A.B.W.E and the Missionary Kids Back in the News: A Call for Action
“Christ did not fulfill the justice of God in order to put an end to justice.”
I received some correspondence this morning concerning (if anybody still remembers it) the ABWE Missionary Kids sexual abuse scandal. Apparently, ABWE has hired another churchy “investigative” organization to replace G.RA.C.E. The whole ABWE thing is very emotional for me, so regardless of what I have going on right now, I am going to pen some initial thoughts before I further evaluate what I can do in light of the request that was received this morning. The email summoned up my frustration with this situation, so I need to get this off my chest before I move on with the day. It will be revisited later.
If there are any GARB pastors reading this right now (GARB is the primary financial supporter of ABWE), I just want you to know I think you are cowards and you make me sick. That’s an intentional generalization—get over it. As far as I know, not one GARB church has dropped its support of ABWE in response to this horrific scandal, and even if a few have, it’s not enough.
Likewise, if you are a GARB parishioner, you remind me of your European Christian descendants who quietly cleaned up the human ash from streets and rooftops during WWII. You have no conscience, and you are pathetic. That’s a generalization based on comparing the handling of the Penn State case versus what’s going with ABWE—get over it. And, I live in GARB country, so if any of you see me at the grocery store or the filling station, please feel free to discuss this with me, it would be my pleasure. Public writing is restrictive as far as expressing what I really think.
After almost seven years of researching spiritual abuse in the church, almost four years as full time thanks to Susan, I am confident that I know why this type of abuse goes on and why there is no justice for the victims. Generally, it speaks to our European religious roots. In that construct, salvation is in the institution.
Secondly, the institutional structure is based on spiritual caste; i.e., the enlightened minority leading the unenlightened masses.
Thirdly, the gospel propagated by the spiritual elite is collectivism. Come now, this isn’t complicated; to get justice for the MKs would hurt the institution that saves us. What’s better? Sweeping the scandal under the rug or “thousands upon thousands of people not hearing the gospel.” Please, please, please, people; how often do we hear that? Justice for the few would threaten “the group.” This is the very gist of a sermon Susan and I listened to last year in a GARB church. This is the selfsame ideology that has filled mass graves since the fall in the garden.
This was the very ideology of the founders of Protestantism. Luther and Calvin believed that salvation was found in the institutional church and nowhere else, period. The institutional church and its collectivist gospel is contra to Christ’s ideal of “the one in 99.” One life is not expendable for “the group.” The Jewish leadership condoned the execution of Christ based on collectivist ideology (John 18:14).
Peacemaker Ministries, G.R.A.C.E et al, and whoever ABWE just hired, are organizations that seek to protect the organization for the sake of “the group” and promote the necessary sacrifice of the few on the altar of “forgiving others in the same way Christ forgave us.” But my friends, Christ did not fulfill the justice of God in order to put an end to justice. This is why these victims are not able to “move on with their lives.” Be sure of this: G.R.A.C.E got fired because they were not able to convince the MKs to forgive and forget. They didn’t do their job.
So what should be done? I have much to say about this once I calm down, but for now, I want to remind people that the institutional church cannot live without OUR money. Why are we farming out our consciences and paying for it?
Moreover, since it is OUR money, why is it going for organizations like G.R.A.C.E rather than organizations that stand for the victims? It’s high time that ALL of these victims gather together and form such an organization, and it is high time that God’s people fund such organizations.
Tell me where to send the first donation.
paul
EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT! SPIRITUAL LIFE FOUND ON PLANET GARB!
For many years now, Christian scientists have been searching for spiritual life on planet GARB (General Association of Regular Baptists) and its moon, ABWE (Association of Baptist for World Evangelism).
After funding ran out in search for doctrinal integrity, scientists started turning their attention towards looking for some form of life regarding integrity in general—the research has been long and hard. The search for doctrinal integrity included a warning to a former ABWE president, and the board, concerning the viral effects of Gospel Sanctification on GARB and ABWE. The letter was ignored. Recently, scientists observed a prominent Professor from Cedarville University, another GARB moon, preaching a message at a Baptist church that was blatant Gnosticism flavored with Marxist ideas. A transcript of the sermon is available by emailing the PPT Institute for Scientific Studies at pmd@inbox.com
GARB’s surface is covered with flat rocks, and after 20 years of turning them over, the Institute of Abused Missionary Children discovered that certain forms come to life if you shine light on them. In other words, the forms have no life of their own; they must be stimulated by a process known as confrontationalstimuli.
Congratulations to the IAMS for this historic scientific breakthrough—their report can be found here: http://wp.me/p1olq4-ju
paul
The Philosopher King Wars
“The sheep are catching on. They are pushing back against being owned by anyone other the Lord who purchased us with His own Blood.”
In our day, most pastors, indeed, most, fit into two categories: the philosopher kings of the first gospel wave, and the philosopher kings of the second gospel wave. First, I will explain what a philosopher king is, and then I will explain the contemporary eras in which they function. Thirdly, I will describe some of the contemporary wars between them and the saints. Then I will explain the theory of the third gospel wave.
The contemporary reign of philosopher kings in the church began in circa 1950. The concept of the philosopher king as pastor began with St. Augustine. He got the concept from the fraternity of philosophers that has shaped Western culture; ie, Plato’s Academy, which was the first institution of philosophy and higher learning in Western culture. This philosophy was founded on four basic principles:
1. The total inability of man (Augustine projected that into Christian discipleship as well).
2. The ability of some to connect with the true, beautiful, and good (those who love knowledge).
3. Those who have striven and succeeded in knowing the true, beautiful, and good, should rule over the remainder of mankind; ie, philosopher (lovers of knowledge) kings.
4. The laws of men are necessary to restrain the ignorant, but are empirical, and not intuitive, and therefore not the most expedient in all cases for the philosopher kings.
Until the second century A.D., churches were primarily led by a group of common people. Various pressures that eventually culminated with Augustinian thought ushered in the one church—one bishop concept. In essence, a philosopher king for each congregation. Today’s seminaries have become Plato’s Academy where men go to become philosopher kings, and then go to congregations to lord it over the flock.
The First Gospel Wave
This era is from 1950 to 1970. It was primarily predicated on the inability of the saints. Just believe only and get your fire insurance. Commendable kingdom living was devalued because of a fundamental belief in inability on the part of the saints who are still “sinners saved by grace” instead of holy ones empowered by the Holy Spirit and aggressively colaboring with Him. The clarion call of the first wave philosopher kings was to get people saved in church under the auspicious of the enlightened ones. Hence, the same gospel that saved us was the predominate theme, not discipleship and kingdom living par excellent. Christians in our day are theologically illiterate because the philosopher kings of the first wave did not teach congregants the theology that they learned in seminary—deeming them unable to understand it. “Change” was just a pipe dream in the realm of theory. “You can’t fix stupid.” Pastors refused to counsel with the word of God and farmed counseling out to the secular philosophers. As one pastor told me: “I am not going to let counseling distract me from the gospel.”
The Second Gospel Wave
The second gospel wave not only devalued discipleship, it returned to pure Augustinian thought which rejected it all together. Man is so inept—even after conversion—that he can have no significant role in either salvation or discipleship. Augustine believed that biblical imperatives only exemplified God’s desires and besought Christians to pray that God would bring about His desires in the lives of Christians. He believed that goodness was manifested in a spiritual realm—not by Christians. Hence, theology only focuses on the works of Christ and our own depravity which continually magnifies the same gospel that saved us. Therefore, the primary goal of the second wave philosopher kings is Comfort Care until God comes for those whom He has predestined. This entails a constant, “showing forth of the gospel” that saved us and constantly reminding us of our total depravity.
In both waves, the survival of the philosopher king is paramount for the comfort of the sheep and the salvation of souls. Though enlightened, they are still totally depraved like the rest of humanity with expected behaviors following. Hence, some philosopher kings fall into deep sin, but must be protected for the benefit of the whole. Their fall would result in lost souls (first wave) and horrendous discomfort (second wave) among the pathetic, pitiful sheep. Those who are victims of the philosopher kings must be sacrificed for the benefit of the whole.
Eventually, the sheep begin to reject this notion. Because of this rejection, pure Augustinian theology eventually dies a social death within Christianity. Some examples are Colonial Calvinism and Confederate Calvinism. The saints begin to rise up. But after the pain and the memories of the tyranny subside, coupled with a historic shortfall of appropriate action/ education to prevent its return, the door is opened for the rebirth of the philosopher kings. This is commonly known in Reformed circles as “Gospel Recovery movements.” We are now seeing the beginning of this social death in our own day via the Philosopher King Wars. The following are examples of a few major battles, and are by no means exhaustive.
First Wave Wars
Do Right Hyles-Anderson verses Philosopher King Jack Hyles
Jack Hyles is the premier philosopher king of the first gospel wave. For years, his family members and understudies reined unfettered terror upon God’s people. Regardless of this, fellow philosopher kings in the same denomination refused to confront him, and even went as far as to name a Christian college after him. Finally, after years of crying out from victims falling on deaf ears for the betterment and comfort of the whole, the organization Do Right Hyles-Anderson has struck a powerful blow for the justice God loves. Their ministry statement reads as follows:
This group was created to be supportive to all the victims of FBC/HAC and the IFB community. This is not a group started out of hatred, resentment or bitterness. The core of our group is grace, unconditional love, and redemption. We support all the victims. We want our voice to be heard. We will hold IFB churches accountable for abuse and corruption. And we will report any and all cases of abuse that are brought to our team of victim advocates. We’re not going away…this is a life long mission and we will help the helpless.
Undoubtedly, this organization played a large role in the very recent dethroning of Hyles’ son-in-law as pastor of First Baptist Church of Hammond which at one time had the largest Sunday School program in the world. His sins, though criminal, are tame compared to the past terrors of the Hyles cartel. The fact that he has been dismissed by FBCH is a gargantuan step in the opposite direction from the tolerance of the past. This is about Christ’s 1 of 100, and the Jewish proverb, “He who saves one life—saves the world,” and not Socrates’ sinful sacrifice of the few for the sake of the many.
W. Kempton
The ABWE Bangladesh Missionary Kids verses Philosopher King Donn Ketcham
For some 20 years, the abuses of GARB hero Donn Ketcham fell on deaf ears. Other ABWE/GARB philosopher kings such as Wendell Kempton covered for Ketcham in a massive and shameful cover-up. Nevertheless, Kempton is presently being honored with a multimillion dollar sports complex on a Christian college being named after him. For the most part, the GARB community has shown only token distaste for what has occurred. Again, protecting the enlightened ones is best for the community as a whole. Because of the ineptness of the great unwashed—the likes of Ketcham and Kempton must be protected due to their irreplaceable contribution to the totally depraved.
Second Wave Wars
Mahaney
SGM Survivors .com verses Philosopher King CJ Mahaney
SGM Survivors is one of many such organizations pushing back against philosopher king CJ Mahaney, who among other various travesties was taped black mailing SGM cofounder Larry Tomczak. Regardless of this, the who’s who of second wave philosopher kings are protecting Mahaney and investing in media spin on his behalf (John MacArthur, Mark Dever, Al Mohler et al). This has resulted in him being reinstated as president of SGM. However, the pushback against second wave philosopher kings is becoming more formidable by the day.
J.A. Smith
Julie Anne Smith verses Beaverton Grace Bible Church
There is perhaps nothing more representative of the revolution against second wave philosopher kings than the everyday Oregon housewife Julie Anne Smith. When big name second wave philosopher kings came to BGBC’s defense against this humble soccer mom—she didn’t even blink, calling out the likes of John MacArthur lackey Phil Johnson who has recently stopped blogging (supposedly by his own choice). MacArthur hack and executive director of his media, Fred Butler, recently published unconfirmed smut/slander concerning Smith’s daughter after she prevailed against BGBC in a 500,000 dollar lawsuit. After years of striking fear in the hearts of pastors coast to coast, the second wave philosopher king pastors are incredulous in the face of Smith’s unsinkable courage. Their fears of her are warranted as others will follow including American pastors who exemplify a spirit of spinelessness never before seen in any other generation.
The Third Gospel Wave?
The sheep are catching on. They are pushing back against being owned by anyone other the Lord who purchased us with His own Blood. He owns us, not the philosopher kings. Nor do the philosopher kings own us by proxy. We are only slaves to Christ, not cruel masters who demand our children to be their willing and unwilling concubines. We will follow those of the Lord who lead us by His example. We remember our brother Paul who exhorted us with tears to only follow him as he followed Christ. And trust me, the philosopher kings of our day are no Apostle Paul. Not only can they not even carry his water, they are the clouds without water that Jude spoke of. As clouds come and promise nourishment for the crops, they come with the same promises—but they have nothing but lies instead of rain.
Authority only resides in the full, complete, and infinite philosophical statement of the Scriptures. The only authority elders have is truth as judged by the Bereans. We are not obligated to follow delusional hypocrites because of their Reformed accreditation and name-brand clothing, but only the Chief Shepherd. We detest those who say that the very breath of God is nothing more than a narrative for mystic gospel contemplationism. The Scriptures are written for Bereans who’s hearts are set on fire by our Counselor and Helper—the blessed Holy Spirit. The Bible contains its own hermeneutic, and we do not need the arrogant to teach us how to read it or listen to it as it supposedly comes from them.
We pray for a third gospel wave that endeavors to make disciples, not “saved” mindless followers of philosopher kings. We pray for leaders who will equip us to be full of goodness, full of knowledge, and able to counsel each other (Romans 15:14).
Not those who suffer us to glory in our supposed total depravity in order to satisfy their own lust for control.
paul
ABWE Scandal: Commentary on Dr. David Bennet’s “Remember Paterno’s Statue”
Dr. Bennet’s essay will be copied on this post with permission immediately after my commentary on it. I received an email on this same subtopic roughly two weeks ago; namely, the outrage over those who covered up the Donn Ketcham scandal being honored with high profile jobs and multimillion dollar projects named after them. One Christian college, apparently hell-bent on paying homage to one of these cowards, forged ahead with such a project while laying off employees of the college.
Thank God for those who are outraged by this and refuse to shut up until something is done about it. Others are so perplexed by the indifference accompanied by tone deafness regarding justice that they ignore the situation all together. Their minds can’t grasp it, and therefore assume what is happening couldn’t really be happening.
Then there are others like myself that wonder how this comes about, and endeavor to find out. And I think I have found answers to that question. Let’s start with the obvious. First, the victims are expendable. Second: GARB parishioners in general have no sense of justice. That’s why Susan and I, while recently being on the verge of joining a GARB church, declined in doing so. No, we won’t worship with those who have no righteous indignation—we can’t respect that. Thirdly, the secular world now has more righteous indignation than the church. That fact is further agitating the few in GARB circles that care. The grand comparison that makes the case is the Penn State /Jerry Sandusky affair. The Penn State icon Joe Paterno looked the other way, and Penn State disposed of his legacy with the morning trash. Not only will Penn State not be honoring him in the future, they are removing any honor that has been paid to him in the past, and sports commentators will be just as likely to mention OJ Simpson’s name when discussing sports folklore.
However, these realities in today’s church don’t happen by accident—there are specific reasons. And I think the crux of the cause was the major theme of our 2012 Conference on Gospel Discernment and Spiritual Tyranny. The brand of gospel preached in the American church for the past 62 years has landed us where we are today and breeds the aforementioned results. Fix the false gospel, and you begin to fix the problem. And, I am concerned that some who claim to be in the process of resolving the ABWE sandal are in fact proponents of that gospel. That is why I am skeptical.
But without further commentary, Dr, Bennet’s essay:
REMEMBER PATERNO’S STATUE!
Proverbs 22:1 “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches…”
Almost anyone who follows American football or surfs the internet knows the name Joe Paterno. Paterno, now deceased, was accused of burying child sex abuse allegations against the retired assistant coach , Jerry Sandusky. It is unthinkable the sexual abuse Sandusky committed against at least ten young boys over fifteen years .
According to one report at least two times Sandusky was seen by others; once having anal sex with a young boy and another time he was seen performing oral sex on another young boy. Both of these instances were reported but nothing happened. That is where Paterno comes in; there was a cover-up!
In spite of the evidence against him Paterno does have his supporters who say “He was a good man. It wasn’t that he was an evil person. He made a mistake.” This is the Balance Theory which says if a person’s good deeds outweighs their bad deeds (or mistakes) then forget the bad no matter who was hurt.
However, in spite of his great sporting legacy and some continued support Paterno’s statue has been removed from the Penn State football stadium. This may only be a save face act for Penn State but at least they are aware others are looking on.
So what can Christian organizations learn from the Paterno affair and the removal of Paterno’s statute? The first is, in spite of the evidence some Christians whose sins are found out will still have their supporters. These supporters generally work on the Balance Theory. The second thing Christian organizations can learn is not to build statues or name buildings after anyone within the organization who has been involved in the cover-up of a pedophile. Of whom may this be referring to, Wendell Kempton of course. REMEMBER PATERNO’S STATUE.
Wendell Kempton was the president of the Association of Baptists for World Evangelism (ABWE) during the time missionary doctor Donn Ketcham was having adulterous relationships with nurses and then turned his eye to a twelve year old girl. Did the churches know any of this? Ketcham’s pedophilia was his demise for it wasn’t an adult who reported Ketcham’s sin but the girl herself. REMEMBER PATERNO’S STATUE!
Let it be known that nothing occurred in ABWE land without Wendell Kempton’s knowledge or approval and Donn Ketcham’s adultery, pedophilia and cover-up was no exception! Wendell Kempton had to know! Nevertheless, in spite of this cover-up during Kempton’s presidency, ABWE is asking for funds (5.5 million) to build the Wendell Kempton Medical and Ministry Center. Now, this is not to say a medical center is not needed but it is to say it should not bear the name of a man who was complicit in the cover-up of a pedophile under his leadership. There should be a name change in this medical center! REMEMBER PATERNO’S STATUE!
The honoring of Wendell Kempton with concrete memorials doesn’t stop with ABWE. Wendell Kempton was involved for many many years with Baptist Bible College (BBC) of Pennsylvania. Kempton was an “alumnus, athletic director, administrator and trustee” of BBC. He graduated from BBC in 1957 and returned in 1961 where he continued until 1971 when he accepted the presidency of ABWE.
However, he may have left BBC but he was not forgotten and in 1976 he was elected as a trustee. It was during Kempton’s time as president of ABWE (1971 – 2001) and that as a BBC trustee that ABWE missionary Donn Ketcham had several adulterous relationships with nurses. For one of these he was sent home for counseling and for the other he was moved temporarily to another location in Bangladesh. Did any of the churches know about this? STOP AND THINK, ALL of this occurred under the leadership or lack of leadership of Wendell Kempton.
Undoubtedly Wendell Kempton and BBC had a long amicable history and therefore it is not a strange thing that BBC would name a new structure, “Kempton Athletic Center” in his honor. As the web site for the Kempton Athletic Center says BBC believes Wendell Kempton left “…a legacy of service and leadership” . But did he? Did he leave a fine legacy of leadership? Do those in the high places of BBC really believe this or will Wendell Kempton’s name bring in the money? REMEMBER PATERNO’S STATUE.
Surely those in high places at BBC would know of the Donn Ketcham pedophilia affair by now! Those in leadership at BBC are not so cloistered they have not read or heard somewhere concerning this terrible travesty. Wendell Kempton was the Boss over Russ Ebersole and it was Ebersole who with counselor Russ Lloyd who physically so mishandled the sad saga of Donn Ketcham’s pedophilia. In fact it would have been Russ Ebersole along with Wendell Kempton’s advice or knowledge that allowed Ketcham to have at least two adulterous relationships while on the mission field and continue as a missionary before his pedophilia! Remember we are talking about a Christian organization here. REMEMBER PATERNO’S STATUE!
It was Ebersole who was the field administrator over Bangladesh but he was always answerable to Kempton. There was a chain of command in ABWE and Kempton was at the top. One would have to be very very naïve to think Ebersole was dealing with a pedophile incident in Bangladesh and Kempton not know it!!
What kind of leadership covers up a missionary having at least two adulterous relationships with missionary nurses? What kind of leadership covers up a fifty some year old man having sex with a twelve year old girl? What kind of leadership allows a fifty some year old man to sexually abuse a twelve year old and then allows him to return back to the states to begin a new medical career? How many others may have been abused by this man after his departure from Bangladesh because of the lack of Christian honesty, character and leadership in ABWE under Kempton! REMEMBER PATERNO’S STATUE!
It should go without question that those in authority at BBC and ABWE must recognize they are a Christian institution whereas Penn State is not and doesn’t claim to be. THEREFORE THE BBC AND ABWE LEADERSHIP MUST REMEMBER PATERNO’S STATUE and do the Christian thing!
Paul's Passing Thoughts 
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