How Kinky Does it Have to Get? Stuart Scott et al Don’t Care
I have never been much for getting into the more bizarre aspects of New Calvinism, but we know that errant theology leads to life getting stranger and stranger. This post is about well-known Christians and their determination to associate with bizarre sects of New Calvinism. Without a doubt, the best example is my old stomping grounds, Clearcreek Chapel in Springboro, Ohio.
Clearcreek is still a training center for the National Association of Nouthetic Counselers and is on NANC’s national referral list. The Chapel is frequented by guest speakers such as Robert Jones, Paul David Tripp, Stuart Scott, and Lou Priolo. Apparently, Martha Peace has an ongoing teaching arrangement with Clearcreek as well. PPT has sent most of these folks letters asking them to not grant Clearcreek credibility in this way, but to no avail. Scott’s basic response was, “Not my problem.”
So, what doesn’t matter to these folks? Primarily, it doesn’t matter that one of Clearcreek Chapel’s staff elders (over adult education) is Chad Bresson, a former Christian radio personality. Bresson is one of the charter members of the Earth Stove Society which is a fringe group that promotes New Covenant Theology. Bresson authors the blog, Vossed World which is dedicated to the Bible Theology of Geerhardus Vos.
Vos has a cult following from this group. Literally. NCT fringe groups lead yearly pilgrimages to Vos’ gravesite in Pennsylvania to pay homage to Vos. Bresson led such a pilgrimage last year that was nothing short of a worship service. Bresson himself stood before Vos’ headstone and wept while reading from books written by Vos. Shockingly, Bresson posted the affair on his Facebook page and the information was forwarded to PPT.
“Standing in the midst of the obvious decay that is the hallmark of the already, speaks of the inbreaking ‘not yet’ through lumped throat and wet eyes.”
Just last week, I had the following encounter with an advocate of NCT and acquaintance of Bresson’s in the PPT comment section of a post:
My dear anti-Pneumian friend, we are heading there in a few weeks for our winter Pilgrimage . . . we will be sure to light a prayer candle or two for you at his shrine as we offer up prayers on our special new covenant Rosary to our beloved patron Saint Geerhardus. May he grant to you out of his treasury of grace to be spared some time in purgatory. Until then, walk in the power of the Spirit and be filled with the joy and wonder of the Gospel!
Jack,
I would be inclined to think you are kidding, but I know Bresson all too well, so, I think you are serious about this. If Vos shows up, take good notes and I will let you write a guest piece here.
Also troubling is Bresson’s outright denial of a literal, instructive approach to Scripture. Bresson believes the Holy Spirit only illumines the word when it is approached as a gospel narrative for purposes of Gospel Contemplationism. Any use of the Bible for instructive purposes is to use the Bible in the same way that the Pharisees used the Torah (Vossed World blog: “The Word of God is a Person,” 7/17/2008 archives). As the foremost respected theologian at Clearcreek Chapel, the idea that every single verse in the Bible must be read as concerning Christ and the gospel can be seen in the following post by another Chapel teacher: Clearcreek Chapel Biblical Theological Study Center blog: “Interpreting the Unfolding Drama the Way Jesus Did,” student archives 2/19/2011, by Max Strange. Online source: http://clearcreekbtsc.blogspot.com).
The Clearcreek elders are so bent on not implementing instruction in counseling that on at least one occasion, according to a former counselee I talked to, they will draw pictures of the person’s life on a piece of paper and illustrate were the counselee is located in the picture. I witnessed a testimony firsthand in which a Clearcreek elder said a marriage was miraculously transformed before his eyes by merely showing forth the gospel from the Scriptures in the first counseling session. When I confronted the elders about it, the response was, “Oh, that’s just Dan.”
Even by NANC standards, the fact that NANC associates with them and refers people there who have deep problems is unconscionable.
Another example is New Calvinist Mark Driscoll who has been a keynote speaker at such events like CCEF’s 2009 national conference at the behest of David Powlison. The following video in which he claims to see visions is self-explanatory:
Truly, New Calvinists like John Piper and CJ Mahaney must get together and giggle about what they can actually get away with. The following video documents their strange “The Scream of the Damned” concoction. This actually took place at the 2009 resolved conference sponsored by John MacArthur’s church. The fact that Grace Community Church would host such nonsense speaks for itself. Following are quotes concerning the message and then the 2009 resolved promo trailer:
CJ spoke of our Savior’s cry, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?” And though I have contemplated that amazing cry often, never did it hit me as hard as in CJ’s message, when he referred to it as “the scream of the Damned.”
Then there was break and music and announcements, and John Piper stood up to bring his message. Several of us had prayed in a back room that God would anoint John, and pick right up where He left off in the previous message, and wow, did He. John referred repeatedly to the “scream of the Damned,” and then moved into Romans 8.
A flood of tears came as God preached the message to me yet again. That Deity would be Damned. That the God who is called upon righteously by the saints and angels in heaven to damn people, and called upon habitually by unbelievers flippantly and unrighteously to damn people, would in fact damn his Son, would (from the Son’s willingness to drink the cup) damn himself…for us. That it could be said of the Beloved One, “God damned Him,” and that He screamed the scream of the Damned….it was too much for me. It is too much for me this moment. And in the ages to come it will continue to be too much for me.
~ Randy Acorn
Everything exists to magnify the worth of the scream of the damned. That’s the point of the universe. What we will do forever in heaven is magnify the worth of the scream of the damned. Calvary will not be forgotten. It is the most-horrible, most sinful, most agonizing event that ever was – it will be the center of heaven forever. Hell exists, cross exists, sin exists, heaven exists, you exist, universe exists, in order to magnify the worth of the scream of the damned. What is the apex of the revelation of the grace of God? And the answer is the scream of the damned on the cross.
~ John Piper from his sermon on “The Screamed of the Damned.”
Paul's Passing Thoughts 
Paul, Back when the Scream of the Damned sermons happened at that conference there was only one blogger who was mortified and willing to take it on. Steve Camp—a Calvinist! How do I know?, I kept searching for anyone out there,…preacher….laymen….anyone who would see it for what it was and was willing to publicly refute such a false teaching.
But guess what the defense was from their supporters in the blog comments? They were redefining “damned”! Of course, they redefine words for us. .
You start putting this stuff together and looking at it and it sounds like New Age mumbo jumbo….to those of us who can see it for what it is.
Scary thought: When Piper and Mahaney were preaching that the Incarnate God of the Universe was “damned”, think of WHO they were preaching to. Mainly young pastors. And even the supposed elder more spiritual men there like Alcorn had no problem with it all. That is how bad it is out there.
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Lydia,
True, but Camp also made sure he prefaced it with the supposed fact that both are “men of God.” Why is that the point? Men who teach error are to be warned twice and then rejected. Men like Camp could turn this whole thing around if they would. Demand that Piper repent and ask the church for forgiveness, or break fellowship with him. Who is going to put the breaks on this guy? I went to Clearcreek Chapel for 20 years. Besides that and working a lot of hours, ALL of the friends I had were the members there. Really, I am thankful that they brought me up on bogus church discipline and when they announced it, left the parishioners to their own imaginations in regard to the reasons. In one day, I lost every friend I had. Thank God! It must be a terrible thing to be in bondage to keeping friends.
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My son was dating a girl from Clearcreek Chapel. He loves the Lord and loved her. She loved him. What went wrong…he didn’t go to Clearcreek. She was “mentored” that he should have a talk with the pastor. The “head mentor” stepped in and said they would need pre, pre-marital counseling with the pastor. My son was being barraged with the need to conform to the “truths we hold dear”. He couldn’t take it anymore and broke off the relationship. Yesterday the girl told him the mentor thought it was best because she had spoke to other women in the church and they were going to tell her to break off the relationship. I may go to the “wrong” church, but I feel so sorry for these people. They are missing out on so much that God has for them. Thank God my son was raised in a home with a Godly father and taught to read the word of God for himself and was not caught in this snare!
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Thankful mom,
I feel for your son. BUT, your family has no idea regarding the future misery you have been saved from by the disassociation with that “church.” Their history, since Dr. John Street left, is fraught with unreconciled conflict with individuals and families. This is a good day, though painful. We are talking about a church where at least two families that I know of, literally fled the state of Ohio to get as far away from them as they could. It has all the classic characteristics of a cult. And yes, praise God for dad! I am sure he wrestles with enough without the addition of what would have been added to his plate. May God bless your son. This is hard, but he will get past it.
paul
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Reblogged this on Paul's Passing Thoughts.
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According to Calvinists, there is no way I can do any good, so how am I to magnify the worth of the scream of the damned? Isn’t their whole stupid point that WE can’t do anything? If we can’t stop sinning, even after salvation, and all our good is from God, even after salvation, then how can I see to understand that the scream of the damned is something good that I am supposed to be magnifying the worth of?
And what do they mean by worth? If I am worth nothing, by their own doctrine, then of what worth is Jesus’s damnation? Nothing, by definition. God commits an act of cosmic injustice for the purposes of redeeming those worthless depraved mongrels who are ALREADY elect, which means there is no way they aren’t saved whether Jesus is damned or or screams or sings Sweet Caroline or whistles Andy Griffith. And so it is not only a cosmic act of divine injustice but also totally redundant. Oh yeah. Let me worship THIS God. Can he walk and chew gum at the same time? Because if this is sound doctrine then the sounds of gum chewing make more philosophical sense.
So I will tithe those tyrants nothing, and assume that they will understand that is a reflection of what I think they are worth. Except my offering will not be hypocritical.
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Thanks Paul for your continued work. These guys are scarey and if you did not show some of these videos it would be hard to believe they would say such things. Things are moving fast. Thanks.
David
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Paul
Did I hear “Saint Gerrhardus”, “rosary”, and “purgatory”??? From a Reformed pastor???
Something is a little fishy there…….hmmmmm………
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T4H,
Uh, yes and no. Invariably, the protestants will go back to mommy. There is a Catholic Priest who is hugely popular and a big Gospel Sanctification guy. And that’s key: Piper et al have made it absolutely clear that EVERYTHING is secondary to GS. Horton is big on the sacraments “showing forth the gospel” so there you have it. And, like the Catholics, the Reformed believe you can only get your deep repentance forgiveness in a Reformed Church. It’s only a matter of time before the two start hooking up. Mark my words.
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I meant “did I see “Saint Gerrhardus”, “rosary”, and “purgatory” in that post secction???
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Pied Piper the Priest ……..yep, see it coming.
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I don’t think they have a horror of sin, or grieve over it – they seem to make a fetish of it. They’re fascinated by it, the way some people can’t get enough of documentaries about Nazis. They probably think that horror film approach is cool. And they’re only interested in SIN – big, abstract, rhetorical; not sins, esp. when committed by one of their own. Then they shut up about it.
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