A Passing Thought on the Roles of Christian Women in the Church
Funny, this website was originally designed to tweet “passing thoughts.” Obviously, it’s more like passing books and essays instead. Recently, I have made some friends with those who are active in proclaiming the equality of women in the church. Ok, I will just be honest here, the mere stating of that invokes visions of the second century feminists who ran through the streets of Corinth topless while spearing pigs. And I understand they wore helmets also. However, I have also thought about how delightful it would be for such a group to show up at this year’s T4G conference. I would even be willing to supply pig costumes free of charge to keynote speakers. Of course, under the guise that it is a great way to show our total depravity and worthlessness before God. Farfetched? Well, you ever heard of the “Scream of the Damned”?
I received an email yesterday from one such friend and browsed some of the links that were supplied. Nervously, I might add. Why the curiosity? I will tell you. I am concerned with an issue I have seen in New Calvinism for some time , but there is so much major error in the movement that I have not had time to address it; namely, the gargantuan expectations on men in regard to leading their families. I have watched this for some time and strongly suspect that I know what is behind it. As Yoda would say, “Suspect strongly, I do.”
Sorry, but I have watched this long enough to make a charge: control, it’s a control tactic. The lightbulb switched on when I was watching a how to be a good husband video by Mark Driscoll. Halfway through, I thought, “Geez, when would you have time to study the word of God and teach it to your family?” Then the next thought was, “duh.” According to Cultwatch.com, one of the primary elements of a cult is “time control.” That rings a bell with me. While attending a dinner that I was invited to by concerned parents of a young man who attended a New Calvinist church, one of their primary concerns was, “They always have something going on; everything he is learning is coming from them corporately or from an invited speaker. We have wanted to question him about this church, but there is no time; he is always there!” Exactly.
Then consider the movement’s position on women bloggers and those who show discernment. I have written a few articles on this. I am just really uncomfortable with the whole busy husbands and silent women in the kitchen motif. And as far as the women’s role? The Scriptures are clear, no man sits at the city gates without a Proverbs 31 wife. And husbands with Koolaid drinking wives only appear to be sitting at the city gates—they are really the gates of appeasement and cowardliness.
So, I partook in a flyby of the material. Some initial points were made that caught my attention. I will be back, with my hand on my spiritual wallet, but also with curiosity fueled by disturbing trends that I see concerning the roles of women in the church.
paul
New Calvinism and Our Children
PPT is just really swamped right now. I’m talking about information overload because the New Calvinists are not even being ambiguous anymore. No, I haven’t had time to read everything on the Southwood site, but a member there emailed me to ask the following (paraphrase): “Don’t know how you do it, but anyway, if you haven’t had any time to visit the site, you may want to at least focus on the following letter….”
So I did, which invoked the title of this post. I will address the letter as we go:
To the Ruling Elders of Southwood:
On September 4, 2011, our daughter and her family from Atlanta were here and we attended the Sunday worship at Southwood. After the service, our 13 year old granddaughter, who is well grounded in scripture, stated that she was very confused by the message. She had come away hearing that every good thing she does is wrong. Why would she believe that? We have gone back and listened again to that message, entitled “Duh,” and here is what we found.
First, I commend the couple who wrote this letter. Thank God for them. Let me just frame this according to what is going on in my neck of the woods. Susan and I live in GARB territory near Cedarville Christian College. Yesterday, they hosted a conference featuring the heretical New Calvinist Mark Devers and his 9Marks “ministry.” Packed house. I couldn’t even get in to report on the conference, and I didn’t wait till the last minute either. I will be going to a GARB conference in a couple of weeks that I got a ticket for , and many of the speakers are staff members at Skyview Ranch, a GARB youth camp. Long story short, it’s obvious that the Skyview staff is totally in the tank for New Calvinism. So, multiply the experience of the aforementioned thirteen year old times hundreds during the summer, and of course, everybody is asleep at the switch plus clueless. New Calvinism is either indoctrinating or confusing a whole generation of Christian youth.
They letter continues….
The message is from Galatians 3:1-6. Paul is chastening the church for falling prey to the persuasion of the Judaizers, exhorting them again that God’s love for them was not by any of their own works but through the miraculous work of Christ and the Holy Spirit. Jean seems to take the written word beyond its intent. He subtly changes ‘God’s love’ to ‘God’s favor.’ He changes legalism to performance. He takes Jewish law and extends it to almost any action one does. Here are some paraphrased quotes from the sermon. “To keep God’s favor, the Galatians were believing they needed Christ and a dash of obedience which looks like those things called Christian disciplines. Christian walk Christianity is from the Devil. Faithfulness is feeling condemned for work you haven’t finished (as contrasted with faith: resting completely in Christ). Faith is a litmus test for teachers and leaders; the difference between faith in Christ alone and faithfulness is like the difference between truth and falsehood, between Heaven and Hell. Faith alone is all we will teach.” (Here Jean says this is what Paul is teaching but he gives no supporting scriptures to support his interpretation.) “Discern as false any book, sermon, or Bible study where you hear a dash of self justifying obedience. Self justifying obedience is from Satan.”
Southwood Presbyterian Church has been putting up with this for more than a year now. It’s plainly sanctification by faith alone and fuses justification and sanctification together. Therefore, anything you do in sanctification effects justification. Without the New Calvinist formula for tiptoeing through sanctification in a way that won’t affect our justification, we are putting “our souls in peril” according to New Calvinists like John Piper. In essence, doing nothing to keep our salvation, which by the way, is still works salvation
Jean’s statements, combined with the tone and inflections in his delivery, imply that he is scornful of Christian disciplines, preachers, Christian writers, the Christian walk, obedience, faithfulness, good works, and an individual’s efforts. This message can lead to the conclusion that everything we do is evil and, by extension, that God and the Holy Spirit can do nothing through us. The message lacks balance and leaves sanctification out of the equation. A new believer under this teaching would be moribund after accepting Christ, hidebound in fear that he can do nothing right. While it is true none of us have all pure motives, it is also true that God commands us to go forward and that the Holy Spirit will be with us. God says we are His instruments for spreading the Truth. We cannot do this if we are strapped by guilt; we can do this if we seek partnership with the Holy Spirit.
I am going to focus on the key observations of this paragraph:
- “The message lacks balance and leaves sanctification out of the equation [yes, said another way: it fuses the two together and for all practical purposes eliminates sanctification].”
- “A new believer under this teaching would be moribund after accepting Christ, hidebound in fear that he can do nothing right [exactly, because if you do something wrong, it could cost you your salvation! Is this the kind of stuff we want taught to our children?!].”
From here Jean goes back to Paul saying “…since you were 100% depraved when you were brought into the Kingdom by the Holy spirit and by no works of your own, why are you trying to be perfected by your own human efforts? You are being deceived by the Devil.” I believe Jean is paralleling Paul in this. Jean then goes on to “We are like alcoholics ; we use Bible study, prayers, small groups, etc. as a crutch and the church rewards our ‘addiction’ with its approval. How would you know if you were addicted? Stop everything. If you feel anxiety, then you are afraid of leaving your ‘fix.’” So we ask: what does God have us do? Jean’s answer is “rest totally in Jesus.” So in turn we ask, what does Scripture say about resting totally in Jesus? But we hear no clear answer from the pulpit.
- “From here Jean goes back to Paul saying “…since you were 100% depraved ….” [nothing new here, this is the total depravity of the saints taught by New Calvinists].
- “….when you were brought into the Kingdom by the Holy spirit and by no works of your own, why are you trying to be perfected by your own human efforts? You are being deceived by the Devil”
I’m not going to bracket this point because it is an important one. New Calvinists often do this, they cite justification verses to make points concerning sanctification, making them the same. One of the verses they use most to do that is this one in particular, Galatians 3:2,3:
Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
This verse concerns justification (the preceding verses make that absolutely clear), and “being perfected” really doesn’t properly represent Paul’s idea. That’s why Young’s Literal Translation states it this way:
so thoughtless are ye! having begun in the Spirit, now in the flesh do ye end?
This actually matches Romans 8:30 which shows that justification guarantees glorification. Paul is asking the Galatians a rhetorical question: “Are you going to be glorified (in the end) by the flesh?”
I couldn’t conclude this post with a better statement than concluded the letter to Southwood’s session. Please read it carefully:
We believe It is unfair to critique one sermon and disparage it as unbalanced. However, this same, or very similar, message has been preached throughout 2011. Please do not tell us weekly how ‘messy’ we are. We need occasional reminding but guide us in our sanctification and in our understanding of the whole breadth of the Word of God. Balance from the whole word of God is needed! And consider the youth, like our granddaughter. They have urgent needs to move on to solid food too, as they come into adulthood.
Indeed, take the inventory here. What New Calvinists are doing to adult Christians is bad enough, but what about our children?
paul
Comments by “Lee” Need a Response
If anybody thinks a thick skin comes with a ministry like this, you’re mistaken. New Calvinists are mean people, even compared to a street ministry I used to have both in Dallas, TX, and Dayton, OH. I can deal with most of them, but the comments that question my motives always trigger the reasons that I do this ministry to come to mind. More accurately, memories. Even then, I can deal with it, but why am I compelled to answer this particular accusatory comment? I think it is because my daughter is in Africa. Yes, it’s a family thing, and even more when it’s about your “little” girl. I will explain, but first, “Lee’s” comments are following:
What’s hilarious is that people like Passing Thought Paul and his sidekick Joel Taylor devote so much time and energy to displaying their garbage to anyone who will give them a look. I’m sure if Paul would let his thoughts linger a bit longer before he passes them out he would realize that neither the doctrinal nuances he obsessively defends nor the character of his “ministry” are the least bit biblical. I have not read a single article written by you “defenders of the faith” that is rooted in the pages of Scripture. You cry out “sola Scriptura” but your practice is to elevate both your interpretation of what people say and your interpretation of Christian doctrine to the place of authority. Yet, praise the Lord, you’re defending the faith and fighting the good fight. Give me a break.
You are the theological equivalent of a poorly dressed slut crying out for attention. “Look at me! Look at me! I want to be noticed!” I have never seen a self-promotion scheme more disgusting.
If Passing Thought Paul is anything like your side-kick Joel Taylor, you doesn’t even minister to real people. You have a “virtual ministry” that requires no messy contact with people. Nonetheless, the claim is that you care so much about the church that you just have to write about these things. Wrong. The only person you care about is yourself. I don’t have to know you to realize this is obvious.
This T4G guy is criticized for caring about a logo. Please remember that it is the clowns that started the “Coalition Against” that advertised they were developing a logo and who put together a logo and who stole a logo. If anyone deserves criticism over a logo it’s them.
Let me address Lee’s accusations (apart from the logo thing, I think it’s obvious what we were doing with that). I was saved in 1983 and have always been a fairly zealous Christian. My convictions are strong because of what I was saved from. As a child and young man, I experienced the impact of several divorces that occurred in my family. I remember the first one (when I was 9) like it was yesterday. So as a Christian, it is easy for me to hate divorce like God does.
Sometime around 1998, the founding pastor of the church I had been a member of for several years left for another ministry. An elder there took his place, and I endorsed him as a former elder and respected member of the church. The front door had barely hit the founding pastor in the backside when the preaching changed dramatically. In fact, several people left because of 
it, but I wrote it off as a style issue. What I didn’t know was that several parishioners noticed things I didn’t notice, and were being dealt with behind the scenes. There was a complete turnover of elders, and elder rule was put into place. Still, I had no problems with any of this and was also distracted with building a successful business at the time.
I will never forget what first alerted me to a problem. And let me pause here. At this point, there were absolutely no issues with me or anybody else in that church, and such is well documented. It happened during the introduction to a Sunday School class. The teacher stated emphatically, “The Old Testament is about Jesus Christ.” I thought, “Uh, ok, I’ll buy that, but what’s with all the bravado?” I started paying attention after that. You ever seen the RCA dog commercial? That was me constantly, “Er?” What in the world was going on? I asked; it got me nowhere, so I started googling phrases. Finally, after connecting enough dots to have some grasp of what was possibly going on, I asked an elder the following question: “Are you guys teaching that we are sanctified by the same gospel that saved us?” Why wouldn’t he just say yes? Why wouldn’t they just meet with me and tell me what was going on? Why? Instead, his response was, “Paul, I am concerned that you are coming to a conclusion about what we are teaching from the internet.”
From there, things just started getting creepy and intense. It became obvious that they were teaching something new, and they weren’t going to reveal what it was. One night, three elders showed up at my front door unannounced. It was obviously done for shock and awe value. My emotional connection to the church was very strong. I had been there twenty years, had been a former elder there for five, and it’s the only church my children had ever known. All of the friends I had in the world were there, and I still trusted and respected the elders very much. And besides, had I been missing something all of those years? Maybe I needed what they were teaching, but how would I know if they wouldn’t tell me what it was!
Finally, I was told that I needed to mind my own business “and not worry about any doctrine they might be teaching or the hermeneutics that they were using.” Hermeneutics?! That’s what you use to interpret the Bible! As the leader of my home, I shouldn’t worry about that? During this time, and unknown to me, they were counseling my wife without my knowledge and teaching her that I was leading our family in a false gospel. They then began to use her to compile a detailed list of my private life, and also had her give them private files from my computer. They were particularity intimidated by my former friendship with an elder that had actually fled the state of Ohio to get his family away from them.
Long story short, I finally took my family and left. It was one of the most grievous things I have ever had to do in my life. About three days later, two elders came to my house and announced that I was under the first step of church discipline. Four reasons were given. I was dazed and confused. The whole ordeal had been surreal to begin with. But praise God, I had the presence of mind to tell them I wanted the charges in writing, and would make no official decision as to whether or not I would submit to the discipline until I had the charges in writing. Finally, that was done. Two ambiguous charges were put in writing, and one was more of a suggestion. The original four accusations were not put in writing. This is all documented. The counsel I received from other pastors was primarily the following: “Paul, this is really weird, but look, you have been there twenty years, go back and play their game for a month and then leave in peace.” Sounded good to me, but one month soon turned into four. I attempted to leave one time, and was told that I would be excommunicated if I did. I did not understand the church discipline process I was in, nor the counseling. I was confused, and often wondered if it was all a dream.
Finally, I was counseled by some pastors that I would have to leave at all cost. I left, and took my family to another Reformed church where my wife and I entered counseling. A couple of weeks later, the elders of my former church, without my knowledge or the knowledge of the pastor who was counseling us, issued a six page document telling my wife that I had been declared an unbeliever, and therefore had no authority in her life. They proceeded to instruct her to return to the former church with or without me. The document also told her that she was free to divorce me, and if she decided to, they would pay for it as well. In an act of abhorrent slander, when I was excommunicated, the parishioners were not given a reason, and were left to assume that I had committed adultery or something worse.
My daughter, who is a missionary and is presently 30,000 feet in the air somewhere between Amsterdam and Kenya, frantically pleaded with parishioners and pastors door to door to intervene, but to no avail. With tears, she begged people who had been her Awana teachers when she was four years old. The eventual divorce devastated my daughter and extended family, and my former wife is not allowed to visit our granddaughter until she leaves that church. It was made clear to me that the only way to save my marriage was to return to that church. Even my daughter and son-in-law, who certainly did not want to see the divorce happen, counseled against going back.
After the divorce, the church tried to separate me from my son through slander and showering him with gifts such as a laptop computer. I fought long and hard to maintain our relationship, and I’m overjoyed to tell you that he is presently living with Susan and me. It’s true, as I am told by others, I can see it also, Heather is forever changed. That extra gear of joy that lit up a room when she entered it is no longer there. The former pastor married her and David, so the situation has even tarnished their wedding memories. I wonder if her endearment to Africa has something to do with being betrayed by American Christians. In her eyes, her family was ripped apart. And I suppose that is true.
My experience is not unique among those who question the “new Reformation” of New Calvinism. This ministry, yes, ministry, hears of the testimonies often. Pastor Joel can correct me if I 
am wrong, but I called every move that his elders made before they made them. But he will soon tell his own story.
If only I had found a “Paul’s Passing Thoughts” website when I was in the midst of that confusing situation! I can’t even imagine! The elders just wouldn’t come clean, and the results were tragic. And folks, that’s why I am here. Not because I am a “slut begging for attention.” I inform confused people so that they can make informed decisions.
And this movement is false, cruel, and arrogant. So help me God, I will fight it with every ounce of strength my Lord gives me. They are fools born of Seventh-day Adventists drunk with visions of grandeur, and Lord willing, that will be made plain.
Please pray for my daughter and her family as they are in Kenya; please pray that my granddaughter can be united with her grandmother and please pray that our loving Lord will deliver churches from the evil clutches of New Calvinism.
paul
“Pastor” Mark Dever’s “Trademark Cross”
Dear Sir,
Matt Schmucker
Matt Schmucker
525 A Street NE | Washington, DC 20002
_______________________________________________________________
Dear Matt,
I have contemplated [no pun intended] your email and have sorted through many thoughts in regard to it. I have also consulted the coalition. A decision has been made.
My first thought was Peter’s imperative to obey every ordinance of man; and the fact is, T4G has copyrighted an image of our Lord’s gospel and paid good money for it to maximize marketing effect. Since I am not a New Calvinist, I will go ahead and “leap from the imperative to the command” without contemplating the indicative first. I hope that’s ok with you.
Another consideration was the fact that you could sue me because after I gave my life to Christ, I moved beyond the cross and shared it with other people only, and have not preached the gospel to myself every day. And as your friend Michael Horton has said, if we are saved by the gospel, “and move on to something else” we lose sanctification and justification both (Christless Christianity p.62). So, it wouldn’t be like taking another believer to court, right? Or is that to be taken literally? Does that mean the same thing in its “gospel context”?
However, since New Calvinists believe that any sin is fodder for church discipline (like non-attendance x256), and have authority over anyone who says “that Jesus is the Christ,” it occurred to me that Capitol Hill’s elders could bring me up on church discipline for believing a false gospel. Is that why you guys call it “redemptive church discipline”? And with the authority to declare me an unbeliever whether I am or not, well geez, that’s really scary. I bet you guys have a tight ship around there.
Now Matt, is this the first step of church discipline? I’m repenting, but do I have to get elder approval on that? Let me know.
Earnestly contending for the faith once delivered to the saints,
Paul M. Dohse Sr.
________________________________________________________________
Dear Sir, You have presumed much in your email like who my friends are and whether or not I have contemplated a lawsuit. I mentioned none of that and have simply asked you to stop using a design that you did not pay for and is trademark protected. Will you stop using it or not? I think that requires a simple answer, sir. I would appreciate a timely response. Sincerely, Matt Schmucker * * * * *Matt Schmucker** *Vice President, Together for the Gospel 525 A Street NE | Washington, DC 20002 ___________________________________________________________________________ Matt, You can call me "Paul." However, I commend you for respecting the elderly. You misunderstand, I said, "I'm repenting." I wasn't talking about "deep repentance" which would take a long time. Please interpret my email literally. We have changed the "logo." We have "repented." Not "deep repentance," I have no idea what "species of idol" caused me to do what I did. For crying out loud, it took John Piper eight months to find his. I have honored your request, but on the other hand, since I didn't do it the way David Powlison teaches, this change of heart may not be "real and lasting change." Maybe you could have him email me to give some advice on "reorienting the desires of my heart" [Matt, if you read this here, have him suggest which "X-Ray" questions I should ask myself as well]. Geez Matt, cut me a break, I'm tryin' to do the work here! I'm trying to "get used to my sanctification." paul
Paul's Passing Thoughts 
leave a comment