Ken Silva of
Apprising Ministries offers his assessment of ER2, TD Jakes, and Benny Hinn’s
girl-friend, Paul White. We offer our comments in red.
Apprising Ministries continues covering the
aftermath of the Elephant Room 2, which was put on by former Gospel Coalition
members James MacDonald and Mark Driscoll. [RA: Apparently, Driscoll and the Gospel Coalition
have been involved. As Confessional
Anglicans, we’ve not followed the ins-and-outs of these Baptacostals, except at
a well-advised distance. They offer so
little. Our distance is suitable and well-advised.]
[RA: We’re still not
following all the chaos of these sectarians like Harvest Chapellers, Acts 29,
Driscoll and others. We are not
schismatics and sectarians without confessional or creedal roots. Who is Jakes?
MacDonald? TGC? Baptacostalist sectarians?]
Then
on Wednesday of this week we suddenly saw Mark
Driscoll Resigns From The Gospel Coalition [RA: We
note this/] right on the heels of Matt
Chandler To Be New President OfFActs 29 Network as Driscoll decided to step
down. Sources within Acts 29 tell me these are related, at least in part, to
ER2. [RA:
Sectarians and schismatics from the beginning. They are Baptacostals and Baptacholics.] Fallout
from ER2 will likely continue to be seen within the contemporary evangelicalism
[RA: What is “contemporary
evangelicalism”?] this year because the main claim to fame for this
conference was, in my opinion, the pass given to Word Faith mogul T.D. Jakes. [RA: What has been, if
ever, the Confessional, liturgical and creedal benchmark for McDonald or the
other schismatics? Ditto for all TBN
exhorters? Or SBCers without a
Confession?] As I see it, led by Mark Driscoll, Jakes was essentially
allowed to say, “I’m a trinitarian-modalist.” [RA: Since when has the Creed, or Creeds, meant
much to SBC exhorters like Silva? At
least Anglicans have retained the Creeds.] Jakes’ obvious Word Faith
prosperity teachings were never even mentioned, let alone addressed. [OK, is this it?]
The
net result is ER2 was successful in mainstreaming T.D. Jakes [RA: So?]; and then James MacDonald would go on the
offensive on the Chris
Fabry Live (CFL) program to imply that in their private dialogues Jakes
does not accept the label of a Word Faith prosperity preacher. However from
years of involvement with, and study of, the WF movement I can tell you that no
WF preacher wants to be branded with that particular label. [RA: So, put the question in full and in the particulars to
Jakes. At this point, McDonald is just
another sectarian, schismatic, Anabaptistic, and
Baptacostal revivalist.]
Unfortunately
for James MacDonald et al the facts simply don’t line up with his assertion
that T.D. Jakes is not a WF prosperity preacher. [RA: It would appear that Jakes is a full-breed
Pelagian, to wit, that children imitate and follow their parents’ behaviours,
rather than inherit sin natures. We’ve always understood Jakes to be a
Word-Prosperity-Pimp. Why any discussion
of it by MacDonald?] For example
there’s Megachurch
Pastors Joel Osteen And T.D. Jakes Unite And Why You Should Care and T.D.
Jakes May 2012 Leadership Conference To Feature Joel Osteen. Then just a
couple of weeks ago T.D.
Jakes Speaker This Month For Paula White’s A God Encounter. [RA: Has Jakes ever
postulated or presented his “Confession of Faith,” like the Westminsterians? If not, why not? Where is Jakes’s confession to the world?] While
Osteen sugarcoats his Word Faith prosperity [RA: Osteen
has to be the most ignorant cleric on TV today] preaching by mixing in self-help jargon ala Robert Schueller [RA: While at it,
where is Osteen’s “Confession of Faith,” like the Westminsterians. Does the old boy have one? One that can be examined? Osteen’s ignorance is legendary.] ,
there is no doubt that Pastrix Paula [Ditto for White’s
“Confession of Faith”] White is basically a female version of T.D.
Jakes. If you didn’t know, there’s good reason for this as White often speaks
of Jakes as her “spiritual father,” which you can hear for yourself in Elephant
In The Room: T.D. Jakes And Paula White. To point this out is not merely
guilt by association.
To
look at this in a legal sense, it goes to the credibility of T.D. Jakes. It was
James MacDonald who called Jakes to the witness stand in ER2 and he’s attempted
to defend his brother Jakes. We then have every right to cross examine the
record of T.D. Jakes [RA: This is always the right of a
Biblical analyst] who stated on the record that he holds an orthodox
view of the Holy Trinity and, according to his spiritual defense attorney [RA” Spiritual attorney?} now apparently claims not to be Word Faith.
Since
Paula White claims Jakes was her mentor [RA: Jakes?
White claims this? Where is the
scholarly bibliography of several hundred volumes? Jakes?
How about the scholars of the ages?], which he also acknowledges,
then we are within our right to examine her teachings and lifestyle because
they also reflect upon her spiritual father T.D. Jakes. In closing this, for
now, I point you to an Orlando Sentinel piece from January of this year called New
Destiny’s Paula White preaches from life of ups, downs. Jeff Kunerth
begins:
In
her first sermon as the new pastor [RA” Pastor?” Ahem.] of New Destiny Christian Center,
Paula White described herself as a “messed up Mississippi girl” who was picked
on as a child. [RA: Irrelevant to Biblical exposition,
Biblical Churchmanship, doctrine, worship and piety.] But don’t let this
blond hair fool you, she told the congregation, this girl knows how to fight [RA: A bit of a yawner for retired and active duty U.S.
Marines. Sorry, Paula, but not very
impressive].
“I came out of my
momma’s womb fighting,” [RA: You’re alone? Do you think 1000s upon 1000s came foreward
without a struggle, Paula? And you are
special because of….?] she said. “That’s why I will go to war. I will
fight.” (Online
source) [RA: What a bizarre claim. The issue is harmartiology in the classical
sense, not your forlorn experience amongst southern Enthusiasts.]
Obviously, by
claiming to be a pastor White is already in violation of God’s Word (cf. 1 Timothy 2:12). [RA: After all, what is this gal’s theological
background? A 90-hour MDiv? A 30-hour Th.M.? A Ph.D.?
Or, much less?] You might be saying, “Wait a minute she’s
supposed to be the senior pastor of Without Walls Church.” That’s right, she
is; and she found a way to become pastrix of New Destiny Christian Center
(NDCC) as well. [RA:
Just another loud-mouthed hack and Baptacostalist without an education
and with a lot of vigour. What else
might be expected of individualistic Anabaptistic enthusiasts?] You
might recall in August of last year I told you that Florida
Megachurch Pastor Zachery Tims Found Dead, NDCC was his church.
Well,
pastrix Paula White claims that she was Tims’ spiritual mentor. [RA” White, a pastoral mentor, without degrees? ] For
more on the controversy surrounding just how White came to be appointed pastor
at NDCC I refer you to Paula
White Officially Appointed Senior Pastor of Zachery Tims’ Fla. Church. [RA: More hackeries
and loondoms.] Right now we return to our look at the teachings of
pastrix White as Orlando Sentinel reporter Jeff Kunerth continues:
White
often refers to her past personal hardships as examples of how faith and
determination have elevated her into the pulpit. Her rags-to-riches travails
inspire those in the congregation who have experienced difficulties in their
lives. [RA: Yawn. Where’s the exposition of Sacred
Scriptures?]
“Part of her appeal
is the success theology [RA: Holy moly, as a retired Marine and as a retired
senior officer, I can preach my successes in the military? Holy moly, let me write a book and get on TV
too…] she preaches,” [RA: Sheer crap.] said
Sheila Strobel Smith, an expert on leadership transition in mega-churches like
Apopka’s New Destiny. “For people feeling down and out, they can see she has
picked herself up and made a success of herself. And her life continues to play
that out.” (Online
source) [RA: More yawning.]
As
you can see, just as her spiritual father T.D. Jakes, White’s message is
herself; typical of Word Faith prosperity preachers. [RA: Suitable to half-wits and illiterates.] As
with other WF snake oil salesmen [RA: Including the
entire TBN crowd and Benny Hinn] Kunerth also tells us that Without
Walls Church, which White co-founded with her then husband Randy White [RA Whoa, Paula White, the scholar, the diva, the august, the Bimbo, the
magnificent, the PhD,. and the boyfriend of Benny Hinn. The two magisters and examples of illustration, the divorced
Paul and Randy, examples of Christian doctrine, worship and piety (tongue in
cheek[ got divorced, yet without a whimper from TBN]: became the focus
of a congressional investigation into several high-profile preachers suspected
of living lavish lifestyles at the expense of their congregations. (Online
source) [RA:
Have we ever seen Paula’s financial records? In full?
The whole and entire matter is still unresolved, including Paul Crouch
Sr.’s manifestations.]
Kunerth
also tells us, as it concerns her taking over NDCC, that White:
has
plenty of detractors, including R. Douglas Chukwuemeka, who came out of the
same Baltimore church as Zachery Tims and pastors New Destiny’s sister church
in Arizona. Chukwuemeka challenges White’s assertions that she was the close
spiritual mother of Tims. [RA: Baptacostalist yappings]
“She’s making it up
and playing on the people’s feelings,” said Chukwuemeka, senior pastor of New
Destiny Christian Church in Laveen, Ariz. “She definitely would not be the one
he would want to succeed him.” (Online
source) [RA: For the youths, young people, new inquirers
after Christ, non-catechetized but learning, and new joins, keep your hand on
the wallet, firmly. Think, read, mark
and decide, but never follow these half-wits.]
§ Then finally Jeff
Kunerth shares the following, which comes as absolutely no surprise to those of
us familiar with the preaching stylings of pastrix Paula White [RA: Silva, start
getting your subject and verb agreements together, otherwise, you look like an
uneducated Baptistic rubarb...that's what we expect from Baptacostals]:
Tall and slender, she
appears more model than minister — until she opens her mouth and begins to
preach. In a style borrowed from black pastors, including her “spiritual
father” T.D. Jakes, White preaches with a breathless delivery of nonstop
sentences that rise to an emotional peak just short of exhaustion. (Online
source) [RA:
The few times we’ve heard Paula speak, she sounds like a Baptacostalist
loon. No depth. No Confessionalism. Certainly, no liturgy. No Creedalism. What does she offer but her ignorance? Does she even have a credible and basic
90-hour degree in theology, a “starters” degree?]
I’ll
leave you with the following demonstration of pastrix Paula White in action so
you can see part of “the show” for yourself. Below is White preaching the
classic Word Faith sow a seed of money [RA: “Send dem
dollas in you folks” preaches the huckster] so God will be obligated to
bless you; and this she does for her spiritual father T.D. Jakes at his
Potter’s House in December of 2010:
00:00
RA: For new inquirers to
Christendom, teenagers, non-Catechetized, or young adults without a
background. Paula White, T.D. Jakes, TBN, Paul Crouch and Benny
Hinn should be avoided. On our end, we
need to develop a basic bibliography for new joins. After these exercises about “Witless Wonders,”
like White, we will get to the issues of providing a basic bibliography. 00:00
07:04
See
also:
