too big to fail. It wasn’t just that we can’t have bad press. It was, we have to protect this image that we’re perfect.’”[6]

The exact same thing is true about C.J. Scores of people have “witnessed the power” he “wielded over the administration.” For the past twelve years, C.J. has taken over or shut down numerous processes designed to address him. When that was not possible he had other people like Shank, Kauflin, Harvey, Loftness or Connolly do it for him.

The day after I released my documents on July 6, 2011, Harvey, Purswell, Cabaniss, Connolly, Gamache, Greasley, Loftness, Osborne, Prater, and Shank were installed on the interim Board. They were preoccupied with protecting C.J.’s and SGM’s image and immediately declared him fit for ministry and me guilty of slander. The mission “to protect this image that we’re perfect” informed their every decision.

That’s why justice was never served. That’s why all the deceit, lying, cover-up and cunning. That’s why the refusal to let me present my charges at an adjudication hearing. That’s why the plan to substitute a corrupt three panel review that was tightly controlled. That’s why a 400k report by AoR that didn’t deal with any of my evidence or charges. The love of reputation – wanting to protect the SGM image – corrupted good men. The praise of men became more important than the commendation of God.

Instead of Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley; we have Harvey, Loftness, Kober and Keinath. The Freeh report summates, “In short, nothing was done and Sandusky was allowed to continue with impunity.” The same is true with C.J. and many other leaders in SGM.

It is sickening that a group of secular lawyers has more discernment into the human heart without the Bible, than Christian pastors and Christian conciliators do with the Bible. Louis Freeh went to motive because motive drives men’s hearts. That’s where the evidence led him and that’s what he majored on in his report. SGM and AoR avoid some matters and condemns anyone who judges the “thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Even a novice detective knows you look for means, motive and opportunity when investigating a crime.

But Kober, Harris, and Loftness tell us we must not judge motives but that is not what the Bible teaches! It tell us not to judge hypocritically (log and speck), self-righteously (look to yourself), or unjustly (without evidence). This “judge not” theology is tantamount to telling Christians to throw away all objective standards, discernment, logic, and critical thinking ability. It is a recipe for disaster and a main reason false teachers, false prophets, and cults thrive in the United States (Matt 7:15-20).

Paul the apostle tells us “the spiritual person judges [discerns, evaluates, assesses, critiques] all things” (1 Cor 2:15). He continues, “For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. ‘Purge the evil person from among you.’” (1 Cor 5:12-13) We are called to judge (i.e., assess and justly punish) evil doers in the church. What C.J. and other SGM leaders have done is evil.

Scripture teaches we can know a man’s heart and often know what is motivating him by observing his words and deeds (cf. Matt 3:7-19; 5:1-7:28; 15:16-20; Gal 5:19-20; 2 Tim 3:1-9; Heb 4:12; James 2:14-26) or by supernatural knowledge (1 Cor 14:24-25). This kind of judging is sanctioned, not prohibited, in Scripture.

Graham Spanier (president) and Tim Curley (athletic director) were both charged with perjury (lying to the grand jury) and failure to report a crime. They await trail this fall. No such trial awaits Dave Harvey, Steve Shank or the interim Board. No one has been held accountable for hundreds of lies starting with C.J.

“Over and over, Freeh’s damning report referred to a pervasive and damaging culture at Penn State where the levers of power were tightly controlled by four men” who were willing to lie and cover-up sexual abuse in order “to avoid the consequences of bad publicity” and “protect this image that we’re perfect.”

That is precisely what has been going on in Sovereign Grace Ministries and it is reprehensible that no one in SGM or Ambassadors of Reconciliation has been willing to stand up and say so! Sexual abuse and perjury are being judge in State College, PA. Spiritual abuse and lying are being covered-up and passively condoned in Sovereign Grace Ministries.

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[1] Reported in “Freeh Report assigns blame to Joe Paterno, other Penn State officials for Jerry Sandusky’s crimes” by Dan Wetzel at http://sports.yahoo.com/author/dan-wetzel/.

[2] Reported in “Freeh report blast culture of Penn State” by Kevin Johnson and Mary Beth Marklein at http://usat.ly/NkXm2s.

[3] “In the past, we have been easily satisfied with any response from C.J. But this time we must make certain it is the real deal. For instance, he must see issues like spiritual abuse. He will need your help. For example, when someone brings correction and we say you are proud or bitter without giving them the freedom to speak and don’t listen sincerely and humbly, we are abusing them. When people say they been adversely affected by our sins against them and we correct them for self-pity or tell them they are acting like victims, we abuse them. Or when we withdrawal our affection, project guilt, rally others against a person, distance ourselves, play the trust card, we abuse them. C.J. tends to react to labels like “lording” or “spiritual abuse” but they fit him. He just doesn’t connect the dots to see how they apply in his dealing with people. Similarly, lording it over others. That is, using other people to accomplish your own selfish agenda be it self-preservation or retaliation in many forms (mild to flagrant) towards people you don’t like.” (Bren Detwiler to Joshua Harris, “True Repentance,” Monday, June 27, 2011 4:00 PM)

[4] Johnson & Marklein

[5] Wetzel

[6] Johnson & Marklein

Anti-intellectualism: Uneducated C.J. Mahaney & Joshua Harris

Ignorant and uneducated people are really easy to deceive

http://thewartburgwatch.com/2010/02/18/the-growing-scandal-of-uneducated-christians/

THE GROWING SCANDAL OF UNEDUCATED CHRISTIANS

Posted on Thu Feb 18, 2010 by dee

We are moderating comments for a short time because we are drowning in spam. Don’t worry. We will post all non spam comments just give us a couple of hours. Sorry about this.

What do you get when sheep get a PhD? … Just stupid sheep with a PhD! Incredibly, J.D. Greear, a rising star in the SBC, included this question and answer in his sermon the day my husband and I visited The Summit. It appears this comment has been edited out of the sermon archive at the church web site.

C.J. Mahaney never got any degrees beyond high school. Joshua Harris was homeschooled and didn’t earn any further degrees. The Duggars have homeschooled their kids and the two oldest children, who are now college age, run a used car lot. Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis calls himself a creation “scientist”; yet he has never earned more than a bachelor’s degree. In case a reader might like to proclaim that Mahaney and Harris have created “The Pastor’s College” and by this are now educated, we at the TWW are not impressed. A nine-month education is not serious study in any field. This is only magnified by the fact that said attendees of the PC do not need a college education in order to enroll.

So what’s the problem? Quite simply, Mahaney, Harris, and others have not been tested in an objective manner. Mahaney calls himself a “pastor/athlete.” Just as Mr. Humility has named himself as head of SGM’s “apostolic team”, he has also named himself an athlete. To the best of our knowledge, his athleticism has not been tested. Did he play collegiate level sports in which he was part of a recognized team? Did he every try out for the Olympics? Mahaney simply declares himself an athlete. A real athlete moves up the ladder within sports. For example, my son who plays soccer has moved from recreational level soccer to what is called “Classic” soccer, which is achieved by both experience and tryouts. He now plays varsity high school soccer. To get to that level, he had to try out and advance through junior varsity soccer. He has elected not to try out for soccer in college. He has decided that it is neither his passion nor is he playing well enough for a college level team. He would laugh if you called him an “athlete.” He would claim to enjoy sports; he would claim to “mess around” with soccer; but he would never have the hubris to call himself a soccer athlete. He knows his limitations. He has played the sport and has been judged by his peers and his coaches.

Mahaney also regularly declares himself as one who studies Spurgeon, Calvin, the early church fathers, etc. He loves to quote such individuals and, as such, gives himself the cachet of understanding these vaunted individuals; however, he has never placed himself in a position to study under those who have made theology their life’s work. Those professors have gone through the Masters and Doctoral programs in which their very thoughts are closely judged by the tests they take and the papers they write. They must defend their thoughts during dissertations. And most have had to write and rewrite and revise their thoughts over years until they finally hold that degree that authenticates their years of study and hard work.

I have absolutely no idea just how deeply Mahaney has studied these theologians. It is far too easy to Google any of these guys and throw in a quote which Mahaney is famous for doing, especially in his books. Most folks take you at your word and far too impressed with those who quote “smart sounding” guys.

Ken Ham is able to give the appearance of being a “scientist.” The average person has no idea how difficult it is to obtain such a title in the real world. One must first earn a PhD. Then, one sets up a postdoctoral experience in which he/she conducts independent research. This research is turned into articles that are then published in journals such as Science and Nature. These journals have rigorous peer review to make sure that the data and conclusions stand up to scrutiny. Then, one has his/her own lab and his/her own grant money. Once again, Ham is guilty of (at the minimum) arrogance to include himself in these ranks. In the event there are members of the Young Earth (YE) crowd who are scanning for bias, Dr Kurt Wise, in the YE group, comes closest to matching this description. This is NOT a discussion on creationism.

The value of academic training is that it forces an individual to consider opposing views, to defend one’s point of view, and to prove that one understands what one is reading. Papers and debates give professors the ability to judge, challenge, or congratulate the budding student.

Mahaney has close contact with the likes of Al Mohler and John Piper. Shouldn’t that keep him on track? Our answer is a resounding, “No.” There is a good reason for this. Take, for example, Mahaney’s aversion to foreign missions. Approximately ten years ago, John Piper subtly chastised him for his lack of concern for missions. Funny thing about that, however. Nothing has changed whatsoever in Mahaney’s abysmal lack of appreciation for missions in the last ten years. In fact, this “apostle” considers his own churches “missions.” These are the ones he plants or “adopts” in areas with wealthy people and well established churches.

Why hasn’t Mahaney responded to Piper’s challenge to be more missional? Perhaps it’s because they speak at the same conferences and endorse each other’s books which points to the question of MONEY. Also, pastors appear to loathe criticizing other pastors which causes us to theorize that the ‘old boys’ clubs (women rarely allowed) is alive and well within Christendom.

When people become dependent on each other for income and notoriety, it is quite easy to overlook minor issues such as “calling each other on the carpet”. Mahaney is friends with Al Mohler, John Piper, Mark Driscoll, John MacArthur, Ligon Duncan, and the members of The Gospel Coalition and the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals — organizations to which he belongs. What amazes me is that Mahaney is quite cozy with the seminaries in the SBC, especially Southern Seminary. Heck, Mahaney makes graduates of SBTS, where his buddy Mohler is president, go through his nine month “Bible light” Pastors’ College (PC) since he obviously believes his college’s training trumps that of a real seminary. But, guess what? The PC gets people like Wayne Grudem to teach there (obviously, very part-time) so it must be OK, right? Hmmm, how much does he pay these guys to do this? Better yet, we would love to see how much money Mahaney has made Piper over the years to get him to shut up on the lack of missions and the allegations of abuse within Sovereign Grace Ministries.

In fact, it is most disconcerting to see that J.D. Greear recommends Mahaney’s books, Humility and Living the Cross Centered Life, on his blog. The latter illuminates Mahaney’s view on sin. In fact, it is his view of sin that deeply troubles us. We believe that Mahaney’s lack of education may have led to his conclusions. We also believe that Mahaney’s method of control of the people in his churches stems from his limited view of atonement. We also might suspect that it is Mahaney’s conclusions that cause folks like Greear to approve of Living the Cross Centered Life.

Here is what we mean. Mahaney stops the Christian walk at the cross. He meditates on our sin and how we are so sinful, yet he rarely understands the depths of our sin. He points to the need for the cross as his proof. Yet, he forgoes mentioning what actually happened on the cross. Jesus died for us while we were yet sinners. But, He also said that “It is finished.” Mahaney gives short shrift to the resurrection and the fact that we are now, “Free, free, indeed.”

“Free, indeed” means that Jesus calls us all into the priesthood of the believers. This is a scary thing to control freaks like Mahaney. Don’t believe that he is? Just read the myriad of survivors’ sites that tell tale after tale of control and pain. So many blogs, so much smoke, so there must be fire! (Try just one – sgmsurvivors.com).

We believe that Greear may be cut from the same cloth. Let’s revisit the quote at the top of this post. Greear preaches in the Research Triangle area of North Carolina, which is home to Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill, N.C. State and other colleges and universities as well as the home to great high tech and pharmaceutical companies such as SAS and Glaxo. It is also home to the greatest college basketball on the planet and, may we say, C.J., you ain’t no Michael Jordan. The Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill) has the highest concentration of PhDs in the country! The great Francis Collins (Christian, head of the National Institite of Health, and leader of the Human Genome Project) trained here, Duke and UNC conduct world class, cutting edge research in many areas such as oncology and cardiology.

Greear is letting all of us know that we are nothing more than a bunch of sinful sheep, and it doesn’t matter how smart we are. How very sad! It is worth noting that The Summit is a “young” church in more ways than one. The congregation has a large constituency of college students who love to hear their “shepherd” put their professors in their place! It’s highly unlikely that many professor types attend his church.

God gave us our intellects to explore this world that we have been given. Greear, however, wants to put us in our place. We are just dumb sheep. But, he is the pastor and he somehow gets a pass on this “dumb” issue. Therefore, he can let all of us know just how sinful we, the sheep, are so we better shut up and listen to him. Oh, and don’t try and tell him how to run his church.

J.D., there is a better way to say this, but perhaps it is more threatening to you. Yes, we are all sinful; but so are you. God has given each one of us the following: a mind, reasoning ability, compassionate hearts, the Holy Spirit, forgiveness, and love. Together, as the community of the forgiven, we all bear the mark of God, and believe it or not He speaks through ALL of us.

So, instead of denigrating the calling that God has given to those who have been called to higher learning, why don’t you rejoice in the blessing that God has brought such gifted people into your midst and figure out how to use their gifts to further the kingdom? Did you know that there is a science professor at UNC-CH who has formed a student/faculty Christian fellowship that meets once a month for encouragement and evangelism. Also, the next time, include yourself, front and center, in the dumb sheep with a PhD. Or, do you believe that you are just a bit better or have been given a secret gift that eludes the rest of us sheep?

TWW highly recommends Mark Noll’s seminal book, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind. Noll published this book in 1994, and his words resonate in 2010. In fact, was he a prophet exhorting us to a great calling? He says that Christians have dumbed down the Gospel, have entered a holy huddle, and have eschewed the universities and the arts, leaving education to those who do not follow the One Who created our minds. We reap the consequences of this in a society that increasingly forgets the role of faith in the public square. Why not? Christians have deserted rigorous study and have settled for silly little sermons like Ed Young, Jr.’s sermon on “Sex for Seven Days.” EGADS, no wonder the world looks down on our intelligence. Then Christians complain that atheists run the universities. Well, who among them studied enough to stop this from happening? This public square will not listen to uneducated men like Ken Ham and C.J. Mahaney. They respect those who have done the work to achieve higher education. Folks like Francis Collins and Dr. John Lennox of Oxford have done the work and have earned the right to be heard.

Christians such as Francis Collins, Michael Card (who writes a Christian music and is working on a PhD in Classical Literature) , Walt Kaiser (PhD from Brandeis University and President of Gordon Conwell), and many, many others have studied hard and opened themselves up to peer review and criticism. We admire those within Christian circles who have had the courage to submit their views and thinking to objective scrutiny within the institutes of higher learning where they know they will be challenged.

We join with Dr. Noll and others to implore Christians in positions of prominence not to denigrate higher learning. In fact, we believe that folks like Mahaney should be encouraging higher education. We also believe that Christians need to enter into all aspects of our society and show the world that are not afraid to enter the debate on any level. Richard Dawkins might think Christians are delusional, but he must admire Francis Collins who has achieved more in the world of science than most any other scientist alive. And this has earned him the right to be heard.

Just to show how easy it is to pretend like we know all about Spurgeon and Galileo, we leave you with some Googled quotes. Are you impressed, yet?

“The doorstep to the temple of wisdom is knowledge of our own ignorance”.

- Charles Haddon Spurgeon

(http://www.famousquotesandauthors.com/authors/charles_haddon_spurgeon_quotes.html)

“I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.”

- Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

(http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~robins/quotes.html)

SGM-Mahaneygate: C. J. Mahaney v. Josh Harris

We have renamed this dispute "Mahaney v. Harris."  There has been a controlled, misguided, and harmful trial of original jurisdiction, full of procedural and substantive failures.  Leave it to dumb ass clerics without law backgrounds to foster such.  However, additionally, Bully Mahaney controls and controlled the appellate and Supreme Court, courts of review.  Which means this.  There are no courts of review, just CJ, Connolly, and Loftness's "tap dancing on Broadway." Although Mahaney is a man of diminished capacities, a small intellect, no academic attainments, and constricted feelings (due to narcissism), he remains liable for his misdeeds.  A dumb ass who runs over a child while speeding through a residential area is still liable. In fact, in view of CJ's serious limits, RA believes he needs to return to school for several years and go into monastic retirement;  a humble man would welcome it;  otherwise, he presents a continuing danger to gullible, ill-informed, and credulous people.  Like our state and federal courts, which are open to the public, the same obtains in Mahaney v. Harris.  Of course, the tyrants oppose such.  It's called fear, anger, hostility and even desperation. Here’s Brent’s recap of Mahaney v. Harris.

http://www.brentdetwiler.com/brentdetwilercom/2012/7/10/an-important-recap-of-joshua-harris-powerful-prophetic-word.html

Jul 10, 2012

An Important Recap of Joshua Harris’ Powerful Prophetic Word to SGM a Year Ago Today

Tuesday, July 10, 2012 at 7:52AM

What follows are excerpts from an extremely powerful message by Joshua Harris preached one year ago today at Covenant Life Church. He spoke like a prophet and without fear or hesitation. He shared openly and honestly. He put the blame for problems in SGM on himself and other leaders. It was a prophetic word to the whole movement. Dave Harvey and Jeff Purswell rejected it. C.J. despised it.

In this message on “The Father’s Discipline,” Joshua points out how SGM is being spanked, humiliated and brought low. C.J. has openly repudiated this divine perspective. That’s one of the reasons he is still clinging to sinful habits and practices and cannot lead the movement into any kind of moral reformation. C.J. doesn’t believe he is being spanked, humiliated or brought low by God let alone the movement. He can’t because he views himself as the victim of evil men and not a son in need of discipline by his heavenly Father.

C.J. and John Loftness (Chairman of the Board) see this past year as primarily the work of Satan brought about by gossipers and slanderers (Ambassadors of Reconciliation takes a similar approach) and those wanting to exploit C.J.’s meager confession at CLC in order to harm him. That is offensive to God. This message by Joshua is of far greater worth than the entire AoR Report to the SGM Board of Directors on April 10, 2012.

If C.J., Dave Harvey, John Loftness, Mickey Connolly and other SGM leaders had believed and applied this message, it would have resulted in personal and corporate transformation over the past year (like Nineveh with Jonah). Instead the word of the Lord has been rejected and the discipline of the Lord has been taken lightly. Nothing of substance has changed. C.J.’s disposition has worsened.

This message from the Lord (through Joshua) reverberated throughout Sovereign Grace churches. It was a clarion call. God was testing the heart of every pastor in the movement to see how he would respond. A few responded with scoff, others with intrigue, some with alarm, how many with sackcloth and ashes?

Those who really heard the word of the Lord (“Verily, verily I say unto you!”) know the problems in SGM are primarily ethical – “out of the heart” – not procedural. Those pastors who have majored on polity (how we are governed) have missed the mark (are those governing qualified). That’s why C.J. continues as a senior pastor and President of SGM. What is on the outside of the cup may look cleaner in November or December but what’s on the inside of the cup matters most to God and will bear fruit that lasts.

Today and tomorrow in Louisville, Kentucky, SGM pastors from all over the United States are meeting with the Polity Committee co-chaired by C.J. and Phil Sasser. Elderships will have the opportunity to present their view on how SGM churches should, or should not be, governed by the Board of Directors and Leadership Team. It is an important time but for reasons other than polity. I pray every presenter appeals to C.J., the interim Board, and the Leadership Team to turn from the pride, unteachableness, independence, deceit and hypocrisy they have modeled the past year. I hope each of the 24 papers includes a clearly spelled out plan to address the ethical decline in SGM. If that does not happen the day is for naught. There needs to be a moral challenge not just a challenge to polity.

It’s revealing that C.J. will meet with the SGM pastors for two days to hear their thoughts on polity (which he does have to follow in the least) but was completely unwilling to meet with the SGM pastors in the context of an open hearing where all could hear charges presented against C.J. and observe his response to those charges before objective judges.

So here we are again. Another historic time for C.J. in the providence of God. Will he take the initiative and ask men to register their concerns for him or tell him their honest thoughts or ask him hard questions about his behavior this past year? Of course not! He could have and should have done that long ago. Instead, he will listen to polity presentations. He will compliment. He will thank. He will crack jokes. Then he will go home with his handpicked committee and implement what he and Phil want. Everyone knows the committee is full of members that support their polity.

So debate SGM polity but call for contrition, humbling, and holiness. These presentations by the pastors regarding the reform of polity will accomplish nothing if C.J., Phil, et al. are determined to go their own way, make no radical reforms, and leave half the SGM pastors and members in their wake.

Pastors, I know everyone will be on their best “Gospel loving” behavior today but don’t confuse that for godliness or humility. There are serious break downs in relationship. John Loftness and Mickey Connolly have been slandering the Covenant Life pastors. The proof has been presented. That is one reason Paul Buckley led the meeting on Friday with the CLC pastors. John and Mickey were mostly silent. C.J., Dave and Jeff were absent. That’s why it was a “good meeting” according to Joshua.

The hardliners on the Board recently presented the decision for C.J.’s return as President as unanimous when it was not. Deceit continues. C.J., John and Mickey have been operating independently of other Board Members and not keeping them informed. There has been little accountability for C.J. personal like the outcome of his meeting with all the Florida pastors in May. I could go on and on. There is an elephant of sin in the middle of the room as you meet. Don’t pretend it is not there and don’t embrace the false theology of “judge not.” There is a tremendous need for discernment and courage in the form of correction.

In these contexts, there tends to be a lot of flattery and little honesty. A lot of charm but little transparency. Don’t be fooled. I remember Prater, Boettcher, and Boomsma listening intently to my presentation at the December panel review only to burn me at the stake later in their report and not include a word I said or any of the evidence I presented. I was forbidden from calling witnesses in my support, cross examining witnesses against me, or even knowing who was presenting the false testimony.

Mark, Warren and Ron’s report was utterly abusive and totally unrelated to the question at hand. They were on a witch hunt, not in search of the truth regarding C.J.’s sinful influence on Harvey, Kauflin, and Emerson and their sinful dismissal of me from ministry. I can’t put into words the excruciating pain I experienced reading their report and knowing I had been set up yet again.

C.J. and Phil may listen and compliment your presentations but the proof will be in the pudding. Do they actually change SGM polity? Far more importantly, does C.J. take the opportunity today and tomorrow to detail the discipline of God in his life the past year?

There is nothing to encourage me (and much to discourage me) but I pray he humbles himself with specific confession that results in real reconciliation and restitution. This is C.J.’s last chance. No pastor or church should stay a day longer in SGM if these two days go by and there isn’t profuse confession.

If C.J., the interim Board, the new Board, the Leadership Team, the Polity Committee don’t respond with humility to God’s dealings not even the outside of the Tupperware will get cleaned in November or December. Heed the call to let go of disobedience! This is my 100th post. The call to let go of disobedience has been in force for a year. Repent quickly of your pride, deceit, hypocrisy, love of reputation, and lording. The anger of the Lord has been aroused and is evident round about you. Break before you are broken.

Matt 23:26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

Nahum 1:6 Who can withstand his indignation? Who can endure his fierce anger? His wrath is poured out like fire; the rocks are shattered before him.

Listen now to Josh (including Josh)!

These are excerpts from the audio with the minutes in brackets. The entire message can be heard at .

It Is as Bad as It Seems [00:00-06:42]

We are walking through what is without any exaggeration the most difficult challenge that we have faced as a church. Last week C.J. Mahaney, a man who help to found this church and led it for 27 years, a man who is a father in the faith to many of us, a dear friend, a beloved teacher of the gospel, who has served as the President of our network of churches called Sovereign Grace. Last week C.J. stepped down from his role as President because of accusations that were being brought to him from several different men, one in particular, accusations of hypocrisy, coercion, deceit, sinful judgment and unentreatability. C.J. has confessed to some of these sins. He disagrees with others but he is committed to searching his life and inviting others into his life to examine these accusations more carefully. He is taking a leave of absence so that an independent panel, a group of people outside of our church, outside of our family of churches, can look into these accusations and provide an objective evaluation of his character and leadership of Sovereign Grace Ministries.

The primary person bringing these accusations is a man named Brent Detwiler who helped to found Sovereign Grace and served closely with C.J. for many years on the leadership team. In years past Brent has preached here at CLC and is a friend to many. Brent has compiled three documents, totally over 600 pages of emails and meeting notes and his own reflections in bringing these accusations to C.J. of his sin. And he sent these to C.J., one at a time over the past 16 months and when efforts at a process of mediation could not be agreed upon the three documents were sent to all the pastors of Sovereign Grace, and subsequently someone posted them on the internet this past week. In just a few days they have been down loaded and read by thousands of people and many, many, more people will be reading them in the coming days.

The accusations and the details that are shared in these documents not only accused C.J. but they also, understandably so, call into question the judgment and the integrity of the leaders around C.J. including myself. People are asking, ‘What did people know and when did they know it? What did C.J. actually do? Is Brent’s interpretation of all these events true and why didn’t the men around C.J. do more to challenge him and help him?

We are going to gathering as a church tonight and we are going to begin a process of seeking to answer these questions. Tonight’s meeting won’t be the only meeting. It will just be the first conversation, the first dialogue in a series of important conversations that we need to have as a church family. And you have the commitment of your pastors that we will speak honestly and clearly and tell you about what exactly we have seen and what we’ve known at every point along the way whether that puts us in a favorable light or unfavorable light. We are committed to walking in the light with you.

In the midst of a crisis like this one, the temptation for a leader like me is to stand before the people that I’ve been called to lead and say two things. It is not as bad as it seems. And it’s not your leaders’ fault. But I can’t say that because it wouldn’t be true. It is as bad as it seems. And it is the fault of your leaders. And we desperately need the help of God and the wisdom and the accountability of the people who have looked to our leadership to sort through this mess.

And that’s why today and I struggle to know what to preach to you today friends. But that’s why today I think the most important topic I can teach on from God’s word is the discipline of the Lord. My role in this moment is to the best of my ability help you to interpret from God’s word what is taking place. And I don’t claim to have all wisdom or all knowledge but to the best of my attempts to pray and understand what is taking place, this is what I see.

Our focus does not need to be on our perceived enemies. I believe God would have your leaders humbly acknowledge that it is our sin and our failure and our faulty structures that have brought this trouble. I don’t believe that these events are an accident. I believe they are the loving discipline of our heavenly Father. And no matter whose fault this is, this is what we cannot get around. This is what is unavoidable. We cannot get around the fact that our church and our entire denomination is being publicly spanked. We are being humiliated. We are being brought low. God is getting our attention. And the word of God tells us in Hebrews 12 that he is treating us as sons.

Let Go of Disobedience [13:20-15:10]

And that’s what we do when we try to run the race in the Christian life clinging to sinful habits and ungodly practices. They weigh us down, they cling to us. And so God says to us, ‘Lay them aside. Lay them aside. Let go of them.’ And sometimes we do and sometimes illuminated by the Holy Spirit, convicted of our sin, we lay the sin aside and we run faster.

But there are other times when we refuse to let go and we hold them close to us for whatever reason, we don’t want to depart with them. We don’t want to go forward without them. And this is where God’s discipline comes into play because God loves us so much that he refuses to allow his children to keep running with those idols and those weights and that sin clinging to them. So in his love he helps us to let go of those things that we are carrying. He helps us to let go. Isn’t that what discipline is? It is someone in authority helping us to let go of disobedience. That’s a nice way to put it. It is pain being brought into our lives. It is challenges being brought into our lives. It is a shaking being brought into our lives that forces us to let go and look to Jesus!

God Gets Our Attention [34:08-38:19]

When we try to come up with discipline for ourselves, it might be a slight discomfort but it won’t really hurt. It won’t bring about the real change that we need. Here’s the point. You will not bring consequences into your own life capable of getting at the most serious issues of your soul. You and I can never do that. We would never write up that plan. The plan necessary to get at the deepest issues of our heart. The real idols that we are holding on to. The real things. We need God to do that. Only God can do that. If we could lay them down by ourselves we would have done so long ago. And that’s why it has to hurt. It has to be painful because only God can bring it and only God knows exactly what we need to let go of those idols. A part of us will hate it as we go through it.

And so I just want to ask you a question. How could God discipline a whole church? How could God discipline a whole denomination? What possible set of circumstances could he create that would force entire family of churches to recognize, to acknowledge, to turn away from deeply entrenched and flawed patterns of leadership and practice and church government? What could God possibly do to get an entire movement to do that?

Well let me just propose a scenario for you. He could allow a chorus of critics on the internet to point out the most glaring failures and inconsistencies of that movement in an unrelenting way. He could allow the issues that they didn’t want to deal with, or have the nerve to change, to be aired in public. He could allow a breakdown in a relationship and the stubbornness of leaders to culminate in a set of circumstances so that all the mistakes and all the relational sins at the top levels of leadership would be written down and posted on the internet for the entire world to read. Do you think that would work?

Brothers and sisters, ultimately it doesn’t matter if the people who are attacking us are unkind or unethical or angry. Imagine how the people of God when he brought the nation of Assyria to attack them. Do you think that seemed fair? And yet God was after their hearts. He is after our hearts.

God, and God alone, has brought this unthinkable sequence of events about. There are no accidents in his universe. He disciplines those he loves and it hurts and that’s the point. And that leads us to point number four. And that is, that we must be trained by it. God disciplines because he loves, it hurts, and we must be trained by it. We must be trained by it.

Resisting the Discipline of the Lord [39:17-41:00]

There is so much joy in becoming more like our Lord and more pleasing to him. When we let go of those weights and those sins that we are carrying we are not going to be sad, we are going to be joyful. It is going to be better. Do you see that promise that God is holding out for us? But we have to allow the discipline to train us. You see there is a response involved on our part. There is a response involved on our part. It is to those who are trained by it. We can either choose to be trained by the discipline or we can resist it.

Look back at verse 5 [in Hebrews 12], because it tells us some of the temptations that we face when we encounter discipline and how we can resist it. Quoting from Proverbs 3 it says, ‘My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord nor be weary when reproved by the him.’ When God corrects you don’t become weary. So the first potential way that we can resist or wrongly respond to the discipline of the Lord is to regard it lightly. To not take it seriously. To not see it for what it is. To kind of blow it off and say, “Oh well, you know this is just happening, it’s not that big of deal. We’ll just get through this and we’ll just kind of go on with business as usual. We’ll just kind of keep on doing our thing and this will pass. There is no lesson for us in this. We just need to tweak a few things. Everything will be fine. That is taking the discipline of the Lord lightly.”

Trained by Discipline [47:13-51:34]

Please pray for me. Please pray for all the people that are involved that we would be trained by this discipline. Not that we would just get through it. Not that any one person would be preserved, or not preserved in a position, but that the Lord would train us through this discipline. That we would receive and benefit from everything that he wants to teach us no matter how painful it is for anyone through the process. That we would not short circuit or try to run away from this process.

I just want to share with you some of the issues that God is beginning to reveal in my own heart. I am not seeking to speak for any other person but myself. In this season of shaking, these are the things I believe God wants us to let go of. I am seeing in my own life a spiritual pride and self-righteousness. You know for too long I had the attitude that we were the best church and the best family of churches, the best network of churches in the world. That we had a corner on sound doctrine. That we were both charismatic and Reformed. That we were the best at applying truth and living out our faith and I had a condescending attitude toward other churches. I remember having a condescending attitude toward my own parents and their church. And that is just pride. God is shaking that out of my hands. May God shake that out of all of our hands. I understand why people in our community have viewed CLC as elitist and exclusive because I think that has been in some of our hearts. I am not accusing all of you of this, but I think it is there. I think we need to cry out to God to help us, to reveal it if it is there.

I am seeing an overconfidence in leaders. Now don’t get me wrong. I believe we need leaders. God’s word clearly states that leadership and pastors are his idea. But I also believe in light of the doctrine of sin that we need appropriate checks and balances from the congregation. Our church government as a movement is broken and it is confused. And we have not moved quickly enough or decisively enough to fix it. And for too long we have assumed, as pastors, that we could handle everything on our own. And we have not recognized enough the gifts and the wisdom and the work of the Holy Spirit in the congregation to help us do the work and the leadership that God has called us to do. And that must change. That will change.

I know there is a lot more for me to see. So many of these things have been things I have seen in glimpses. I’ve wrestled with in private. I’m sorry, I’m sorry that it has taken me so long to recognize and acknowledge these things. I don’t have answers or neat solutions. I don’t have a great plan to roll out for you. But I want to invite you the members of this church to partner with your pastors and to join us in the hard and painful process of laying aside the weights and sin. The weights of faulty organizational structures, faulty church government, faulty practices, sinful attitudes. Help us as we sort through this before the Lord. As we lay aside these weights. As we seek to embrace all that God has for us in this discipline process.

##

Post Script - SGM Says Presentations Are Confidential

The SGM Board has forbidden all pastors from sharing the presentations they have received with anyone who isn’t a pastor (that’s SGM polity at work). Quote: "These resources are confidential materials that are intended for the sole use of SGM pastors." Once again “confidentiality” is used as a justification for concealment. Not even the results of Bible study can be shared with the people of SGM.

Every church member in SGM should be able to view the various presentations being made by other church leaders so they can learn and be part of the process in determining the future of SGM not only their local church. Who is SGM to allow the pastors to receive copies but not allow the members to receive copies? This injunction should be rejected.

What’s to hide? Nothing! Every church member should ask their pastors to post their polity presentation. There are 24 presentations but 100 churches. The other 76 should benefit from the work of the 24. So if your pastors refuse to provide their polity paper, you know they don’t believe in “Jesus ruled, elder led and congregationally accountable” polity. They want you to be ignorant and excluded from being a vital part of the discussion.