Is to be- Lindell reused the Robert Morris line of chiding his congregation to stop shooting the wounded. Prayer Requests I dont see how or why the Jerusalem church could have trusted him at that point, even though they might (or some of them might) have believed his vision and repentance were real. (the homes), just a few helpful links re: hillsong lol, http://www.news.com.au/national/hillsong-church-linked-to-abuse-claims/story-e6frfkp9-1111115815321. Hadnt considered that a pastor would brainwash to that length. 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. Mark Driscoll, thepreacher who stepped down from his Seattle megachurch in October 2014after being accusedof plagiarism, bullying and an unhealthy ego has beentrying to returnto some kind of speaking tourat Christian conferences. I think that explains a lot of it. I have also heard the thoroughly abusive interpretation of Psalm 105:15 touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm. Was that MDs evil twin Dark Miscoll who said elders who disagree with him need to be put in wood chippers or that women need to bring their men to Jesus by orally servicing them every morning whether they like it or not? It was just a matter of time before New Calvinism found a way to resurrect its leading icon. Brian Houston, pastor of Hillsong Church, issued a statement over the weekend, which drew considerable media attention. There are some Calvinists who go in the opposite direction and are very humbled by their monergistic view of salvation. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1989926/posts Its the same game he has played. We know that Driscoll should never have been a pastor: lack of formal qualifications, lack of maturity in the faith (too young, and never been a member of a church before he started his own), lack of maturity in general; It so important, huh, that we share that Jesus came to save us from sin, and to give us His life. Hosting a giant event without distancing or masking is irresponsible and insulting to the people on the front lines of this crisis, most especially the health care workers who are overwhelmed. any way i am still wrestling with my view of my world and churches and like you mentioned, gun shy when i go into a new church. Great comment Bridget. All rights reserved. I really appreciate your insights Lydia. Yep. He said that his hands were tied. Six months for Driscoll does not represent later in life, give him another ten or twenty years. He spends the remainder of the sermon talking about Saul who became Paul and forgiveness. Some of the current worship songs that I hear dont do too much for me. I guess Calvinism for these guys means never having to take personal responsibility Thats certainly how Driscoll has handled things. "Homosexual sin is not the only serious sin. (remembering marks sermon about mark being king) jesus is seated and he stands up for stephen. Location. I suppose they could have been made up, although the accounts are supported by numerous descriptions of his pig like behavior. He could continue the stance that we could not leave because we were under discipline and offend the large donor, or he could let us leave in peace and not offend the donor. i was looking for my link to Rob Smiths orphanage and found that he has recently posted a great response to those propping up Mark Driscoll. I met the pastor. At least at one point, women made up about 50% to 50% of most churches. Why dont Driscoll and the boyz just get it over with and rename their religion Paulianity? -Any allegations are probably not as bad as the truths. Pastor daddy Mike Baker is furious and says he's been mistreated-"slander," etc. A group of followers dealing directly with each other and not with an institution sounds appealing. His appeal, then and now, has much to do with his looks plus a perception of him being anti-establishment, which he was. Silly me! During this pandemic, we have helped thousands of people with food, financial assistance, counsel, and. GW youth group also adopted the whole Tribes deal directly from Hillsong, complete with competing tribes wearing war paint and carrying weapons. How can a reasonable person look past that? He was an abusing thug. Any allegations are probably not as bad as the truth. Eye Hath Not Seen, Nor Ear Heard What He hath prepared for those who love Him?. But. The singles have a lot of money to be exploited as well, but churches are stuck in a rut of trying to fleece the married folks. But Peter rebuked him for his motives and told him to repent of his wickedness and told him he was gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.. We have strongly encouraged masking and social distancing each and every weekend during this challenging season. He is listening for your litl sweet voice! He further states: A door was closed to who I was and a door was opened to who I became. I can't help but wonder whether Driscoll is talking about Paul or himself. I started to ask myself, If Christ is present in someones life, and therefore the Spirit, will not God, in his infinite power, begin to produce those things in that person? And I began to wonder if Mark Driscoll even possessed the Spirit of God. If the congregation, the pew sitter as you say, cannot do it what does that leave? since we are all clergy??? stephen the shepherd is dying. Don't you know that the way he behaved and treated people is no big deal? They proposed to keep Marc but I had to go. Certainly, Fulgencio Batista (dictator of Cuba at the time of the communist takeover) was a very corrupt man, whose government did terrible things, as with Trujillo in the Dominican Republic, Papa Doc Duvalier in Haiti, and many others. kudos to the hosts of the aussie tv show that made brian huston look at the absolute facts and rediculousness of his supporting (and paying for) an american mega pastor who is well known in christian circuits I use the term rediculous because I dont want to be mean or judgmental, but I believe that brian was all for helping mark get back in the saddle until it cost him some publicity. The term was invented by Tom Wolfe back in the 70s to describe the superficial gliteratti associating with revolutionary thugs as a way to prove their bonafides. The US pastor, who has courtedcontroversy for what has been dubbed his "more-macho-than-thou" brand of Christianity, resigned from his Seattle megachurch in October after being found "guilty of pride" as well as abusive, controlling and manipulative behaviour. Feel sorry for him instead as a burned out shell without compassion. But Christians are under the New Covenant and the NT calls Christians to expose false teachers, not facilitate their cover ups. Above all he had that coveted edginess he wore age and occupation inappropriate t shirts and chunky jewelry on the pulpit. Even if youre looking at Christianity from a strictly business like mindset, I dont see how its good marketing or profitable to do the sexist shtick. I think MDs desire to be on a stage, at this point, is a sure sign he should not be there. i think that it worked quite well for Youth with a Mission for several years and then it went awry and i dont know the particulars of what happened. Its a professional, corporate institutional model based on an unbiblical clergy/ laity distinction. An online petition calling for Mr Driscoll to be removed from Hillsong's conferences had attracted more than 3000 signatures prior toMr Houston's statement. If you take his quotes about his economic policies in Cuba and substitute covenant or biblical Gospel he sounds about the same as the pastors we are discussing. I dont beleive that for a moment. They are described as brilliant. He set himself up as King of Acts 29 and operated with no accountability at Mars Hill. this discussion you make today determines your destiny, God wants you to forgive. Please call upon Jesus today, you will be very glad you did! http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2014/oct/07/hillsong-pastor-brian-houston-found-fathers-sex-abuse-confession-agonising Sometimes the writers have an agenda, at others, there is more of an assumption of knowledge that the original readers/hearers possessed that we dont. Driscoll, IMHO, is completely unsuited for any position of authority. In his introductory remarks, he spoke of Marks kindness, humility, and genuine interest in people. So now is the time ta share with kind folks the destination of their eternal soul? Not that I dont admire Saul/Paul. There is no glorifying God in any of that. But I never want to deliberately post any false information so I do appreciate any corrections you can add. The first time, it was shocking. Personally I do not believe God would ever anoint a blatant false teacher. Oops, last comment of mine was supposed to link to this comment. Any allegations are probably not as bad as the truth. 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. It really bothers me that he seems to profane things still. Just watch any random hour of TBN or Daystar. To tell, perhaps? Watch LIVE every Sunday at 9am, 10:45am, 12:30pm, and 7pm as well as every Wednesday at 7pm. Do these Pentecostal leaders believe that there is a doppelgnger out there who tied MD up in a basement then impersonated him, swearing and saying horrible things from the pulpit? Acts 6:15, they were enraged. Then I would take notice that there might be something to their repentance. Lindell's sermon is further entwined with politics because he mentions Springfield Mayor Bob Stephens. I agree more with you than I would like to. For a number of reasons Texans dont want to say bad things about a church no matter how many people are being hurt. Likewise, in house churches sin happens because people will be people. Bummer. And Jesus said He would send the Spirit of Truth, how we deal with situations in truth or deceitfulness is very telling. . I am thinking visitors, right? Pastors that dont understand the devestation they cause by playing God in peoples lives, especially women and childrens lives, have no business calling themselves christians and certainly shouldnt be in positions where people might think they are speaking for God Himself when they tell them how to live. These churches are both responsible for vetting their speakers, and they utterly failed on this one. years ago when non denoms were pentecostal and full gospelit seemed they were trying to get back to the Jesus of the bible, the Living Jesus. Dont forget his church plant was asked to leave my kids school at the time. Its kind of like that movie Winters Bone where the communities are closed to a fault. If we were after money we would need to time our exit before Driscoll pulled the roof in again. The question is not, Can he be forgiven? but rather Should he be trusted in a position of power over peoples lives? I would guess that many of the people who have been directly harmed by him have forgiven him. . Of course he gave all kinds of excuses, Im young, brash, etc. But as he aged, and he spoke more and more, nothing changed, it got more vulgar, more illicit language, more rude, more obnoxious. then mark goes on to teach us that we must forgive even if the person never admits wrong or says I am sorry: I wish I knewits beyond comprehension. what they are. Actually are pews still in general use? was paul asking for forgiveness? I really do believe that Driscoll has sociopathic tendencies. So, that is why I think it would have been wise for Driscoll to remove himself from the limelight and assume a servant posture. Its all good until (insert question or issue). I dont think it is realistic. he was chosen because the apostles couldnt be bothered by distributing food to widows) first martyr in church. What I dont get is that those pastors dont care if they look completely dishonest in their statements. This is off topic but your question has been the basis of discussion with many associates for the last 6 months, many recently leaving an authoritarian church. How about when people stone you for your faith? or barred from the league for having too many technichal fouls for unsportsmanlike conduct and yelling at the referees for too many seasons. Here are just some of the phrases he uses as he shares the story. I dont believe the above because I am wondering how many more similar stories no matter how benign, there are. 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. 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. I simply offer another perspective. You sure would think so, but to quote H.L. Certainly they all hire each other as guest speakers in order to pay large honorariums from tithe dollars that end up in each others personal bank accounts. Its really big in Charismatic/Pentecostal circles I think mainly because they are more predisposed to bad behavior (think TBN and Daystar whackos). luke was paul's dr and paul was luke's pastor. And Ive certainly heard many tales of people who were awful people moving onto ministry later on in life. This is what the giving unit is looking for, not God. Mark flatly denied it, but I believe we may be seeing a pattern here. notable pastors have been pouring into his life. Bob, I loved your comment. I respectfully dissent, Evangelical NIH director Francis Collins says 'most churches' should be remote until public is vaccinated. It is definitely not where all leadership and vision is deferred to one man, and it is definitely not authoritarian. I know people are tired of hearing these messages and having to be acting upon them, but the virus does not care that we are tired. "He saw it for what it was. notable pastors have been pouring into his life. I see him as a conference speaker on a different circuit. God, I am running for your heart until my soul is on fire?. Analogously, there are certain qualities that police forces screen for, to hopefully screen out bullies who want a uniform. At a certain level they wanted leaderless teams who would function by consensus. Brad Pitt cancelled his wedding there due to the churchs anti-gay preaching. I dont equate it with forgiveness at all. You should be ashamed of yourself for supporting such a bully in the name of Jesus Christ. Yes, thanks for this. (WARNING: Includes graphic language), American news sources didn't waste much time alerting their readers of this development. And as long as they do, it will continue. Until that flaw is named and claimed, it is reasonable to expect this kind of thing to happen again. One of six. How much do James River Church employees make? They sing and wave their arms and hug and praise other givers. Now the shock will be realizing how far theyve strayed from those virtues. If the congregation, the pew sitter as you say, cannot do it what does that leave? If so associating with Driscoll they can get the thug part down. I want to have the heart for the women in the future who will allow me to be their pastor that I have for my daughters, he said, and that is if they have spiritual gifts, and are called by God, and are godly, I want to help them achieve that intentionally and encourage that and be a support for that..