When Are We Going to Learn? It’s NOT About the Sheep
A well documented chorus of outcries against CJ Mahaney echoed throughout the church for years. While dismissing the complaints out of hand, MacArthur, Mohler, Duncan, Sproul, and many other Reformed leaders granted CJ full credibility and spared no expense in defending him. In the following video, and in total disregard for the truth, Al Mohler and John Bettler heap praises on their fellow pastor-buddy, CJ Mahaney.
SGM and the American Organized Church: The Totally Depraved and “Sinners Saved by Grace” Playing the Part
I guess the news is spreading fast; three women have filed a lawsuit against Sovereign Grace Ministries. Apparently, in between Jesus manifestations that take place when Christians contemplate the gospel, some molestation of children took place among the member churches and was covered up by SGM leaders. Culprits who “repent” and victims who “forgive” find favor with the philosopher kings, while pesky, self-righteous “Pharisees” who think righteous indignation is possible among the totally depraved are often brought up on church discipline for being “divisive” and not understanding the “grace and mercy of the gospel.”
Even the philosopher kings who have gospel contemplationism down pat and exhibit consistent Jesus manifestations defile themselves by lending credibility to ministries that perpetuate serial abuse, child rape, and tyranny. For example, the president of SGM, who is strongly endorsed by John MacArthur Jr., recently underwent an image makeover by Southern Baptist superstars Mark Dever and Al Mohler.
These men should have this kind of spin down pat because Southern Baptists are only rivaled by the Catholic Church in regard to child rape and the cover-up thereof. A good place to get up to speed on this is here: http://stopbaptistpredators.org . Barf bag not included. And by the way, I am a Southern Baptist.
Neither do Regular Baptists propose to be left out as exhibited by the ABWE Bangladesh missionary kids scandal. And Independent Fundamental Baptists can boast of the Jack Hyles cartel that they covered for. Hyles and his followers raped, pillaged, and stole for more than thirty years unabated.
This isn’t rocket science. As covered thoroughly at the 2012 TANC Conference, this is the result of sixty years of hyper-grace, hyper-gospel theology. Listen to CJ Mahaney in the following clip, and then think about the biblical concept of, “….as a man thinks, so is he.” And keep in mind; he’s talking about Christians to a Christian audience:
Christians have been told for sixty years on a continual basis that they are “sinners” and “totally depraved” while being taught little more on a yearly basis than 365 versions of CJ Mahaney’s five-word gospel: “Christ died for our sins.”
I don’t know what the saints otherwise expect, but I can tell you this: they are fed-up. Though I am not at liberty to discuss it, more of these lawsuits are coming down the pike, and rightfully so. These are ministries and pastor kings that have been continually confronted and refuse to repent. Hence, they may now be treated “like publicans and tax collectors.” That equals a green light for taking them to court. Christians are no longer biblically obligated to treat these ministries as Christian. Many victims have invested untold hours, and dollars in an attempt to right wrongs (while other pastors ignore their cries for help) and should be granted restitution.
I will also tell you that I am totally done with the organized church, and I have a feeling that I am not alone. We now worship God here in our home every Sunday, and I think this is what’s coming more and more in the future: a return to home churches as it was in the first century.
paul
Some Proverbs for Dr. John MacArthur Jr.
I would affirm my love and appreciation for C. J. Mahaney, Wayne Grudem, John Piper, and other conservatives in the continuationist camp. I consider these men to be friends and allies for the sake of the gospel. Charismatic Chaos was primarily written against the excesses of the broader Pentecostal and Charismatic movements. And those excesses are not what these men are best known for.
~ John MacArthur
Proverbs 28:4
Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law strive against them.
Proverbs 28:7
The one who keeps the law is a son with understanding, but a companion of gluttons shames his father.
The Gospel of Spiritual Abuse Can Minister to the Spiritually Abused?
The serial spiritual abusers of our day all function by the same gospel. That gospel is Gospel Sanctification; or progressive justification. It teaches that justification is a finished work for justification (effected by Christ’s passive obedience to the cross), and also a progressive work for our sanctification (effected by Christ’s perfect obedience to the law and imputed to us for our sanctification). So, “double imputation” is the imputation of Christ’s righteousness for justification, and the imputation of His obedience for our sanctification. Instead of God’s righteousness being imputed to us and our sin being imputed to Christ, “double imputation” is redefined as Christ’s righteousness being imputed to us while His perfect obedience to the law is substituted for our obedience in sanctification. In other words, Christ’s obedience to the law while he was on earth was part of the atonement just as much as His dying on the cross.
Moreover, we stay in our sinful state because our sins have not been imputed to Christ, but rather His obedience has been imputed to our sanctification, or the progressive part of the legal declaration. Any belief on our part that we can do any kind of work that pleases God is paramount to works salvation. The new birth which enables us to colabor with the Spirit in sanctification is denied, and relegated to the manifestations of a realm.
How does this gospel lead to abuse? It is predicated on the idea that even the regenerate remain in their sinful state and are incapable of doing good or pleasing God. This idea is coupled with the belief that God has appointed men to rule over the spiritually ignorant masses, and should rightfully be able to compel by force if necessary. This fundamental principle is the root of all cults and spiritual despotism of every kind.
If this is not the logical conclusion, how then are the totally depraved to be led? You certainly can’t counsel the totally depraved, so when something is going on under the nomenclature of counseling, what is really going on?
In the present-day blogosphere spiritual abuse wars, many so-called advocates of anti-spiritual abuse hold to this same doctrine embraced by Mark Driscoll, and CJ Mahaney et al. Some even throw in the vigorous defense of women’s rights, but how far can that really go when the doctrine holds to the total inability to do anything pleasing to God? What dignity is retained for women in such a worldview?
This post is a primer. In later articles I will be more specific and name names, but many in our day that are being touted as the answer to the likes of spiritual despots like Mahaney and Driscoll in fact hold to the exact same gospel. Again, as stated in this other post, I think cumulative facts that lead to a proposition are confused with truth, and only a true gospel can ultimately set us free.
paul
The Doctrine of Centralism Will Save First Baptist Church of Hammond and IFB
In my recent post, The Doctrine of Centralism and the “Cult” Misnomer, I explain the doctrine of control, or centralism. First, Western culture is predicated on the idea that philosophers should rule over the ignorant masses. This was formulated in the first philosophical think tank and institution of higher learning located in Athens Greece circa 400BC. From there, the philosophy moved forward and made its impact on Western culture through the secular realm and the religious realm.
In the religious realm, Plato’s philosopher kings became popes and Reformation elders. That is why the Reformers and the popes both believed (and still do) in the integration of religion and state for purposes of enforcing “God’s law” on society. The state gets a unifying belief system that unites the populous in the deal, and the philosopher kings get an army to enforce discipline on the totally depraved sheep if necessary. The whole idea that the Reformation was a contention for the true gospel of grace is just really bad history—it was a fight for control of the mutton.
The founding fathers of America were contemporary observers of the results, which have never been good. The U.S. constitution was predicated on the idea of keeping the church separate from state with the latter being in complete servitude to the people. But centralism remains dominate in American religion. However, it can’t enforce its control by the stake or gallows, so it improvises through indoctrination. In years past, popes and the likes of John Calvin did not have to be good at indoctrination because the state enforced their doctrine—contemporary proponents of centralism have to craft their doctrine well in order to gain control of people.
And the Independent Fundamental Baptist (IFB) pastor kings are among the very best. We will now examine the art of centralism indoctrination. Keep in mind that a lot of the indoctrination is already in place via years of “preaching” by Jack Hyles and his recently fired son-in-law who had sex with a sixteen year old girl. We will focus on the centralism being used to deal with this recent scandal, and paving the way for business as usual at the First Baptist Church of Hammond and IFB churches in general.
Because of my busy schedule, I do not have time to document the actual footage I have seen in this situation that fit into the following criteria, but perhaps readers could comment and add the citations for each.
1. The philosopher king has fallen. The emphasis is on the great loss of this vital pastor king whom the totally depraved sinner-saints depend on. He will be mentioned 100 to one in comparison to the victim. “Oh my! The sheep are without a shepherd!”
2. Enlightened, but still of the earth. Remember, though pastor kings are enlightened and “called” of God to lead the totally depraved zombie sheep home through the dark maze of sanctification, they are still SINNERS. These poor souls have been called of God to vex their righteous souls among the totally depraved, and bless their hearts, sometimes they “fall.” How dare we judge them when they have forfeited their rightful place in heaven to lead us amidst this pigpen called Earth!
3. It’s the congregations’ fault. I have heard several comments by IFB big guns who have been brought in to apply the centralism protocol that implements this element, including the interim pastor king. Basically, the idea that because of the inherent selfishness of the zombie sheep, too much pressure was put on Schaap—leading to his “fall.” The kingdom of darkness targets the pastor kings specifically, and the congregation has been an unwitting accomplice with the devil. THEY SHOULD BE ASHAMED!
4. Certification/reassurance by secondary pastor kings. The sub-pastor kings at FBCH reassure the totally depraved zombie sheep that Schaap is still God’s anointed pastor king. They point to his many years of faithful service as proof [this guy was fairly good, it took 11 years to catch him]. As one sub-pastor king noted, “I love this church.” Ah, and if a pastor king loves that church—you must also. Thou pastor king has spoken—let it be written. Who can forget the infamous words of daddy Jack Hyles: “Now I want you to close your Bibles and listen to me.”
5. Dualism. All that IFB does that manifests heaven is a testimony to godly unity, and proof that there is an IFB temple in heavenly Jerusalem. But when something bad happens, it has absolutely NOTHING to do with the heavenly IFB. Because after all, they are “independent” of each other. You idiot, can’t you read the “independent” in “IFB”? In all of their “unity” (IFB has a cooperative network unmatched anywhere on Earth), is heaven manifested on earth, but when they fall get caught, that is a manifestation of the “independent” church’s evil matter. “You can’t just swath a big brush across all of IFB because of this!” Oh yes you can. All IFB affiliated churches run by the same playbook that is driven by the same philosophy. Hence, the results will be duplicated. Look, this prism is exact across all denominational, religious, and cultic lines. It is based a specific presupposition concerning mankind as opposed to a true emphasis on the priesthood of believers. This protocol can be seen to a “T” in the SBC, and especially SGM. Therefore, the massive network based on a given philosophy that produces the behavior is preserved.
6. Us against them. The “world” and competing philosopher kings would love to see the heavenly IFB’s representation on earth fall. Don’t let that happen! Be a team player! “Please, stick with us.”
Yes, much is at stake. IFB philosopher pastor kings could be deprived of the concubines that they so deserve—a small price for us to pay for their sacrifice for us in the evil realm of earthly matter. Fathers should feel privileged and proud as their raped daughters sign confessions for being the devil’s advocates in bringing down the great pastor kings.
And this isn’t just IFB, this is a mirror image of the SBC, SGM, LDS, GARB, etc., etc., etc., etc..
paul
Paul's Passing Thoughts 
4 comments