*** Mars Hill Peaceful Protest and Letter to Mars Hill Members by Matt Rogers *** Yesterday, a group of approximately 100 people, former members of Mars Hill church, gathered outside of Pastor Mark Driscoll's Mars Hills Bellevue campus to peacefully protest Mark Driscoll's abusive leadership. I followed social media and gathered what I could find,… Continue reading Learn to Discern: Mars Hill Peaceful Protest and Letter to Mars Hill Members by Pastor Matt Rogers
Category: Learn to Discern
Learn to Discern: Let’s Explore “A Time of Transition,” the Newly Released Statement from IBLP Regarding Bill Gothard
*** The Board at Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) has released a statement following an "investigation" of allegations against Bill Gothard. *** We can learn a lot by observing how leaders of Christian groups respond to sexual abuse allegations. Let's go through the statement together with a discerning eye and discuss any issues that you see… Continue reading Learn to Discern: Let’s Explore “A Time of Transition,” the Newly Released Statement from IBLP Regarding Bill Gothard
Trying to Make Sense of What God Allows: Good and Evil
How do we make sense of what God allows in our lives? Â Are we responsible for our own outcomes or is God? How does this fit in with abuse? Â by Julie Anne Someone sent me a tweet yesterday and I cannot get it out of mind. Â As you might guess, what comes in my… Continue reading Trying to Make Sense of What God Allows: Good and Evil
Scott Brown Discusses: Jackson Brothers Alleged Sex Abuse, Brother Responds to Preaching, and Love Your Wives Webinar
*** Scott Brown on the Jackson brothers sex abuse case, the gospel message, and Husbands Love Your Wives webinar *** Scott Brown, Director of the National Center for Family-Integrated Churches (NCFIC), is also a pastor of 2 of the 6 Jackson brothers who were recently arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting their younger sister for approximately 10 years (Six… Continue reading Scott Brown Discusses: Jackson Brothers Alleged Sex Abuse, Brother Responds to Preaching, and Love Your Wives Webinar
Queen Bees of Homeschooling Stacy McDonald and Kelly Crawford Don’t Like the “Victim” Word in the Lourdes Torres-Manteufel vs. Doug Phillips Lawsuit
*** Well-known homeschooling moms Kelly Crawford and Stacy McDonald comment regarding the "victim" word with regard to the Lourdes Torres-Manteufel vs. Doug Phillips lawsuit. *** Doug Wilson comments as follows regarding Doug Phillips's sexual sins against Lourdes Torres-Manteufel: (Trigger warning for survivors of victimization by sexual abuse or assault, and/or spiritual abuse.) There has been… Continue reading Queen Bees of Homeschooling Stacy McDonald and Kelly Crawford Don’t Like the “Victim” Word in the Lourdes Torres-Manteufel vs. Doug Phillips Lawsuit
Learn to Discern: Can Women Read Scripture Aloud to Men?
*** Open Air Preacher Street Evangelist Tony Miano Gives Rules and Guidelines for Women Open Air Preaching and Reading Scripture to Men *** We've discussed open air preacher, Tony Miano before. Â He used to work at Living Waters with Ray Comfort. Â In the video below, he claims that he taught approximately 200 women how to… Continue reading Learn to Discern: Can Women Read Scripture Aloud to Men?
Learn to Discern: Response to the Doug Phillips Sex Abuse Scandal
 *   *   * Learn to discern - taking a closer look at a response to the Doug Phillips sex abuse scandal *   *   * Not long ago, I found a comment on a public Facebook page by a man named Paul Dorr. He was responding to a… Continue reading Learn to Discern: Response to the Doug Phillips Sex Abuse Scandal
Learn to Discern: Living in Fear – Does Perfect Love Cast out all Fear?
*** What does perfect love mean? Â Is living in fear unbiblical? *** A comment came in on an older thread that has been quite heated. Â It was from a blogger who has disagreed with a recent blog post here. Â Unfortunately, we are still not in agreement and the point of the original article seems to… Continue reading Learn to Discern: Living in Fear – Does Perfect Love Cast out all Fear?
Learn to Discern: Church Membership Accountability and Discipline of Children
* Â Â * Â Â * Learn to discern church websites, church discipline procedures, membership rules and accountability, attendance, and tithe requirements before joining a new church. Â A lot of information can be found on church websites. * Â Â * Â Â * * Â Â * Â Â * The other day,… Continue reading Learn to Discern: Church Membership Accountability and Discipline of Children
12 Doctrines of Christmas
* Â Â * Â Â * I ran across this video yesterday and wondered what planet I was on. How is it that I don't know most of these terms after having been a Christian for 40 years? *** ***
Doug Phillips & Vision Forum: Multi-Generational Faithfulness and Video of Young Boy Explaining the Importance of Having Many Children for 10 Generations
** * Â Â * Â Â * I'd like to spotlight some of the common teachings and practices that Doug Phillips and Vision Forum promoted. Â Many of these teachings go far beyond Doug Phillips and Vision Forum and have spread via homeschool networking, family-integrated church networking, the internet. * Â Â * Â Â … Continue reading Doug Phillips & Vision Forum: Multi-Generational Faithfulness and Video of Young Boy Explaining the Importance of Having Many Children for 10 Generations
Learn to Discern: Wife Has Affair with Pastor . . . and Reconciles?
* * * Kandace has an affair with her pastor. She and her husband, Nathan, talk about their reconciliation process and grace, but leave out something very important. * * * Video: Liberate JA note: Sorry, I've been unable to embed the video. Please click on "Liberate"… Continue reading Learn to Discern: Wife Has Affair with Pastor . . . and Reconciles?
Learn to Discern: Doctrinal Statements and Spiritual Authority
* Â Â * Â Â * We can learn a lot about the spiritual health of a church and how they function by reading their church governance bylaws and doctrinal statements of faith. * Â Â * Â Â * There were many people, after my lawsuit became very public, who went to my… Continue reading Learn to Discern: Doctrinal Statements and Spiritual Authority
Learn and Discern: Harvest Bible Chapel – Church Discipline and Excommunication
* * * If you've been following the Elephant Room 2 spectacle with Pastor James MacDonald of Harvest Bible Chapel, you know there has been some shakeup within the elder ranks. More drama recently unfolded. Below, you will find the link to the video of MacDonald and four of the elders… Continue reading Learn and Discern: Harvest Bible Chapel – Church Discipline and Excommunication
Learn to Discern: A Pastor’s Response to a Young Man’s Question about His Sexual Past
* Â Â * Â Â * One of the primary purposes of this blog is to discuss spiritual abuse and to learn and be aware of patterns that can lead to abuse. Some people who stop by here are at various stages of discovery and recovery. Â I recently read this article from the Gospel… Continue reading Learn to Discern: A Pastor’s Response to a Young Man’s Question about His Sexual Past
Learn and Discern: Pastor Jim Standridge and His Bully Pulpit
* Â Â * Â Â * For the past five years, I've been "choir mom" at two different high schools. Â This volunteer gig consists of going to class each day, doing sectionals (this is when we split into groups to learn their choral parts, ie, "altos" or "tenors", etc,), accompanying on the piano, etc.… Continue reading Learn and Discern: Pastor Jim Standridge and His Bully Pulpit
Learn and Discern: Government is Evil
* Â Â * Â Â * Yesterday, GRACE published an excellent article by Victor Vieth and linked to the Paul Washer video that I posted in yesterday's article (video is posted below in this article). GRACE Â is a non-profit organization made up of highly trained and experienced multi-disciplinary professionals who seek to educate and… Continue reading Learn and Discern: Government is Evil
Learn to Discern: Persecution or Hype or Agenda?
* Â Â * Â Â * I had a whole post typed up here and then decided to delete it all. Â Rather than talk about my thoughts about this video, I'd like to read yours. Â It's pretty obvious from the title of this article that I have some issues. I think this is important… Continue reading Learn to Discern: Persecution or Hype or Agenda?
Dissecting Church Bylaws: Conduct of Members
* Â Â * Â Â * When my lawsuit went viral, quite a few people took it upon themselves to look up the name of my church on the internet. Â They found and read the church by-laws. Â A number of them questioned why we would even attend such a church because they could… Continue reading Dissecting Church Bylaws: Conduct of Members
Spiritual Sounding Board 