james river assembly scandal
I am sorry if anything I wrote about Che offended you. I would lay 50 to 1 odds that a change in MD will be announced and proved to be a change in words not a change in behavior! Ironically, in giving this speech, Lindell was doing just that shooting the wounded. You have no idea how freeing it has been not to be shamed into believing the best groupthink of celebs when in fact, patterns, polity, hierarchical doctrines and associations should have given us pause all along. 17 They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you. Im trying to get people to understand it because theres a whole lot of stuff thats out there thats being said, much of it is just just simply not even close to truth. GW youth group also adopted the whole Tribes deal directly from Hillsong, complete with competing tribes wearing war paint and carrying weapons. @ sam: Who has harmed you? OT but of interest: the former pastor of a megachurch in Richmond, VA goes on trial tomorrow on charges of sexually abusing two minors in Texas some years ago. . Those who challenged him were openly chastised, disgracefully removed from membership and/or shunned until the organization he created finally said enough is enough and sent him packing (however, with a nice severance package). In his case, trust had to be earned, for obvious reasons. He can be forgiven. Which is all to say that if he was a wanted man back in Jerusalem and the believers did not trust him, then some of the credit for his going away for a few years goes to those who did not let him just keep on keeping on, despite some abrupt lateral entry into proto-christianity. If a pastor says anything positive about another pastor, and that other pastor has a history of patterns of behavior and teachings that are destructive it is wise to ask pastor 1 if he has checked him out before he promotes him. Imagine that. And shame on these preachers at these churches giving MD a platform to relaunch his church-related career. So now is the time ta share with kind folks the destination of their eternal soul? Driscoll has used this vague parallels to himself many times, framing the sermon in the context of his own life with the lives of other noble characters, most notably Jesus. The kid starts expecting it. The Reformed Neo Cal world is going, Mark who?. James River is a mega church. Ive recently read Wayne Jacobsen Finding Church, Frank Viola Finding Organic Church, Terry Stanley The way Church Was Meant To Be and found what they think the church should be an interesting concept but so far Im not convinced. At a cash price of 2600 Denarii ($210,000 in Roman money) a book? They proposed to keep Marc but I had to go. I just do not understand this focus on hoping Christians leaders will actually and finally act like Christians when everything they have been involved with and built looks nothing like Jesus Christ. Does it lie with Driscoll/Chandler or does it lie with the people whom they want to trust them? I am a current attender who was raised by people who love this church but I definitely have my confusions on a few things. The reason why I answered like that is because most of this stuff goes on because the pew sitters are not actively involved in the church operatons and are not demanding openess and transparancy of staff and leaders. this discussion you make today determines your destiny, God wants you to forgive. As for my outsider perspective he seems like someone youd want as a pastor if you wanted to get big and have lots of revenue streams. http://jewsforjudaism.org/knowledge/articles/answers/jewish-polemics/texts/christian-proof-texting/, from reading rob smiths post about the orphanage Agathos in Africa being defunded by Marks Hill church and marks telling missionaries not to work with them it is clear where Matt Chandler got the idea. Mark also provided the all important yet elusive authentic community so long as you bow to him and stay on his good size. Lindell hit two main points: the Bible is clear in its condemnation of homosexuality as sin and the ordinance is an infringement on the religious rights of Christians who believe so. All you have to do is say some magic words and we end up being the mean ones if dare say we otherwise. Are you not voting? He diverts attention from the real purpose, the Gospel, to himself. i think that Jesus and God are Awesome, the only crisis i have been having is in my view of the world and the church. Driscoll was never really qualified to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the first place he proved that time and time again by his un-Christlike behavior in word and action. Why would anyone seek to admire and celebrate a man who plotted to kill millions of innocent American civilians? What in the world could someone with his outlandish views contribute to conferences at Hillsong or James River? notable pastors have been pouring into his life. Ill talk to you more tomorrow, so dont forget to check back! So why would they view power and authority as central to the Gospel? Its appalling that through your words and actions you are able to re-injure the real victims with such ease all while smiling and chuckling on your stage. And he was not originally trusted or met with open arms by the Jesus believers of the day. Dont forget his church plant was asked to leave my kids school at the time. 4 Ways of Discerning If You Have Left Jesus Behind. I dont believe the above because I am wondering how many more similar stories no matter how benign, there are. In your mega travels Lydia, is this homogenization of bad practices the norm? He is not going to go run to a car dealership the minute he gets out of jail. I recently ran into Scott Thomas and asked him about his promise to never abandon our orphans. He was no longer at Mars Hill Church and was himself suffering a level of abuse from the Mars Hill Church leadership. He was engaging, funny and gracious. Great comment Bridget. Christians have to be different than that. sometimes i have hurt people because i have gotten caught up in the excitement of a new orginazation or enterprise but i have never been able to stay that way long, my conscience pricks me until i stop and go back and make things right with people i have hurt. It is profoundly ironic that false teachers twist this particular scripture in an abusive way to their advantage just so that they can continue abusing. "In other words, you can believe what you want within the confines of the four walls of the church as long as you don't live it outside of the church.". . Has he asked them to forgive him? arrogant, a lover of money, Gateway also directly lifted the slogan every number has a name, every name has a story.. spiel verbatim from Perry Nobles NewSpring to try to distract from the reality that every member is seen as a giving unit number (no attribution to Perry, of course). And Jesus said He would send the Spirit of Truth, how we deal with situations in truth or deceitfulness is very telling. Those ones arent even on the path. James River Church is one of the largest Assemblies of God churches in the United States. Brian Houston, pastor of Hillsong Church, issued a statement over the weekend, which drew considerable media attention. I never saw it tried in a church setting, but something like that was tried where I worked. But with those reading glasses they are losing their hipness and relevance and megas feed off of young marrieds with children. (See screen shot from the church website. Rumors that circulated after the trial of Paul Petry. It is like embezzlers working around money. As some are aware, the result of me pleading for a fair trial and arguing for due deliberation when changing bylaws was that Mark Driscoll, in an abusive and vile manner, threatened to destroy me and my ministry. I think it should lie with the one who broke the trust in the first place. @ sam: I wish he would try to get a corporate communications job or something though. Gramp3 and I were recalling today the first time we ever heard Driscolls name brought up in a church. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1989926/posts He was a mass murdering thug. peaceable disposition. Some of it probably is. Working at James River is never be boring because of the mission that you are pursuing and the amazing things that you get to be a part of. We saw the Dallas Morning News drop TVC story like it had Ebola germs on it despite knowing that parents were not being warned of a pedophile in their midst. Its a measure of arrogance, tweeted retired attorney and flight instructor Jeanne Mann on Sunday with a photo from the gathering. Considering the level of corruption I impute to mixing with Driscoll, Im not wondering much. In his sermon, Lindell cites several verses to make his No. I dont beleive that for a moment. His most shocking was when just before he stepped down from the pulpit and was in the midst of many scandals, he did a sermon on the many mistakes of Jesus. Marc turned the offer down and we received the letter from Scott Thomas shortly thereafter. of course i have no idea really what is driving mark driscoll but thats what i think it might be. Members are guests? Well, we can handle the truth. @ Lydia: And there were no acrobats, flying drummers, or the need to check out the latest cosmetic procedure on the head worship pastor there. If so associating with Driscoll they can get the thug part down. Posted by NancyAlcorn at 1:06 PM 2 comments. You dont find out about some of the really bad stuff until you are pretty deep into it. So this is kinda what we do So in Africa we partnered and we have an orphanage there that now has I think it is 32 kids and 140 people in Mars Hill give monthly to help support them. I had never heard someone talk like that. Because cheap grace for Christians who are not decent people is all the rage now. think of him as he is pray to glorified jesusking of kings lord of lords worshiped by angels. stephen says Ive gotta find jesus on the worst most devasting difficult damaging day of my life I have to find jesus (more mark interpreting the bible for all of us non pastors, stephen already knew where Jesus was) and he sees jesus, what is jesus doing? They have a very different take on the fulfillment of prophecy that you may enjoy learning as a contrast with your own beliefs. In your mega travels, Lydia, whats the biggest honorarium from tithe dollars you have been privy to? As I was getting ready for church last Sunday morning, I quickly checked my Facebook feed for any news and saw the this headline (see screen shot below): I 'shared' the article from an Australian news source, along with a comment: "Mark Driscoll needs to step away from the microphone for a long season of contemplation.". He told me Tuesday that he has every right to campaign for repeal in a sermon. I tend to doubt it but who knows. Sincerely want to know what the alternative is. Likewise, you cannot be or stay a pastor if you find out that you cant respect people. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=i7lv9oMjv_0&sns=em. Its all good until (insert question or issue). It is all he knows, and Im sure he has bills to pay, and is used to a certain standard of living. There is no glorifying God in any of that. I think its much the same thing. ++++++++++++++++. Where are all the former higly paid speaking gigs that were constant and kept his calendar full with travel? one person, after 6 months finally started to say why they didnt attend gateway anymore and it made me wonder why people dont warn others. Mark was talking about Mark. During this pandemic we have helped thousands of people with food, financial assistance, counsel, and spiritual encouragement. It was because of a backfire in strategy by then executive pastors Jamie Munson and Scott Thomas, who handled my discipline case. They did not want us to leave. They sing and wave their arms and hug and praise other givers. Did you miss a tithe payment? Certainly, or we are no better than he is. I am the way and the truth, no one comes to the Father, but through Me -Jesus, all those who call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved!. His behaviour has been SO egregious, that I believe that he needs to stay out of anything that offers him a place of leadership or authority. I hope more will speak up in the future. I am not the judge of the hearts of men, but God has given us clues to the genuine presence of the Spirit, and I did not see it. At a certain level they wanted leaderless teams who would function by consensus. I think it underestimates those believers in the pews who are, themselves, filled with the Spirit and do exhibit the fruit of Galations 5. "Although I don't think I'm going to 'love' this column.". What I do really pray for is that the followers start questioning and thinking about what they support and find freedom in their own seeking of Christ instead of following a guru and his interpretations. But in America, (to quote HUG) its all about the Benjamins, baby. You should be ashamed of yourself for supporting such a bully in the name of Jesus Christ. But the dishonest churches can be relied upon to cry persecution. i dont know what the answer is except to not get under the pastor leader concept ever. I dont feel I HAVE to agree with you. We are believing this 5-day event will change your life! The true character of a man shows when you see how he treats those with less power who depend on him for his income. ( a stage really ) Same old spin .different tune. appeciate your posts and the others on this blog, i remember that, thanks Van, for the reminder. But maybe power is just something that is too tempting for him to handle and in order for him to live out his life following Christ, it may be something he must never let pass his lipsmuch like alcoholics cannot drink again. Remember how everyone always tells Muslims to denounce terrorism and extremism? Applying this mode to spiritual abuse has gotten me thinking..and I wonder if in the future Mark will only hang around people/churches that are willing to stay on this Drama Triangle. In Driscolls case he didnt even offer up the grudging apology specifically for the lives he ruined, the corruption, or the abuse of those at Mars Hill. here is a bit of what i could type out as he was speaking, would love to see a transcript of it instead of having to listen to it though. http://www.mercyministries.org/, though she scrubbed some posts referring to her involvement when it was hillsong ministries mercy ministries there are still a few unscrubs left here and there.
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