SGM-Mahaneygate: Challies, Mohler, Duncan, Piper, Sproul, Carson, Dever, MacArthur, Grudemn, DeYoung, Trueman, Chandler

Co-defendant, C. J. Mahaney, in Child and Sex Abuse Lawsuit

Sage and orbital musings by Brent Detwiler about SGM-Mahaneygate.

http://www.brentdetwiler.com/brentdetwilercom/2012/10/26/random-thoughts-on-recent-events.html

Random Thoughts on Recent Events

Friday, October 26, 2012 at 11:03AM

 

Church Polity: This Sunday the Board of Directors will send the polity proposal they adopted to the SGM pastors. I think it will be a combination of Presbyterian and independent. They probably hope it will serve as a distraction from the class action lawsuit.

Challies: I wonder if pro-C.J. blogger, Tim Challies, will tell his readers not to read the lawsuit like he did my documents.

Mohler & Duncan: I wonder if Al Mohler, President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) and Ligon Duncan, noted Presbyterian churchman, will vilify the plaintiffs and call all the charges in the lawsuit slanderous? That’s what they’ve done in the past with anyone who speaks against C.J.

SBTS Trustees: What does the Board of Trustees at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary think now about the cozy relationship between C.J., SGM and the seminary now? I doubt they’ll make a 100k contribution like C.J. did in 2008 to help cover lawyer’s fees.

C.J.’s Circle of Friends: Will men like John Piper, R.C. Sproul, D.A. Carson, Mark Dever, John MacArthur, Wayne Grudem, Kevin DeYoung, Carl Trueman, Matt Chandler, et al., continue to actively support C.J. by having him speak in their churches, participate in their conferences, endorse his books, etc. It will interesting to see if any of these men grant an interview on the SGM website commending C.J. and SGM until the lawsuit is resolved.

Name of Church: Now would be a good time for any church with Sovereign Grace in their name to change it.

Molestation Policies: Churches need to have policies and procedures in place to protect against child abuse at all church functions (home groups, seminars, retreats), not just on Sunday morning.
   
Sex Offender Register: Every church should have a sex offender register on their website. Require this of your pastors.

Leave of Absence for President and Chairman: The SGM Board of Directors should relieve President Mahaney and Chairman Loftness of their responsibilities until the lawsuit is resolved - not as an admission of guilt but as a precaution.

Mahaney and Loftness Fired: If SGM, Mahaney, and Loftness are successfully sued for covering up child molestation they should be immediately fired by the Board of Directors.

Pastors Who Cover up Molestation: Every church needs to find out how their pastors have handled sexual and spousal abuse in their church in the past. Did they contact the police, etc. Demand an accounting. Church members must find out if sexual abuse was covered up.

Civil Versus Criminal Suit: Think of O.J. Simpson. He was not found guilty in a criminal court but he was found liable in a civil court. One article I read explained it this way. “The burden of proof in criminal matters is ‘beyond a reasonable doubt,’ which is much more difficult to achieve than the ‘preponderance of evidence’ standard used in most civil cases…. The civil justice system does not determine an offender’s guilt or innocence, but works to determine whether the offender is liable for the harm caused to the victim…. This burden of proof essentially means that one side’s evidence must be more persuasive than the other; this is far lower than the burden necessary in a criminal case.”

Monetary and Equitable Relief: “A plaintiff can either ask for monetary relief, or equitable relief. Monetary relief is when the plaintiff asks for a cash award to remedy the situation. Equitable relief is when the plaintiff asks for the court to order the other party to do or not to do something” (“The Difference between Civil Courts and Criminal Courts,” The Leadership Conference). If SGM or any of the defendants are liable, I hope the plaintiff’s ask for both kinds of relief. I assume they can require SGM to take action that prevents the cover up of child molestation in the future.

Liability Insurance: SGM has liability insurance but I don’t believe it covers the kind of malpractice alleged in the class action lawsuit. If I am correct, that means SGM will have to pay all lawyer fees and damages awarded by the court if found liable. That could bankrupt SGM. I assume individual defendants will also have to cover their own their own expenses and damages if found liable. May the innocent be vindicated and the guilty held accountable. I don’t want to see anyone harmed financially or otherwise who is not guilty.
    
Additional Defendants: More defendants should be named in the lawsuit. I can think of a few in light of recent revelations. I’m sure the attorneys are busy taking names and gathering information.

Ambassadors of Reconciliation: Ed Kober and Ed Keinath defended SGM in “Cases Involving Sexual Misconduct” on page 19 as found in their April 10, 2012, Ambassadors of Reconciliatlion Report to the Sovereign Grace Ministries Board of Directors. They said the following. “Some raising their concerns alleged that SGM consistently handles such cases in irresponsible ways. While we did not complete detailed reviews of cases involving sexual misconduct, we were able to review documentation in some situations that demonstrated the SGM leadership understood the gravity of the situations. SGM leaders offered care and concern, they sought professional legal and counseling help for SGM and key leaders involved, and in some cases they helped connect parties to Christian mediators.” This amounted to a complete vindication of Sovereign Grace Ministries. AoR should also be name as a defendant in the lawsuit. If the allegations in the lawsuit are true, then at least some of the plaintiffs made this clear to Ted and Ed. They did nothing but commend SGM in their report.
 
Stop Giving: How can anyone be donating money to Sovereign Grace Ministries? Last year they paid out over 400k to cover the cost for Ambassadors of Reconciliation and the corrupt Three Panel Review. This year they will pay out hundreds of thousands in attorney’s fees to fight the class action lawsuit. And fifteen months later, we still don’t know how much C.J. is compensated even though he promised to reveal it. Approach your pastors and find out if they are still giving your tithe money to SGM. Demand they stop. They should redirect the church’s giving to worthy individuals and organizations.
 
Start New Churches: If your church doesn’t leave Sovereign Grace Ministries, you should consider starting a new church comprised of people who are devoted to love our Lord Jesus in humility, integrity, and truth.

God’s Opposition: I’m sure C.J. and John are telling all their friends and associates that the lawsuit is full of slander. That they are not guilty of covering up child molestation. This much is certain, God continues to oppose the proud in SGM and only the proud in SGM are foolish enough to deny it (Jam 4:6-10, 1 Pet 5:5-6). Being good Calvinists, they shouldn’t blame the devil or people as primary agents. Yet C.J. and the Board present C.J. as the suffering servant who has been victimized by evil doers. They continue to deny God’s sovereign opposition. Pray for C.J. Proverbs 29:1 He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be broken beyond healing.

My Bitterness: Eleven months out of the year I do okay dealing with temptations to bitterness. October is different. I should be 25 feet up a tree in my beloved deer stand dressed in camo. Instead, I’m on the ground before my computer screen addressing SGM. A bitter man with a bow is not a good combination. By the way, I desperately need some updated broad head arrows. Make a donation so I can put food on my table and overcome my resentment. Help the hungry and pray November allows for hunting. Remember the words of Jesus to Peter. Acts 10:13 A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!”

Prayerfully Consider Financial Support 
 
My efforts are designed to help Christians judge righteously, think biblically, live courageously (and support hunting). Would you prayerfully consider a gift or donation? This work is aided by the kindness of appreciative readers. Click the donation button for more information. Thank you.
  

MacArthur's "Shepherds' Conference" of 2011

http://www.shepherdsconference.org/

We are reviewing--widely--various American ana-Baptists in their diversity from Mahaney, Sovereign Grace Ministries, Driscoll, Mars Hill, 29Acts, Gospel Coalition, MacArthur, Piper, Chander, Warren and others.  As Confessional Anglicans, if anything, we are pressed toward an higher view of the Bible, our Reformed Articles, and our Reformed Prayer Book.  Nevertheless, we survey these for purposes of understanding them.

The above URL is from MacArthur's "Shepherds' Conference."  Commendably, this ministry puts them online rather than "selling them."  We understand that John Piper does the same. At this point, we are not sure that Ligonier Ministries does that. 

One subset of our concerns is the "Celebrity Culture" and fiscal concerns.  It's a fact some men have become wealthy preaching the Bible. That raises other questions.

"Evangelical-Catholics Together" (Pt. 5)--MacArthur, Sproul, Kennedy, Anchorberg

"Evangelical-Catholics Together" (Pt.1)--MacArthur, Sproul, Kennedy, Anchorberg

We quote below what appears on the youtube. This is about 9-minutes. Drs. John MacArthur, R.C. Sproul, D. James Kennedy, and John Anchorberg.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZPkNA

"Roman Catholics and Protestant Evangelicals come together but can they Agree That Faith is a Gift by Gods Grace and Works are a Fruit of the Gift and not that Works Keep or Add to the Gift.

Article Below on this subject

Catholic theologians uphold the principle of salvation on the basis of Gods grace but what do they mean? The phrase by Gods grace is critical. The Roman Catholic sees Gods grace everywhere, and so inflates the concept of grace as to make it meaningless! It is well documented that Gods grace can be construed by Rome as God allowing us to suffer for our own sins! Incredibly, Rome says we must, by the grace of God, discharge the debt of sin by suffering! Trent is straight forward.

If anyone says that after the reception of the grace of justification the guilt is so remitted and the debt of eternal punishment so blotted out to every repentant sinner, that no debt of temporal punishment remains to be discharged either in this world or in purgatory before the gates of heaven can be opened, let him be anathema. Trent, Sixth session, January, 1547.

Taken from The Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent, by H.J. Schroeder, pgs. 41-46."

TAP BELOW FOR FULL ARTICLE
http://www.cwrc-rz.org/articles/artic

John MacArthur smacks down Joel Osteen

John MacArthur smacks down Joel Osteen

John MacArthur’s work “Charismatic Chaos," Mystics, Pentecostalists, Liberals and Emergents, 21-4-

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=16130&post=95077&uid=308173344359#post95077

We would add that these phenomena afflict in different ways: (AMiA), mainline liberalism (without the Pentecostalism), and Emergents. Some miscellaneous notes.

1. John MacArthur’s work “Charismatic Chaos” (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 21-40.

2. There are a number of unifying elements in Pentecostalism and charismaticism. Here's two unifiers (among others) (1) A post-salvation experience of baptism in the Holy Spirit. (2) Speaking in what they call “tongues,” more accurately described as modern day gibberish. This is debunked elsewhere.

3. Various questions present themselves to non-Montanist (non-Pentecostalist) Christians: Am I a second-class Christian? Why didn’t I get the gift of tongues (=gibberish)? Why no signs and wonders in my life? Why haven’t I heard “audible voices?” Or, like many of them, space trips to heaven?

4. This is not unique to non-Montanists. The same questions occur to many Montanists (=Pentecostals) who feel enormous pressure to “be spiritual,.” "to be Spirit-filled" or show other manifestations. We have testimonies on file to that end. They experience the impulse to exaggeration and even falsification.

5. Dr. MacArthur lists several bizarre reports from charismatics and their visits to heaven: Percy Collett, Dudley Danielson, Marvin Ford, Roberts Liardon, Aline Baxley, and Richard Eby. Pat Robertson’s 700 Club has been one conduit.

6. “Mysticism is a system of belief that attempts to perceive spiritual reality apart from objective, verifiable facts,” 35. Truth is received through intuition, feelings and internal senses. This appears to be governing principle for Montanists. Here, the Montanists are on the same page with Romanism. Both subvert the classical Christian position of Scripture as the governor of truth. Observe we did not say “may subvert” but, in fact, does subvert Scriptures as God’s means of Self-disclosure.

7. MacArthur gives us an historical review of Charles Parham’s Bethel Bible College wherein 30 students sought the “gift of tongues” in 1901. Also, Parham believed they were “foreign tongues” with a recognizable syntax, grammar, vocabulary and message. Several reportedly experienced this. Yet, later verification would require lexical and doctrinal adjustment--make it up as you go--of “foreign tongues” to mean an “heavenly language” (gibberish). No one raised the question as to demonic invasion and corruption. Given the adherence to mysticism and anti-intellectualism, correction makes Montanism difficult if not impossible for its devotees.

8. Pentecostalism often gets free passes. 1) Intimidation: the Pharisee trump card is played by its defenders. Other trump cards are: Divisive, Unloving, and Judgmental. 2) Cowardice in radio, TV, and magazine networks. 3) Cowardice by Pastors and national leaders. 3) The same dynamics (minus modern technology) were evident in the Arian developments of the fourth century vis a vis 8.1. Even Constantine the Great thought Athanasius was being divisive, judgmental and unloving. 4) There can be no peace and no truces with Pentecostalism.

9. Part One, 13-20, is found at the blog or Facebook at, respectively:

http://reformationanglicanism.blogspot.com/2010/03/john-macarthur-charismatic-chaos-grand.html

http://www.facebook.com/board.php?uid=308173344359&f=2#!/topic.php?uid=308173344359&topic=15932

Dr. John MacArthur’s “The Truth War,” ix-xx

1. Some observations on Dr. John MacArthur’s “The Truth War” (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2007), ix-xx.

2. John is a Pastor, dispensational Baptist, and Calvinistic but is not Confessionally Reformed or liturgical…defects we believe. Nevertheless, he writes with boldness and accuracy at many points. His writing is clear, accessible, pastoral, evangelical (non-Confessional), and bold.

3. John turns his guns on Emergent distortionists like Rob Bell and Brian McClaren. The Emergents are an informal affiliation of communities who want to revamp doctrine, the church, worship, piety and approaches to truth. ... See More

4. Truth is “inherently hazy, indistinct, and uncertain--perhaps unknowable.” McClaren in Christianity Today says: “I don’t think we’ve got the Gospel right yet…I don’t think the liberals have it right. But I don’t think we have it right either. None of us has arrived at orthodoxy.”

5. John points to Zondervan’s “Emergent/YS” product line for youth specialties. In addition to John, we’d add that Zondervan is a bottom-line organization that has lost it’s Reformational roots, like Christianity Today. It’s about a buck and accommodation.

6. John points to martyrs in history who died for the truth. All the apostles were martyred, with perhaps the exception of St. John. Early apostolic leaders were martyred, such as Ignatius and Polycarp, both friends and disciples of St. John the Apostle.

7. Before the blood-thirsty mob in the Roman stadium, Polycarp was pressed to recant his faith. His response: “Eighty-six years have I served him, and he never once wronged me. How then shall I blaspheme my King who saved me.” We would add that Polycarp didn’t have the advanced teaching of the TBN-wolves to “blab and grab it,” “name and claim it, “and speak it into existence.” Polycarp hadn’t read Osteen’s, “Your Best Life Now.”

8. As a Reformed Anglican, the lives, stories and theologies of the Calvinistic Anglicans who were martyred under Queen Mary are near and dear to this scribe. John doesn’t mention it; he's a Baptist so it does not figure alot. But he's correct about the early church. We also think of the 1000's of French Calvinists murdered in 1572 in Paris. We scarcely doubt that the Emergents like Bell and McClaren have read a lick on the English Reformation. But John is making his point about early martyrs--men and women--who died for their faith.

9. John whacks the “entertainment-hungry churchgoers who pack today’s mega-churches.” Whack. While John has areas of theological error on our view, he’s bold and spot-on about many of them wouldn’t “take a bold stand for the truth…” Standing for the truth is the “furthest thing from most churchgoers thoughts.” Whack! Where’s the “slap button” on Facebook.

10. John refers to St. Paul’s admonition to the younger protégé, Timothy. 2 Tim.4.1-4 (NKJV):

“1 I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: 2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” The itching ears of goats. They turn their ears from truth by instinct.

11. Doctrine is “uncool” as John says and as the mega-churches allegedly advance. We know that Paul Crouch, Sr., of TBN says doctrine is “dooh-dooh and I’m tired of these heresy hunters.” Poor Paul. But John has the Emergents in his targets. We add that “Goat-Herding and Goat-Pleasing Ministries” might be appropriate titles.

12. John points us to the cosmic battle that Satan wages against His Majesty, Three-in-One. He observes that real Pastors are needed who will feed the flock with knowledge and understanding (Jer.3.15; Acts 20.28-31). He gives the doctrine on special and general revelation with the usual biblical texts. We won’t develop that now or here.

13. We find this book quite charming, delightful, correct, clear, very readable, and a salutary contribution for our times. It’s date is 2007.

14. We would recommend a few things: Modern Reformation, a skilled magazine, is running a series throughout 2010 on recovering the Scriptures at: http://www.whitehorseinn.org/modern-reformation/blog.html For the inclined, it’s worth the subscription.

15. Also join our engagement on Facebook entitled “Exposing the False Prophets—Reformation Christians Against TBN” at: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&gid=308173344359

16. Also, Reformation Anglicanism at: http://reformationanglicanism.blogspot.com/ provides a variety of postings from a Confessional Calvinist and Anglican.

17. Lest we forget. John’s frontispiece has a commendable quote from Spurgeon along these lines. We summarize. 1) The Church is an Army (we’d prefer Marines, actually, but we love and respect soldiers, sailors, airmen and coasties…this is not in Spurgeon’s quote). 2) Christ is the “Prince of Peace,” that is the Gospel is the good news of reconciliation, justification, adoption, sanctification and the several other benefits that do accompany or follow from them. And good news it is! However, 3) the Church is the Church Militant on earth. As Spurgeon says, “The spotless purity of truth must always be at war with the blackness of heresy and lies.” Hear! Hear, Charles!

We stand right alongside John's position for truth and the Gospel. There is no other choice.