Month: August 2013

SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN KERRY ON SYRIA’S “CHEMICAL WEAPONS” USE

 “It matters if the world speaks out in condemnation and then nothing happens.”
John Kerry

Statement on Syria

Remarks

John Kerry
Secretary of State


Treaty Room
Washington, DC
August 30, 2013

President Obama has spent many days now consulting with Congress and talking with leaders around the world about the situation in Syria. And last night, the President asked all of us on his national security team to consult with the leaders of Congress as well, including the leadership of the Congressional national security committees. And he asked us to consult about what we know regarding the horrific chemical weapons attack in the Damascus suburbs last week. I will tell you that as someone who has spent nearly three decades in the United States Congress, I know that that consultation is the right way for a president to approach a decision of when and how and if to use military force. And it’s important to ask the tough questions and get the tough answers before taking action, not just afterwards.

And I believe, as President Obama does, that it is also important to discuss this directly with the American people. That’s our responsibility, to talk with the citizens who have entrusted all of us in the Administration and the Congress with the responsibility for their security. That’s why this morning’s release of our government’s unclassified estimate of what took place in Syria is so important. Its findings are as clear as they are compelling. I’m not asking you to take my word for it. Read for yourself, everyone, those listening. All of you, read for yourselves the evidence from thousands of sources, evidence that is already publicly available, and read for yourselves the verdict reached by our intelligence community about the chemical weapons attack the Assad regime inflicted on the opposition and on opposition-controlled or contested neighborhoods in the Damascus suburbs on the early morning of August 21st.
Our intelligence community has carefully reviewed and re-reviewed information regarding this attack, and I will tell you it has done so more than mindful of the Iraq experience. We will not repeat that moment. Accordingly, we have taken unprecedented steps to declassify and make facts available to people who can judge for themselves. But still, in order to protect sources and methods, some of what we know will only be released to members of Congress, the representatives of the American people. That means that some things we do know we can’t talk about publicly.
So what do we really know that we can talk about? Well, we know that the Assad regime has the largest chemical weapons program in the entire Middle East. We know that the regime has used those weapons multiple times this year and has used them on a smaller scale, but still it has used them against its own people, including not very far from where last Wednesday’s attack happened. We know that the regime was specifically determined to rid the Damascus suburbs of the opposition, and it was frustrated that it hadn’t succeeded in doing so.
We know that for three days before the attack the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons personnel were on the ground in the area making preparations. And we know that the Syrian regime elements were told to prepare for the attack by putting on gas masks and taking precautions associated with chemical weapons. We know that these were specific instructions. We know where the rockets were launched from and at what time. We know where they landed and when. We know rockets came only from regime-controlled areas and went only to opposition-controlled or contested neighborhoods.
And we know, as does the world, that just 90 minutes later all hell broke loose in the social media. With our own eyes we have seen the thousands of reports from 11 separate sites in the Damascus suburbs. All of them show and report victims with breathing difficulties, people twitching with spasms, coughing, rapid heartbeats, foaming at the mouth, unconsciousness and death.
And we know it was ordinary Syrian citizens who reported all of these horrors. And just as important, we know what the doctors and the nurses who treated them didn’t report – not a scratch, not a shrapnel wound, not a cut, not a gunshot wound. We saw rows of dead lined up in burial shrouds, the white linen unstained by a single drop of blood. Instead of being tucked safely in their beds at home, we saw rows of children lying side by side sprawled on a hospital floor, all of them dead from Assad’s gas and surrounded by parents and grandparents who had suffered the same fate.
The United States Government now knows that at least 1,429 Syrians were killed in this attack, including at least 426 children. Even the first responders, the doctors, nurses, and medics who tried to save them, they became victims themselves. We saw them gasping for air, terrified that their own lives were in danger.
This is the indiscriminate, inconceivable horror of chemical weapons. This is what Assad did to his own people.
We also know many disturbing details about the aftermath. We know that a senior regime official who knew about the attack confirmed that chemical weapons were used by the regime, reviewed the impact, and actually was afraid that they would be discovered. We know this.
And we know what they did next. I personally called the Foreign Minister of Syria and I said to him, “If, as you say, your nation has nothing to hide, then let the United Nations in immediately and give the inspectors the unfettered access so they have the opportunity to tell your story.” Instead, for four days they shelled the neighborhood in order to destroy evidence, bombarding block after block at a rate four times higher than they had over the previous 10 days. And when the UN inspectors finally gained access, that access, as we now know, was restricted and controlled.
In all of these things that I have listed, in all of these things that we know, all of them, the American intelligence community has high confidence, high confidence. This is common sense. This is evidence. These are facts.
So the primary question is really no longer: What do we know? The question is: What are we – we collectively – what are we in the world going to do about it?
As previous storms in history have gathered, when unspeakable crimes were within our power to stop them, we have been warned against the temptations of looking the other way. History is full of leaders who have warned against inaction, indifference, and especially against silence when it mattered most. Our choices then in history had great consequences and our choice today has great consequences. It matters that nearly a hundred years ago, in direct response to the utter horror and inhumanity of World War I, that the civilized world agreed that chemical weapons should never be used again.
That was the world’s resolve then, and that began nearly a century of effort to create a clear redline for the international community. It matters today that we are working as an international community to rid the world of the worst weapons. That’s why we signed agreements like the START Treaty, the New START Treaty, the Chemical Weapons Convention, which more than 180 countries, including Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon, have signed on to.
It matters to our security and the security of our allies. It matters to Israel. It matters to our close friends Jordan, Turkey, and Lebanon – all of whom live just a stiff breeze away from Damascus. It matters to all of them where the Syrian chemical weapons are. And if unchecked, they can cause even greater death and destruction to those friends. And it matters deeply to the credibility and the future interests of the United States of America and our allies.
It matters because a lot of other countries, whose polices challenges these international norms, are watching. They are watching. They want to see whether the United States and our friends mean what we say. It is directly related to our credibility and whether countries still believe the United States when it says something. They are watching to see if Syria can get away with it, because then maybe they too can put the world at greater risk.
And make no mistake, in an increasingly complicated world of sectarian and religious extremist violence, what we choose to do or not do matters in real ways to our own security. Some cite the risk of doing things, but we need to ask, what is the risk of doing nothing?
It matters because if we choose to live in a world where a thug and a murderer like Bashar al-Assad can gas thousands of his own people with impunity, even after the United States and our allies said no, and then the world does nothing about it, there will be no end to the test of our resolve and the dangers that will flow from those others who believe that they can do as they will.
This matters also beyond the limits of Syria’s borders. It is about whether Iran, which itself has been a victim of chemical weapons attacks, will now feel emboldened, in the absence of action, to obtain nuclear weapons. It is about Hezbollah, and North Korea, and every other terrorist group or dictator that might ever again contemplate the use of weapons of mass destruction. Will they remember that the Assad regime was stopped from those weapons’ current or future use, or will they remember that the world stood aside and created impunity?
So our concern is not just about some far off land oceans away. That’s not what this is about. Our concern with the cause of the defenseless people of Syria is about choices that will directly affect our role in the world and our interests in the world. It is also profoundly about who we are. We are the United States of America. We are the country that has tried, not always successfully, but always tried to honor a set of universal values around which we have organized our lives and our aspirations. This crime against conscience, this crime against humanity, this crime against the most fundamental principles of international community, against the norm of the international community, this matters to us. And it matters to who we are. And it matters to leadership and to our credibility in the world. My friends, it matters here if nothing is done. It matters if the world speaks out in condemnation and then nothing happens.
America should feel confident and gratified that we are not alone in our condemnation, and we are not alone in our will to do something about it and to act. The world is speaking out, and many friends stand ready to respond. The Arab League pledged, quote, “to hold the Syrian regime fully responsible for this crime.” The Organization for Islamic Cooperation condemned the regime and said we needed, quote, “to hold the Syrian Government legally and morally accountable for this heinous crime.” Turkey said there is no doubt that the regime is responsible. Our oldest ally, the French, said the regime, quote, “committed this vile action, and it is an outrage to use weapons that the community has banned for the last 90 years in all international conventions.” The Australian Prime Minister said he didn’t want history to record that we were, quote, “a party to turning such a blind eye.”
So now that we know what we know, the question we must all be asking is: What will we do? Let me emphasize – President Obama, we in the United States, we believe in the United Nations. And we have great respect for the brave inspectors who endured regime gunfire and obstructions to their investigation. But as Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary General, has said again and again, the UN investigation will not affirm who used these chemical weapons. That is not the mandate of the UN investigation. They will only affirm whether such weapons were used. By the definition of their own mandate, the UN can’t tell us anything that we haven’t shared with you this afternoon or that we don’t already know. And because of the guaranteed Russian obstructionism of any action through the UN Security Council, the UN cannot galvanize the world to act as it should.
So let me be clear. We will continue talking to the Congress, talking to our allies, and most importantly, talking to the American people. President Obama will ensure that the United States of America makes our own decisions on our own timelines based on our values and our interests.
Now, we know that after a decade of conflict, the American people are tired of war. Believe me, I am, too. But fatigue does not absolve us of our responsibility. Just longing for peace does not necessarily bring it about. And history would judge us all extraordinarily harshly if we turned a blind eye to a dictator’s wanton use of weapons of mass destruction against all warnings, against all common understanding of decency. These things we do know.
We also know that we have a President who does what he says that he will do. And he has said very clearly that whatever decision he makes in Syria, it will bear no resemblance to Afghanistan, Iraq, or even Libya. It will not involve any boots on the ground. It will not be open-ended. And it will not assume responsibility for a civil war that is already well underway. The President has been clear: Any action that he might decide to take will be a limited and tailored response to ensure that a despot’s brutal and flagrant use of chemical weapons is held accountable. And ultimately, ultimately, we are committed – we remain committed, we believe it’s the primary objective – is to have a diplomatic process that can resolve this through negotiation, because we know there is no ultimate military solution. It has to be political. It has to happen at the negotiating table, and we are deeply committed to getting there.
So that is what we know. That’s what the leaders of Congress now know. And that’s what the American people need to know. And that is at the core of the decisions that must now be made for the security of our country and for the promise of a planet where the world’s most heinous weapons must never again be used against the world’s most vulnerable people.
Thank you very much.

GERMAN AUTHORITIES FORCIBLY ABDUCT FOUR HOMESCHOOLERS


ADOLF HITLER ON HITLER YOUTH:

It was in 1937 when Adolf Hitler said: “The youth of today is ever the people of tomorrow. For this reason we have set before ourselves the task of inoculating our youth with the spirit of this community of the people at a very early age, at an age when human beings are still unperverted and therefore unspoiled. This Reich stands, and it is building itself up for the future, upon its youth. And this new Reich will give its youth to no one, but will itself take youth and give to youth its own education and its own upbringing.”
_______________________________________________________________

WUNDERLICH HOMESCHOOLED CHILDREN ABDUCTED 
BY POLICE WITH BATTERING RAM 
WHO INVADE THEIR HOME 
FOUR CHILDREN TAKEN TO UNKNOWN LOCATION
POLICE SAY PARENTS WILL NOT SEE CHILDREN SOON


At 8:00 a.m. on Thursday, August 29, 2013, in what has been called a “brutal and vicious act,” a team of 20 social workers, police officers, and special agents stormed a homeschooling family’s residence near Darmstadt, Germany, forcibly removing all four of the family’s children (ages 7-14). The sole grounds for removal were that the parents, Dirk and Petra Wunderlich, continued to homeschool their children in defiance of a German ban on home education. 
Judge Koenig, a Darmstadt family court judge, signed the order authorizing the immediate seizure of Dirk and Petra Wunderlich’s children on August 28. Citing the parents’ failure to cooperate “with the authorities to send the children to school,” the judge also authorized the use of force “against the children” if necessary, reasoning that such force might be required because the children had “adopted the parents’ opinions” regarding homeschooling and that “no cooperation could be expected” from either the parents or the children.

This story has been reported by at least several news sources to date:
Homeschool Legal Defense:
hslda.org/hs/international/Germany/201308300.asp


World Net Daily:
The New American:
German authorities’ latest abduction of four homeschooled children, aged 7 through 14, occurred in the early hours of August 29. As the Wunderlich family was preparing to start the school day, a swarm of armed “special agents” with a battering ram arrived at the family’s home to seize the kids. According to court documents obtained and translated by theHome School Legal Defense Association, the sole justification for the home invasion and abduction was the parents’ refusal to surrender their children for government-approved “education.” 
“I looked through a window and saw many people, police, and special agents, all armed,” Dirk Wunderlich, the father, told HSLDA after the terrifying ordeal. “They told me they wanted to come in to speak with me. I tried to ask questions, but within seconds, three police officers brought a battering ram and were about to break the door in, so I opened it.” According to Wunderlich, as neighbors stood outside crying, his 14-year-old daughter Machsejah was forcibly removed from home by two large, rude policemen “as if she were a criminal.” When Petra Wunderlich tried to kiss and hug Machsejah as she was being marched away to an undisclosed location, one of the “special agents” elbowed the distraught mother out of the way and said it was “too late for that.” Before leaving, officials promised the parents that they would not be seeing their children again “anytime soon.” 

The Blaze: 

Christian Post:
crossmap.christianpost.com/news/german-dirk-and-petra-wunderlich-homeschool-family-raided-by-police-children-seized-4909.


Spectator: 
http://spectator.org/blog/2013/08/30/german-state-seize-homeschoole,
Excerpts: 
“The children are now effectively property of the state. How can Germany be considered a true democratic government when the liberties of parents and children are being consumed by their government?” 
” The family resettled near Darmstadt, just 25 miles south of Frankfurt, with some trepidation. It is mandatory that all residents of Germany register with their local municipal authorities. Within days of the family registering their presence in the town, authorities initiated a criminal truancy case, and just months later the “Youth Welfare Office” was granted legal custody of the children. However, the court left the children in the residence with the parents since they were being well treated and otherwise cared for by their parents.”

“Authorities even took the children’s passports, making it impossible for the family to escape—a violation of a number of human rights guaranteed to them by the European Convention of Human Rights, said HSLDA Chairman and Founder Michael Farris.”
_______________________________________________________________________
This terrorist act was a fulfillment of the promise by state and school authorities last year to return:

“Come Peacefully Now or by Force Later” article at 

Home School Legal Defense: 

http://hslda.org/hs/international/Germany/201211270.asp.

See One News Now: 




GENDRON & HAUSER: CATHOLIC SACRIFICE OF THE MASS UNNECESSARY & PRIESTHOOD REPLACED BY JESUS CHRIST OUR HIGH PRIEST

Mike Gendron and Jason Hauser of Proclaiming the 

Gospel present the following videos:

See Proclaiming the Gospel at: 

The Catholic Eucharist:

Published on Aug 21, 2013 on YouTube Channel of Proclaiming the Gospel:

In this broadcast Jason Hauser and Mike Gendron discuss the Roman Catholic teaching on the Eucharist. It is either the highest form of blasphemy and idolatry or a gross misinterpretation of Scripture by the evangelical church. We will look at why Catholics believe the Eucharist becomes God and the historical roots of transubstantiation. You will want to share this broadcast with your Catholic loved ones.


The Catholic Sacrifice of the Mass is Unnecessary:

Published on Aug 29, 2013 on YouTube Channel of Proclaiming the Gospel:
Mike Gendron and Jason Hauser discuss the errors, fallacies and heresies associated with the daily sacrifices of a Eucharistic Christ on Roman Catholic altars. Our dear Catholic friends and loved ones need to know the Lord Jesus Christ, the perfect high priest offered Himself, the perfect sacrifice, once for all sin for all time, to a perfect God who demands perfection. Our Lord cried out, “It is finished” and the eternal sin debt was paid in full for all who believe. There are no more sacrifices and offerings for sin.

JOHN KERRY SECRETARY OF STATE ISSUES MILD “REQUEST” TO IRAN TO RELEASE AMERICAN PRISONERS

BECAUSE THE UNITED STATES HAS LOST MORAL AUTHORITY, THIS IS THE RESULT:

From the State Department:

http://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2013/08/213592.htm, containing no particular outrage, firm condemnations, references to violations of moral law, and/or international law by John Kerry:

U.S. Citizens Detained or Missing in Iran

Press Statement

John Kerry
Secretary of State


Washington, DC
August 28, 2013

The United States respectfully asks the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to work cooperatively with us in our efforts to help U.S. citizens Robert Levinson, Amir Hekmati, and Saeed Abedini to return to their families after lengthy detentions.
Mr. Levinson went missing from Kish Island, Iran, in March 2007. Mr. Levinson is not only a husband, but a caring father to seven children. His family has endured with courage and quiet dignity the pain of spending so many important family milestones without him there. They shouldn’t have to endure additional worry about his whereabouts and well being. We call again on the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to uphold its offer to help find Mr. Levinson and return him safely to his family.
The United States is also deeply concerned about the fate of dual U.S. citizens Amir Hekmati and Saeed Abedini. Tomorrow marks the two-year anniversary of Mr. Hekmati’s detention in Iran on false espionage charges. On September 26, Mr. Abedini will have spent a year in detention in Iran. He was sentenced to eight years in prison on charges related to his religious beliefs.
President Rouhani has shared in his speeches and interviews over the past few months his hope and vision to improve the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s relationship with the world.
We urge the Iranian Government to release Mr. Hekmati and Mr. Abedini and to help us locate Mr. Levinson so that they may be reunited with their families as safely and as soon as possible.
These men belong at home with those who love them and miss them.
_________________________________________________________________________
Meanwhile the White House spokesperson is flippant when asked about Christians in Egypt being held in prison and tortured or killed, as seen in this YouTube video:

White House Spokesman on Obama “Red Line in Egypt” on Attacks on Christians: “I Didn’t Bring My Red Pen”:


Excerpt of press conference from:


Press Briefing by Principal Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest, 8/21/2013, at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/08/21/press-briefing-principal-deputy-press-secretary-josh-earnest-8212013:


“Question (from reporter):    So applying the same — and Jim got at this a bit about the rhetoric in many of these cases — be shifted to Egypt with people being killed, Christians in particular being targeted, churches being destroyed.  What’s the President’s red line in Egypt?

MR. EARNEST:  Well, I didn’t bring my red pen out with me today.  But I can tell you that we have condemned in unambiguous terms all the violence that’s been perpetrated there in Egypt.  We have been concerned and condemn the violence that was perpetrated by the government against peaceful protestors.  And we’re just as outraged and just as concerned about reports that Christian churches have been targeted. The violence in Egypt should come to an end.  It needs to stop.  And that is the way that we’re going to facilitate the kind of reconciliation that will allow the interim government to make good on their promise to transition back to a democratically elected, civilian government.  We need to see an inclusive process get started there, and that’s something that we are encouraging the interim government to undertake.”

_____________________________________________________________________________
Again, no moral outrage or condemnation here, 
thanks to Obama

WOMAN CHARGED WITH KILLING NEWBORN IN BAR TOILET TANK


Mother Charged With Murdering Newborn in Sports Bar Restroom in Bethlehem, PA

EXCERPT:
“A Pennsylvania woman has been arrested and charged with murder after she gave birth to a baby in a women’s room at a sports bar, then stuffed the newborn into a plastic bag and ditched him in the tank behind a toilet.
According to local news reports, 26-year-old Amanda Hein was with friends at Starters Pub near Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, for an evening of pay-per-view wrestling when she disappeared into the women’s room at the pub, returning some 40 minutes later with blood on her clothes but insisting she was okay.”
_____________________________________________________________________

Woman (Allegedly) Kills Newborn in Sports Bar Bathroom, Returns to Wrestling Match:

Published on Aug 28, 2013 on YouTube above:
PA. Woman gives birth in public toilet, kills baby, hides body in toilet, goes back to watching wrestling !!!

A Pennsylvania woman is being held without bond after she allegedly gave birth to a baby boy in a bar bathroom, killed him and left his body in a toilet tank.

According to prosecutors, 26-year-old Amanda Catherine Hein went with three men to Starters Pub in Lower Saucon Township on August 18 to watch a pay-per-view wrestling event. The following morning, a cleaning crew at the pub allegedly discovered the dead body of a newborn baby wrapped in a plastic bag in a toilet tank in the ladies’ bathroom.

Investigators found that one of the booths in the pub had brown staining and liquid on it that’s consistent with blood, according to Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli. Police checked the bar’s records and made contact with the person who had reserved the booth for the event that night.

Police then interviewed Luis Rivera, who said he sat in that booth with Hein during the event. Rivera claimed Hein complained about discomfort and spasms that evening before excusing herself to go to the bathroom, Morganelli told reporters Monday.

Rivera told police Hein was gone for “an extended period of time,” then returned to the table and went outside to smoke a cigarette, according to Morganelli.

When Hein came back, Rivera allegedly asked if she was OK, and she said she was but she was in pain. She stayed for about an hour to watch the rest of the event. Rivera noticed that there appeared to be liquid on Hein’s clothes that looked like blood, Morganelli said.

Rivera said he asked Hein multiple times if she needed to go a hospital but she refused, so he dropped her off at home, according to authorities.

A medical examiner performed an autopsy on the baby on August 20 and found that the boy was born alive and viable and had gestated for 33 to 36 weeks. The cause of death was determined to be suffocation.

When Hein was interviewed by police, she allegedly admitted she gave birth in a bathroom stall and left the baby in the toilet tank, court documents stated.

“She placed the child in a plastic bag which she obtained from the garbage can in the stall. She then put the plastic bag containing the child in the water tank for the toilet. Hein advised after she placed the bag and child in the toilet tank, she returned to the dining area until the event was over,” a probable cause affidavit alleged.

Morganelli said Monday that Hein had known she was pregnant for a few months but did not tell anyone. Investigators are still trying to determine whom the child’s father was.

Prosecutors have not yet made a decision on whether to seek the death penalty in the case. Morganelli told reporters he does not know what may have motivated Hein to allegedly kill her child.

“I cannot get inside this lady’s head,” he said. “I have no clue.”

Morganelli described the case as “very upsetting.”

Northhampton County Coroner Zachary Lysek reminded reporters that Pennsylvania has safe haven laws that allow a parent to relinquish a child to the state at any hospital up to 28 days after birth with no questions asked.

“It’s a sad situation,” Morganelli said. “This young lady made a very, very bad choice. Why? I don’t know.”

Court records do not indicate whether Hein has an attorney. Her stepmother told the Morning Call newspaper that she had not even known Hein was pregnant.

Hein appeared in court Monday for a preliminary arraignment on a criminal homicide charge. She was denied bond.

COMMUNITARIAN SOCIAL JUSTICE AGENDA IN EMERGING CHURCHES

Amitai Etzioni – Hidden Guru of Globalization:

From:
https://ratherexposethem.org/2012/03/communitarianism-collectivist-values-in_05.html:
“American sociologist and educator Amitai Etzioni was one of the prominent founders of this newly shaped philosophy. He believes that individuals have been given too much freedom and not enough responsibilities. Etzioni and other communitarians are in favor of more obligations and fewer rights.[4]They desire the community to live up to the basic principle of the good society. But as you will learn, it will only be good for those in charge.”


From the excellent blog, The Communitarian Trap, one of three Christian blogs by its author, is this timely and thorough post, found at:

https://ratherexposethem.org/2013/08/the-hands-and-feet-of-christ-and.html.
Below is the complete, unedited post:

The Hands and Feet of Christ and the Identifying Marks of a Communitarian Social Justice Agenda

The Church on a Mission
 









_______________________________________________________
OUR COMMENT ABOUT “LIFE GROUPS”: Here is an example of a feelings based, experiential “life group” 
ministry at a Baptist church, where “teaching and fellowship” are not the purposes. Instead, the focus is
on “sharing personal situations, self interpretation of Bible, group (community) over individual growth,
and how you can be ‘used'”. This is an excerpt from that church website at 

“Life Groups:

A Life Group is a small group of people who meet in homes in order to develop a deeper spiritual family where 
we experience and demonstrate the love and power of Christ. The goal of a Life Group is not “teaching” or 
“fellowship.”  While these are important elements, the goal is to experience Christ’s love and power.
This is a different purpose than a Bible Study group, where the goal may be to acquire Bible 
knowledge and apply it.  Life Groups maintain a healthy balance on four core values: Sharing, Study, Prayer,
and Service.
Share: Sharing is a time where you get to know others and where you allow others to know you, 
specifically to allow others to know the concrete ways in which you are currently looking for God to act in your
life.
Study: Life-change takes place when both God’s truth and the power of the Holy Spirit operate on our hearts. 
The clearest and most certain place where truth can be found is in the Scripture. For this reason, our groups 
will be driven to and driven by the Bible.
Pray: The purpose of the prayer time is to take the truths of the biblical text and “pray them into 
the heart” of each individual and the group.
Serve: Jesus came “to seek and save the lost.”  The activity, which energized his life, was looking out to 
needs beyond his own:  not an obsession with caring for himself.  The starting point for mission is the other 
members of the group and it grows towards those outside the group. As long as people come to Life 
Group primarily for what they can get out of it, rather than for what they can contribute to it, the group 
will be unhealthy and anemic.”
________________________________________________________________________
Churches build community within groups, and in turn they perform service projects that reach into 
the surrounding community. Based on the service/volunteerism of the group, the church becomes a hub 
for the community. As a strategy of change agents, the Church is on a “mission from God” that has 
become the friendly face that is creating a good society, which will unknowingly facilitate the transition 
of Christians and churches into the collectivist mindset for the New World Order.

(OUR COMMENT: 
For example, Willowdale Chapel of Unionville, PA and their $6.5 million “Shine Like Stars” 
“community program” merging church ministries, government, and social service 
organizations. See: http://www.willowdalechapel.org/slscampaign/, and our previous 
post about Willowdale’s collectivist/communitarian approach at:
ratherexposethem.blogspot.com/2013/02/willowdale-chapel-advised-by-tim-keller.html)






The hands represent the interconnectedness of the group, and 
unity in diversity – also seen in many churches. Ironically the 
ministry photo from the top of the post, parallels Amitai 
Etzioni’s book cover. He’s the founder of the Communitarian 
Network, and teaches the Third Way political concepts of the 
good society. Unfortunately, his ideas have proven to be 
totalitarian.

At the Root of Volunteerism
Volunteerism is an integral part of Communitarianism. It is part of being a good citizen. Based on the 
writings of Amitai Etzioni’s Communitarian Network, the following statement describes how volunteerism 
fits into the community:
“National and local service, as well as volunteer work, is desirable to build and express a civil commitment. 
Such activities, bringing together people from different backgrounds and enabling and encouraging them 
to work together, build community and foster mutual respect and tolerance.”[1]
Their logic is that you need to build community in order to create a collective mindset. Creating a collective 
mindset eliminates individualism, which is what America’s social-political ideals were built upon. Collectivism 
is the basis for Karl Marx’s Socialist/Communist philosophy. In collectivism, the group consensus comes first 
over one’s personal ambitions. Wikipedia states that:
“Collectivism is any philosophic, political, religious, economic, or social outlook that emphasizes the
interdependence of every human.[2] The term interdependence in the Communist Manifesto (1848)
in describing the universal interdependence of nations in comparison to the old local and national seclusion
of independence and self-sufficiency.”[3]
Marx and Engel’s social relationships and processes are associated with Feudalism, including the 
interdependence of church and state, and the economic interdependence of families. Coincidentally, 
Feudalism is a system that is interconnected and interdependent, as you see below.[4]

Realizing that these concepts lead to Communism, note what this U.N. representative said about unity in 

Diversity and interconnectedness:
 “…the highest possible attainment of a civilization, a testimony to the most noble possibilities of the human 
race. This attainment is made possible through passionate concern for choice, in an atmosphere of social 
trust.” Michael Novak, former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Commission [5]
Interdependence, unity in diversity, and interconnectedness are New Age/occult concepts that are taught 
in Theosophy. The Theosophical Society promotes the following:
“An essential principle of theosophy is its concept of a holistic world view which emphasizes the unity and 
interconnectedness of all life, the basic oneness of all people and all species of life. Its  philosophy points to 
a divine spark in each of us that is always part of the Source from which it arises.”
These three teachings are being used to bring in the single authoritarian government. Take note of this 
statement from the UNESCO website. When following the link, you will see that all these concepts are there. 
It is man’s solution to peace – which skirts around the true solution for peace:





Today, sustainable development calls to rethink our relationship to the economy, to society and the 
environment, bearing in mind that the emerging and future challenges of humankind do require 
collective responses, which implies the kind of solidarity that can result only from a culture of peace, 
non-violence and dialogue which condenses “that which binds” cultures and societies to each other 
and from within. In turn, a culture of peace fosters sustainable development since it is aimed at helping 
people cope resiliently and creatively with ethical, cultural, political, environmental and other social 
transformations.
True peace is not the lack of conflict between men, but the lack of conflict between men 
and God. God has given us the solution to human conflict and that solution is the person 
of Christ Jesus. There is only one “roadmap to peace” and it is the path with Jesus.[6]


If you have been a Christian for any length of time, you would know that Antichrist will come in peaceably 
on a platform of peace, prosperity, and safety for all nations and all religions – deceiving the majority.
Satan has cleverly uses doctrines of demons to get the church on board with cleverly disguised global 
and community missional goals to assist the Enemy in securing the world for his purposes. Even the 
overemphasis of the teaching on love – it all plays a part of the elimination of intolerance, so that proponents 
can bring about civic cooperation, create responsibilities, and achieve common good  for the 
community/world.[7] 
The Purpose of the Church
Within the last decade, the corporate church has created a new mission for the Church – to be the hands 
and feet of Christ. The Purpose Driven and Emergent/Missional churches have used 1 Cor. 12:12-26 to 
create an unified Christian workforce for the world. Please read closely:
“For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, 
are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews 
or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body 
is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; 
is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; 
is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole 
were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the 
body, as it hath pleased him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they 
many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: 
nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more those members of the body, 
which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: And those members of the body, which we think to be 
less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more 
abundant comeliness. For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, 
having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked. That there should be no schism in the 
body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member 
suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.”
The true meaning of these verses is directed toward genuine believers, so that:

  1. Each believer in the Body of Christ will seek unity within the Body, and
  2. Each believer has a different spiritual gift, their position within the Body has an important part. 

It does not mean that the Church is to become the volunteer “good works” workforce for 
the community or some far-off land. If coupled with the Great Commission, it still isn’t the 
correct use of scripture.
(Comment from us:
For example: “Good Neighbors Home Repair” of Kennett Square, PA, 
www.goodneighborshomerepair.org, an ecumenical, interfaith, interdenominational volunteer
organization that uses the services of students and others to do needed home repairs for the 
poor. Trouble is, they get exposed to mystical contemplative practices where they have meals 
and sleeping accomodations under the guise of “worship”.)


The Christian Communist uses several passages to advance their theological and political theory based upon 
the view that the teachings of Jesus Christ compels Christians to support Communism as the ideal social 
system. Christ did not support any political system. He merely wanted believers to be connected with one 
another, and not fly solo. Since it is often times difficult living separate from the world system, He desired us 
to stick together. He wanted us to encourage one another in love, in spite of our giftings and differences 
within the Body.





























“Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Gal. 6:2
The modern church now sees fit to assume the key role of managing the transformation of society. 
That is a far reach from the original intent  for the purpose of the Church.
With the emphasis on the concern for community and social justice issues, this should cause us to 
question the genuine purpose of the Body of Christ. The Bible says that it is to: worship God (Luke 4:8; 
John 4:23), study His Word (2 Tim. 2:15), pray (Acts 2:42), love one another (John 13:35), bear one 
another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2), learn how to live as godly people (Titus 2:11-12), for the perfecting of the 
saints (Eph. 4:12), and to spread the Gospel (Matt. 28:18-20).

Buzz Word: The Use and Meaning of Words
Change agents routinely alter the meaning and use of biblical words and phrases. For instance, 
the Emergent/Purpose Driven church use of the phrase “the hands and feet of Christ.” This 
phrase actually has two meanings – one true and the other false. The first meaning is used in 
Gospel outreach. It describes one who goes out to preach the Gospel to an unsaved world headed toward 
judgment. It is one who reaches their surrounding community through Gospel Mission ministries to the poor, 
and prison outreach, as they deliver the “good news” that condemned sinners worthy of judgement from 
God’s wrath, having offended a holy God. It has been used over the years within the Church to emphasize 
that each individual believer, as they work in ministry, may be the only Jesus the unbelieving world will ever 
see. It’s the basis for lifestyle evangelism, and it can often silently lead people to the Lord. 
The second use of the phrase is relatively new. The Purpose Driven, seeker friendly church, is 
one that improves society. Outside of bettering society, the missional concept has no content; 
it specifically denies a mission of proclaiming an escape from God’s coming wrath. 
For the Emergent, “The journey is the reward,” and the journey will certainly end well for all.[8] 
If it has a Gospel presentation, it’s typically a weak one, or no Gospel at all. It mobilizes the unrepentant 
to good works – to be the hands and feet of Christ.
You can see the contrast in the sermon notes of this popular preacher, who will remain nameless. In his
Gospel-driven message,  he says:
“The work of Jesus Christ in the world is in the hands of those who belong to Him. In that sense, Christ has 
no hands but our hands, no feet but our feet. The Lord commissioned His earthly ministry to His followers,
saying, ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the 
Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you (Matt 28:20)'”[9] The phrase 
sounds similar to that of the Emergent/Missional church, but this preacher’s church has only outreach to 
their local Gospel Mission, a prison ministry, a local Christian college, and a pastor’s training program. He is 
not flawless, since his church promotes interdependence with government, but it doesn’t seem to be 
promoting social justice missions projects.
Now let’s look at Rick Warren’s writings. In the following quote, Warren was speaking about disaster relief
for Hurricane Katrina:
“Disaster presents Christians with unprecedented opportunities to mobilize the Church
and become the hands and feet of Christ. We need to become audio-visual Christians – 
not just talking about it, but doing it.” [10]





































Straight from Rick Warren’s Dominionist plan.[11] What makes it uniquely 
Communitarian is the interconnectedness of the social, political, and economic sectors.
This reflects the double meaning for 1 Cor. 12: 12-27, and how these are man’s idea, not God’s.
Mobilizing an army of Christian workers is a man thing, not a God thing. This was never seen in
the Bible, but is seen in the U.N. Millennium Development Goals – an organization Rick Warren has had 
closecontact with.[12]
Ironically, another famous person used the same concept of service. Teresa of Avila put it like this:
“Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which 
he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands 
through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are 
his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”
Teresa of Avila (1515 – 1582) was a prominent Spanish mystic, a Roman Catholic saint, 
involved in contemplative prayer. She wasn’t hearing from the Lord, rather from the spirit 
world.
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false 
prophets are gone out into the world.” 1 John 4:1
“Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: 
they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.” 
Jeremiah 23:16


Calling a Spade a Spade
What once seemed like a harmless principle on the unity of the Body taught in 1 Cor. 12: 12-27, 
is now the rallying cry of  the corporate Church. The once clear-cut purpose of the Church has 
now been molded by change agents to have the elements of  Tony Blair’s interfaith Faith 
Foundation, the Roman Catholic-rooted  liberation theology, and Purpose Driven/Emergent 
church/missional model.

Can you see how the Church has moved from freedom to servitude? Christians are slowly being
brainwashed to think like Communists.[13] Some in Christianity have traditionally viewed our service
to God as an act of slavery, taking the ancient images of slavery and superimposing them onto modern
Christianity. Their is a notion that our normal relationship and service to God should be that of a slave to
a master, instead of that of a child of God responding out of love and gratitude to a good God. In reading
the following verse, being slaves is not the picture of what Jesus described to us of who we are. He does
desire our obedience and service, but it is in our freedom that we do so.
 “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 
Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the 
servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have 
heard of my Father I have made known unto you.” John 15:13-15


Leadership Network

Church planting goals, sales tactics, and community “good works” outreach goals sound as 
though they are biblical, but actually spill over into a goal of reaching the local community 
with the totalitarian agenda of Communitarianism. They are using the concepts developed 
by the Leadership Network, whose goal it is to reach your church’s global missions program.
__________________________________________________________


(Our Comments:
See our previous post: 
in which we pointed out:

“What in the world is going on?
    Do pastors learn this way of “doing” church from their seminary training? In part, yes. 

The other source is perhaps Rick Warren via Peter Drucker. Another would be the church 
growth methods of the “Leadership Network”http://www.leadnet.org/ for so-called “next 
generation pastors” running multi-site church “campuses” into change agents (facilitators) 
as described in:

See YouTube videos from Leadership Network Channel:

Leadership Network promo 2013: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2iiXC0LY4g.


Communal Morphing by Steve Saccone: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqyhR2PFr9U.

    To quote the Leslies again: “Drucker has dedicated much effort into bringing the church 

into conformance with the “systems” model of governance, which is known as Total Quality 
Management in the corporate world.””In this model, parishioners are “customers.” “The 
focus shifts to “outcomes” which means that people will have to be held “accountable” for 
“performance.”” “Peter Drucker grew up under the influence of the German philosophies of 
the 1800s.” “The Corporate and the Church subsume their identities and comfortably merge 
with State into one comprehensive “system” of governance for mankind.”)
_______________________________________________________________
























The Leadership Network’s logo symbolizes the interconnecting network of feudalism. “The Feudal 
system had a ruling class who owned all the land and wealth, and provided security and safety to 
all the serfs. In turn the serfs provided work and servitude to their master. But many people do 
not realize the collective aspect of how serfs lived together.[14]” 
While watching the video, take note of the “global message,” the use of Socialist Peter Drucker’s name
(founder of the Purpose Driven model), the concern for sustainability, their use of guided solutions,
and the desire to change the world.
Then there is this video by the Leadership Network. Note as they speak about social justice. I should
mention first that the phrase “social justice” was coined by a Jesuit, and “is a part of Catholic social teaching,
the Protestants’ Social Gospel. It is one of the Four Pillars of the Green Party upheld by green parties 
worldwide. Social justice is a secular concept, distinct from religious teachings, emerged mainly in the late
twentieth century, influenced primarily by philosopher John Rawls. [15]” In case you don’t know, the
Jesuits lead the counter reformation and the Reconstruction movement of the Roman Catholic Church,
and are Dominionists.
And this one on community engagement being a mission for God.
See explanation of “cross domain” at the 8 minute mark especially:
Service Projects
Community service and Christian service projects are good things to do. Seeing the lives of 
the lost being touched by these projects is also good. Giving to the poor, needy, and 
oppressed is called for in the Bible. But we should not be ignorant of the fact that something 
greater is presently taking place. We should not be reluctant to question the change in the 
overall mission of the church, and try to see how it fits into the big world picture, even if they 
mention a generic “God” and say the Gospel is being preached.
(Comment:
See our notes above about the: 
“Good Neighbors Home Repair” 
Willowdale Chapel at:
Most of us have been taught not to make waves, be compliant, and not question authority, since it is
viewed by some to be sinful to disagree. We must understand that there is nothing wrong with questioning
what the church experts claim – since they are fully capable of being wrong. Many times this includes how
they use scripture.
Communitarian ideology has infiltrated the corporate Church, making it completely acceptable 
to become servants to the world. As their indoctrinating educational church materials continue 
to flood the Church, positions will continue to move believers from the socially conservative 
camp to the Communitarian camp, whether they realize it or not. As long as church members 
internalize the values of what they are being taught by these fraudulent evangelism experts, 
they will always fall prey to those who have grander ideas.
Perhaps we should consider these verses about helping the needy.
Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your 
Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as 
the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto 
you, They have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand 
doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee 
openly.”
Could it be that when we help the poor, needy, and oppressed, that we do it in secret? Perhaps we should 
question whether these open acts of service are to be done on an individual basis among the Body of Christ 
first, then serving unbelievers who are open to the Gospel, second. Has the church considered that the 
people in their own congregation may be in need nearly as much as the heathen people in far-off lands? 
This is just one example of a possible inconsistency in the way we are doing things today in the church. 
It seems to me that helping those in private shows far more of a heart of compassion than that of an army 
of follower volunteers. If we are compassionate, we will help them without the group.
Specifics 
The following is a list of social justice issues. It is only an excerpt of a greater list from a Catholic university
website.

Catholic Social Justice Issues
  • Access to food, clean water and shelter 
  • Community: promotion of the common good, e.g. education 
  • Development of poor countries in an effort to alleviate human misery 
  • Dignity of the human person from creation: abortion; euthanasia; the death penalty 
  • Family-friendly economic policy—where does the US stand in this regard? 
  • Global responsibility for alleviation of economic inequality 
  • Human dignity: how poverty affects human rights 
  • Marginalization of the poor 
  • Pacifism, disarmament 
Children’s Rights
  • Exploitation of children 
  • Child soldiers in Uganda 
  • Child workers enslaved on chocolate farms in Ivory Coast 
  • Child workers in India 
  • Human trafficking – prostitution 
  • Right to free education 
  • Right to adequate healthcare 
  • Rights and their corresponding social responsibilities
Climate Change
  • Climate change inequitably impacts developing countries 
  • Help is needed to adapt to climate change—technology, policy, etc. 
  • Effect of sea level rise to small island nations, e.g.
  • Enable the most vulnerable states and populations to become more resilient to climate change by 
  • mitigation and adaptation 
Criminal Justice 
  • Challenges of terrorism: extraordinary rendition, torture and unlawful detention 
  • Death penalty / capital punishment 
  • Human trafficking 
  • Police powers and human rights 
  • Prisoners’ rights 
  • Racial profiling 
Conclusion
When Christians walk through the doors of a church, they would never anticipate that they would be
intentionally deceived by a political agenda, no matter how subtle it is. This is why Communitarianism is
so cleverly disguised. It combines the believers desire to spread the good news, alongside the political
objective of creating a collectivist mindset. It is truth mixed with lies, and made to appear biblical.
As these church volunteer/service projects continue, allow my words to challenge you in determining how
participating in Christian community projects are part of the globalist/Dominionist/Communitarian plan to
transform the world. God’s Word was intended to mean something very specific, but change agents have
seen the opportunity to manufacture this ingenious plan of the Enemy. Not only does it provide the
opportunity to create world socialism, but also a future false great awakening to accept a false messiah
figure. It is a conspiracy, and it’s real.
It is a global deception…
“The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, 
and against his anointed, saying, ‘Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from 
us.’ He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them inderision.” Psalm 2:2-4


…and the Church is participating in it.

“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 
And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing 
if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according 
to their works.” 2 Cor. 11:13-15


Need I say more.



Related Posts
Communitarianism: In Transition to Collectivist Values – Part 1
Communitarianism: In Transition to Collectivist Values – Part 2

JOHN MACARTHUR BROADCAST FAVORABLY QUOTES DALLAS WILLARD CONTEMPLATIVE

As Lighthouse Trails Research reports in
www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/newsletters/2013/newsletters20130826.htm#29,
John MacArthur’s ministry “Grace to You” has been repeatedly rerunning a certain sermon supportive of Dallas Willard, a well known contemplative proponent. Here is the Lighthouse article in full:


“This past weekend, Lighthouse Trails received the following letter from one of our readers:

To Lighthouse Trails: Please listen to the sermon dated August 21st [at Grace to You].  I was shocked when John MacArthur promoted Dallas Willard.  Has anyone else contacted you concerning this endorsement? 

After receiving this letter, we  found the August 21st 2013 Grace to You sermon broadcast by John MacArthur, where MacArthur favorably quotes contemplative pioneer Dallas Willard (who passed away earlier this year). While researching this situation, we learned that this sermon was first aired in 1989. However, Grace to You (MacArthur’s ministry) has been presenting it for a number of years as part of a series called Faith Through the Fire.
While MacArthur’s original citing of Willard in this sermon took place many years ago,  the fact that it is still being offered at Grace to You in a sermon series and is being broadcast currently is cause for concern and is the reason we are writing this report. It is hard for us to understand why Grace to You would continue using this particular sermon, knowing how pervasive the Spiritual Formation (i.e., contemplative prayer) movement is today in the evangelical Protestant church; and as we will show below, even John MacArthur acknowledges that Dallas Willard is a key figure in that movement.
We are well aware that many Christians have a strong sense of devotion toward John MacArthur and trust his opinions and teachings. It is not our intention to discredit him; however, as we have consistently done now for 11 years, we are compelled to issue a warning to believers and a challenge to Christian leaders. Are we suggesting that John MacArthur is a contemplative prayer advocate or part of the emerging church? Certainly not! Are we saying it is wrong to use a broadcast today where Dallas Willard is quoted in a positive manner, giving credence to the man and the movement? Yes, we are saying that is wrong. Willard is largely responsible, along with Richard Foster, for bringing the contemplative prayer movement to the forefront of evangelical Christianity.
Those reading this who wish to defend MacArthur and Grace to You, saying that there is no issue here because the original sermon was so long ago need to understand that if this sermon were sitting in some obscure  archive, stored away for no one to see, we wouldn’t be writing this today. But that is not the case. Grace to You is continuing to use a sermon that should have been discarded years ago , and it must be treated as if it were new material because that is how it is going to be looked at by those who heard the recent broadcast and also by those who buy the Faith Through Fire series.
The section of the August 21st sermon  begins at about the 17:35 minute mark of the broadcast. MacArthur begins by talking about the spiritual disciplines and how they are important for the believer’s life to battle crises and hard times in our lives. He then quotes Willard and says the quote is from Willard’s 1988 book The Spirit of the Disciplines.
Dallas WillardWhile the section that MacArthur quoted from that book does not promote contemplative mystical practices, the point MacArthur is trying to make is actually the same point that contemplatives are trying to make: i.e., that we cannot truly be christlike without the spiritual disciplines in our lives. Certainly, MacArthur wouldn’t include the discipline of the silence like Willard does. For those who may not be able to access the August 21st sermon, here is the section of The Spirit of the Disciplines that MacArthur quoted:

The “on the spot” episodes [crises] are not the place where we can, even by the grace of God, redirect unchristlike but ingrained tendencies of action toward sudden Christlikeness. Our efforts to take control at that moment will fail so uniformly and so ingloriously that the whole project of following Christ will appear ridiculous to the watching world. We’ve all seen this happen.
Some decades ago there appeared a very successful Christian novel called In His Steps. The plot tells of a chain of tragic events that brings the minister of a prosperous church to realize how unlike Christ’s life his own life had become. The minister then leads his congregation in a vow not to do anything without first asking themselves the question, “What would Jesus do in this case?” As the content of the book makes clear, the author took this vow to be the same thing as intending to follow Jesus— to walk precisely “in his steps.” It is, of course, a novel, but even in real life we would count on significant changes in the lives of earnest Christians who took such a vow— just as it happens in that book. But there is a flaw in this thinking. . . [MacArthur skips a few paragraphs]
Asking ourselves “What would Jesus do?” when suddenly in the face of an important situation simply is not an adequate discipline or preparation to enable one to live as he lived. It no doubt will do some good and is certainly better than nothing at all, but that act alone is not sufficient to see us boldly and confidently through a crisis, and we could easily find ourselves driven to despair over the powerless tension it will put us through. (The Spirit of the Disciplines, p. 7-9)

MacArthur then tells his audience:

The secret of being ready for the crisis of having the yoke be easy and the burden be light is to learn how to live the Christian life all the time so that we have developed the habits, the resources, the responses, the timing, the strengths, the memory, the faith, the spiritual courage to handle it. That’s the issue. To behave like Jesus Christ is our goal. But to be able to do that is not the result of wishing. It’s the result of daily spiritual discipline.

In this article, we are not going to focus on the present-day Spiritual Formation theology of becoming “Christlike” through “spiritual disciplines” except to point to two chapters in Colossians:

And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled  in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:  if ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel . . . to fulfil the word of God; even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:  . . . which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:  whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. (Colossians 1:21-23,25-28, emphasis added)
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power. (Colossians 2: 8-10, emphasis added)

Paul concludes chapter 2 with a description of spiritual disciplines that were being used in that day (vs. 20-22), only to say that such things “have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body” (vs 23), but only serve to make men proud.
It is Christ in us (the born-again Christian believer) that perfects us, forms us, and changes us, not the spiritual disciplines of Dallas Willard, Thomas Merton, and Richard Foster! And bear in mind, when Willard (like Foster and Merton) speaks of the disciplines, he is including the “silence.” This silence that the contemplatives speak of is more than just an outer silence or quietness; it is meaning to silence the mind (put it in neutral so there are no thoughts). Willard states in The Spirit of the Disciplines:

In silence we close off our souls from “sounds,” whether those sounds be noise, music, or words. . . . Many people have never experienced silence and do not even know that they do not know what it is. . . . It is a powerful and essential discipline. Only silence will allow us life-transforming concentration upon God. (bold added, 1991, First HarperCollins Paperback Edition, p. 163-164).

Clearly, Willard is not talking about a quiet surrounding, as he says many have never experienced the silence. Everybody, at some time or another, has experienced being in a perfectly quiet environment.
The fact that MacArthur has supported his sermon on spiritual disciplines and Christlikeness with quotes from Dallas Willard (specifically from the most problematic book, The Spirit of the Disciplines), we feel a sense of duty to put forth this challenge.  The premise of the Spiritual Formation movement is not focused on the person of Jesus Christ, the born-again experience, or the life of Jesus Christ in the believer Who is the power behind true Christlikeness but rather is focused on the practice of spiritual disciplines. It is a very works-based belief system that zeros in on mystical practices.
What we primarily want to discuss in this article is Dallas Willard and his book, The Spirit of the Disciplines. We think when you see the evidence, you will agree that Dallas Willard should not be favorably quoted. If you have been reading Lighthouse Trails for some time, you may know that we have discussed this book on a number of occasions. The book is filled with references to and quotes by numerous contemplative figures including universalists and interspiritualists (e.g., Nouwen, Merton, Meister Eckhart, George Fox) as well as some names that would fall in the New Age/New Spirituality camp (e.g., Agnes Sanford and M. Scott Peck). And in the bibliography, there is The Cloud of Unknowing, the Desert Fathers, atonement denier Harry Fosdick, Ignatius of Loyola, Carl Jung, the mystic philosopher Soren Kierkegaard (whom MacArthur also quotes in the sermon and is addressed in Faith Undone), Evelyn Underhill, and Teresa of Avila. All of these names are in Willard’s book for one reason only – because he resonates with their spiritual viewpoints. And while The Spirit of the Disciplines was released back in the late 80s, Willard has maintained his affinity with most of these figures.  On Willard’s website, he recommends many of them as viable resources for spiritual growth. That list of recommended reading has been on his website for many years and remains there today even after his death.
In 2011, Lighthouse Trails posted an article titled, The “New” Emerging Theology Breeds Atheism in a Generation of Young People.   The article told about a young man who after sitting under Dallas Willard for 4 years at university declared himself an atheist. We asked the question, how could this happen? How could a young man raised in a solid Christian home change his views so drastically? It happened, and it is happening to countless young people who are sitting under the feet of bridgers – people like Dallas Willard who point their protégés to panentheists, universalists, and mystics. Another young man whom we came across who was looking for answers, found them by turning to Dallas Willard and Richard Foster. Listen to what he found:

I bumped into the classic spiritual disciplines while taking a course called “Dynamics of Christian Life” in my second year of Bible school. One of our textbooks was The Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard. The course and textbook only touched on the actual disciplines, but the concept captivated me. The following spring, I found a copy of Richard Foster’s spiritual classic Celebration of Discipline in a used bookstore. Opening it and discovering each discipline [including the contemplative] detailed chapter by chapter, I felt a profound sense of joy and excitement. I’d found a real treasure.

Later, this young man became a free lance writer for the emergent organization, Youth Specialties. Listen to where the spirituality of Dallas Willard and Richard Foster led him:

I built myself a prayer room – a tiny sanctuary in a basement closet filled with books on spiritual disciplines, contemplative prayer, and Christian mysticism. In that space I lit candles, burned incense, hung rosaries, and listened to tapes of Benedictine monks. I meditated for hours on words, images, and sounds. I reached the point of being able to achieve alpha brain patterns, the state in which dreams occur, while still awake and meditating. – “Disciplines, Mystics and the Contemplative Life” by Mike Perschon

 For those not familiar with what the “alpha brain patterns” are, here are two descriptions:

“Mystical states of consciousness happen in the alpha state … The Alpha State also occurs voluntarily during light hypnosis, meditation, biofeedback, day dreaming, hypnogogic and hypnapompic states.” Dr. Lee Warren, B.A., D.D. (source)
“Alpha is the springboard for all psychic and magical workings. It is the heart of witchcraft.”  Laurie Cabot, Power Of The Witch (p. 183)

And from Richard Foster himself:

“If you feel we live in a purely physical universe, you will view meditation as a good way to obtain a consistent alpha brain wave pattern.” Richard Foster in Celebration of Discipline (1998 ed., p. 22)

The point here is that Dallas Willard has been a pied piper to countless people, leading them straight into the arms of mystical spirituality. What happened to Perschon and others like him is tragic. And we just cannot fathom the idea that not only will Willard’s influence continue on long after he has been gone from this planet but Christian leaders who should understand the dynamics of this movement will continue promoting him.
And one last issue on Dallas Willard we need to bring up, that of Sue Monk Kidd (discussed in A Time of Departing), whose endorsement sits on the back cover of The Spirit of the Disciplines. That endorsement enthusiastically proclaims:

A profound call to discipleship based on spiritual disciplines [that] awakens us to a forgotten truth, that the transformation to Christ-likeness is realized through taking on the ‘easy yoke’ of the disciplines.” — Sue Monk Kidd, author of The Dance of the Dissident Daughter

 It is in The Dance of the Dissident Daughter that Monk Kidd says God is in everything, including human waste!

Deity means that divinity will no longer be only heavenly . . .  It will also be right here, right now, in me, in the earth, in this river, in excrement and roses alike. (p. 160)

Sue Monk Kidd was once a Sunday school teacher in a conservative Southern Baptist church. She began reading Thomas Merton, started practicing contemplative prayer, and lo and behold, today she is a goddess worshiper who rejects and dismisses the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And herein lies our concern. And it’s been our concern for over a decade now. If Christian leaders point people to contemplative teachers like Dallas Willard, they are inadvertently pointing them to Thomas Merton and a myriad of other panenthestic figures. That is the plain truth!
Frankly, we are surprised that the sermon by John MacArthur promoting Dallas Willard is still in active circulation and that Grace to You recently aired it. It seems so out of character. Especially when you consider what MacArthur said in an interview two years ago. In the interview, MacArthur was asked what he thought about the contemplative prayer movement to which he replied, “That’s just a lot of bunk. . . .  I don’t even know what they’re doing, and I don’t know what they come up with but all of that mystic stuff, Dallas Willard and others like him, confuse people because they use the name of Jesus and they talk about God and they use Bible verses.” So clearly, MacArthur sees Willard as part of this heretical movement. Lighthouse Trails hopes this is just a mistake.
One last concern here. In the interview above, MacArthur states that he doesn’t “even know what they’re doing” in reference to the contemplatives. We wonder if perhaps MacArthur doesn’t fully understand this movement and its occult nature. Many people see the New Age, contemplative, mysticism etc. as something not to be too worried about and that it is frivolous and nonsensical (in other words, just the product of one’s imagination) but really, it is much more profoundly dangerous than that. As Laurie Cabot says, it is the heart of witchcraft.  The Bible says there is a spiritual realm that is operated by Satan and his demons. However, many proclaiming Christians don’t believe that, and thus it is very difficult to persuade them that things like Yoga, Reiki, meditation, and contemplative prayer are indeed dangerous. But we are warned many times in Scripture about this evil spiritual realm. We are also told in Revelation that someday Satan will deceive the whole world (that’s a pretty wide scale deception!), and the vast populations repented not of their sorceries (Revelation 9:21).
These are serious times – they are perilous times (2 Timothy 3:1) – and Christian leaders and pastors need to be encouraged and exhorted to make no compromises when it comes to the Gospel.
To wrap this up, some may defend what John MacArthur did by saying that what he quoted in Willard’s book was harmless and benign. But when someone, especially someone like MacArthur who is followed by so many, quotes or references favorably a figure whose main teaching and emphasis is unbiblical, it negatively impacts resistance to the deception more fully developed in a literary work.  People start to have second thoughts. If MacArthur quotes from this book, some may say, then maybe it’s not that bad.

If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained. . . . be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. . . . give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. . . . Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee. (1 Timothy 4: 6, 12-13, 16)”

______________________________________________________

OBAMA IS SILENT: IRAN APPEALS COURT AFFIRMS 8 YEAR PRISON SENTENCE FOR AMERICAN PASTOR ABEDINI

As reported by the Digital Journal at http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1432424, in their article:

“ACLJ: Iran Delivers ‘Devastating’ Blow 
To American Pastor Saeed Abedini – 
Rejects Appeal, 
Affirms 8-Year Prison Sentence”

Excerpt:
“The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which defends human rights and religious freedom, said today an appeals court in Tehran rejected the appeal of American Pastor Saeed Abedini, a U.S. citizen, and refused to reduce his 8-year prison sentence. Pastor Saeed’s wife, Naghmeh, called the decision “devastating” and the ACLJ is now exploring all legal and governmental options available.

“While we remained hopeful that Iran would use its own appeal process to finally show respect for Pastor Saeed’s basic human rights, again Iran has demonstrated an utter disregard for the fundamentals of human rights,” said Jordan Sekulow, Executive Director of the ACLJ, which represents Pastor Saeed’s wife and their two children.”
Naghmeh Abedini said:
“My husband is serving 8 years in the notorious Evin prison and facing daily threats and abuse by radicals because he refuses to deny his Christian faith. And yet, my President, President Obama, has not spoken a word about him.”  






AIR FORCE VETERAN RELIEVED OF DUTIES FOR REFUSAL TO AFFIRM GAY MARRIAGE

Lesbian Commander Booted Air Force Sgt. 

for Christian Beliefs, Suit Claims

SENIOR MASTER SERGEANT PHILLIP MONK

The Christian News Network reported in 
http://christiannews.net/2013/08/19/christian-air-force-veteran-relieved-of-duties-for-refusing-to-affirm-homosexual-marriage/, quote:
“Senior Master Sergeant Phillip Monk has served in the Air Force for 19 years, and has been stationed at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. When he recently returned from deployment, he found that he had a new commander, who was a lesbian.” “But the commander told Monk that he needed to be on the same page as she was, and that if he didn’t do so, he would be moved elsewhere. She then questioned him on whether he believes it is discrimination for a person to state that they disagree with homosexual “marriage.” He replied that he did not wish to answer because of his convictions.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAxwGlyAP1Q, and/or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbBmSIDUDQ4.


From Charisma News: http://www.charismanews.com/us/40695-lesbian-commander-booted-air-force-sgt-for-beliefs-suit-claims, quote:
“Monk, a devout evangelical Christian, says he was told he wasn’t on the same page as the commander and that if he didn’t get on the same page, they would find another place for him to work. Later, the commander ordered Monk to answer the question of whether people who object to gay marriage are discriminating. Monk responded that he could not answer the way his commander wanted and feared an honest response would put him in legal trouble. At that point, Monk was relieved of his duties.”

KONG HEE & SUN HO COURT APPEARANCE~SYMPATHY SERMONS~BIRTHDAY BLESSED BY TONGUES~MYSTICAL VOICE OF GOD~KEEP GIVING MONEY

CITY HARVEST CHURCH, SINGAPORE

KONG HEE

SUN HO/”CHINA WINE”


As we previously posted about Kong Hee, pastor of City Harvest Church, Singapore, and his wife Sun Ho, (called China Wine or China Girl), who has a sexually immoral secular/”evangelistic” pop singing career, the following are some updates about what has been happening lately.

City Harvest’s founder Kong Hee, 

four others arrested – 26Jun2012:



State of play of upcoming City Harvest Church 

members’ trial:







Kong Hee, wife Sun Ho and church leaders 

arrive at Sub court:


    Concurrent with court appearances to answer charges of church financial mismanagement, criminal breach of trust, lavish lifestyles paid for by church funds over and above their salaries, and diversion of funds to pay for Sun Ho’s immoral singing career, there has been a campaign of the usual corrupt pastoral manipulative tactics to erect a smokescreen of respectability, sympathy, mystical visions and messages from God, and other positive feeling and uplifting messages, mostly aimed at keeping the monies pouring in.
    The public image is one of downcast facial expressions, loss of weight, wrestling with doubt, the “suffering of Job”, and having to deal with a load of stress. Behind that mask is the ever expanding wealth, resources, property, power and influence, allegedly for the glory of God. They think there is no shame here, since “the poor will always be with us” (Matthew 26:11 and Mark 14:7), and no biblical reason for Kong Hee and Sun Ho to “sell all” and follow Jesus (Luke 18:22; Matthew 19:21; Luke 12:33;

From YouTube: Kong Hee – Jabez and Dreams 

(as per Bruce Wilkinson’s “Prayer of Jabez”);

Quote from Hee: “Faith is ‘Spiritualized Imagination” 

in this video, preceded by children leading worship:

In this video, Kong Hee credits Paul (David) Yonggi Cho en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Yonggi_Cho, as his own personal pastor.
Gary Gilley of Southern View Chapel has a thorough overview of the Word of Faith heresy movement and includes some startling comments about Yonggi Cho.
Excerpt:
“Paul (also known as David) Yonggi Cho is the pastor of the 700,000 Full Gospel Yoido Church in South Korea.”

Introduction To The Yoido Full Gospel Church:


Excerpt continued:
“Cho, who often speaks at Robert Schuller Conferences on church growth (along with Bill Hybels), is perhaps the closest link to the occult. He teaches a concept called the “Fourth Dimension.” The first three dimensions are physical and are controlled by the fourth, which is the spiritual. Cho teaches that Christians can get anything they want by calling upon the spirit world in the Fourth Dimension and visualizing what they want. When a person (Christian or unsaved) follows the proper formula of positive thinking, speaking and visualizing, they “incubate” and eventually give birth to their desires. These techniques are the same used in his occult-infested country. Cho is aware of this fact, but believes what works for “them” will work for “us” — so use it.””
“Paul Yonggi Cho, borrowing from the occult, has developed what he calls the “Law of Incubation.” Here is how it works: “First make a clear-cut goal, then draw a mental picture, vivid and graphic, to visualize success. Then incubate it into reality, and finally speak it into existence through the creative power of the spoken word””

Kong Hee Christmas Sermon @ Yoido Full Gospel Church of Cho:

Prosecutors Say That ‘Pastor’ David Yonggi Cho “Has Been Indicted 
On Charges Of Breach Of Duty And Tax Evasion”:
See: c3churchwatch.com/2013/06/10/prosecutors-say-that-pastor-david-yonggi-cho-has-been-indicted-on-charges-of-breach-of-duty-and-tax-evasion/.


City Harvest Church-Pastor Kong’s 

Birthday Celebration with “Speaking in Tongues”:








Kong Hee has a close affiliation with many other Word of Faith heretics, including Paul and Jan Crouch of TBN (Trinity Broadcasting Network), having his own platform there as well.





YOUTUBE VIDEO OF KONG HEE; SUN HO, OF CITY HARVEST CHURCH,
(CALLED “CHINA WINE” BY KONG HEE); ADVISORY PASTOR, PHIL PRINGLE(philpringle.com AND http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Pringle) 
AT PRESENCE CONFERENCE 2012:



YOUTUBE: PHIL PRINGLE “SAW” THE HOLY SPIRIT TWICE IN PERSON:






For complete coverage of all this see: http://c3churchwatch.com/.

















PEACEFUL IMPEACH OBAMA DEMONSTRATORS ARRESTED ON MISSOURI HIGHWAY OVERPASS

On a highway overpass in Missouri, several highway patrol police cars showed up and a group of police demanded that the Impeach Obama demonstration cease, but they could not cite any law or ordinance broken, claiming they didn’t have to give a legal reason. They ignored the demonstrators claims for the constitutional rights of assembly and free speech. They arrested them and cuffed them, even tackling one man to the ground even though the video clearly shows he did not resist arrest. They were put in jail for 24 hours. This is an unbelievable violation of numerous constitutional guarantees. 

See: overpasses.org.

Published on Aug 18, 2013 on YouTube:
Make a donation to help with their legal fees here:http://www.gofundme.com/3zsxmk
Survival Doc (the videographer) and Mark M. are arrested for not obeying an officer and Mark was also charged with resisting arrest. Did he resist arrest? You be the judge. Oh, and they never read us our Miranda Rights. We spent 24 hours in the St. Charles Count Jail with Missouri Hwy Trooper Jenkins acting as judge, jury and executioner. (Note: I am the videographer of this video and the activist who was arrested wearing the yellow t-shirt. Near the end, as a cop had my left hand in a handcuff behind my back I am holding the camera in my right hand and as the cop is reaching for my right hand I pass the camera off to Constitution Kim who finishes the recording documenting my arrest.)
Follow SayNoToTyranny on Twitter
Survival Doc’s web site: http://www.TheNewSurvivalist.com
Some pictures were taken by unknown sources:

CATHOLIC N.J. GOVERNOR CHRISTIE BANS GAY REPARATIVE THERAPY FOR MINORS~CLAIMS HOMOSEXUALITY IS INNATE & NOT SINFUL

Gov. Christie Signs Bill Banning Gay Conversion Therapy On Minors:

http://nj.gov/governor/news/news/552013/approved/20130819a.html.

Quote from above: 
“Governor Christie: Well my religion says it’s a sin. I mean I think, but for me, I’ve always believed that people are born with the predisposition to be homosexual. And so I think if someone is born that way it’s very difficult to say then that’s a sin. But I understand that my Church says that, but for me personally I don’t look at someone who is homosexual as a sinner.”


Matthew 16:26-“For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”


Reactions to Christie’s Banning of Conversion Therapy:



COULD THIS MORAL RELATIVIST BE OUR NEXT PRESIDENT?

CHRISTIE & OBAMA HOLD HANDS & CHRISTIE HAS LEFT HAND ON OBAMA’S SHOULDER:
MORE HAND HOLDING. DEFINITELY NOT AN ARM’S LENGTH RELATIONSHIP!
LOOKS MORE LIKE A LONG TERM AFFAIR!
AN ACCORD THAT GOES BEYOND JUST HURRICANE RECONSTRUCTION?
WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN THE “QUID PRO QUO” DEAL THAT THE PUBLIC IS STILL IGNORANT ABOUT? COULD IT HAVE BEEN THE BILL BANNING GAY REPARATIVE THERAPY AS PART OF THE PRICE FOR ALL THAT FEDERAL MONEY?

As the New American explained at http://thenewamerican.com/culture/faith-and-morals/item/16368-christy-signs-law-banning-minors-from-therapy-for-same-sex-attraction:
“Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (shown) quietly signed a bill into law August 19 making it illegal for licensed therapists in the state to help minors overcome homosexual attraction — even with the approval of their parents. The bill, A3371, bans any qualified therapist, psychologist, social worker, or anyone “who performs counseling as part of the person’s professional training for any of these professions,” from counseling anyone under 18 years of age with the intent of helping that person change his or her sexual orientation. Therapies and treatments that are prohibited, according to the bill’s language, include “efforts to change behaviors, gender identity, or gender expressions, or to reduce or eliminate sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward a person of the same gender.””

Americans For Truth About Homosexuality also reported:
http://americansfortruth.com/2013/08/21/gov-christie-undermines-parental-rights-and-truth-by-signing-bill-banning-reparative-therapy-for-minors-claiming-homosexuality-is-innate-and-not-a-sin/.
“Peter LaBarbera, President of Americans For Truth About Homosexuality, (AFTAH.org), said today that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie succumbed to homosexual activist propaganda and myths in signing into law a bill that bans professional counselors in the Garden State “from attempting to change a minor’s sexual orientation.”

Governor Christie’s Attached Statement to Bill
http://nj.gov/governor/news/news/552013/pdf/20130819a_A3371.pdf:

GOVERNOR’S STATEMENT UPON SIGNING 
ASSEMBLY BILL No. 3371 
 Assembly Bill No. 3371, which I have signed today, 
prohibits individuals who are licensed to provide professional 
counseling under Title 45 of the New Jersey statutes from 
attempting to change a minor’s sexual orientation. 
 At the outset of this debate, I expressed my concerns about 
government limiting parental choice on the care and treatment of 
their own children. I still have those concerns. Government 
should tread carefully into this area and I do so here 
reluctantly. I have scrutinized this piece of legislation with 
that concern in mind. 
 However, I also believe that on issues of medical treatment 
for children we must look to experts in the field to determine 
the relative risks and rewards. The American Psychological 
Association has found that efforts to change sexual orientation 
can pose critical health risks including, but not limited to, 
depression, substance abuse, social withdrawal, decreased selfesteem and suicidal thoughts. 
 I believe that exposing children to these health risks 
without clear evidence of benefits that outweigh these serious 
risks is not appropriate. Based upon this analysis, I sign this 
bill into law. 
Date: 8/19/13 
 /s/ Chris Christie 
 Governor 
Attest: 
/s/ Charles B. McKenna 
Chief Counsel to the Governor
_______________________________________________________________________

Text of Bill 3371 Banning Gay Conversion Therapy:

ASSEMBLY, No. 3371
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
215th LEGISLATURE
INTRODUCED OCTOBER 15, 2012

Sponsored by:
Assemblyman  TIMOTHY J. EUSTACE
District 38 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblyman  HERB CONAWAY, JR.
District 7 (Burlington)
Assemblywoman  HOLLY SCHEPISI
District 39 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblyman  REED GUSCIORA
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Assemblyman  JOHN J. BURZICHELLI
District 3 (Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywomen Vainieri Huttle, Lampitt, Tucker, Assemblyman Wisniewski, Assemblywomen Caride, Mosquera, Jasey, Senators Lesniak, Sweeney, Weinberg, Buono and Ruiz
SYNOPSIS
     Protects minors by prohibiting attempts to change sexual orientation.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
     As introduced.

AN ACT concerning the protection of minors from attempts to change sexual orientation and supplementing Title 45 of the Revised Statutes.
     BE IT ENACTED by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
     1.    The Legislature finds and declares that:
     a.    Being lesbian, gay, or bisexual is not a disease, disorder, illness, deficiency, or shortcoming.  The major professional associations of mental health practitioners and researchers in the United States have recognized this fact for nearly 40 years;
     b.    The American Psychological Association convened a Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation.  The task force conducted a systematic review of peer-reviewed journal literature on sexual orientation change efforts, and issued a report in 2009.  The task force concluded that sexual orientation change efforts can pose critical health risks to lesbian, gay, and bisexual people, including confusion, depression, guilt, helplessness, hopelessness, shame, social withdrawal, suicidality, substance abuse, stress, disappointment, self-blame, decreased self-esteem and authenticity to others, increased self-hatred, hostility and blame toward parents, feelings of anger and betrayal, loss of friends and potential romantic partners, problems in sexual and emotional intimacy, sexual dysfunction, high-risk sexual behaviors, a feeling of being dehumanized and untrue to self, a loss of faith, and a sense of having wasted time and resources;
     c.    The American Psychological Association issued a resolution on Appropriate Affirmative Responses to Sexual Orientation Distress and Change Efforts in 2009, which states: “[T]he [American Psychological Association] advises parents, guardians, young people, and their families to avoid sexual orientation change efforts that portray homosexuality as a mental illness or developmental disorder and to seek psychotherapy, social support, and educational services that provide accurate information on sexual orientation and sexuality, increase family and school support, and reduce rejection of sexual minority youth”;
     d.    (1) The American Psychiatric Association published a position statement in March of 2000 in which it stated:  “Psychotherapeutic modalities to convert or ‘repair’ homosexuality are based on developmental theories whose scientific validity is questionable.  Furthermore, anecdotal reports of ‘cures’ are counterbalanced by anecdotal claims of psychological harm.  In the last four decades, ‘reparative’ therapists have not produced any rigorous scientific research to substantiate their claims of cure.  Until there is such research available, [the American Psychiatric Association] recommends that ethical practitioners refrain from attempts to change individuals’ sexual orientation, keeping in mind the medical dictum to first, do no harm;
     (2) The potential risks of reparative therapy are great, including depression, anxiety and self-destructive behavior, since therapist alignment with societal prejudices against homosexuality may reinforce self-hatred already experienced by the patient.  Many patients who have undergone reparative therapy relate that they were inaccurately told that homosexuals are lonely, unhappy individuals who never achieve acceptance or satisfaction.  The possibility that the person might achieve happiness and satisfying interpersonal relationships as a gay man or lesbian is not presented, nor are alternative approaches to dealing with the effects of societal stigmatization discussed; and
     (3)   Therefore, the American Psychiatric Association opposes any psychiatric treatment such as reparative or conversion therapy which is based upon the assumption that homosexuality per se is a mental disorder or based upon the a priori assumption that a patient should change his or her sexual homosexual orientation”;
     e.    The American School Counselor Association’s position statement on professional school counselors and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth states:  “It is not the role of the professional school counselor to attempt to change a student’s sexual orientation/gender identity but instead to provide support to LGBTQ students to promote student achievement and personal well-being.  Recognizing that sexual orientation is not an illness and does not require treatment, professional school counselors may provide individual student planning or responsive services to LGBTQ students to promote self-acceptance, deal with social acceptance, understand issues related to coming out, including issues that families may face when a student goes through this process and identify appropriate community resources”;
     f.     The American Academy of Pediatrics in 1993 published an article in its journal, Pediatrics, stating: “Therapy directed at specifically changing sexual orientation is contraindicated, since it can provoke guilt and anxiety while having little or no potential for achieving changes in orientation”;
     g.    The American Medical Association Council on Scientific Affairs prepared a report in 1994 in which it stated: “Aversion therapy (a behavioral or medical intervention which pairs unwanted behavior, in this case, homosexual behavior, with unpleasant sensations or aversive consequences) is no longer recommended for gay men and lesbians.  Through psychotherapy, gay men and lesbians can become comfortable with their sexual orientation and understand the societal response to it”;
     h.    The National Association of Social Workers prepared a 1997 policy statement in which it stated: “Social stigmatization of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people is widespread and is a primary motivating factor in leading some people to seek sexual orientation changes.  Sexual orientation conversion therapies assume that homosexual orientation is both pathological and freely chosen.  No data demonstrates that reparative or conversion therapies are effective, and, in fact, they may be harmful”;
     i.     The American Counseling Association Governing Council issued a position statement in April of 1999, and in it the council states: “We oppose ‘the promotion of “reparative therapy” as a “cure” for individuals who are homosexual’”;
     j.     (1) The American Psychoanalytic Association issued a position statement in June 2012 on attempts to change sexual orientation, gender, identity, or gender expression, and in it the association states: “As with any societal prejudice, bias against individuals based on actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression negatively affects mental health, contributing to an enduring sense of stigma and pervasive self-criticism through the internalization of such prejudice; and
     (2)   Psychoanalytic technique does not encompass purposeful attempts to ‘convert,’ ‘repair,’ change or shift an individual’s sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.  Such directed efforts are against fundamental principles of psychoanalytic treatment and often result in substantial psychological pain by reinforcing damaging internalized attitudes”;
     k.    The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in 2012 published an article in its journal, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, stating: “Clinicians should be aware that there is no evidence that sexual orientation can be altered through therapy, and that attempts to do so may be harmful.  There is no empirical evidence adult homosexuality can be prevented if gender nonconforming children are influenced to be more gender conforming.  Indeed, there is no medically valid basis for attempting to prevent homosexuality, which is not an illness.  On the contrary, such efforts may encourage family rejection and undermine self-esteem, connectedness and caring, important protective factors against suicidal ideation and attempts.  Given that there is no evidence that efforts to alter sexual orientation are effective, beneficial or necessary, and the possibility that they carry the risk of significant harm, such interventions are contraindicated”;
     l.     The Pan American Health Organization, a regional office of the World Health Organization, issued a statement in May of 2012 and in it the organization states: “These supposed conversion therapies constitute a violation of the ethical principles of health care and violate human rights that are protected by international and regional agreements.”  The organization also noted that reparative therapies “lack medical justification and represent a serious threat to the health and well-being of affected people”;
     m.   Minors who experience family rejection based on their sexual orientation face especially serious health risks.  In one study, lesbian, gay, and bisexual young adults who reported higher levels of family rejection during adolescence were 8.4 times more likely to report having attempted suicide, 5.9 times more likely to report high levels of depression, 3.4 times more likely to use illegal drugs, and 3.4 times more likely to report having engaged in unprotected sexual intercourse compared with peers from families that reported no or low levels of family rejection.  This is documented by Caitlin Ryan et al. in their article entitled Family Rejection as a Predictor of Negative Health Outcomes in White and Latino Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Young Adults (2009) 123 Pediatrics 346; and
     n.    New Jersey has a compelling interest in protecting the physical and psychological well-being of minors, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth, and in protecting its minors against exposure to serious harms caused by sexual orientation change efforts.
     2.    a.  A person who is licensed to provide professional counseling under Title 45 of the Revised Statutes, including, but not limited to, a psychiatrist, licensed practicing psychologist, certified social worker, licensed clinical social worker, licensed social worker, licensed marriage and family therapist, certified psychoanalyst, or a person who performs counseling as part of the person’s professional training for any of these professions, shall not engage in sexual orientation change efforts with a person under 18 years of age.
     b.    As used in this section, “sexual orientation change efforts” means the practice of seeking to change a person’s sexual orientation, including, but not limited to, efforts to change behaviors, gender identity, or gender expressions, or to reduce or eliminate sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward a person of the same gender; except that sexual orientation change efforts shall not include counseling for a person seeking to transition from one gender to another, or counseling that:
     (1)   provides acceptance, support, and understanding of a person or facilitates a person’s coping, social support, and identity exploration and development, including sexual orientation-neutral interventions to prevent or address unlawful conduct or unsafe sexual practices; and
     (2)   does not seek to change sexual orientation.
     3.    This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
     This bill prohibits counseling to change the sexual orientation of a minor.
     Under the provisions of the bill, a person who is licensed to provide professional counseling, including, but not limited to, a psychiatrist, licensed practicing psychologist, certified social worker, licensed clinical social worker, licensed social worker, licensed marriage and family therapist, certified psychoanalyst, or a person who performs counseling as part of the person’s professional training, is prohibited from engaging in sexual orientation change efforts with a person under 18 years of age.
     The bill defines “sexual orientation change efforts” as the practice of seeking to change a person’s sexual orientation, including, but not limited to, efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions, or to reduce or eliminate sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward a person of the same gender.  The term, however, does not include counseling for a person seeking to transition from one gender to another, or counseling that: provides acceptance, support, and understanding of a person or facilitates a person’s coping, social support, identity exploration and development, including sexual orientation-neutral interventions to prevent or address unlawful conduct or unsafe sexual practices; and does not seek to change sexual orientation.
_______________________________________________________________


PASTOR PINDER STILL RUMMAGING AROUND IN APOSTATES’ TRASH FOR WISDOM AND FEEDING IT TO THE GULLIBLE

    Pastor Pinder of Faith Baptist Church, Wilmington, Delaware is still finding more apostates to recommend to his undiscerning congregation, but this time he’s really rummaging around in the dregs of a polluted cesspool. In his sermon of the evening of August 4, 2013, titled “I Am The Vine”, http://www.fbcwilmington.com/audio.html, within two minutes he recommended Bruce Wilkinson’s book “Secrets of the Vine/Breaking Through to Abundance” (see: http://www.thejabezprayer.com/business/secrets.html), for his congregation to read, since it is one of his favorite books. He promised that it would be easy to read, and now available for probably $1.00.
    We boldly but lovingly proclaim here that Bruce Wilkinson
(see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Wilkinson), and all of his writings and materials should be avoided for their heresy, mysticism, extra-biblical advice, mantra prayers, prosperity/name it & claim it gospel, and his associations with universalist Robert Schuller, Rick Warren and Bill Hybels. There are many other reasons and we will break them down as best we can in this post. There is much support for our position and we will supply the refrences below.
    In any case, having finished a series of sermons on church apostasy using the book of Jude, Pinder has continuously offered apostates as examples of Christian behavior and thought to bolster his sermon points and for general consumption by his followers before, during and after this series.

What others have to say about Wilkinson:

A) Gary Gilley of Southern View Chapel reviewed “Secrets of the Vine” here:
http://www.svchapel.org/resources/book-reviews/4-christian-living/160-secrets-of-the-vine-by-bruce-wilkinson. Excerpts: “The difference is that with (Prayer of) Jabez the errors just came pouring out like a rushing river, while in Secrets they are more like a gentle stream. You are not as likely to drown in a stream but you can still slip and do damage. Let’s take a look at some of the unbiblical statements and concepts.” “ I suggest that the sincere Christian avoid both volumes.”
B) Chris Rosebough of Fighting for the Faith reviews Wilkinson’s book, “You Were Born for This: 7 Keys to a Life of Predictable Miracles”, which Rosebrough describes as “This book is heretical and dangerous and we’re warning the Church in advance of Wilkerson’s deceptions.” See: http://www.fightingforthefaith.com/2009/06/sinners-in-the-hands-of-an-angry-god.html.
C) David Cloud’s “Beware of Dr. Bruce Wilkinson”: 
http://www.greatpreachers.org/bruce_wilkinson.html. Excerpts: “Wilkinson has been on PTL and has had a mostly ecumenical itinerary. Some are charismatic, evangelical, and Catholic churches, but many are the most liberal of National Council-World Council of Churches denominational churches!” “For Bruce Wilkinson and the other evangelical members of The CoMission to yoke together with Russian Orthodoxy in “evangelism” is inexcusable. Bible-believing churches should have nothing to do with Walk Thru the Bible.”
D) Herescope on Wilkinson’s “Morality Lite”: 
https://ratherexposethem.org/2006/01/bruce-wilkinsons-morality-lite.html. Excerpt: “Bruce Wilkinson’s “morality lite” message was sadly lacking in true Biblical morality.”
E) Berit Kjos of Crossroad on “The Dream Giver Coach and DISC Assessments”:
http://www.crossroad.to/Quotes/management/DISC.htm.
http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/05/dream-giver.htm.
http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/Jabez.htm. (review of Jabez).
Wilkinson’s Dream For Africa is Shattered:
http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/006/discernment/wilkinson-dream.htm.
F) In Plain Site review of Jabez: 
http://www.inplainsite.org/html/the_prayer_of_jabez.html.
Excerpt: “The book opens the door for Christians and non-Christians to make the presumption that God must answer this prayer.” “The problem is that this book promises rewards from God that God doesn’t promise in the Bible. It is true that God hears the prayers of His saints, but there is no guarantee that He will always answer them in a way consistent with our desires. Suggesting that God will always answer the prayer of Jabez is misleading.” “Prayer is not a prescription to be filled by God; in fact, Jesus spoke strongly against that kind of rote prayer style in Matthew 6:7, “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition, as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.”Repeating this prayer daily may cause Christians to see prayer as a mystical ritual rather than personal communication with God.”
G) Watchman’s Bagpipes review of Jabez: 
http://watchmansbagpipes.blogspot.com/search/label/Wilkinson%20Bruce.
Excerpt: “Although Mr. Wilkinson’s teaching about seeking increased opportunities for ministry is a noble one, we cannot justify twisting of Scripture to support it, and his unbiblical claims warrant our discernment. Mr. Wilkinson has taken an obscure prayer and has made it into a superstitious charm, a mantra to be said every morning to ensure God’s blessings. Since the book propagates error and has “arguments that merely sound good,” it should be avoided by Christians.”
H) John Beardsley of Biblical Discernment Ministries review of Jabez:
http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/BookReviews/jabez.htm.
Excerpts:
“Bruce Wilkinson, founder of Atlanta-based Walk Thru the Bible Ministries (he resigned as its president in February of 2002), is a popular speaker at many ecumenical, neo-evangelical national gatherings such as Promise Keepers, the Navigators, Focus on the Family, Campus Crusade for Christ, the Fellowship of Companies for Christ, and Christian Schools International, as well as BIOLA, Wheaton, Mt. Hermon, the Christian Business Men’s Committee, Moody Bible Institute, and many others. While a student at Dallas Seminary in 1976, and under the guidance of psychologizers Howard Hendricks and Gene Getz, Wilkinson founded Walk Thru the Bible Ministries”
” Other shallow, Jabez-like books by Wilkinson include A Life God Rewards and Secrets of the Vine.” “Wilkinson claims that if we’ll just pray the prayer of Jabez, word-for-word, every day for a month, then we’ll see God’s power released in our lives.” “The book presents prayer as being essentially disconnected from our relationship to God through Jesus Christ.” “Wilkinson goes into each of the requests of Jabez, and in Max Lucado-like fashion, speculates about what Jabez was thinking or doing as he prayed, and/or the details of what supposedly happened to Jabez after the prayer.” “The real tragedy of Bruce Wilkinson’s book will be the carnage created as desperate souls follow his advice and pray Jabez’s prayer for a month, and yet see no change or see things getting worse around them. The book has no discussion of what to do when the prayer seems to fail (e.g., a child dies, a marriage fails, a job is lost, healing does not come, etc.). Many of them will turn to themselves seeking the reason. Yet Wilkinson has guaranteed that the prayer will work. The clear implication is that a failed prayer equals failed faith.” “The Prayer of Jabez is a particularly dangerous work from a Christian theological perspective. It arises from a human-centered rather than a Christ-centered worldview.” 
I) Ralph Dettwiler of Behind the Badge review of Jabez:
http://www.behindthebadge.net/articles/a69.html. Excerpt: “I consider the idea that the author has found the prayer that God answers rat poison because it is no different than claiming you have found the magic words to get what you want from God.”
J) Dan Corner of Evangelical Outreach reviews Jabez, etc.: 
http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/bruce_wilkinson.htm. Excerpts:
“Bruce Wilkinson changes grace into a license for immorality.” 
K) Lighthouse Trails Research articles:
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/wilkinsonquits.htm. (Wilkinson abruptly quits Africa after three years of trying to impose the social gospel on native Africans whom he alienated).
Excerpt: “In October of 2003, Bruce Wilkinson Spoke At Robert Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral and said, “I want to talk about dreams. Of all places in the world to talk about dreams this is the place … because I think Dr. Schuller is the patriarch, in the work about living your dream.” Wilkinson’s book, The Dream Giver, had come out just one month earlier and he gave his message at the Crystal Cathedral based on the book. One week later, Wilkinson spoke at Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church and shared a similar message. 
Bruce Wilkinson’s message about “God’s Dream” led to the formation of Dream For Africa, an organization founded by Wilkinson. Wilkinson had planned to build a large orphanage in Swaziland, Africa, one which according to the Wall Street Journal article would have a bed-and-breakfast, game reserve, bible college, industrial park and Disneyesque (like Disneyland) tourist destination.” Wilkinson who has taught that believers can receive blessings from God by reciting Jabez’s 33 word prayer had felt confident that his dream for Africa would become a reality.” 

Wilkinson’s Dream for Africa is Shattered:
Excerpt: “On April 24, 2005, five days after the Lighthouse Trails press release regarding Ken Blanchard, Bruce Wilkinson was Robert Schuller’s Hour of Power guest speaker at the Crystal Cathedral. Wilkinson–the man Rick Warren described as “one of my best friends in the whole world”2–led the Crystal Cathedral congregation in a standing ovation for Schuller. He did this after favorably referencing George Mair’s newly published book, A Life with Purpose, which described Schuller’s key role in the formation of today’s Church Growth movement. Sidestepping, yet building upon Mair’s comments about Norman Vincent Peale, Bruce Wilkinson hailed Robert Schuller as “the grandfather of it all”–”a visionary” and “the real leader.” Enthusiastically praising Schuller and his Crystal Cathedral, Wilkinson told the congregation: ‘I love this church. I love being here. I love walking on this property. I just felt like I was one step away from heaven when I came on this property this morning.'”
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/wilkinsonupdates.htm. 
Excerpt: “According to a Wall Street Journal Article written by WSJ reporter Michael Phillips on December 19th, 2005, Bruce Wilkinson “resigned in a huff from the African charity he founded.” Wilkinson, author of Prayer of Jabez, moved to Africa with his family in 2002 with the hopes of rescuing one million orphans. The article states: “Mr. Wilkinson won church loads of followers in Swaziland but left them bereft and confused … his departure left critics convinced he was just another in a long parade of outsiders who have come to Africa making big promises and quit the continent when local people didn’t bend to their will.””
AUDIO OF BRUCE WILKINSON SERMON AT SADDLEBACK CHURCH WITH RICK WARREN:
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/01%20Track%201.wma.


YOUTUBE VIDEOS:

Bruce Wilkinson – Liberty University Convocation 

September 24, 2010:

Bruce Wilkinson – The Dream Giver – Live the Dream !:


Bruce Wilkinson – The Dream Giver – Interview with Rick Warren:


The Prayer of Jabez – Jentezen Franklin (Word of Faith heretic) 

Interview with Bruce Wilkinson. Franklin says he’s always prayed the 

“Prayer of Jabez”:

Jentezen Franklin – Believe That You Can:

Bruce Wilkinson Interview – Full 20 Minute Version:

(30 YEARS OF PRAYING THE “PRAYER OF JABEZ”):

Wilkinson on “Predictable Miracles” (Part 1 of 2):
Wilkinson on “Predictable Miracles” (Part 2 of 2):

Manny Silva of Concerned Nazarenes reports in:
“Beware The Wolves In Leadership Who Deceive The Flock”,



ANOTHER ASSEMBLY OF GOD PASTOR DECRIES CONTEMPLATIVE MYSTICISM

To Lighthouse Trails: 
I have never responded to you before, but I do wish for you to know that I have been following your series of articles concerning Ruth Barton speaking at the AoG GC with extreme interest.  You see, I am a credentialed AoG minister.  I, along with many other ministers and lay people inside the AoG are extremely concerned with what has been taking place within our fellowship over the past few years.  In fact, there are several conservative factions inside of the AoG that have actually been able to bond over the common cause of bringing a halt to the contemplative prayer movement that has been lurking around in our fellowship.  I just wished to thank you personally for all that you do for the gospel.  I would also like you to know that many of your Ruth Barton articles are being used in AoG Theology discussion forums on Facebook.  It may amuse you to know that many of the older line AoG ministers, who would not even look at a Lighthouse Trails article before, have come to respect your writers, and how well they research their articles.  I would just like to ask that you pray for us as we go through this time of testing in our fellowship.  It seems bad now, but I am hoping and praying that it will lead to a Reformation within the AoG.  Again, thank you so much for your great articles and your research.  It has really been a bigger help than you will ever know.
 
In His service,
Rev. ___________

PASTOR PINDER DRAWS ON YET ANOTHER APOSTATE HERETIC AND TWISTS BOOK OF JUDE



PASTOR PINDER A MISGUIDED, CONFUSED OR COMMITTED APOSTATE?
BOOK OF JUDE NOT ABOUT EVANGELIZING THE LOST, BUT RESCUING THOSE BELIEVERS BEING SWAYED AND DECEIVED BY APOSTASY WITHIN CHURCHES
Since our previous post about pastor Jeff Pinder of Faith Baptist Church, Wilmington, Delaware, we have not seen or heard of, and did not expect, any evidence of repentance from his “confused” apostate teaching which incorporates numerous references to known apostates for sermon support.
See: https://ratherexposethem.org/2013/07/jeff-pinder-pastor-of-faith-baptist.html.
    Pinder delivered a sermon July 14, 2013 (http://www.fbcwilmington.com/audio.html), about the latter part of the epistle of Jude, i.e., Jude 22-23, speaking of “the confused and confirmed apostates”, part of a series about Jude, but which has yet to even mention biblical personal or ecclesial separation or give concrete real life examples of modern apostasy in individuals, churches, movements or organizations.
    Jude is clearly about Gnostic Antinomianism, as per the commentaries, but Pinder cannot even find it in him to at least mention one commentary in this sermon.
    We researched and found some very good ones easily:
1) John MacArthur’s sermon series on Jude, which describes the “confused, convinced and committed” WITHIN THE CHURCH:
http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/65-14/survival-strategy-for-apostate-times-part-3.
2) http://www.angelfire.com/mi/universe/jude.6.html.
3) http://www.angelfire.com/mi/universe/jude.html.
4) http://www.christianinconnect.com/jude.htm.
5) http://versebyversecommentary.com/jude/jude-22-23-2/.
6) http://versebyversecommentary.com/books/introduction-to-jude/.
7) http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/gills-exposition-of-the-bible/jude-1-23.html.
8) 


    Other than mentioning the local heretical Unitarian Universalist “church” which has never been known since its inception to be comprised of believers in Christ politically and/or doctrinally, and therefore an inappropriate model of apostasy, there has been no mention throughout this series of the poisonous “emerging” apostates running free within alleged “Christian” churches with impunity, including the Baptist and Methodist denominations he referred to, once true to the Christian faith but have since departed from it.
    Included in this particular sermon was a mention of Gipsy Smith’s “Peter Apples” soul winning, which is irrelevant to the book of Jude’s focus on the protection and rescuing of existing believers, not the evangelization of the lost.
   
    We previously mentioned Smith in a post about Nancy Leigh DeMoss’s use of Smith’s “occultic chalk circles” at her recent “True Woman” conference: 
https://ratherexposethem.org/2013/06/nancy-leigh-demoss-hearts-revived-but.html.
EXCERPT FROM OUR POST ABOVE:


See: The Velvet Covered Brick blog’s story “Prayer Circles” http://velvetbrick.blogspot.com/, describes how Jamie McMullan attended a True Women conference and saw and heard the following:
Quote: 
“I recently attended the True Women Conference with Nancy Leigh DeMoss via simulcast. During the simulcast Nancy shared an illustration of a British gypsy evangelist from the 1860s, 
Gipsy Smith, 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gipsy_Smith, andhttp://www.biblebelievers.com/gypsy_smith/, and http://bennieblount.com/Books/Smith,%20Gipsy/Gipsy%20Smith%20His%20Life%20and%20Work/Gipsy%20Smith%20His%20Life%20and%20Work.pdf, who encouraged people to 
“Go home, lock yourself in your room, draw a circle around yourself, and pray fervently that God would start a revival within that chalk circle.”  



Then Nancy, pointed out they have chalk circles around the auditorium for people to go pray in and she had a circle around herself at the podium; they were used throughout the conference. 


DeMoss with other women standing in a chalk circle around podium:
At the end of the conference, two men named Byron Paulus and Bill Elliff gave a presentation of their ministry movement called OneCry http://www.onecry.com/, inspired by the teachings of Gipsy Smith. See 20 page manual from One Cry on how to use chalk circles here: http://www.onecry.com/media/filer/2012/03/07/draw-a-circle-digital.pdf.
Nancy Leigh DeMoss on Gipsy Smith.” See: http://www.truewoman.com/?id=2250.
Jamie McMullan also points out:
Quote:
“Seeing all this at the True Women conference gave me pause. The first time I saw circles like this in the church is from a book I saw being promoted on YouTube called The Circle Maker, by MarkBatterson, 



the Pastor of National Community Church(es) in Washington D.C., http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Community_Church, and which meets in movie theaters http://theaterchurch.com/.
    Mark Batterson is the pastor of National Community Church, a multi-site church in Washington D.C. Mark has been a church planting pastor since 1994. He and his wife Lora have three children—Parker, Summer, and Josiah. Batterson is the author of five books, including his most recent one, the Circle Maker. Batterson went to the University of Chicago on a basketball scholarship, majoring in pre-law. His life was drastically turned around when God called him to full-time ministry. His ministry in D.C. began as an inter-city ministry, and God has prospered it to grow into a six-location church with a thriving network of local and international ministries. They even manage the biggest coffee shop on Capitol Hill. Batterson’s ministry is all but conventional. Besides the fact that he doesn’t wear suits when he preaches, several of the church sites actually meet in movie theaters.

_____________________________________________________

SO, THE QUESTIONS MUST BE ASKED:
1) WHY DOES PASTOR PINDER CONTINUE TO REFERENCE APOSTATES AND HERETICS AS SERMON MODELS?
2) WHY WON’T PINDER IDENTIFY THESE APOSTATES WHEN HE HAS HAD AMPLE TIME DURING SEVERAL SERMONS IN THIS SERIES AND AT OTHER TIMES TO DO SO?
3) WHY DOES PINDER OMIT TEACHING BIBLICAL SEPARATION?
4) WHY DOES PINDER AVOID DEFINING APOSTASY OR GIVE EXAMPLES?
5) DOES PINDER THINK THAT APOSTATES EXIST EXCLUSIVELY IN ALREADY HERETICAL CHURCHES AND NOT IN THE “EMERGING” CHURCHES?


This sort of preaching which dances around the real meaning of Scripture is a disservice to the Word of God and the church and grieves the Holy Spirit. Why? Because whether or not this preaching is purposeful, it nevertheless distorts the true meaning of Jude and misleads the church.
   

PLANNED PARENTHOOD GETS $655,000 OF $67 MILLION FOR OBAMACARE RECRUITING VIA H.H.S. DEPARTMENT



PLANNED PARENTHOOD BRANCH OFFICES ARE RECEIVING $655,000 FROM OBAMA ADMINISTRATION VIA THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES TO PERFORM AS “NAVIGATORS” (RECRUITERS) FOR OBAMACARE. THAT IS ONLY ONE OF 105 ORGANIZATIONS RECEIVING $67 MILLION TO HELP SELL OBAMACARE.


SEE: BREITBART: http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/08/15/Obama-Administration-Awards-Grants-To-Organizations-To-Sign-Americans-Onto-Exchanges.


SEE: “NAVIGATOR” LIST: http://www.cms.gov/CCIIO/Programs-and-Initiatives/Health-Insurance-Marketplaces/Downloads/navigator-list-8-15-2013.pdf


SEE: THE NEW AMERICAN AT:
http://thenewamerican.com/usnews/health-care/item/16333-hhs-awards-planned-parenthood-655-000-to-enroll-people-in-obamacare.

GRACE BRETHREN GNOSTIC “FIGHT CLUB” RIVALS “WILD AT HEART” TO HELP CHRISTIAN MEN FIND THEMSELVES~JUST MORE PSYCHOHERESY

PERFORMANCE BASED CHRISTIANITY FOR MEN
THREE STRIKES AND YOU’RE OUT OF THIS ELITE CULT CLUB!
SUCCEED AND YOU GET TO BE 
A TOP DOWN RULER OF LESSER MEN!

    As if John Eldredge’s “Wild at Heart” men’s “discipling” program to help Christian men discover their “true selves” wasn’t enough psychoheresy for churches, (see our post: https://ratherexposethem.org/2013/07/the-father-wound-psychoheresy-of-john.html),
we stumbled across yet another men’s self-improvement plan structured to help males “man up” facilitated by a type of “boot camp” military basic training course. This so-called “discipling” program, birthed as a ministry of a Grace Brethren church called Grace Community Church, Goshen, Indiana, pastored by Jim Brown, has its own peculiar requirements, standards, and identifying characteristics, including, but not limited to, a “three strikes you’re out” hurdle, secrecy, pornography free, community (collectivist) submission to group leaders, feats of strength and endurance, pie eating contests, bonfires, “Adidas” brand pullovers, bracelets with gold stars, and assorted badges of honor, etc.
    Just what every Christian male was hoping for has come true, that is, if you are still an adult adolescent who hasn’t reached maturity on different levels. What happens to you if you “strike out”? Do you go to hell? Lose your salvation? See a counselor? Seems like a new form of works based gnosticism to us, besides being psycho-heretical.
    What we have here are the same carnal methods that return Christian men back to their fleshly self-centered former selves as preferable, and a clear repudiation of any Christ likeness they had or could have had by maturing according to Scripture, that we saw in John Eldredge’s “Wild at Heart”. It shouts that the church has failed men and the Word of God is insufficient to transform lives. This is just one more emerging pastor who arrogantly thinks he can improve on the already sufficient power of God to transform lives.
    What a pity and shame to think that manly self denial, sacrifice and love could be better engendered in a cult-like club governed by the man made rules and regulations of a select few elitist leaders, than by the model of Christ and His followers. The church is not modeled after humanist socialist, communist, or collectivist ideology, but modeled after the body of Christ and its members.
    Therefore, men having been blessed with various gifts and abilities are all different from one another and cannot be made to think, act, or behave alike. In Christ’s church, NO ONE STRIKES OUT!
Ephesians 5:30-“For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.”

Romans 12:4-“For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function”

1 Corinthians 12:



12 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.





18 But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.

20 But now indeed there are many members, yet one body.
22 No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary.
23 And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty,
25 that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another.
26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.

“Fight Club is a men’s discipleship and leadership development process.
Fight Club is about men fighting for their families, their children, and their integrity. Today’s culture makes faithfulness, purity and family values a challenge.  If we are not purposeful about how we live, we can slide into a meaningless life we never aimed for.  And our families suffer for it.
 In Fight Club, assignments and expectations are given—a creed is signed that each person must live by or they will strike out of the group.  The assignments have to do with strengthening relationships, getting in physical shape, and getting right with God.  There is a fight going on every day.  We can choose to ignore it or forfeit. Or we can fight. We can live with purpose.  We can strive to become the men our world needs us to be.  We can be leaders and lovers and fighters for our families.”

FIGHT CLUB: http://www.fightclub414.com/, founded by pastor Jim Brown because:
“MEN HAVE BEEN DUMBED DOWN” VIDEO 
(ALSO KNOWN AS A SALESMAN “CREATING THE NEED”):

SO, PASTOR BROWN FIRST LEARNS FROM “WILD AT HEART” GAMES:

THEN PASTOR BROWN DEVELOPS HIS OWN VERSION OF CHRISTIAN MASCULINITY,
BRANDED BY A MALE MANTRA COUPLED WITH THUMPING MALE CHESTS: 

Fight Club 3 Rewind in Pictures:


Update From FC Founder, pastor Jim Brown:








Earn Your Stars and Have Them Mounted on Your Very Own Leather Bracelet! Cool!



This Shows Your Rank in the Christian Walk! NO IT DOESN’T!





CHRISTIAN HOMESCHOOL FREEDOM PROJECT EDUCATION~PRE-KINDERGARTEN THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL

FREEDOM PROJECT EDUCATION FOR CHRISTIAN HOMESCHOOLERS:

See: https://fpeusa.org/.

Promo videos from YouTube Channel: 
http://www.youtube.com/user/FreedomProjectDotCom/videos:

OVERVIEW OF HUMANIST PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATIONAL HISTORY:
SEE: 
http://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/education/item/16194-new-public-school-policy.
Excerpt:

“The battle for mankind’s future must be waged and won in the public school classroom. The classroom must and will become an arena of conflict between the old and the new ─ the rotting corpse of Christianity and the new faith of humanism.”
— John Dunphy in The Humanist magazine, January-February 1983

STOP COMMON CORE FEDERAL CONTROL OF EDUCATION OVERRIDING STATE CONTROL





What is Common Core? 
“The answer to this question has been a carefully guarded secret by those who created the Common Core Standards. The Common Core Standards came about when Bill and Melinda Gates first began funding their vision for national educational standards with a grant to the James B. Hunt Institute. To date, the contribution of the Gates’ to this project is estimated at 27 million dollars and counting. This seed money led to the development of the Common Core Standards State Initiative by the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (NCSSO), two Washington, D.C. based trade organizations, working in conjunction with Achieve, Incorporated, a D.C. based contractor, and the James B. Hunt Institute, a private lobbying group. Despite the participation of the NGA and NCSSO, the Common Core standards are NOT state-led initiatives, as proponents of Common Core would have you believe.”
Why should Americans be concerned about these standards?
“It would take many pages to lay out all of the dangers to our liberty and educational freedoms contained in the Common Core State Standards Initiative. In brief, each of the fifty states has been bribed by the Federal Government to accept the copyrighted and thus unalterable Common Core standards—even though most Americans have no idea what they entail—by offering those states millions in so-called “Race to the Top” money or exemptions from the failed No Child Left Behind program. To date, forty-six states have accepted Common Core money, ceding curricular control to the Federal government and taking it away from parents, teachers, and local school boards. Beyond the educational mediocrity that Common Core standards will further enshrine in public schools, there are elaborate plans to use the required national assessments within the Common Core Standards as a tool to institute massive data collection about American school children that has nothing to do with education, and everything to do about Government intrusion and control.
We urge you to read FPE’s policy about Common Core, watch our Webcasts on the subject, and commit to joining our efforts to defeat Common Core.”

Common Core: 

Dangers And Threats To American Liberty And Education:

____________________________________________________________________

Stop Common Core has produced five videos to explain Common Core. 
See: http://stopcommoncore.com/.
See: http://truthinamericaneducation.com/.

Part 1 of 5:

Part 2 of 5:
(Won’t upload, but here’s the link): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8FJ1U90HIg.
Part 3 of 5:
(Won’t upload, but here’s the link): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnpqT_XirPo.
Part 4 of 5:
(Won’t upload, but here’s the link): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geLCamWdblE.

Part 5 of 5:

ROLE OF THE (BILL) GATES FOUNDATION IN COMMON CORE:
SEE: http://www.pakalertpress.com/2013/08/07/look-who-funded-and-developed-common-core/:

Excerpt:

“Bill Gates the driving force behind Common Core

Globalist and Eugenics proponent, Bill Gates, is one of the Founding Fathers of the Common Core movement and its copyright holders, NGA/CCSSO. Gates donated about $25 million dollars to promote his version of global education.  Gates has made several donations to CCSSO to promote Common Core. In2009, Gates made two separate donations of $9,961,842 and $3,185,750. In 2010, Gates donated $743,331 and in 2011, he contributed $9,388,911. In 2008, Gates donated $2,259,780 to the National Governor’s Association (NGA) to develop and implement Common Core. The NGA is the conduit into America from the United Nations UNESCO, Education for All Agenda 21 version of globalist education being forced down the throats of our young people.
Gates is listed as partner with UNESCO/UN to fund ”Education For All,” which in turn was transferred to the National Governors Association which changed the name to Common Core. In a key document, The Dakar Framework for Action: Education For All: Meeting Our Collective Commitments’ which identifies the goals for what became Common Core. The document speaks directly to the Agenda 21 educational ideals of collectivism, social justice, environmental justice and the espousing of the beliefs of the pseudoscience known as sustainable development.”
________________________________________________________________________

Glenn Beck on Bill Gates and Common Core:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6Sxifu63Kc.


Common Core Standards Threaten Our Children’s Schools 

by the Heritage Foundation:



OBAMA SUPPORTERS SIGN PETITION CALLING FOR KILLING NEWBORN BABIES UP TO AGE 3 UNDER OBAMACARE





Alex Jones of Info Wars reports Obama supporters in San Diego signing a petition to back making infanticide (post-birth abortion) legal under Obamacare, for at least the following reasons, if not more. See: 
http://www.infowars.com/obama-supporters-sign-petition-calling-for-killing-newborn-babies-under-obamacare/, and
http://www.infowars.com/msnbc-host-says-newborn-infants-dont-count-as-alive/.
1) “relieve the burden to deal with the children themselves”.
2) “help keep the population down”.
3) “is annoying or cries too much”.
4) “a basic woman’s right to be free of legal restrictions”.
5) “a basic woman’s right to ‘control their reproductive lives'”.
6) any other reason because “Obama supports it”.


Obama Zombies Sign Petition Supporting Infanticide 

as Part of Obama Care (Post-Birth Abortion):



Students Sign Petition to Legalize 

4th Trimester (After Birth) Abortion:



Melissa Harris-Perry of MSNBC Enrages Conservatives, Abortion Opponents Calling Fertilized Eggs “This Thing”:












When Life Begins Based on Feelings, Not Science, Says MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry:














“Children belong to the government.”- Melissa Harris Perry:





Adolf Hitler’s Common Ground with MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry:












See our previous posts about Ms. Perry:
https://ratherexposethem.org/2013/04/update-challenge-to-melissa-harris.html.
https://ratherexposethem.org/2013/05/glenn-beck-on-collectivist-melissa.html.




ASSEMBLIES OF GOD PASTOR SEES “EMERGING” DIRECTION FOR DENOMINATION MIXING PURPOSE DRIVEN, MYSTICAL PRACTICES UNDER GEORGE WOOD

Lighthouse Trails reports having received an e-mail from an Assemblies of God pastor who is concerned about the direction of the denomination. Here is the e-mail reprinted:

Dear Lighthouse Trails:
I just finished reading your latest article on the Ruth Haley Barton fiasco that has infiltrated the A/G.  Once again, the assessment of this situation is very well presented.  Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe that the A/G will make any changes to their schedule with regard to Ms. Barton. 
I just received a copy of an article that was published in the Charisma magazine with Dr. Wood as the cover story.  You might want to get a copy of that issue just for information sake. To say that I was disheartened would be an understatement.  My spirit was grieved at the future direction being articulated by Dr. Wood.  I can assure you that, in my conversations with a few other A/G clergy, this is not going well at all.  True, there is a major effort by our leadership at the General Council level and the District level, to train younger pastors using this new mindset of the A/G.  This Charismamagazine was sent out to every A/G minister and its impact and influence on the up and coming new leaders is going to be substantial.
It is my personal conviction that the A/G will be going in the direction of most mainline denominations by embracing a message and a method of ministry that will bring the A/G to the level of being nothing more than a civic organization.  I base this on current activities such as the embracing of the likes of Ruth Haley Barton as well as emergent leaders like Mark Batterson, Mark Driscoll et al.  Of course Dr. Wood’s personal relationship with Rick Warren has so infiltrated the A/G and its thinking that it’s hard to imagine that ever changing. . . . True, the 16 tenets of faith will probably remain in tact, at least I hope so.  However, the emphasis now is on marketing the church in the same way that corporations market their services.  Having been involved in the corporate world for ____ years, I speak from personal experience.
However, we will continue to pray for our leaders that the conviction of the Holy Spirit will bring them to their senses. 
___________ (Assemblies of God Pastor)
___________________________________________________________________________


Our previous posts about Ruth Haley Barton:
https://ratherexposethem.org/2013/04/ruth-haley-barton-to-speak-at-assembly.html.
https://ratherexposethem.org/2013/05/contemplative-ruth-haley-barton.html.
https://ratherexposethem.org/2013/05/lighthouse-trails-refutes-jodi-detrick.html.
https://ratherexposethem.org/2013/04/associaacsi-still-promoting.html.
https://ratherexposethem.org/2013/05/lighthouse-trails-research-makes-pdf.html.


Our previous posts about Mark Batterson:
https://ratherexposethem.org/2013/08/the-circle-maker-heresy-witchcraft-in.html.
https://ratherexposethem.org/2013/06/nancy-leigh-demoss-hearts-revived-but.html.


Our previous post about Mark Driscoll:
https://ratherexposethem.org/2013/06/mark-driscoll-who-sees-thingsnow-avowed.html.

TEXAS REPRESENTATIVE STEVE STOCKMAN FILES DEFUND OBAMACARE RESOLUTION IN HOUSE



From Steve Stockman at:
http://stockman.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/stockman-files-resolution-after-cruz-challenges-house-gop-to-defund:


113TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. RES. 333


Expressing the firm conviction of the House of Representatives that any continuing resolution or debt ceiling increase it may approve for the duration of the 113th Congress shall affirmatively include a provision specifically prohibiting the expenditure of any Federal funds in support of or in implementation or effectuation or enforcement of any provision of the Affordable Care Act (‘‘ObamaCare’’).


IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES


AUGUST 2, 2013


Mr. STOCKMAN submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Appropriations, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned


RESOLUTION


Expressing the firm conviction of the House of Representatives that any continuing resolution or debt ceiling increase it may approve for the duration of the 113th Congress shall affirmatively include a provision specifically prohibiting the expenditure of any Federal funds in support of or in implementation or effectuation or enforcement of any provision of the Affordable Care Act (‘‘ObamaCare’’).


Whereas every Representative solemnly swore to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all domestic enemies, and bear true faith and allegiance to the same, and freely took said obligation before God;


Whereas a majority of Representatives believes the Affordable Care Act (‘‘ObamaCare’’) violates the Constitution in sundry ways, and its implementation and enforcement would deprive American citizens of cherished fundamental constitutional rights;


Whereas in addition to its organic constitutional infirmities, at least one Administrative Rule promulgated pursuant to ObamaCare has further harmed the constitutional rights of citizens by attacking religious liberties guaranteed by the First Amendment to our constitution for over two centuries, said liberties being once held sacrosanct by this body;


Whereas the Fiscal Year 2014 Budget Resolution already passed by this House of Representatives wisely and appropriately presumed the defunding of ObamaCare subsequent to and pursuant to a more sober consideration of its rash and sweeping provisions, free from the hysteria and parochial politics of the moment of its passing, which sober consideration revealed ObamaCare’s many and now manifest kinks, flaws, deficiencies, and inadequacies, both constitutional and logistical;


Whereas a bipartisan majority of Representatives voted to repeal ObamaCare on May 16, 2013;


Whereas a majority of Representatives supports the provision of the House Republicans’ 2010 ‘‘Pledge to America’’ that promises, in no uncertain terms, ‘‘We will repeal President Obama’s government takeover of health care’’;


Whereas a majority of Representatives remains committed to the ‘‘Repealing Obamacare’’ Plank of the 2012 Republican Party Platform, which states, in pertinent part: ‘‘We agree with the four dissenting justices of the Supreme Court: ‘In our view the entire Act before us is invalid in its entirety.’ . . . Obamacare has been struck down in the court of public opinion and is falling by the weight of its own confusing, unworkable, budget-busting, and conflicting provisions. . . . If fully implemented, it could not function; . . . Congressional Republicans are committed to its repeal’’; Whereas a majority of Representatives shares the Speaker’s view that ObamaCare is a ‘‘monstrosity’’ that will ‘‘ruin the best health care system in the world and bankrupt this country’’, that it is ‘‘driving up the cost of health insurance, denying people access to quality care, and killing  jobs in America’’, and asks, as the Speaker has asked, ‘‘How can you provide subsidies through these health exchanges without verifying people’s income? I mean our job is to protect the American people, is to spend their taxpayer money wisely. I think it’s wide open for abuse’’;


Whereas a majority of Representatives supports the pledge twice expressed by the Speaker in July 2013 regarding the funding of ObamaCare: ‘‘We’re going to do everything we can to make sure it never happens, and further’’, ‘‘[We will] do everything we can to make sure this doesn’t really go into effect. We will continue to do everything we can to defund it . . . and to make sure that the American people aren’t put through this horrific experience’’;


Whereas notwithstanding the oft-repeated ‘‘guarantee’’ previously expressed by President Obama that citizens will definitely be able to keep their present doctors after the implementation of ObamaCare, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has recently announced ‘‘you MAY be able to keep your current doctor’’ (emphasis supplied), thereby conceding that the President’s promise to the citizenry has not been kept, and that the legislation contains no such guarantee;


Whereas the Presidential Administration’s recent decision to delay ObamaCare’s employer mandate and eligibility verification for individual exchanges constitutes a tacit admission that ObamaCare is, in the words of the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, at best, a ‘‘train wreck’’ not yet ready for prime time, and more likely, an imminent disaster;


Whereas the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reports (1) the Federal Government will spend $48 billion in 2014— and nearly $1.8 trillion through 2023—on ObamaCare’s new entitlement programs, (2) the Presidential Administration has requested more than $400 million in funding and nearly 2,000 bureaucrats for the IRS to implement the individual mandate and 46 other statutory provisions in the law, (3) executive branch agencies’ bureaucrats have already written more than 20,000 pages of ObamaCare-related rules and notices published in the Federal Register, and (4) CBO estimates ObamaCare will raise individual health insurance premiums by $2,100 per year;


Whereas the current ObamaCare statute is no longer the legitimate product of the legislative voice of the American people, having been rewritten by the two branches of government least accountable to those people, inasmuch as the President has used and continues to use myriad waivers and delays to alter various sections of the legislation to suit his own policy and political objectives, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court having flagrantly disregarded the position of the people that ObamaCare is not a product of the taxing power;


Whereas the House of the people should not force the American citizenry to fund ObamaCare if the Presidential Administration will not enforce the law as written;


Whereas inasmuch as the House of Representatives cannot control the actions of the United States Senate or the President, and has no power to prevent the Senate or the President from shutting down the government if either chooses to do so by refusing to approve or sign a Continuing Resolution, passed by the House of Representatives, that will fund the government’s operations and satisfy its obligations to it citizenry and others;


Whereas the Democratic Caucus of the United States Senate has had sixty (60) or more Members for only four months of the last 34 years, and Congressional Democrats exploited that anomalous window in the 111th Congress to pass ObamaCare;


Whereas the Republican Conference of the United States Senate has not had sixty (60) or more Members since the 61st Congress adjourned sine die in the year of our Lord 1911 and therefore the ‘‘outright repeal’’ of ObamaCare must be presumed to be nigh unto an electoral impossibility, irrespective of how favorable the next election is to Republican Senate candidates;


Whereas the only means by which ObamaCare can be halted is for the Congress to exercise its ‘‘power of the purse’’ to defund it, and thereby effect constructive repeal; and


Whereas defunding ObamaCare will become more complicated and difficult to achieve after October 1, 2013 (the date enrollment for the Medicaid expansion and exchange subsidies begins) and especially after January 1, 2014 (the date those new entitlement programs are scheduled to take effect, and Americans will be forced either to buy a product or pay tax penalties administered by the IRS)

Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That for the balance of the 113th Congress,


the House of Representatives shall pass no bill or resolution that continues appropriations in the event of a lapse in appropriations or increases the borrowing authority relating to the public debt limit (or suspends or terminates the debt ceiling) unless said resolution contains a provision affirmatively and specifically prohibiting the expenditure of any Federal funds (whether such expenditure be discretionary or mandatory) to implement or enforce any provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111–148) or title I or subtitle B of title II of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of  2010 (Public Law 111–152).
________________________________________________________________


Ben Carson, retired pediatric neurosurgeon from Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland calls for the “decoupling” of Obamacare from the federal budget, and that the Republicans need to go on the offensive with legislation. Carson has called Obama a “kill joy” for doctors.


ECUMENICAL POPE FRANCIS CALLS FOR “MUTUAL RESPECT” IN HIS MUSLIM RAMADAN INTERFAITH UNIVERSALIST GREETINGS~DISCOURAGES “UNFAIR CRITICISM”

SEE: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/messages/pont-messages/2013/documents/papa-francesco_20130710_musulmani-ramadan_en.html, with full, unedited text below:

  
MESSAGE OF POPE FRANCIS
TO MUSLIMS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD
FOR THE END OF RAMADAN (‘ID AL-FITR)

To Muslims throughout the World
It gives me great pleasure to greet you as you celebrate ‘Id al-Fitr’, so concluding the month of Ramadan, dedicated mainly to fasting, prayer and almsgiving.
It is a tradition by now that, on this occasion, the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue sends you a message of good wishes, together with a proposed theme for common reflection. This year, the first of my Pontificate, I have decided to sign this traditional message myself and to send it to you, dear friends, as an expression of esteem and friendship for all Muslims, especially those who are religious leaders.
As you all know, when the Cardinals elected me as Bishop of Rome and Universal Pastor of the Catholic Church, I chose the name of “Francis”, a very famous saint who loved God and every human being deeply, to the point of being called “universal brother”. He loved, helped and served the needy, the sick and the poor; he also cared greatly for creation.
I am aware that family and social dimensions enjoy a particular prominence for Muslims during this period, and it is worth noting that there are certain parallels in each of these areas with Christian faith and practice.
This year, the theme on which I would like to reflect with you and with all who will read this message is one that concerns both Muslims and Christians: Promoting Mutual Respect through Education.
This year’s theme is intended to underline the importance of education in the way we understand each other, built upon the foundation of mutual respect. “Respect” means an attitude of kindness towards people for whom we have consideration and esteem. “Mutual” means that this is not a one-way process, but something shared by both sides.       
What we are called to respect in each person is first of all his life, his physical integrity, his dignity and the rights deriving from that dignity, his reputation, his property, his ethnic and cultural identity, his ideas and his political choices. We are therefore called to think, speak and write respectfully of the other, not only in his presence, but always and everywhere, avoiding unfair criticism or defamation. Families, schools, religious teaching and all forms of media have a role to play in achieving this goal.
Turning to mutual respect in interreligious relations, especially between Christians and Muslims, we are called to respect the religion of the other, its teachings, its symbols, its values. Particular respect is due to religious leaders and to places of worship. How painful are attacks on one or other of these!
It is clear that, when we show respect for the religion of our neighbours or when we offer them our good wishes on the occasion of a religious celebration, we simply seek to share their joy, without making reference to the content of their religious convictions.
Regarding the education of Muslim and Christian youth, we have to bring up our young people to think and speak respectfully of other religions and their followers, and to avoid ridiculing or denigrating their convictions and practices.
We all know that mutual respect is fundamental in any human relationship, especially among people who profess religious belief. In this way, sincere and lasting friendship can grow.
When I received the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See on 22 March 2013, I said: “It is not possible to establish true links with God, while ignoring other people. Hence it is important to intensify dialogue among the various religions, and I am thinking particularly of dialogue with Islam. At the Mass marking the beginning of my ministry, I greatly appreciated the presence of so many civil and religious leaders from the Islamic world.” With these words, I wished to emphasize once more the great importance of dialogue and cooperation among believers, in particular Christians and Muslims, and the need for it to be enhanced.
With these sentiments, I reiterate my hope that all Christians and Muslims may be true promoters of mutual respect and friendship, in particular through education.       
Finally, I send you my prayerful good wishes, that your lives may glorify the Almighty and give joy to those around you.
Happy Feast to you all!
From the Vatican, 10 July 2013

FRANCIS

BRENT DETWILER ANSWERS SLANDER CHARGES FROM SOVEREIGN GRACE ELDERS

BRENT DETWILER
 
C J MAHANEY
JOSHUA HARRIS

Here is Brent Detwiler’s response reprinted in full, unedited, from:
http://www.brentdetwiler.com/brentdetwilercom/sgm-council-of-elders-commends-cj-mahaney-condemns-brent-det.html:

SGM Council of Elders Commends C.J. Mahaney & Condemns Brent Detwiler
Friday, August 9, 2013 at 3:02PM
Brent Detwiler
The Council of Elders is the national governing body for Sovereign Grace Ministries.  It is comprised of one representative elder from each church unless a church has more than 500 adult members.  In such a case, they are granted two voting elders.  50 of the 62 representative elders passed the following statement while 12 abstained or voted against it.  Two years ago, there were 107 churches in Sovereign Grace Ministries.  Many have left the denomination. 
Following is the Council of Elders Statement Posted on the SGM Website.
 It can also be read directly here.
“August 5, 2013 
The Sovereign Grace Council of Elders held their inaugural meeting May 23-25, 2013, in Orlando, Florida.  In addition to approving a motion to form a Strategy Committee for International Missions and confirming Mark Prater as the first Executive Director, the Council of Elders also approved, by a supermajority, the following statement to be sent to every Sovereign Grace church and posted on the Sovereign Grace Ministries website.  
As the Sovereign Grace Council of Elders, representing the elderships that govern local churches, we believe that Brent Detwiler has repeatedly and grievously slandered our churches and our leaders.[1]  We denounce as sinful and unbiblical his determined effort to accuse our brethren.[2]  Consequently, we urge our brothers and sisters in Christ to avoid giving audience to Brent Detwiler’s unbiblical speech until such a time that he repents of this ungodly pattern.  Such harmful speech is ruinous to the church of God.  
Furthermore, in contradiction to Brent Detwiler’s ongoing statements, we vigorously reiterate our support of C.J. Mahaney as a qualified minister of the gospel.[3]  While we wholeheartedly support our reformation in polity, we also publicly declare our gratefulness for C.J.’s many years of service and commend his ongoing ministry of the gospel.[4]
[1] This belief is based on the numerous public statements Brent has made accusing leaders of Sovereign Grace churches of lying, deception, hypocrisy, conspiracy, abuse, etc. without due process nor sufficient information and at times blatantly contrary to the facts.
[2] See Exodus 23:1, Proverbs 11:9,13, 20:19, 26:20, 1 Corinthians 13:7, Ephesians 4:29-32, 1 Timothy 5:19, Titus 3:1-3, James 4:11-12, and 1 Peter 2:1.
[3] Per Interim Board announcement on the review panels dated January 25, 2012 and Preliminary Panel Report dated July 27, 2011.
[4] C.J. serves as a pastor at Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville but does not hold a staff position with Sovereign Grace Ministries, Inc.”
This statement comes as no surprise.  Though posted on Monday, I’ve know about it for the past three months.  Mike Pierson, senior pastor of Providence Church of Pittsburgh, recently explained to his church why the lengthy delay. 
“I told you a while back that I was at the Council Elders meeting [as an observer], which is the national gathering…and this is all brand new as far as motions being made and things being voted on.  And I told you…that a motion was brought by somebody and the motion had to do with making proclamations about the documents that Brent Detwiler had put out and also making affirmations about C.J. Mahaney and his continued call and gifting for ministry.  And I told you that I would not have voted for that.  I would have liked to been able to speak up and would not have voted for that but the motion did carry.  There was some discussion.  The motion carried.  It happened.  And so I kind of left there scratching my head, thinking…it just didn’t work the way I thought it should work.  It just was quick.  It didn’t seem to take dissenting opinion into consideration.  It just happened fast.  Well, I just recently found out there’s been a lot has happened since then…. So some pastors who had dissenting opinions about that looked at the Book of Church Order, saw there was recourse in the Book of Church Order, to ask for a Special Session of the Council of Elders…to reconsider that decision [so] a special session can be called where that is re-opened for discussion and a new decision can potentially be made.  That has happened…. Soon a special session will be reconvened.”
C.J. Mahaney, Mark Prater who is the Executive Director for SGM, and others were behind the effort to rush through the approval at the inaugural meeting on May 23-25 in order to coincide with the release of supportive statements by Al Mohler, Ligon Duncan, Mark Dever from Together for the Gospel on May 23 and by Don Carson, Kevin DeYoung, Justin Taylor from The Gospel Coalition on May 24.  It was all part of a carefully planned and orchestrated public relations push.  It backfired.  
A Little History for New Readers 
Before I proceed, let me provide a little history for those less acquainted with me and the scandals surrounding Sovereign Grace Ministries. 
I was converted to Christ under the preaching of Bill Bright and Billy Graham just after I graduated from high school in 1972.  During my college years, I led a campus ministry.  Later, I graduated from seminary in 1979 and entered into full time ministry.  I was one of the four men that started Sovereign Grace Ministries in 1982.  I served on the Board of Directors for 25 years until I resigned in 2007.  For the majority of those years, I was the number 2 leader after C.J. Mahaney.  He was a dear and close friend. 
In 2000, the other Board Members and I began to formally address serious and long standing patterns of sin in C.J.’s life.  For the next ten years, I attempted to help C.J. in private.  Those efforts failed.  
In July 2011, it became necessary to send out four lengthy documents to all the pastors in Sovereign Grace Ministries because of C.J.’s continuing pride, deceit, lording, and hypocrisy.  I never imagined having to take such a drastic step.  It was out of love for him and the good of Sovereign Grace Ministries.  I’ve always sought its reform, not its demise. 
At the time, Joshua Harris wrote me the following note. 
July 1, 2011 
Brent, 
Your documents have helped me to face issues that I have not wanted to face.  I told CJ and Dave [Harvey] and Jeff [Purswell] that I have played a part in failing to challenge CJ.  If I had been more courageous 7 years ago he might not be at this same place.  I feel that I have failed many people.  And so I feel a great weight of regret and I know the Lord is disciplining me in this process too.  
Joshua 
In August 2004, eight of C.J.’s closest friends met with him for five hours during which time we sought to address his heart on critical issues of character (see Response Regarding Friendship & Doctrine, pp. 16-30).  I led the meeting.  Immediately following the meeting, C.J. shut down the disciplinary process and silenced most of the men who initially spoke out.  That included Joshua and that is why he says “If I had been more courageous 7 years ago he [C.J.] might not be at this same place [today].”  
Ten days after Joshua sent me the note above, he preached a message to Covenant Life Church entitled “The Father’s Discipline.”  What follows are excerpts from this extremely powerful message.  He spoke like a prophet and without fear or hesitation.  He shared openly and honestly.  He put the blame for problems in SGM on himself and other leaders.  It was a prophetic word to the whole movement.  C.J. despised it.  He immediately left the church without counsel from the pastors and never returned.  He remains profoundly offended.   
The entire message can be heard at Covenant Life Church’s website.  Here are some excerpts. 
“We are walking through what is without any exaggeration the most difficult challenge that we have faced as a church.  Last week C.J. Mahaney, a man who help to found this church and led it for 27 years, a man who is a father in the faith to many of us, a dear friend, a beloved teacher of the gospel, who has served as the President of our network of churches called Sovereign Grace.  Last week C.J. stepped down from his role as President because of accusations that were being brought to him from several different men, one in particular, accusations of hypocrisy, coercion, deceit, sinful judgment and unentreatability.  
“The primary person bringing these accusations is a man named Brent Detwiler who helped to found Sovereign Grace and served closely with C.J. for many years on the leadership team.  In years past, Brent has preached here at CLC and is a friend to many.  Brent has compiled three documents, totaling over 600 pages of emails and meeting notes and his own reflections in bringing these accusations to C.J. of his sin.  And he sent these to C.J., one at a time over the past 16 months and when efforts at a process of mediation could not be agreed upon the three documents were sent to all the pastors of Sovereign Grace, and subsequently someone posted them on the internet this past week.  In just a few days they have been down loaded and read by thousands of people and many, many, more people will be reading them in the coming days. 
“The accusations and the details that are shared in these documents not only accused C.J. but they also, understandably so, call into question the judgment and the integrity of the leaders around C.J. including myself.  People are asking, ‘What did people know and when did they know it?  What did C.J. actually do?  Is Brent’s interpretation of all these events true and why didn’t the men around C.J. do more to challenge him and help him? 
“In the midst of a crisis like this one, the temptation for a leader like me is to stand before the people that I’ve been called to lead and say two things.  It is not as bad as it seems.  And it’s not your leaders’ fault.  But I can’t say that because it wouldn’t be true.  It is as bad as it seems.  And it is the fault of your leaders.  And we desperately need the help of God and the wisdom and the accountability of the people who have looked to our leadership to sort through this mess.  
“Our focus does not need to be on our perceived enemies.  I believe God would have your leaders humbly acknowledge that it is our sin and our failure and our faulty structures that have brought this trouble.  I don’t believe that these events are an accident.  I believe they are the loving discipline of our heavenly Father.  And no matter whose fault this is, this is what we cannot get around.  This is what is unavoidable.  We cannot get around the fact that our church and our entire denomination is being publicly spanked.  We are being humiliated.  We are being brought low.  God is getting our attention.  And the word of God tells us in Hebrews 12 that he is treating us as sons. 
“And so I just want to ask you a question.  How could God discipline a whole church?  How could God discipline a whole denomination?  What possible set of circumstances could he create that would force entire family of churches to recognize, to acknowledge, to turn away from deeply entrenched and flawed patterns of leadership and practice and church government?  What could God possibly do to get an entire movement to do that? 
“Well let me just propose a scenario for you.  He could allow a chorus of critics on the internet to point out the most glaring failures and inconsistencies of that movement in an unrelenting way.  He could allow the issues that they didn’t want to deal with, or have the nerve to change, to be aired in public.  He could allow a breakdown in a relationship and the stubbornness of leaders to culminate in a set of circumstances so that all the mistakes and all the relational sins at the top levels of leadership would be written down and posted on the internet for the entire world to read.  Do you think that would work?  
“God, and God alone, has brought this unthinkable sequence of events about.  There are no accidents in his universe.  He disciplines those he loves and it hurts and that’s the point.  And that leads us to point number four.  And that is, that we must be trained by it.  God disciplines because he loves, it hurts, and we must be trained by it.  We must be trained by it. 
“There is so much joy in becoming more like our Lord and more pleasing to him.  When we let go of those weights and those sins that we are carrying we are not going to be sad, we are going to be joyful.  It is going to be better.  Do you see that promise that God is holding out for us?  But we have to allow the discipline to train us.  You see there is a response involved on our part.  There is a response involved on our part.  It is to those who are trained by it.  We can either choose to be trained by the discipline or we can resist it.  
“Please pray for me.  Please pray for all the people that are involved that we would be trained by this discipline.  Not that we would just get through it.  Not that any one person would be preserved, or not preserved in a position, but that the Lord would train us through this discipline.  That we would receive and benefit from everything that he wants to teach us no matter how painful it is for anyone through the process.  That we would not short circuit or try to run away from this process.” (Joshua Harris, The Father’s Discipline, July 10, 2011)    
In response to my sending out The Documents in July 2011, C.J. had Dave Harvey, his number 2 man, post the following five resolutions on the SGM website.  It created a firestorm of protest from members throughout Sovereign Grace churches.     
1.  That Brent Detwiler’s refusal to participate in mediation with C.J. Mahaney—unless Mahaney first agrees (a) to publish an extensive written response to each of Detwiler’s accusations and (b) to make a public confession prior to any mediation or impartial evaluation of his charges—is unjust and constitutes a denial of biblically grounded due process for a qualified minister of the gospel (Matthew 18:15-17; 1 Timothy 5:19-20, Proverbs 25:9).
2.  That Brent Detwiler’s distribution of written accusations against C.J. Mahaney to all Sovereign Grace pastors constitutes the public slander of Mahaney’s reputation.
3.  That the board of Sovereign Grace Ministries has reviewed Brent Detwiler’s documents accusing C.J. Mahaney of sinful practices in the conduct of his ministry and finds no reason at this time to deem him unfit for ministry.  However, the board will reevaluate Mahaney’s fitness after receiving formal evaluation of the accusations lodged against him (see below).  The board acknowledges that sins have been committed but also recognizes and appreciates Mahaney’s eagerness to confess sins, pursue reconciliation with Detwiler, and pursue personal holiness and growth as a minister.
4.  That C.J. Mahaney is a qualified minister of the gospel and this board approves his pastoral and teaching ministry in Sovereign Grace and the wider body of Christ.
5.  That Sovereign Grace Ministries will engage a process of evaluation regarding C.J. Mahaney’s fitness for ministry. 
These resolutions contained numerous lies and misrepresentations.  For example, SGM never engaged the process of evaluation they promised.  Furthermore, C.J. had every opportunity to defend himself but he refused to do so because of his guilt, not his humility.  These resolutions also gave evidence to the heavy handed way in which C.J. and his agents deal with people who bring correction.  I wrote a 20 page response in which I addressed all of the issues in these five resolutions.  Here is a short excerpt. 
The Five Resolutions – July 13, 2011
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 8:36 AM
Brent Detwiler 
Six months ago today, Dave Harvey and the Sovereign Grace Board of Directors reacted to my sending out of The Documents to the SGM pastors with five resolutions.  Those resolutions drew immediate fire from many quarters for being arrogant and heavy-handed.  
Two days later, Dave was forced to write, ”When people are tempted to think that you are (and I’ll pull from our vast supply of quotes here) ‘gaming the system,’ engaging in ‘cronyism,’ ‘going to war,’ behaving with ‘hubris,’ ‘presumptuous and self-serving,’ and, well you get the idea—you’ve got the burden of ensuring they know you get the point.”  
The critics were right.  The descriptions were true.  In the days to follow, Dave tried to spin his way out of trouble (see An Honest Take on a Difficult Week, July 15, 2011; Listening, July 18, 2011).  A firestorm began.    
The initial reaction of the SGM Board embodied and revealed the most serious issues I’ve raised with C.J., Dave, et al. over the past seven years.  Their response was a near perfect illustration of what is wrong and needs to change in SGM.  That change is not possible without new leadership.  
No Reformation of Leadership Culture
Sovereign Grace Ministries has reformed some of its polity but it has not reformed its abusive leadership culture.  Those who could have provided “new leadership” have left the denomination.  If fact, the vast majority of C.J.’s close friends from the past 30 years have been forced to separate from him.  That includes Joshua Harris and the 17 other pastors at Covenant Life Church.  It also includes every SGM Board Member from 1982-2011 except two.  
Moreover, there has been a massive exodus of godly people out of Sovereign Grace churches over the past five years and it only continues.  SGM has tried to blame me, others, and blogs critical of SGM for all of their problems; but people by the tens of thousands have seen and experienced the systemic problems that exist in the ministry, which now includes the largest sex abuse conspiracy in the history of American Evangelicalism. 
In spite of this, the newly convened Council of Elders remains unfazed and dogged.  They press on with the same pride, deceit, lording and hypocrisy that characterized the SGM Board of Directors under C.J.’s control the past two years.  SGM leadership has not changed.  The Council of Elders have now played the slander card just like the Board of Directors did in July 2011 after I sent out The Documents. 
“As the Sovereign Grace Council of Elders, representing the elderships that govern local churches, we believe that Brent Detwiler has repeatedly and grievously slandered our churches and our leaders.  We denounce as sinful and unbiblical his determined effort to accuse our brethren.  Consequently, we urge our brothers and sisters in Christ to avoid giving audience to Brent Detwiler’s unbiblical speech until such a time that he repents of this ungodly pattern.  Such harmful speech is ruinous to the church of God.” 
The charge of slander is the only weapon in SGM’s arsenal.  They have never allowed me to present charges and they have never being willing to defend themselves.  Their  only defense has been to label me a slanderer, tell people I am motivated by vengeance, and threatened people with church discipline if they read my material. (see for example, Ten Common Cult-Like Characteristics Evident in Mickey Connolly’s Leadership)    
The same kind of accusations were made by distinguished leaders like Dr. Albert Mohler and Dr. Ligon Duncan on C.J.’s behalf after I sent out The Documents.  
“I always have had only the highest estimation of C.J. Mahaney as a man and a minister.  That continues absolutely unchanged.  There is nothing in this current situation which would leave me to have even the slightest pause of confidence in him.  There is nothing disqualifying in terms of anything that is disclosed in [the documents].  It’s just evidence we knew all along, that C.J. is human but a deeply committed Christian and a visionary Christian leader.   Detwiler has an obvious vendetta against C.J.” (Albert Mohler, The Courier-Journal, July 12, 2011) 
“If you have been confused or discouraged by things you have read on the internet concerning my friend C.J. Mahaney and his leave of absence from the board and presidency of Sovereign Grace Ministries (SGM), I would encourage you to…ignore the assaults of wounded people on attack websites and blogs… C.J. knows of my complete love and respect for him… It would have been very easy for the leadership of SGM to ignore and dismiss these charges, because so many of them are so evidently self-serving and spurious accusations.” (Ligon Duncan, “A Word About C.J. Mahaney and Sovereign Grace Ministries,” July 12, 2011) 
Such accusations are not true.  I’ve worked for the reform of SGM, not its demise.  So have many others and their plight has been the same as mine.  1 Corinthians 13:7 has been my guide.  Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.  I’ve needed to expose wrongdoing because there has been no repentance and pursue the truth (i.e., justice) for those harmed including the victims of physical and sexual abuse.  Love motivates such pursuits and rejoices when they are achieved.     
Dr. Mohler can say “Detwiler has an obvious vendetta against C.J.”  Dr. Duncan can say “I would encourage you to…ignore the assaults of wounded people on attack websites and blogs…because so many of them are so evidently self-serving and spurious accusations.”  But here is what C.J. said about the same documents before they were sent to the SGM pastors.  
From: C.J. Mahaney
Sent: Tuesday, October 26, 2010 12:35 PM
To: Brent Detwiler
Subject:    
Brent, 
I think you are accurate in pointing out that I have overlooked statements you have made where you invited correction and disagreement.  Please forgive me for doing so…. Thank you for this correction and thank you for inviting my correction and your openness to discuss all sides of our past interactions.  I appreciate this evidence of humility in your life. 
Brent, let me conclude by thanking you for sending me these documents.  I am deriving much benefit from reading them and reviewing them with others.  
From: Brent Detwiler
Sent: Thursday, October 28, 2010 8:09 AM
To: C. J. Mahaney
Subject: Overlooking Statements 
Thanks for your note C.J. and willingness to review my documents with others.  I’m not sure forgiveness is necessary for overlooking my statements but it is certainly granted.  I’m glad to hear you’re finding the documents of some benefit.  Grace to you as you continue to seek the Lord.     
From: C.J. Mahaney
Sent: Wednesday, November 03, 2010 12:18 PM
To: Brent Detwiler
Subject: FW: Overlooking Statements 
Brent, 
Thanks for your gracious response.  I’m not finding the documents to be of some benefit, I’m finding them to be of significant benefit.
This assessment changed when I sent out The Documents.  Overnight they went from “documents…of significant benefit” to “spurious accusations” condemned as “slander.”  Dave Harvey even referred to them as a “sad tale” in a secret letter to the SGM pastors (see The Mona Lisa of Spin by Master Harvey).  This represents an accurate portrayal of how C.J. and SGM operate when protecting their image.  
Here is an actual example of how I wrote and what I wrote from the third document.  
Concluding Remarks
June 8, 2011 
Proverbs 28:13
He who conceals his sins does not prosper,
but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
Introduction 
I have labored with the hope that this document, in addition to the previous two, will serve your soul, Sovereign Grace Ministries, and most of all the gospel.  I remain grateful for the many years I was blessed by God to serve in your company and the company of so many people I love and respect.  What follows is an expression of my love for you, my former friends, and the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. 
I’ve found no joy in writing a Response Regarding Friendship and Doctrine (RRF&D), A Final Appeal (AFA), and now Concluding Remarks (CR).  I believe the Lord led me, and enabled me to write, but it has not been a pleasant task.  In particular, I have not enjoyed making my case in such detail.  I wish it were unnecessary but general appeals to you for repentance have never been effectual.      
In fact, it is only in the face of overwhelming evidence, godly pressure from peers, and impending consequences; that one gains your attention and then with difficulty.  RRF&D and AFA followed 10 years of correction.   
C.J., I am genuinely grateful to the Triune God for the fruits of pride you’ve acknowledged, the changes you’ve made and the input you’re received from others.  But I also remain deeply concerned because you and the Board of Directors are unaffected on so many important fronts.  That is alarming.  So here is my last attempt to focus your attention.  I hope you find it redemptive…
An Appeal for Justice 
SGM has never faced the facts.  They have never dealt with the evidence against them.  They have never given an accounting for their actions.  Furthermore, they have never allowed me to present my charges.  And most importantly, they have never defended themselves against my charges before a Court of Appeals.    
The Council of Elders says, 
“We believe that Brent Detwiler has repeatedly and grievously slandered our churches and our leaders…. This belief is based on the numerous public statements Brent has made accusing leaders of Sovereign Grace churches of lying, deception, hypocrisy, conspiracy, abuse, etc. without due process nor sufficient information and at times blatantly contrary to the facts.”
They are welcome to accuse me of slander but they must prove it.  In over 3,000 pages of hard evidence, I have documented my charges of “lying, deception, hypocrisy, conspiracy, abuse, etc.”  I say to the Council of Elders, “Set up an open hearing!  I am glad for you to show me where I have presented insufficient information or information contrary the facts.”  That has always been my position and posture of heart.  
Yet, time after time, C.J. Mahaney and his inner circle have been unwilling to do so.  They have cowered from such an arrangement and this is well known to everyone who has followed the events of the past two years.  Here are but two examples of my repeated efforts to be heard and tried.  
Example 1 
From: Brent Detwiler
Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2011 8:45 AM
To: SGM Board
Cc: Ken Sande; Ted Kober; Edgar Keinath; Bryce Thomas; CLC Pastors
Subject: Suggested Proposal for Just, Impartial and Thorough Evaluation of C.J. and SGM 
I formally request the following proposal be adopted by the SGM Board.  If any parts of this proposal are unacceptable, please provide the reasons why and offer alternatives.  
1.  Ken Sande serves as facilitator for the evaluation process.
2.  Ken selects three judges or lawyers and two pastors who are evangelical believers and highly respected with little or no knowledge of SGM to serve as the evaluators.
3.  This five man panel will hear evidence for and against C.J. and SGM.  They will post a summary of the evidence and give their legal/pastoral opinion as to C.J.’s fitness and the fitness of other leaders like Dave [Harvey], Steve [Shank] Bob [Kauflin] and Gene [Emerson].  They are also welcome to post their assessment of me.
4.  C.J. and I will negotiate the terms and conditions with Ken for this thorough going evaluation of SGM and its agents.
5.  If necessary, Ken will serve outside of his official capacity as President of Peacemakers if the terms and conditions of the agreement do not meet, or differ with, the specifications of Peacemakers and thereby prevent his official involvement.  In such case, he will act as a qualified believer.     
When I received no response from the SGM Board to this “Proposal for a Just, Impartial and Thorough Evaluation of C.J. and SGM,” I asked them to put it up for a vote by the all the SGM pastors. 
From: Brent Detwiler
Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2011 12:49 PM
To: SGM Board
Cc: Ted Kober; Edgar Keinath; Ken Sande; CLC Pastors
Subject: FW: Personal Appeal to C.J. 
To the SGM Board, 
At no time have you commented on my proposal.  I see absolutely no reason to reject it if you are genuinely interested in reconciliation and an impartial evaluation of SGM.  I have a serious request to make of you.  Put this proposal before all the pastors of SGM (not just sr. pastors) for a vote.  Let the majority decide.  I am confident the leaders in SGM would welcome such a proposal if presented fairly.  
I am also very willing to stand before all the SGM pastors and answer any questions they have for me.  Furthermore, I’d like to invite all the SGM pastors to the hearing described so they can hear the evidence and evaluate for themselves.  
Brent 
Two weeks later, I wrote the Board of Directors again and copied all the pastors in SGM.  My request for a vote and a hearing were flatly denied by the Board. 
From: Brent Detwiler
Sent: Wednesday, October 26, 2011 9:42 AM
To: Aron Osborne; C. J. Mahaney; Craig Cabaniss; Dave Harvey; Jeff Purswell; John Loftness; Mark Prater; Mickey Connolly; Pete Greasley; Rick Gamache; Steve Shank
Cc: Ted Kober; Edgar Keinath; Bryce Thomas; Ken Sande; Tommy Hill; Andrew Mahr; Bob Kauflin; Tony Reinke; Adam Malcolm; Ben Wikner; Bob Schickler; Braden Greer; Corby Megorden; Dave Brewer; Don DeVries; Eric Sheffer; Eric Simmons; Grant Layman; Greg Somerville; Issac Hydoski; Jamie Leach; Joe Lee; Jon Smith; Joshua Harris; Kenneth Maresco; Mark Mitchell; Matt Maka; Robin Boisvert; SGM Pastors
Subject: A Second Appeal
Importance: High 
Dave, 
I’ve not heard back from you.  Have you reconsidered?  Have you changed your mind?  Will you allow for a hearing?  Will you permit me to make my case?  Or will you reject this pleading?  Will you deny this appeal? 
I’d also like to ask again that you put my request to a vote of all SGM pastors as an expression of humility and accountability.  Let them vote anonymously.  Let their perspective count.  Let them provide you counsel.    
Sincerely,
Brent 
Example 2 
Six months later I tried again.  This request was also denied.  These efforts at justice are thoroughly recorded in My Appeal to the SGM Pastors for a Church Court in Order to Avoid a Civil Court.  Here are two piece of correspondence found in that treatment.  
From: Brent Detwiler
Sent: Sunday, April 22, 2012 6:05 PM
To: Aron Osborne; C. J. Mahaney; Craig Cabaniss; Dave Harvey; Jeff Purswell; Mark Prater; Mickey Connolly; Pete Greasley; Rick Gamache; Steve Shank; Andrew Mahr; Bob Kauflin; Gary Ricucci; Tommy Hill; Al Pino; Ian McConnell; John Loftness; Ken Mellinger; Paul Buckley; Phil Sasser; Brian Brookins; Mark Alderton; Ron Boomsma; Steve Teter; Warren Boettcher
Cc: Adam Malcolm; Ben Wikner; Bob Schickler; Braden Greer; Corby Megorden; Dave Brewer; Don DeVries; Eric Sheffer; Eric Simmons; Grant Layman; Issac Hydoski; Jamie Leach; Joe Lee; Jon Smith; Joshua Harris; Kenneth Maresco; Mark Mitchell; Matt Maka; Robin Boisvert; Bryce Thomas; Edgar Keinath; Ken Sande; Ted Kober; Chip Grange
Subject: RE: Sovereign Grace Relocation Announcement 
I have sent the SGM Board and the CLC [Covenant Life Church] pastors everything I’ve ever written over the last two years.  That’s because I don’t hide my words and I’ve welcomed their feedback.  I’ve repeatedly asked C.J., Dave and the Board to correct any inaccuracies.  I’ve written them for specific clarifications.  I’ve asked them countless questions.  I’ve confronted their lies and deceit.  In short, I’ve done my best to walk in the light and interact with them.  The offer stands.  I want any factual errors I am guilty of corrected with evidence.  If those factual errors prove I have judged anyone; I will repent, ask your forgiveness and write a public retraction.  I’ve done this before.  I’ll do it as many times as necessary.  I’ve only wanted the truth.  That is why I have pursued input from the Board and CLC.  
Someday soon, I hope the Board will fulfill its promise and allow me to share my charges against C.J. and others in a just setting with honorable men.  Someday soon I also hope they will grant my request to defend against my wrongful termination in July 2009.  To date, they have forbid me from expressing my grievances in both cases even though I was promised the opportunity to do so.  I also want to defend against the libelous report written by Mark Prater, Warren Boettcher and Ron Boomsma in December 2011. 
## 
April 23, 2012 
To All SGM Pastors
Urgent.  Please read immediately. 
On July 6-7, 2011, I sent you Response Regarding Friendship and Doctrine, A Final Appeal, Concluding Remarks, and The Untold Story.  This became necessary for eight reasons.
1.  C.J.’s deceitful explanation for his leave of absence.
2.  The favoritism shown C.J. by the Sovereign Grace Board.
3.  The failure of the Covenant Life Pastors to enforce 1 Timothy 5:19-21.
4.  Making me out to be the only witness against C.J.
5.  The necessity of telling the Church (Matthew 18:15-17).
6.  The denial of sin problems in Sovereign Grace Ministries.
7.  The deceit of Dave Harvey and the Sovereign Grace Board.
8.  The need to speak against evil. 
      I am appealing to you again.  The interim Board comprised of Dave Harvey, Jeff Purswell, John Loftness, Mickey Connolly, Craig Cabaniss, Steve Shank, Mark Prater, Pete Greasley, Aron Osborne, and Rick Gamache, have denied me justice since they took office on July 13, 2011.  My charges against C.J. and other agents of SGM have not been given a hearing.  I’ve been given no remedy for my grievances. 
      Therefore, I ask each one of you to intercede on my behalf and petition the new Board to agree this week to the use an outside church court as outlined below.  I beg your immediate assistance!  This request does not differ from what was originally and repeatedly promised to me by C.J., Dave, Jeff and Joshua from July 2010 to July 2011.  In reality, I am simply asking you to hold them accountable to their word so additional action need not be taken…  
      The Most Troubling Phrase of All 
      The Council of Elders claims I’ve accused their leaders without due process.  This is the most deceitful and disturbing comment of all.  It is pure spin and contrary to all the facts.  These leaders know I’ve repeatedly asked C.J. Mahaney and those accused to defend themselves.  
      SGM has not been denied due process.  The truth be told, they have fled, loathed, and despised due process.  Due process means they have to provide answers to hard questions.  Due process means they have to be open and honest.  Due process means they have to refute evidence.  Due process means objective judges are present to adjudicate.  SGM fears due process more than anything in this world!  
      In this act of great hypocrisy, the Council of Elders condemns me for slander without presenting evidence or allowing any defense.  This is a brazen denial of due process and an egregious violation of the polity they proudly espouse, but don’t follow, in their Book of Church Order.  See Rules of Discipline, pp. 55-74.   
      This can be corrected.  I’ll fly to Louisville, Kentucky tomorrow and meet with C.J. so we can begin to arrange for a Church Court.  I am not being pompous.  I am serious.  Ken Sande can preside.  John Piper and Wayne Grudem can assist.  It barely matters.  The evidence will convince the most ardent supporter of C.J. that there are very serious problems in his life and SGM.  Let me state again in no uncertain terms.  Put me on trial but let it be an open trial!  I will gladly appear and I won’t bring any lawyers.  
      Council of Elders put forth your evidence to show where I have slandered, failed to put forward sufficient information, and blatantly put forward charges contrary to the facts.  This is not a dare.  I have invited such examinations for over three years.  I am serious about this offer.    
      And then allow for reciprocity!  Let the facts speak and let me demonstrate that I am the one who has been denied due process and by malicious means.  You have never allowed me to make my case by presenting evidence, calling witnesses, or cross examining false witnesses though all this was promised me.  Instead, you have shielded  the accused and them off the hook when they have grievously transgressed God’s holy law (see for example, Get Out of Jail Free Card for C.J. – No Adjudication Hearing). 
      At this open Church Court let’s review what I have written in The Ethical Demise of Sovereign Grace Ministries (Part 1) and The Ethical Demise of Sovereign Grace Ministries (Part 2).  That is only right and fair.  You may accuse me but you must back up your accusation. 
      The Sex Abuse Conspiracy 
      It is one thing when SGM leaders cover up their sins.  It is another thing when they cover up their crimes.  The Council of Elders points out that I have accused SGM leaders like C.J. Mahaney, John Loftness and Gary Ricucci of a conspiracy to commit and cover up sex crimes.  That is correct and so have 11 victims of physical and sexual abuse.  I am in good company.  
      A 46 page civil lawsuit called the Second Amended Class Action Complaint and Jury Demand was filed against Sovereign Grace Ministries and others on May 14, 2013.  Most of the counts in the lawsuit were dismissed due to a statute of limitations in Maryland.  None of it substantive merits were addressed or ruled upon by the Judge.
      The case is being appealed and with good reason.  More states are removing the statute of limitations applied to civil courts because they now realize it can take victims traumatized by sex offenders a long time before they come forward and take action.  Thankfully, there is no statute of limitations for sex crimes in criminal courts.  Criminal investigations are underway.
      At the heart of the lawsuit is the charge of a massive cover up that was carried out while C.J. was senior pastor of Covenant Life Church and President of Sovereign Grace Ministries.  For example.        
      “This lawsuit seeks damages for all persons who were harmed and continue to be harmed by an ongoing conspiracy formed in Maryland and implemented across the nation in the SGM “family” of churches.  This conspiracy has existed for decades, and resulted in numerous children being sexually assaulted on church and school property and by church and school employees and volunteers.  Participants in the conspiracy include Defendants Mahaney, Loftness, Tomczak, Layman, Ricucci, Gallo, Ecelbarger, Mullery, D. Hinders, and V. Hinders.  These men conspired, and continue to conspire, to permit sexual deviants to have unfettered access to children for purposes of predation, and to obstruct justice by covering up ongoing and past predation.” (Complaint 1, p. 1) 
      “From 1982 to the present, the individual Defendants participated in a conspiracy to permit sexual deviants to have unfettered access to children for purposes of predation, and to obstruct justice from occurring with respect to past and ongoing predation.  Defendants covered up ongoing sexual and physical abuse of minors and repeatedly and routinely violated the mandatory reporting laws designed to keep children safe from sexual predation.” (Complaint 29, p. 8) 
      The word “conspiracy” appears 48 times and the word “cover up” appears 17 times in The Second Amended Complaint.  The allegation of an extensive conspiracy appears throughout the document. 
      Nevertheless, the SGM Board of Directors (now called the Executive Committee), has categorically denied there is any evidence whatsoever of a conspiracy!  They have dismissed every allegation of fact by 11 Plaintiffs.  Here are their denials which were posted on the SGM website.     
      Our careful review of the allegations to date has not produced any evidence of any cover-up or conspiracy.  
      Let us reiterate that our review of the allegations has not produced any evidence of any cover-up or conspiracy by SGM.  
      I have written about the conspiracy at some length though more work needs to be done.  There is no question of a massive cover up.  These reckless statements by the SGM Board of Directors fly in the face of all the evidence.  Wittingly or unwittingly, they are part of the conspiracy too.  Such pronouncements are absurd.  Read the following posts in evidence thereof.
      Let me present but one example of the conspiracy as alleged in the lawsuit.  “Loftness” is John Loftness, the former Chairman of the SGM Board.  “Griney” is Stephen Griney, a former teacher at Covenant Life School.  “Ricucci” is Gary Ricucci, the current Director of Students at the SGM Pastors College and brother in law of C.J. Mahaney.  All of these men worked for C.J. and were close friends of C.J. 
      “During the 1985/1986 school year, Defendant Loftness, Griney and Defendant Ricucci brought Plaintiff Roberts-Thomas into an empty room with two other girls.  Plaintiff Roberts-Thomas recognized the girls, one of whom was Plaintiff Thompson.  (The other is not being named here to protect her privacy.)  Defendants directed the girls to strip off their underwear, and lay across desks. Defendant Loftness beat Plaintiff Roberts-Thomas on her bare buttocks.  Plaintiff Roberts-Thomas heard the unnamed girl crying, and saw Griney hitting her on her bare buttocks.  Plaintiff Roberts-Thomas turned over her shoulder to look for Plaintiff Thompson, and realized Defendant Ricucci had taken her out of the room.  Defendant Loftness continued to beat Plaintiff Roberts-Thomas’ bare buttocks, and then he inserted his fingers into her vagina.” (Complaint 90, pp. 20-21)
      None of this means anything to the SGM Board of Directors/Executive Committee.  It is dismissed by them as pure fiction. 
      No Self-Examination by the Council of Elders
      When the Council of Elders met for the first time in May, they had no idea it might be a good time to humble themselves in light of God’s opposition!  There was no willingness to examine the past or present.  There was no self-suspicion or self-examination. 
      Instead they took the occasion to exalt themselves by putting forth a statement that denies lying, deception, hypocrisy, conspiracy, and abuse by it leaders and especially by C.J. Mahaney.  In my opinion, and let me quote them, “Such harmful speech is ruinous to the church of God.”
      Tragically the 50 representative elders have failed to be trained by discipline over the last two years.  They continue to lead SGM down the path of pride that has brought about its demise.  They have taking lightly the discipline of God and “run away from this process.”    
      “Please pray for all the people that are involved that we would be trained by this discipline.  Not that we would just get through it.  Not that any one person would be preserved, or not preserved in a position, but that the Lord would train us through this discipline.  That we would receive and benefit from everything that he wants to teach us no matter how painful it is for anyone through the process.  That we would not short circuit or try to run away from this process.” (Joshua Harris, The Father’s Discipline, July 10, 2011)   
      What Will It Profit a Man
      C.J. Mahaney has pronounced spiritual gifts and a magnanimous personality but he has  craved the praise of men and pretended humility.  We addressed this issues with him in August, 2004 and on many other occasions.  These root issues led to lying, deceit and abuse in order to preserve his reputation and position.   
      Dave Harvey replaced me as the number 2 leader in SGM in November 2007 when I resigned because I no longer trusted C.J.   Dave was made interim President of SGM in July 2011 when C.J. took a “leave of absence” after I sent out The Documents.  Dave just left SGM in June.  Here’s one of the reasons for his departure – a falling out with C.J. because he was not willing to categorically commend C.J. and condemn me.  
      From: Brent Detwiler
      Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2012 9:48 AM
      To: Dave Harvey
      Subject: Falling Out with C.J.
      Importance: High
      Hello Dave,
      I’ve been told about the break down in your relationship with C.J. because he feels you did not defend him adequately and did not denounce me, Larry Tomczak, etc. more harshly.  This comes as no surprise.  You need to bring this to the immediate attention of the entire Board to whom you and C.J. are now accountable.  Be honest with them.  Don’t cover up for C.J.  Put an end to the enablement.  You must tell the Board about this mistreatment of you.  Dave, you know full well that nothing has changed with C.J.  Your assessment and my assessment from 2004 are as relevant today.
      “To correct CJ, or to challenge his own self-perception, was to experience a reaction through e-mails, consistent disagreement (without seeking to sufficiently understand), a lack of sufficient follow-up and occasionally, relational withdrawal.  Along with this, CJ was poor in volunteering areas of sin, temptation or weakness in himself.” (Dave Harvey, Nov 11, 2004) 
      “[C.J.] can become resentful, distrustful or withdraw when he feels misunderstood, judged, or sinned against by others.  Can judge or prematurely come to conclusions about others based on limited or incomplete information.  When correcting or disagreeing can communicate his assessment or perspective too strongly or categorically.  Can lack gentleness and not perceive the unhelpful effect of his words, actions or decisions upon an individual.  Can be difficult to correct and help because he often disagrees with or has a different perspective on illustrations.    Infrequently makes us aware of specific sins or the correction others are bringing to him.” (Brent Detwiler, April, 2004)  
      I have little hope you and C.J. will be transparent with the Board.  I imagine this will be glossed over and made to sound like a trifle when it is serious.  Please turn the corner on a new lease in life by doing what is right.
      Regards,
      Brent
      In April of this year, C.J. “transitioned” from his role as President but not before he positioned Mark Prater to become the Executive Director for Sovereign Grace Ministries.  C.J. knew Mark would get him the universal commendation and condemnation he has craved for a long time.  It is all so sad!  
      “Furthermore, in contradiction to Brent Detwiler’s ongoing statements, we vigorously reiterate our support of C.J. Mahaney as a qualified minister of the gospel.  While we wholeheartedly support our reformation in polity, we also publicly declare our gratefulness for C.J.’s many years of service and commend his ongoing ministry of the gospel.”
      A Modern Day Object Lesson for the Evangelical Church
      It doesn’t matter what the Council of Elders says about me.  I will continue to serve the Lord Jesus Christ and God’s people by presenting the truth about Sovereign Grace Ministry as fairly and accurately as I can.  I have no choice in the matter.  My life is not my own.    
      In his providence, God has ordained every circumstance surrounding SGM for the good of his Church at large.  Once greatly exalted, Sovereign Grace Ministries has been brought low.  This is not due to slander or owing to the devil.  It is an expression of God’s opposition in the face of unrepentant pride. 
      Jesus was not slandering the religious leaders of his day when he exposed their hypocrisy.  He was simply speaking the truth. 
      Matt 23:27-28 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like  whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and  all uncleanness. So you also  outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of  hypocrisy and lawlessness. 
      Sovereign Grace Ministries is in grave trouble.  This edict is a desperate attempt to salvage the vestiges of what little remains.  Please pray for C.J. that he will sincerely repent (see C.J.’s Foxhole Conversion).  Pray for the Council of Elders that they will pursue truth and justice.  Pray for national leaders who enable C.J. and refuse to examine the evidence.   
      Pray also for law enforcement.  Widespread crimes have been committed and a great effort is being made to conceal them.  Last of all, pray for the victims of physical and sexual abuse in SGM.  There are 11 Plaintiffs in the lawsuit but many more victims.  The massive conspiracy to commit and cover up these horrors must be exposed by the power of God. 
      What is happening in SGM is a modern day example of God’s discipline on a national level.  SGM was a rising star and C.J. was its chief luminary.  Both are disgraced and necessarily so.  Pride always goes before the fall. 
      The evangelical Church of Jesus Christ must take note.  God is dealing with Christian celebrities motivated by the love of reputation.  These men have too much power and too little accountability.  There is a great need for courageous Boards of Directors and Pastoral Associates willing to honestly confront the pride, deceit, lording and hypocrisy they observe in such men.  Such an expression of love may be costly. 
      To our shame, C.J. was permitted to play above the rules.  He was enabled in his sin because friends feared his wrath and coveted his approval.  Staying on C.J.’s good side was the key to advancement in SGM.  Crossing C.J. cost you everything.  Too often the same personal ambition motivating C.J., motivated us.  We wanted to stay in his good graces and ride his coattails to greatness.
      We cannot treat well known Christian leaders with favoritism.  They must be judged impartiality and held to the Word of God they so effectively preach.  Spiritual gifting is vital for the ministry.  Right doctrine is crucial.  But Christian character ultimately qualifies a man for ministry.  We must remember the truth of 1 Timothy 5:24.  The sins of some men are conspicuous, going before them to judgment, but the sins of others appear later.
      The sins of SGM were not obvious to the Reformed world but they have now appeared and God’s judgment has followed.  Let it be a lesson to all.

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