ABUSE & VIOLENCE IN THE CHURCH, Christian Marriage, Complementarianism, Crazy Things Church Leaders Say & Do, Divorce, Domestic Violence and Churches, John MacArthur, Marriage, Marriages Damaged-Destroyed by Sp. Ab., Master's University / Master's Seminary, Patriarchal-Complementarian Movement, Religious Power and Control, Spiritual Abuse, Spiritual Authority, Spiritual Bullies, Troubling Tweets, Women and the Church

How Pastor Steve Swartz uses Scripture to Elevate His Position as Pastor and His Response to an Abusive Marriage #Blech

Julie Anne

Ok, popping in here for a quickie post for discussion. Notice this dude is a Master’s Seminary Alum. This does not surprise me with the kind of pompous attitudes I have witnessed and encountered from John MacArthur’s camp. Case in point, Bill Shannon reached out to me during my lawsuit case. I’ll never forget how he referred to himself when I asked who he was. He told me that everyone knew who he was and I just needed to look him up. #humbleNOT

And this is how I stumbled across this guy:

10 thoughts on “How Pastor Steve Swartz uses Scripture to Elevate His Position as Pastor and His Response to an Abusive Marriage #Blech”

  1. I’m wondering when ‘the truth’ of more scandals are finally revealed concerning John MacArthur’s ministry? It seems untouchable?
    I confess to cringing as accolades were flowing because he was considered a hero for having his church remain open during ‘the lockdowns’. This means nothing if the leadership and those who follow are not humble and contrite before the Lord.
    Thank you, Julie Anne for this post.

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  2. Oh, I know. It’s sickening. And Phil Johnson is acting all put out for answering simple questions. I’m just waiting for someone to be willing to tell their story and use their name. People are so afraid to do so!

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  3. HealinginHim, There was a time when Mark Driscoll seemed untouchable.
    But he and his ministry finally came crashing down.
    I started typing out scriptures about pride going before the fall and about God not being mocked and men reaping what they sow. But it started to sound preachy and I think that we have all had enough of that.
    Just take heart. No one is untouchable. Not even McArthur.

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  4. @MaraR:

    But he and his ministry finally came crashing down.

    In a BOOK-JUICING Scandal.
    Given “Deep Throat Driscoll”s known sermon kinkiness, I fully expected a sex scandal.

    Liked by 1 person

  5. @HealingInHim:

    I confess to cringing as accolades were flowing because he was considered a hero for having his church remain open during ‘the lockdowns’.

    Oh, he’s famous in local media.
    Along with that guy from Redding and Kirk Cameron hosting huge Christian concerts & events to defy Persecution(TM). They’re being called “Jesus Christ Superspreaders”.

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  6. My assumption about Swarzt’s book was that it is in all likelihood a book by an American evangelical pastor on suffering who doesn’t have much experience of it. I’ve listened to MacArthur on God and suffering but didn’t find him very convincing. I don’t find calvinism in its modern form helpful on this.

    I stumbled upon a review of the book by Gary Gilley. Gilley has done much useful work (Think on These Things ministry at Southern View Chapel) exposing for example the worldliness, doctrinal error and compromise of the church growth movement a la Willow Creek etc. (and we now know sadly how ‘worldly’ that was) that has been exported all over the world. He is the fairest reviewer of books I have ever read. He refrains from judging the motive of the author and will credit good and positive within a book even whilst having to discern serious erroneous teaching in it. There is an awful lot of rubbish about in the Christian scene.

    Gilley thought, with the odd reservation, that the book was good and helpful in dealing with a difficult subject. Just because it comes from the MacArthur camp doesn’t of itself mean it is naff. My assumption proved to be wrong.

    If MacArthur in any way has enabled abuse, I hope this will be exposed and dealt with. I don’t wish it to be true though, and think it is wrong to assume it, even though my own exposure to the ideas of that camp I reckon did considerably more harm than good.

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  10. I think most people probably join evangelical “Christian” churches out of a desire for community and shared beliefs. The average congregant’s motives for church attendance are meant well. But everything I’ve seen of so-called “Christian” churches for the whole of my entire life has shown me that, at their core, many churches are dark, dangerous, twisted, evil places, run by authoritarian people with sociopathic tendencies. And it has only gotten worse over time. The modern church is like an off-off-Broadway production of “Christianity: The Musical!”

    I’m sure there are good churches run by sane people, but I’ve never found one and I’m no longer interested in looking. I view “Christianity” as something to vigorously protect myself from, because it is deeply, deeply dangerous.

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