When you’re a poor kid from a poor family, and when a priest pays attention to you, it’s a big deal. How do you say no to God? • Phil Saviano in Spotlight If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to abuse one. • Mitchell Garabedian in Spotlight • • • Fourteen yearsContinue reading ““How do you say ‘no’ to God?””
Category Archives: Christian Scandals
Matthew B. Redmond: Some Thoughts on What Is Happening at The Village Church
Note from CM: Sin rules this world through the unholy trinity of money, sex, and power. Most of the scandals with which the church has to deal have something to do with one or more of these three areas. And often, the original transgression ends up being but a small part of the problem. AsContinue reading “Matthew B. Redmond: Some Thoughts on What Is Happening at The Village Church”
The Wisdom of Christian Piatt
Now, here’s an honest man. I’m thankful someone finally had enough guts to say what Christian Piatt says in his post, “Five Reasons Progressive Christians Secretly Love Mark Driscoll.” Without giving any kind of a pass whatsoever to Driscoll or suggesting that he and the celebrity pastor of Mars Hill have anything in common withContinue reading “The Wisdom of Christian Piatt”
When “Christian” Teaching Enables Abuse of Power
As Bill Gothard comes under increasing scrutiny for his personal behavior, some are beginning to talk about how his teachings enable and encourage such behavior. Case in point: Wade Burleson has written an excellent piece called, “Bill Gothard: His Umbrella of Protection Teaching Provides an Umbrage for Perverted Behavior.“ Burleson has been a strong voiceContinue reading “When “Christian” Teaching Enables Abuse of Power”
The Sentimentality that Blinds Us
A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more. – Matthew 2:18 Churches and Christians in the U.S., by and large, focus on all the wrong battles. In our relative prosperity and ease, we are concerned about minor irritationsContinue reading “The Sentimentality that Blinds Us”
Money and Power: The Elephant in James MacDonald’s Room
NOTE: Thanks to Ryan Mahoney and Scott Bryant for this look at one of the prominent scandals in evangelicalism in recent days. James MacDonald graduated from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in 1988, the same year I did. That year he founded Harvest Bible Chapel in Rolling Meadows, IL. He is also known from his radioContinue reading “Money and Power: The Elephant in James MacDonald’s Room”
Power: WTH on Discipline and Other Issues at Mars Hill
NOTE: I asked our friend, Wenatchee the Hatchet, to update us on one of last year’s scandals involving the discipline process at Mars Hill Church. You may recall that we used this situation as a basis for discussion last year, and then decided to leave further discussion to others who were better informed. (See “MPT PostsContinue reading “Power: WTH on Discipline and Other Issues at Mars Hill”
Sex and Power: An Irish Perspective on the Abuse Scandal in the Catholic Church
Exactly a week ago, Chaplain Mike asked me if I had any insights I would like to share on the Catholic sex abuse scandals. I said I’d try and have something in by the end of the week, and I made some preliminary notes. Then I left them sitting there on top of my deskContinue reading “Sex and Power: An Irish Perspective on the Abuse Scandal in the Catholic Church”
Sex and Power: What’s Up With Sovereign Grace Ministries?
I asked our friend Dee Parsons from The Wartburg Watch for an update on the scandals and troubles besetting the prominent neo-reformed organization Sovereign Grace Ministries (SGM), a network of churches in North America and several countries around the world. TWW does an excellent job advocating on behalf of justice and compassion for victims of churchesContinue reading “Sex and Power: What’s Up With Sovereign Grace Ministries?”
Heresy: Theological Liberalism
Labels can be tricky, but earlier this month, Roger Olson wrote a helpful, clarifying post called, “Why I Am Not a ‘Liberal Christian.’” Positioning himself as “non-fundamentalist,” he then goes on to distinguish between those who identify themselves as “progressive” Christians, who are evangelical, broadly conservative, and primarily interested in setting themselves apart from the fundamentalistContinue reading “Heresy: Theological Liberalism”
The Internet Monk Archives 