Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
18 November 2015
“But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.” [Ezekiel 33:6]
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” [Ephesians 6:12]
Presbyterians Week Headlines
[1] Fact-checking What Doug [Wilson] Told the Church
[2] Christian Defense Coalition Rips Dr. Ben Carson for Saying Terri Schiavo Tragedy was 'Much Ado about Nothing'
[3] Operation Rescue Denounces Carson’s Comments that Terri Schiavo’s Starvation Death was “Much Ado about Nothing”
[4] News from the Deepest Recesses of Hell
[5] The Thinning Blue Line
[6] Raging Heathen and Vain Imagining
[7] The Religion of Peace
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[1] Fact-checking What Doug [Wilson] Told the Church
By Katie Botkin
Doug Wilson [pastor of Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho, ed.] recently met with members of his congregation - heads of household (HOH), specifically - to discuss the Sitler and Greenfield/Wight cases. He pulled his information, he stated in his introduction, from “elder minutes, from the HOH minutes, and occasionally letters.”
Based on the records from this meeting, we know precisely what Doug told people and can hold him accountable for his words. So let’s fact-check the statements that Doug Wilson has made to his congregation. I encourage you to go back to your own notes of the meeting, if you have them, and compare them to the public records and other links I’ll be posting here.
Steven Sitler Case
The information spin: In the Steven Sitler case, Doug waited months before informing his congregation about what Sitler (who was not then in jail) had been up to. Doug doesn’t deny this, but in the meeting he claimed that talking about this is “misleading.” He specifies: “there are a number of things that have been out on the internet that have been misleading. One of them is um, one of the arguments of the things that’s alleged is that we took many, many months before we communicated with the HOH about this, but you have to remember that this was a small town event, public, a very public event — nobody needed to be told what had happened, the basic facts of the case.” So, why is saying he waited to inform the congregation “misleading”? Apparently, because Doug didn’t think his congregation needed to be informed that a serial pedophile had access to his congregation. Which is the whole point of what “the internet” finds problematic about this. As for the implication that people knew about it anyway - that’s a pretty weird argument given the church-wide directive not to gossip about situations like this, because the church will tell you what you need to know.
The “victims were all OK” spin: Doug stated repeatedly in the meeting that he is concerned for Sitler’s victims and did his due diligence there, but he appears to have left Sitler’s victims and their families out of his calculations about bringing Sitler back into the congregation. Doug states: “After the State of Idaho gave permission for him to worship on Sunday morning, the elders considered it, we had a HOH meeting where we communicated that prospect, that possibility to the HOH, got feedback from that, and decided to do that.” In actuality, at least one of the families obtained a No Contact order against Sitler coinciding with Silter’s release into the congregation, which prevented him (very rightly) from being around his abuse victims, including during church. I say this based on the No Contact orders listed under Sitler’s name in the Idaho Repository (note: again, rightly, the victims are not named in the Idaho Repository; you can look up the Sitler case and find these orders listed under his name). There are three such orders, dated December 13, 2005; May 4, 2006; and a year later on May 4, 2007.
The parole violations lie: Doug Wilson claimed that Sitler did not violate his parole at any time. His words: “From the time he was released to the time of his wedding, he was free of any probation violations. And from the time of the wedding until the present, the same.” This is flat-out false (or, at the very least, highly misleading). Sitler was arrested for voyeurism a few weeks after being released, and has had two (alleged) probation violations since then.
The “back to prison” spin: Doug expounded on this by stating “Steven was sentenced to life, uh, a lifetime sentence, which means that when he is out on probation, if there were a probation violation for example, he could go back to prison for life.” As we’ve seen, there have been probation violations or at least potential violations, and Steven has not gone back to prison. Now, in theory, Doug is correct that Steven could go back to prison, but the probation violations would have to be pretty extreme. It’s not just any violation.
The “no kids” spin/lack of due diligence/lie: Doug stated that when the Sitlers got married, “I know that initially the plan was to not have children.” Now, this is a very weird thing to “know,” given that the state of Idaho publicly recorded the opposite at the time. An officer told the court that Steven had stated he did intend to have children, based in large part on his religious beliefs. I find it ludicrous that the officer would know this ten days before the wedding and Doug Wilson would not. Particularly since this is the same hearing Doug referred to in order to justify the fact that the judge signed off on the Sitler wedding. Now, Doug could have been referring to the fact that the woman who married Steven had stated she was going to be on birth control until she was done with college (maybe that’s what Doug meant by “initially”). But if Doug knew this, he’d also have to know the next item uttered in the hearing, which was that they’d try to have kids after that. Additionally, Doug was present when someone else, as part of the wedding ceremony, prayed that the Silters’ union would be fruitful and bear children.
The “marriage is all good” spin: Doug stated in the meeting that the judge thought that Steven getting married was a “good idea,” and that the church agreed. That’s pretty strong language based on the actual dialogue of the court records. In the court recording, Judge Stegner does say “an age-appropriate relationship with a member of the opposite sex for Mr. Sitler is one of the best things that can happen to him and to society.” However, he expresses ambivalence elsewhere and stresses that there’s not much he can do to stop the wedding, given how soon it is. For example, he states, “I think it’s a reasonable restriction that he not reside with his wife and child, in the future, if in fact they have children,” which would make for a strange Father-centric Christian marriage, no? Additionally, Doug totally skips over the part where the Idaho Department of Corrections advised against the marriage — again, based on the fact that Sitler had stated he intended to have children.
The total lack of understanding of what abuse victims need and how healing works: Doug’s descriptions of the victims of these crimes is a bit weird — on two levels. Firstly, it’s weird that he appears to think that the victim’s problems have “largely just ceased, or at least apparently ceased” once the perp is apprehended. Secondly, it’s weird how he words this — he uses double negatives and double-speak to the point that it seems like he’s arguing opposite things. He says, “when you have a molestation or a problem like this and the offender is caught, the victim’s family’s problems have largely just ceased, or at least apparently ceased. We found out what the problem was. Now I know that’s not true, but in terms of the — the offender’s problems have just started. So, um, I’m — let’s just make up another imaginary situation not like this at all where someone offends some grievously, and then they get caught and it’s criminal, I’m going to be getting ten times more phone calls from the offender needing help, who’s in trouble, who knows he’s in trouble and wants pastoral help, and the people who just got delivered from this problem are going to say, ‘well I need to forgive,’ and that’s true, but for victims, there’s often times, things that need to be processed, so I’m not saying no help is needed, but it’s not on fire the way it is with someone going to court and who might be facing penitentiary time.” Clear as mud, right? This sort of prevaricating is exactly the kind of thing you should be avoiding when you’re ministering to sex abuse victims. There was nothing in the records that suggested a clear and reasonable plan of action for how to minister to abuse victims, either — aside from Doug suggesting his wife would be the counselor he recommended for women. And when you add Doug’s words about victims of sexual assault from his latest blog post, things look really bad: “One in four women are sexually assaulted on college campuses because feminists feel like statistics are necessarily validated by how dire they are. One in three women, regardless of the actual number of assaults, would feel even truer… we released The Free Speech Apocalypse at exactly the right time. If you watch that most excellent film, you can see victims actually painting their own bruises on. At least nobody said ow ow ow while they were doing it. Victim make-up for made-up victims.” Translation: don’t pay attention to women who say they’ve been sexually assaulted, because some are sure to be lying. Instead, pay to watch a film I star in, where I continue to make fun of these women.
Jamin Wight/Greenfield Family Case
The “parent approved relationship” spin: What is Doug’s basis for claiming there was a “parent approved relationship”? The main thing he referred to in the meeting is what Jamin told him. Remember: Jamin, among his other crimes, has committed perjury. Doug stated, “[Natalie’s mom] and Gary knew about it, um, Jamin knew about it, Jamin has confirmed to me recently that — I asked him that question, did Natalie know about it. According to Jamin, he said yes, she knew — she knew all about it. She knew she was in a relationship with him, but did she know that this was a parent approved relationship? Jamin would say yes. I think Natalie would say, from this distance, no.” Later on, in a bizarre twist, Doug states, “it would be disingenuous for me to apologize for having trusted [Jamin] when I didn’t.” Yes, Doug, you did and you do, or you wouldn’t be using his quotes as evidence (Jamin said he knew there was a relationship; therefore there was a relationship). Doug additionally states that “we have documents from the time that clearly show they were in that courtship… [but] I couldn’t prove right now that [Natalie] knew about it.” That’s pretty weird… a “courtship” where one party in the courtship might not know it’s a courtship. Is this even possible? I submit that it isn’t, unless by “courtship” you mean something way more nebulous than the way the word is used 99% of the time… So what are these “documents” that Doug keeps referring to that “prove” this so-called “relationship” that Natalie might or might not have known about? Few in his congregation appear to know, because Doug refuses to answer questions about them. He claims he’s doing this to protect “the Greenfields,” but absolutely none of the Greenfields feel protected by the way Doug has handled this. Doug’s slandering all of them and refusing to man up and say exactly why. And let it be noted that Doug was certainly willing to quote letters by and about the Greenfields aloud in the meeting. So here’s the thing: the only documents I know about that “prove” what Doug is claiming are authored by Jamin. You can even see the outline of this in Doug’s assertion to the HOH that the courtship was real because the Greenfields didn’t deny the allegations at the time. Well, as far as I can tell, Gary’s refusal to even entertain such an absurd claim, and refusing to let his family near the church’s spreading of these lies, is a pretty strong denial. Not to mention, they’re denying it now, when it’s publicly being tossed at them. So, my guess is, given all of these details, the only “proof” Doug has of a “parent-approved relationship” is what Jamin wrote down. Yeah, the same guy who committed perjury. And I’m guessing that’s the real reason Doug refuses to talk about it in detail.
The “abuse” spin: Doug claims Gary Greenfield was abusing his family, and while the abuse was different than what Jamin did, it was still “every bit as bad” as what Jamin did. Doug mentions a number of things that Gary was supposedly doing to abuse his family. What Doug mainly talked about in the meeting, tellingly enough, was how Gary wanted his family to leave the church and move away from Moscow. He mentioned that Natalie wrote a letter to Gary saying no, she didn’t want to move. He also claimed that Gary blamed Natalie for what Jamin did to her. This is either a misunderstanding or a deliberate spin of the facts — Gary at one point did go off on a tirade blaming Natalie, but it was not for her abuse, and it was not for the breakup of the family — it was specifically (if this is the incident Doug is referring to) for medication-induced health problems, caused by a dangerous lack of oversight (on the doctor’s part) when combining sleeping pills and other meds, which Natalie was on in an attempt to deal with her PTSD from the abuse. Natalie actually discussed this with me before this HoH meeting even happened. Natalie does not remember what she specifically wrote to Doug ten years ago that would “prove” what he’s claiming, but she does remember the events with her father, and she knows her father as well as herself much more fully after taking the time to sort through some of this stuff.
The “weaponized apology” lie: Doug claims that he can’t apologize because his apologies get “weaponized.” He stated, “I wrote [Natalie], emailed her and apologized; and the next morning the attack blogs had quotes from that letter.” I confirmed with Natalie, but no blog whatsoever published quotes from the email Doug is referring to — the next morning or any morning thereafter. Natalie didn’t share this email with many people, and it’s true that the people who read it were disgusted by how self-servingly the “apology” was worded. Nonetheless, they didn’t publish it. As far as I know, the only thing remotely pertaining to this has to do with things I’ve published on my own blog. I once wrote an obviously-faux quote from Doug stating “I sneezed in Natalie’s direction once, and she didn’t take this as a sincere apology, so what are you going to do?” Is Doug really arguing that this is a direct quote from the letter he sent Natalie? That would be hilarious. Or maybe he’s thinking of where I quote the coercive letter he wrote to her after his “apology” — although I waited weeks before publishing quotes from this. If anyone can point me in the direction of other blogs that quote Natalie’s letters to Doug, I would greatly appreciate it, because I’m committed to being as accurate as possible here.
The sex offender lie: Doug claimed that Jamin was legally labeled as a sex offender: “He was labeled, I think for a short time, so he got sentenced and was labeled as a sex offender for a certain period of time and I forget how long that was. But then that label was dropped. So, but he was labeled that for a time.” In reality, Jamin was never labeled a sex offender, not even for a second. Had Jamin been convicted of his original charge, he would have been a sex offender. However, because he plead guilty to a lesser charge (thanks at least in part to a last-minute judge DQ), he escaped the sex offender label.
Why is Doug Wilson commenting authoritatively on stuff he clearly knows nothing about? Because this, you see, is my real beef with him. He’s unqualified to handle abuse cases and legal cases, and he sincerely appears to believe that he is - and/or that his equally-unqualified wife is. This total lack of understanding and expertise has severely injured many people in his congregation, and it will continue to until Doug can step back and admit what he doesn’t know - and the way he’s mislead people based on what he doesn’t know.
Now for the real test. How will Doug react to being informed that he spread misinformation at a HOH meeting? Will he brush any factual errors aside with “well, I forgot, big deal”? Will he claim that I’m making his quotes here up, or taking them out of context? Will he accuse me of slander? Will he use his elders to caution anyone who brings these things up to him, “well, she’s on a crusade to slander us, so you can’t believe anything she said; if you agree with her about anything, even factual things, then you’re an enemy of the church”? Will he insist him lying to his congregation is nobody’s business? That the only legitimate way to bring up concerns is through his panel of hand-selected elders under the specific church rules he himself made up?
Here’s the thing, which I’ve mentioned before: I’m not out to slander Doug, and everything I publish on my blog has to pass the litmus test of whether I could prove it in a court of law. Because I’m putting my name on this. I’m hanging myself out there for potential retaliation, and given the number of people I’ve talked to who are scared of Doug retaliating if they speak up, it seems like a legitimate concern. I know I need to have my ducks in a row. I do not always reveal my sources or discuss how I know things, or even, in some cases where I’m deliberately vague, what exactly I’m referring to. I need to keep my sources safe. And I need to keep myself safe. And the only way I can do that for sure is by telling the truth.
And, unlike Doug, I welcome constructive criticism if something I’ve written is factually inaccurate, even a little bit. So please contact me if that’s the case.
Katie Botkin is a freelance writer and the managing editor of MultiLingual magazine, which covers language, translation, localization, and global culture. She decided at the age of six that she wanted to be an author, and to that end, she has learned to embrace her perpetual curiosity about almost everything. She is currently working on various articles and projects, including a novel about homeschooling culture. Katie is based in the Northern Rockies, where she finds ample opportunity to explore and find quietus. She sees her family often. When she is not otherwise occupied, she blogs.
+ Culture, Adventure, Stillness, Contact Page
[2] Christian Defense Coalition Rips Dr. Ben Carson for Saying Terri Schiavo Tragedy was 'Much Ado about Nothing'
The Christian Defense Coalition, which led demonstrations and prayer vigils for Terri Schiavo in Pinellas Park, Florida, calls the comments by Dr. Carson, "insensitive, uncaring and hurtful to the Schindler family and the disabled community across the nation."
The organization calls for Dr. Carson to reconsider and rethink his position on this issue and his profound disrespect to the Schindler family.
News link to Dr. Caron's comments:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-ben-carson-terri-schiavo-jeb-bush-20151113-story.html
Reformed Presbyterian minister the Rev. Patrick Mahoney, Director of the Washington DC based Christian Defense Coalition, has been a strong advocate for the disabled community and end-of-life issues for over thirty years; led demonstrations to save the lives of Nancy Cruzan and Terri Schiavo; and refused to eat for the fourteen days that Terri was being starved and dehydrated to death.
Responding to Dr. Carson's remarks, Mr. Mahoney states;
"It is hard to imagine any more insensitive and uncaring language describing the tragic circumstances of Terri Schiavo's death than calling it 'much ado about nothing.'
"Dr. Carson, starving and dehydrating a young women to death before the eyes of her loving family and a watching world is not 'much ado about nothing.'
"President Bush and Governor Bush do not think it was 'much ado about nothing' and either did the members of Congress who voted to have Terri's case reconsidered in federal court.
"It is deeply troubling to reconcile Dr. Carson's past comments about the sanctity and dignity of life with his blatant disregard for how Terri was treated and the painful and barbaric way in which she died. What makes it even more troubling, is that Dr. Carson is a world renowned neurosurgeon and a leading candidate for the Republican Presidential nomination.
"With comments like this, one shudders at what kind of Presidential policies he would have concerning end-of-life issues and working with the disability community."
+ Christian News Wire, 2020 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington DC 20006, 202-546-0054, newsdesk@christiannewswire.com
+ Christian Defense Coalition, Post Office Box 77168, Washington DC 20013, 202-547-1735, ChristianDefense@gmail.com
[3] Operation Rescue Denounces Carson’s Comments that Terri Schiavo’s Starvation Death was “Much Ado about Nothing”
A recent comment regarding the 2005 death of Terri Schiavo by Dr. Ben Carson, a GOP candidate for President, is being strongly denounced by Operation Rescue, which participated in efforts to save her life.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Carson responded to questions about the Schiavo case on Friday, November 13, 2015:
“We face those kinds of issues all the time, and while I don’t believe in euthanasia, you have to recognize that people that are in that condition do have a series of medical problems that occur that will take them out,” he said. “Your job (as a doctor) is to keep them comfortable throughout that process and not to treat everything that comes up.”
When the reporter asked whether Carson thought it was necessary for Congress to intervene, he said: “I don’t think it needed to get to that level. I think it was much ado about nothing.”
Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue, who attended protests of Schiavo’s starvation, commented:
“I am upset that Dr. Carson would portray the starvation and dehydration death of Terri Schiavo as ‘much ado about nothing.’ Dr. Carson is woefully misinformed. Terri’s condition was not terminal. She was not kept comfortable. Her death was brutally painful. Terri was not a ‘vegetable.’ She was a precious human being that did not deserve to be murdered by a court order. If a judge can order her put to death by denying food and hydration, this same tragedy could befall any one of us.”
In addition, Newman believes that then-Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, also now a GOP candidate for President, could have done to save Terri Schiavo’s life.
Operation Rescue urges pro-life supporters to withhold support for Carson’s and Bush’s candidacies for the President of the United States.
“We have seen what it is like to have a president who does not value every life equally, and we certainly do not need another,” said Newman. “In my opinion, Ben Carson’s statement dismissing Terri’s life as ‘nothing’ and Jeb Bush’s failure to take action to save Terri has disqualified them both from the office of President.”
Terri Schindler Schiavo was twenty-seven-years old when she collapsed in her St. Petersburg home in 1990. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, petitioned the court to have her feeding tube removed. Her parents objected to the starvation/dehydration death of their daughter, and thus began a long legal fight to save Terri’s life that played out dramatically in the public square.
Operation Rescue joined with numerous pro-life groups in the spring of 2005 for a vigil outside the Pinnellas Park nursing home where Terri was held. While Christians prayed, protested and drew the public eye to Terri’s plight, her family engaged in every desperate legal option available to prevent Michael from killing their loved one. Their brave efforts involved the Florida legislature, both houses of Congress and President George W. Bush, who personally signed an order moving Terri’s case to the jurisdiction of the Federal Court. Once the U.S. Supreme Court denied hearing the case, legal options were exhausted.
In March, 2005, Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube was removed, and she passed away on March 31, 2005, having suffered a painful starvation death as ordered by Judge George Greer.
Nevertheless, the fight to save Terri Schiavo’s life changed the conversation in America about the care and treatment of those who do not meet an arbitrary standard of perfection imposed by doctors and judges.
“Either we value and protect all life, or we submit to a brand of tyranny that places us all at risk,” said Newman. “We must never submit to tyranny that threatens the lives of the innocent.”
+ Operation Rescue, Post Office Box 782888, Wichita, Kansas 67278, 800-705-1175, Fax: 916-244-2636, info@operationrescue.org
[4] News from the Deepest Recesses of Hell
-- Mattel Casts Gay-Friendly Little Boy In New Moschino Barbie Doll Commercial
-- U.S. Supreme Court Allows Obama to Secretly Send US$1 Million Grant to Planned Parenthood
-- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Will Sink another US$120 Million into Promoting Abortion and Population Control
+ Now the End Begins, Contact Page
+ LifeNews.com, Post Office Box 270841, Fort Collins, Colorado 80527, news@lifenews.com
+ Christian Patriots.org, Comments Page
[5] The Thinning Blue Line
-- Video: South Boston, Virginia Police Hit Man with Stun Gun Many Times before Death
-- Police Civil Asset Forfeitures Exceed All Burglaries in 2014
-- Man Tells Harnett County, North Carolina Cops They Can’t Search His Home without a Warrant, Cops Kick Down His Door and Kill Him
+ Winston-Salem Journal, 418 North Marshall Street, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27101, 336-727-7211, KKampman@wsjournal.com
+ Armstrong Economics, Brandywine Plaza West, 1521 Concord Pike Suite 301, Wilmington, Delaware 19803, 302-448-8080
+ Liberty Upward, 1500 Elton #7, Austin, Texas 78703, Contact Page
[6] Raging Heathen and Vain Imagining
-- Bernie Sanders: “Climate Change Is Directly Related to the Growth of Terrorism”
-- Threat of Civil War Coming to America
-- Report: George Soros Spent $33,000,000 to Bankroll Ferguson Protests
-- Chick-Fil-A Supports "LGBT" Causes
+ Jihad Watch and Dhimmi Watch
+ John McTernan’s Insights, Contact Page
+ The Root, 1350 Connecticut Avenue Northwest Suite 410, Washington DC 20036, 646-495-4018, Fax: 202-223-0671, readerfeedback@theroot.com
+ Way of Life Literature, Post Office Box 610368, Port Huron, Michigan 48061, 519-652-2619, fbns@wayoflife.org
[7] The Religion of Peace
-- At G20, Obama Says ‘We’ When Discussing the Muslim Community in America
-- ISIS Leader Admits: We Are Being Funded by the Obama Administration
-- America, Arm Yourselves, and Prepare for the Coming Muslim Invasion
-- As Paris Burned, Obama Was Ordering More Muslim Migrants to Be Admitted to U.S.
-- ISIS Genocide Victims Do Not Include Christians, the U.S. State Department Is Poised to Rule
-- President Obama Stands Firmly with Jihadists as Death Toll Climbs in Paris
-- Washington, DC: Muslim Slashes Woman with Knife at Union Station
-- In Wake of Paris Attacks, Obama Releases Five GITMO Terrorists
-- Paris Jihad Murderer Was Incited to Wage Jihad at Mosque in Chartres
-- Islamic State Threatens Jihad Attacks in Washington DC and in Other European Countries
-- American Embassy in Paris Refused Entry to Woman Six Months Pregnant Fleeing Terrorist Attacks
-- Paris Attacks: ISIS Claims Responsibility in 129 Deaths; Belgium Makes Arrests
-- Mass Grave of Yazidi Women Too Old for Sex Slavery Unearthed Near Iraq's Sinjar
-- The Indonesian Jihad on Christian Churches
-- ISIS Executes 200 Kids, Obama Melts Down over Climate
-- Sweden Brought to Their Knees by Overwhelming Tide of Muslim Migrants
-- Islamic State Claims Twin Suicide Blasts in Beirut, Forty-Three Dead
-- New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand Wants U.S. to Take in 1.5 Million Muslim Migrants
+ Jews News, Contact Page
+ Now the End Begins, Contact Page
+ Jihad Watch and Dhimmi Watch
+ Atlas Shrugs, writeatlas@aol.com
+ Assyrian International News Agency (Nineveh Software Corporation, 2317 West Farwell, Chicago, Illinois 60645, 773-575-5863, Fax: 773-761-8534
+ WND, 2020 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, #351, Washington DC 20006, Contact Page
[1] Fact-checking What Doug [Wilson] Told the Church
[2] Christian Defense Coalition Rips Dr. Ben Carson for Saying Terri Schiavo Tragedy was 'Much Ado about Nothing'
[3] Operation Rescue Denounces Carson’s Comments that Terri Schiavo’s Starvation Death was “Much Ado about Nothing”
[4] News from the Deepest Recesses of Hell
[5] The Thinning Blue Line
[6] Raging Heathen and Vain Imagining
[7] The Religion of Peace
---
[1] Fact-checking What Doug [Wilson] Told the Church
By Katie Botkin
Doug Wilson [pastor of Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho, ed.] recently met with members of his congregation - heads of household (HOH), specifically - to discuss the Sitler and Greenfield/Wight cases. He pulled his information, he stated in his introduction, from “elder minutes, from the HOH minutes, and occasionally letters.”
Based on the records from this meeting, we know precisely what Doug told people and can hold him accountable for his words. So let’s fact-check the statements that Doug Wilson has made to his congregation. I encourage you to go back to your own notes of the meeting, if you have them, and compare them to the public records and other links I’ll be posting here.
Steven Sitler Case
The information spin: In the Steven Sitler case, Doug waited months before informing his congregation about what Sitler (who was not then in jail) had been up to. Doug doesn’t deny this, but in the meeting he claimed that talking about this is “misleading.” He specifies: “there are a number of things that have been out on the internet that have been misleading. One of them is um, one of the arguments of the things that’s alleged is that we took many, many months before we communicated with the HOH about this, but you have to remember that this was a small town event, public, a very public event — nobody needed to be told what had happened, the basic facts of the case.” So, why is saying he waited to inform the congregation “misleading”? Apparently, because Doug didn’t think his congregation needed to be informed that a serial pedophile had access to his congregation. Which is the whole point of what “the internet” finds problematic about this. As for the implication that people knew about it anyway - that’s a pretty weird argument given the church-wide directive not to gossip about situations like this, because the church will tell you what you need to know.
The “victims were all OK” spin: Doug stated repeatedly in the meeting that he is concerned for Sitler’s victims and did his due diligence there, but he appears to have left Sitler’s victims and their families out of his calculations about bringing Sitler back into the congregation. Doug states: “After the State of Idaho gave permission for him to worship on Sunday morning, the elders considered it, we had a HOH meeting where we communicated that prospect, that possibility to the HOH, got feedback from that, and decided to do that.” In actuality, at least one of the families obtained a No Contact order against Sitler coinciding with Silter’s release into the congregation, which prevented him (very rightly) from being around his abuse victims, including during church. I say this based on the No Contact orders listed under Sitler’s name in the Idaho Repository (note: again, rightly, the victims are not named in the Idaho Repository; you can look up the Sitler case and find these orders listed under his name). There are three such orders, dated December 13, 2005; May 4, 2006; and a year later on May 4, 2007.
The parole violations lie: Doug Wilson claimed that Sitler did not violate his parole at any time. His words: “From the time he was released to the time of his wedding, he was free of any probation violations. And from the time of the wedding until the present, the same.” This is flat-out false (or, at the very least, highly misleading). Sitler was arrested for voyeurism a few weeks after being released, and has had two (alleged) probation violations since then.
The “back to prison” spin: Doug expounded on this by stating “Steven was sentenced to life, uh, a lifetime sentence, which means that when he is out on probation, if there were a probation violation for example, he could go back to prison for life.” As we’ve seen, there have been probation violations or at least potential violations, and Steven has not gone back to prison. Now, in theory, Doug is correct that Steven could go back to prison, but the probation violations would have to be pretty extreme. It’s not just any violation.
The “no kids” spin/lack of due diligence/lie: Doug stated that when the Sitlers got married, “I know that initially the plan was to not have children.” Now, this is a very weird thing to “know,” given that the state of Idaho publicly recorded the opposite at the time. An officer told the court that Steven had stated he did intend to have children, based in large part on his religious beliefs. I find it ludicrous that the officer would know this ten days before the wedding and Doug Wilson would not. Particularly since this is the same hearing Doug referred to in order to justify the fact that the judge signed off on the Sitler wedding. Now, Doug could have been referring to the fact that the woman who married Steven had stated she was going to be on birth control until she was done with college (maybe that’s what Doug meant by “initially”). But if Doug knew this, he’d also have to know the next item uttered in the hearing, which was that they’d try to have kids after that. Additionally, Doug was present when someone else, as part of the wedding ceremony, prayed that the Silters’ union would be fruitful and bear children.
The “marriage is all good” spin: Doug stated in the meeting that the judge thought that Steven getting married was a “good idea,” and that the church agreed. That’s pretty strong language based on the actual dialogue of the court records. In the court recording, Judge Stegner does say “an age-appropriate relationship with a member of the opposite sex for Mr. Sitler is one of the best things that can happen to him and to society.” However, he expresses ambivalence elsewhere and stresses that there’s not much he can do to stop the wedding, given how soon it is. For example, he states, “I think it’s a reasonable restriction that he not reside with his wife and child, in the future, if in fact they have children,” which would make for a strange Father-centric Christian marriage, no? Additionally, Doug totally skips over the part where the Idaho Department of Corrections advised against the marriage — again, based on the fact that Sitler had stated he intended to have children.
The total lack of understanding of what abuse victims need and how healing works: Doug’s descriptions of the victims of these crimes is a bit weird — on two levels. Firstly, it’s weird that he appears to think that the victim’s problems have “largely just ceased, or at least apparently ceased” once the perp is apprehended. Secondly, it’s weird how he words this — he uses double negatives and double-speak to the point that it seems like he’s arguing opposite things. He says, “when you have a molestation or a problem like this and the offender is caught, the victim’s family’s problems have largely just ceased, or at least apparently ceased. We found out what the problem was. Now I know that’s not true, but in terms of the — the offender’s problems have just started. So, um, I’m — let’s just make up another imaginary situation not like this at all where someone offends some grievously, and then they get caught and it’s criminal, I’m going to be getting ten times more phone calls from the offender needing help, who’s in trouble, who knows he’s in trouble and wants pastoral help, and the people who just got delivered from this problem are going to say, ‘well I need to forgive,’ and that’s true, but for victims, there’s often times, things that need to be processed, so I’m not saying no help is needed, but it’s not on fire the way it is with someone going to court and who might be facing penitentiary time.” Clear as mud, right? This sort of prevaricating is exactly the kind of thing you should be avoiding when you’re ministering to sex abuse victims. There was nothing in the records that suggested a clear and reasonable plan of action for how to minister to abuse victims, either — aside from Doug suggesting his wife would be the counselor he recommended for women. And when you add Doug’s words about victims of sexual assault from his latest blog post, things look really bad: “One in four women are sexually assaulted on college campuses because feminists feel like statistics are necessarily validated by how dire they are. One in three women, regardless of the actual number of assaults, would feel even truer… we released The Free Speech Apocalypse at exactly the right time. If you watch that most excellent film, you can see victims actually painting their own bruises on. At least nobody said ow ow ow while they were doing it. Victim make-up for made-up victims.” Translation: don’t pay attention to women who say they’ve been sexually assaulted, because some are sure to be lying. Instead, pay to watch a film I star in, where I continue to make fun of these women.
Jamin Wight/Greenfield Family Case
The “parent approved relationship” spin: What is Doug’s basis for claiming there was a “parent approved relationship”? The main thing he referred to in the meeting is what Jamin told him. Remember: Jamin, among his other crimes, has committed perjury. Doug stated, “[Natalie’s mom] and Gary knew about it, um, Jamin knew about it, Jamin has confirmed to me recently that — I asked him that question, did Natalie know about it. According to Jamin, he said yes, she knew — she knew all about it. She knew she was in a relationship with him, but did she know that this was a parent approved relationship? Jamin would say yes. I think Natalie would say, from this distance, no.” Later on, in a bizarre twist, Doug states, “it would be disingenuous for me to apologize for having trusted [Jamin] when I didn’t.” Yes, Doug, you did and you do, or you wouldn’t be using his quotes as evidence (Jamin said he knew there was a relationship; therefore there was a relationship). Doug additionally states that “we have documents from the time that clearly show they were in that courtship… [but] I couldn’t prove right now that [Natalie] knew about it.” That’s pretty weird… a “courtship” where one party in the courtship might not know it’s a courtship. Is this even possible? I submit that it isn’t, unless by “courtship” you mean something way more nebulous than the way the word is used 99% of the time… So what are these “documents” that Doug keeps referring to that “prove” this so-called “relationship” that Natalie might or might not have known about? Few in his congregation appear to know, because Doug refuses to answer questions about them. He claims he’s doing this to protect “the Greenfields,” but absolutely none of the Greenfields feel protected by the way Doug has handled this. Doug’s slandering all of them and refusing to man up and say exactly why. And let it be noted that Doug was certainly willing to quote letters by and about the Greenfields aloud in the meeting. So here’s the thing: the only documents I know about that “prove” what Doug is claiming are authored by Jamin. You can even see the outline of this in Doug’s assertion to the HOH that the courtship was real because the Greenfields didn’t deny the allegations at the time. Well, as far as I can tell, Gary’s refusal to even entertain such an absurd claim, and refusing to let his family near the church’s spreading of these lies, is a pretty strong denial. Not to mention, they’re denying it now, when it’s publicly being tossed at them. So, my guess is, given all of these details, the only “proof” Doug has of a “parent-approved relationship” is what Jamin wrote down. Yeah, the same guy who committed perjury. And I’m guessing that’s the real reason Doug refuses to talk about it in detail.
The “abuse” spin: Doug claims Gary Greenfield was abusing his family, and while the abuse was different than what Jamin did, it was still “every bit as bad” as what Jamin did. Doug mentions a number of things that Gary was supposedly doing to abuse his family. What Doug mainly talked about in the meeting, tellingly enough, was how Gary wanted his family to leave the church and move away from Moscow. He mentioned that Natalie wrote a letter to Gary saying no, she didn’t want to move. He also claimed that Gary blamed Natalie for what Jamin did to her. This is either a misunderstanding or a deliberate spin of the facts — Gary at one point did go off on a tirade blaming Natalie, but it was not for her abuse, and it was not for the breakup of the family — it was specifically (if this is the incident Doug is referring to) for medication-induced health problems, caused by a dangerous lack of oversight (on the doctor’s part) when combining sleeping pills and other meds, which Natalie was on in an attempt to deal with her PTSD from the abuse. Natalie actually discussed this with me before this HoH meeting even happened. Natalie does not remember what she specifically wrote to Doug ten years ago that would “prove” what he’s claiming, but she does remember the events with her father, and she knows her father as well as herself much more fully after taking the time to sort through some of this stuff.
The “weaponized apology” lie: Doug claims that he can’t apologize because his apologies get “weaponized.” He stated, “I wrote [Natalie], emailed her and apologized; and the next morning the attack blogs had quotes from that letter.” I confirmed with Natalie, but no blog whatsoever published quotes from the email Doug is referring to — the next morning or any morning thereafter. Natalie didn’t share this email with many people, and it’s true that the people who read it were disgusted by how self-servingly the “apology” was worded. Nonetheless, they didn’t publish it. As far as I know, the only thing remotely pertaining to this has to do with things I’ve published on my own blog. I once wrote an obviously-faux quote from Doug stating “I sneezed in Natalie’s direction once, and she didn’t take this as a sincere apology, so what are you going to do?” Is Doug really arguing that this is a direct quote from the letter he sent Natalie? That would be hilarious. Or maybe he’s thinking of where I quote the coercive letter he wrote to her after his “apology” — although I waited weeks before publishing quotes from this. If anyone can point me in the direction of other blogs that quote Natalie’s letters to Doug, I would greatly appreciate it, because I’m committed to being as accurate as possible here.
The sex offender lie: Doug claimed that Jamin was legally labeled as a sex offender: “He was labeled, I think for a short time, so he got sentenced and was labeled as a sex offender for a certain period of time and I forget how long that was. But then that label was dropped. So, but he was labeled that for a time.” In reality, Jamin was never labeled a sex offender, not even for a second. Had Jamin been convicted of his original charge, he would have been a sex offender. However, because he plead guilty to a lesser charge (thanks at least in part to a last-minute judge DQ), he escaped the sex offender label.
Why is Doug Wilson commenting authoritatively on stuff he clearly knows nothing about? Because this, you see, is my real beef with him. He’s unqualified to handle abuse cases and legal cases, and he sincerely appears to believe that he is - and/or that his equally-unqualified wife is. This total lack of understanding and expertise has severely injured many people in his congregation, and it will continue to until Doug can step back and admit what he doesn’t know - and the way he’s mislead people based on what he doesn’t know.
Now for the real test. How will Doug react to being informed that he spread misinformation at a HOH meeting? Will he brush any factual errors aside with “well, I forgot, big deal”? Will he claim that I’m making his quotes here up, or taking them out of context? Will he accuse me of slander? Will he use his elders to caution anyone who brings these things up to him, “well, she’s on a crusade to slander us, so you can’t believe anything she said; if you agree with her about anything, even factual things, then you’re an enemy of the church”? Will he insist him lying to his congregation is nobody’s business? That the only legitimate way to bring up concerns is through his panel of hand-selected elders under the specific church rules he himself made up?
Here’s the thing, which I’ve mentioned before: I’m not out to slander Doug, and everything I publish on my blog has to pass the litmus test of whether I could prove it in a court of law. Because I’m putting my name on this. I’m hanging myself out there for potential retaliation, and given the number of people I’ve talked to who are scared of Doug retaliating if they speak up, it seems like a legitimate concern. I know I need to have my ducks in a row. I do not always reveal my sources or discuss how I know things, or even, in some cases where I’m deliberately vague, what exactly I’m referring to. I need to keep my sources safe. And I need to keep myself safe. And the only way I can do that for sure is by telling the truth.
And, unlike Doug, I welcome constructive criticism if something I’ve written is factually inaccurate, even a little bit. So please contact me if that’s the case.
Katie Botkin is a freelance writer and the managing editor of MultiLingual magazine, which covers language, translation, localization, and global culture. She decided at the age of six that she wanted to be an author, and to that end, she has learned to embrace her perpetual curiosity about almost everything. She is currently working on various articles and projects, including a novel about homeschooling culture. Katie is based in the Northern Rockies, where she finds ample opportunity to explore and find quietus. She sees her family often. When she is not otherwise occupied, she blogs.
+ Culture, Adventure, Stillness, Contact Page
[2] Christian Defense Coalition Rips Dr. Ben Carson for Saying Terri Schiavo Tragedy was 'Much Ado about Nothing'
The Christian Defense Coalition, which led demonstrations and prayer vigils for Terri Schiavo in Pinellas Park, Florida, calls the comments by Dr. Carson, "insensitive, uncaring and hurtful to the Schindler family and the disabled community across the nation."
The organization calls for Dr. Carson to reconsider and rethink his position on this issue and his profound disrespect to the Schindler family.
News link to Dr. Caron's comments:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-ben-carson-terri-schiavo-jeb-bush-20151113-story.html
Reformed Presbyterian minister the Rev. Patrick Mahoney, Director of the Washington DC based Christian Defense Coalition, has been a strong advocate for the disabled community and end-of-life issues for over thirty years; led demonstrations to save the lives of Nancy Cruzan and Terri Schiavo; and refused to eat for the fourteen days that Terri was being starved and dehydrated to death.
Responding to Dr. Carson's remarks, Mr. Mahoney states;
"It is hard to imagine any more insensitive and uncaring language describing the tragic circumstances of Terri Schiavo's death than calling it 'much ado about nothing.'
"Dr. Carson, starving and dehydrating a young women to death before the eyes of her loving family and a watching world is not 'much ado about nothing.'
"President Bush and Governor Bush do not think it was 'much ado about nothing' and either did the members of Congress who voted to have Terri's case reconsidered in federal court.
"It is deeply troubling to reconcile Dr. Carson's past comments about the sanctity and dignity of life with his blatant disregard for how Terri was treated and the painful and barbaric way in which she died. What makes it even more troubling, is that Dr. Carson is a world renowned neurosurgeon and a leading candidate for the Republican Presidential nomination.
"With comments like this, one shudders at what kind of Presidential policies he would have concerning end-of-life issues and working with the disability community."
+ Christian News Wire, 2020 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington DC 20006, 202-546-0054, newsdesk@christiannewswire.com
+ Christian Defense Coalition, Post Office Box 77168, Washington DC 20013, 202-547-1735, ChristianDefense@gmail.com
[3] Operation Rescue Denounces Carson’s Comments that Terri Schiavo’s Starvation Death was “Much Ado about Nothing”
A recent comment regarding the 2005 death of Terri Schiavo by Dr. Ben Carson, a GOP candidate for President, is being strongly denounced by Operation Rescue, which participated in efforts to save her life.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Carson responded to questions about the Schiavo case on Friday, November 13, 2015:
“We face those kinds of issues all the time, and while I don’t believe in euthanasia, you have to recognize that people that are in that condition do have a series of medical problems that occur that will take them out,” he said. “Your job (as a doctor) is to keep them comfortable throughout that process and not to treat everything that comes up.”
When the reporter asked whether Carson thought it was necessary for Congress to intervene, he said: “I don’t think it needed to get to that level. I think it was much ado about nothing.”
Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue, who attended protests of Schiavo’s starvation, commented:
“I am upset that Dr. Carson would portray the starvation and dehydration death of Terri Schiavo as ‘much ado about nothing.’ Dr. Carson is woefully misinformed. Terri’s condition was not terminal. She was not kept comfortable. Her death was brutally painful. Terri was not a ‘vegetable.’ She was a precious human being that did not deserve to be murdered by a court order. If a judge can order her put to death by denying food and hydration, this same tragedy could befall any one of us.”
In addition, Newman believes that then-Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, also now a GOP candidate for President, could have done to save Terri Schiavo’s life.
Operation Rescue urges pro-life supporters to withhold support for Carson’s and Bush’s candidacies for the President of the United States.
“We have seen what it is like to have a president who does not value every life equally, and we certainly do not need another,” said Newman. “In my opinion, Ben Carson’s statement dismissing Terri’s life as ‘nothing’ and Jeb Bush’s failure to take action to save Terri has disqualified them both from the office of President.”
Terri Schindler Schiavo was twenty-seven-years old when she collapsed in her St. Petersburg home in 1990. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, petitioned the court to have her feeding tube removed. Her parents objected to the starvation/dehydration death of their daughter, and thus began a long legal fight to save Terri’s life that played out dramatically in the public square.
Operation Rescue joined with numerous pro-life groups in the spring of 2005 for a vigil outside the Pinnellas Park nursing home where Terri was held. While Christians prayed, protested and drew the public eye to Terri’s plight, her family engaged in every desperate legal option available to prevent Michael from killing their loved one. Their brave efforts involved the Florida legislature, both houses of Congress and President George W. Bush, who personally signed an order moving Terri’s case to the jurisdiction of the Federal Court. Once the U.S. Supreme Court denied hearing the case, legal options were exhausted.
In March, 2005, Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube was removed, and she passed away on March 31, 2005, having suffered a painful starvation death as ordered by Judge George Greer.
Nevertheless, the fight to save Terri Schiavo’s life changed the conversation in America about the care and treatment of those who do not meet an arbitrary standard of perfection imposed by doctors and judges.
“Either we value and protect all life, or we submit to a brand of tyranny that places us all at risk,” said Newman. “We must never submit to tyranny that threatens the lives of the innocent.”
+ Operation Rescue, Post Office Box 782888, Wichita, Kansas 67278, 800-705-1175, Fax: 916-244-2636, info@operationrescue.org
[4] News from the Deepest Recesses of Hell
-- Mattel Casts Gay-Friendly Little Boy In New Moschino Barbie Doll Commercial
-- U.S. Supreme Court Allows Obama to Secretly Send US$1 Million Grant to Planned Parenthood
-- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Will Sink another US$120 Million into Promoting Abortion and Population Control
+ Now the End Begins, Contact Page
+ LifeNews.com, Post Office Box 270841, Fort Collins, Colorado 80527, news@lifenews.com
+ Christian Patriots.org, Comments Page
[5] The Thinning Blue Line
-- Video: South Boston, Virginia Police Hit Man with Stun Gun Many Times before Death
-- Police Civil Asset Forfeitures Exceed All Burglaries in 2014
-- Man Tells Harnett County, North Carolina Cops They Can’t Search His Home without a Warrant, Cops Kick Down His Door and Kill Him
+ Winston-Salem Journal, 418 North Marshall Street, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27101, 336-727-7211, KKampman@wsjournal.com
+ Armstrong Economics, Brandywine Plaza West, 1521 Concord Pike Suite 301, Wilmington, Delaware 19803, 302-448-8080
+ Liberty Upward, 1500 Elton #7, Austin, Texas 78703, Contact Page
[6] Raging Heathen and Vain Imagining
-- Bernie Sanders: “Climate Change Is Directly Related to the Growth of Terrorism”
-- Threat of Civil War Coming to America
-- Report: George Soros Spent $33,000,000 to Bankroll Ferguson Protests
-- Chick-Fil-A Supports "LGBT" Causes
+ Jihad Watch and Dhimmi Watch
+ John McTernan’s Insights, Contact Page
+ The Root, 1350 Connecticut Avenue Northwest Suite 410, Washington DC 20036, 646-495-4018, Fax: 202-223-0671, readerfeedback@theroot.com
+ Way of Life Literature, Post Office Box 610368, Port Huron, Michigan 48061, 519-652-2619, fbns@wayoflife.org
[7] The Religion of Peace
-- At G20, Obama Says ‘We’ When Discussing the Muslim Community in America
-- ISIS Leader Admits: We Are Being Funded by the Obama Administration
-- America, Arm Yourselves, and Prepare for the Coming Muslim Invasion
-- As Paris Burned, Obama Was Ordering More Muslim Migrants to Be Admitted to U.S.
-- ISIS Genocide Victims Do Not Include Christians, the U.S. State Department Is Poised to Rule
-- President Obama Stands Firmly with Jihadists as Death Toll Climbs in Paris
-- Washington, DC: Muslim Slashes Woman with Knife at Union Station
-- In Wake of Paris Attacks, Obama Releases Five GITMO Terrorists
-- Paris Jihad Murderer Was Incited to Wage Jihad at Mosque in Chartres
-- Islamic State Threatens Jihad Attacks in Washington DC and in Other European Countries
-- American Embassy in Paris Refused Entry to Woman Six Months Pregnant Fleeing Terrorist Attacks
-- Paris Attacks: ISIS Claims Responsibility in 129 Deaths; Belgium Makes Arrests
-- Mass Grave of Yazidi Women Too Old for Sex Slavery Unearthed Near Iraq's Sinjar
-- The Indonesian Jihad on Christian Churches
-- ISIS Executes 200 Kids, Obama Melts Down over Climate
-- Sweden Brought to Their Knees by Overwhelming Tide of Muslim Migrants
-- Islamic State Claims Twin Suicide Blasts in Beirut, Forty-Three Dead
-- New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand Wants U.S. to Take in 1.5 Million Muslim Migrants
+ Jews News, Contact Page
+ Now the End Begins, Contact Page
+ Jihad Watch and Dhimmi Watch
+ Atlas Shrugs, writeatlas@aol.com
+ Assyrian International News Agency (Nineveh Software Corporation, 2317 West Farwell, Chicago, Illinois 60645, 773-575-5863, Fax: 773-761-8534
+ WND, 2020 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, #351, Washington DC 20006, Contact Page
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
11 November 2015
“But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.” [Ezekiel 33:6]
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” [Ephesians 6:12]
Presbyterians Week Headlines
[1] D. James Kennedy Center for Christian Statesmanship Announces New Director
[2] PCUSA’s Presbytery of Plains and Peaks Exacts US$2.29 Million “Tithe” from First Presbyterian Church in Boulder, Colorado to Leave Denomination
[3] The Puritan-Making of the American Mind: Revival and Survival
[4] News from the Deepest Recesses of Hell
[5] The Thinning Blue Line
[6] Raging Heathen and Vain Imagining
[7] The Religion of Peace
---
[1] D. James Kennedy Center for Christian Statesmanship Announces New Director
The D. James Kennedy Center for Christian Statesmanship, a Christian ministry to legislators and staffers on Capitol Hill, has appointed the Honorable John N. Hostettler as its new Director.
Hostettler, who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 – 2007, was inspired by minister and evangelical leader, D. James Kennedy. Hostettler will use his considerable experience in the advancement of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to minister to Members of Congress and their staff on Capitol Hill through the Center.
"We are absolutely thrilled to have John Hostettler as the new director of The Center for Christian Statesmanship," said Dr. John B. Sorensen, president of Evangelism Explosion International. The Center is a ministry training outreach of Evangelism Explosion International. "As the recipient of The Center's respected Distinguished Christian Statesman Award in 2004, John Hostettler understands the vital role Christian statesmen play in our nation, and is uniquely suited to help lift up that standard and train new leaders to live that out for the enrichment of our nation."
Hostettler succeeds the past director of The Center, Dr. George Roller. Dr. Roller began with the Center in 2003, and has served with distinction for 12 years, following Dr. Frank Wright, the Centers Founder. Roller will continue to serve The Center in the new post of Ambassador.
Founded in 1995 by the late D. James Kennedy, the Center for Christian Statesmanship has impacted thousands of lives by bringing a gospel witness, Christian discipleship, and a vision for Christian statesmanship to leaders in Washington, D.C..
Evangelism Explosion International is an evangelism equipping ministry which saw, by God's grace, more than eight million professions of faith in Christ worldwide in 2014. The ministry, founded by Dr. D. James Kennedy, was started in 1962 and has planted the Gospel in every nation of the world.
+ Evangelism Explosion, 10 Misty Valley Parkway, Arden, North Carolina 28704, 888-567-3543, Fax: 828-687-7494, Contact Page
+ Christian News Wire, 2020 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington DC 20006, 202-546-0054, newsdesk@christiannewswire.com
[2] PCUSA’s Presbytery of Plains and Peaks Exacts US$2.29 Million “Tithe” from First Presbyterian Church in Boulder, Colorado to Leave Denomination
A 5 November 2015 The Layman article titled “Presbytery Claims 2 29 Million Tithe to Dismiss Fpc Boulder From PCUSA” reports that in order to be able to leave the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) to affiliate with the Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians (ECO), the PCUSA’s Presbytery of Plains and Peaks
+ Presbyterian Lay Committee, 1220 West Main Street, Franklin, Tennessee 37064, 615-591-4388, laymanletters@layman.org
+ Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, 888-728-7228, Fax: 502-569-8005
+ Presbytery of Plains and Peaks, 7257 West 4th Street Unit 4, Greeley, Colorado 80634, 970-352-6496, Fax: 970-352-9405, lynn@plainsandpeaks.org
+ Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians, 8134 New LaGrange Road, Suite 227, Louisville, Kentucky 40222, 502-425-4630, email@fellowship-pres.org
[3] The Puritan-Making of the American Mind: Revival and Survival
By the Rev. Dr. Michael A. Milton
Originally published at:
http://michaelmilton.org/2015/11/02/the-puritan-making-of-the-american-mind/
Is historical philosophy a preferential tool for trusted evaluation and analysis of current political and religious phenomenon? This was my question. Following the footnote trail I have found myself in a very good place for discovery: Perry Miller of Harvard and the Puritans. I found this quote and it seems to me to explain the place of Puritan thought in the “American mind” most succinctly and most authoritatively. Perhaps it will be of good use to some enterprising scholar out there. I urge you to read Perry Miller. Read Marsden to understand what Miller misses on the Puritans—Jesus—but read Miller to understand the strain of thought that has created, more than anything else, the American mind.
“Any inventory of the elements that go into the making of the ‘American mind’ would have to commence with Puritanism. It is, indeed, only one among many: if we should attempt to enumerate these traditions, we should certainly have to mention such philosophies, such ‘isms,’ as the rational liberalism of Jeffersonian democracy, the Hamiltonian conception of conservatism and government, the Southern theory of racial aristocracy, the Transcendentalism of nineteenth-century New England, and what is generally spoken of as frontier individualism. Among these factors Puritanism has been perhaps the most conspicuous, the most sustained, and the most fecund. Without some understanding of Puritanism, it may safely be said, there is no understanding of America. (Miller and Johnson, 1963, page 1)
The question remains: How will the Puritan strain in the American mind respond in the face of an overwhelming moral crisis? Will the Puritan strand be activated—a merciful divine intervention on behalf of faithful pilgrims thirteen generations prior—a cry for revival heard from the faint light of that “city on a hill?” Or has the spiritual genome finally been diluted to the point of extinction?
A nation’s survival may very well depend upon the answer to that question.
“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; And the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance” (Psalm 33:12)
Works Cited
Guyatt, Nicholas. ““An Instrument of National Policy”: Perry Miller and the Cold War.” Journal of American Studies 36, no. 01 (2002): 107-49. Accessed November 1, 2015. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27557067.
Marsden, George M. “Perry Miller’s Rehabilitation of the Puritans: A Critique.” Church History Church Hist 39, no. 01 (1970): 91. doi:10.2307/3163216.
Miller, Perry, and Thomas Herbert. Johnson. The Puritans. New York: Harper & Row, 1963.
_____. The Puritans: A Sourcebook of Their Writings: Two Volumes Bound as One. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2001.
Suggested Reading
Miller, Perry. Errand into the Wilderness. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1956.
_____. The New England Mind. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1953.
Wilson, Clyde Norman. Twentieth-century American Historians. Detroit, MI: Gale Research, 1983.
+ Faith for Living, 3122 Fincher Farm Road, Suite 100, Box 552, Matthews, North Carolina 28105
[4] News from the Deepest Recesses of Hell
-- Planned Parenthood President Defends Selling Aborted Baby Parts: Quit “Shaming” Us
-- Abortions Skyrocketing in Greece, They’re Being Used for Birth Control During Economic Crisis
-- Vatileaks Reports That Vatican-Owned Properties Are Operating as Brothels for Priests
-- Every Year, 363,000 Unarmed Black Babies Are Killed in Abortions, Do Their #BlackLivesMatter?
-- Obama Becomes First Sitting President to Pose for Cover of LGBT Magazine
-- Texas Childcare Center Manager Fired for Refusing to Refer to Girl as Boy
-- German Parliament Approves Assisted Suicide for ‘Altruistic’ Reasons
-- California: Male prisoners Who Call Themselves Women Will Be Sent to Women’s Prisons
-- Five Unbelievably Disturbing Sexual Practices Planned Parenthood Told Teens to Try
-- Abortionist’s Grisly Experiment Involved Using Plastic Razor Blades to Cut Up and Abort Babies
-- Obama’s New Homosexual-Friendly Military Experiencing Penetrative Male Rape Epidemic
-- Taxpayers Paid for Intact Human Fetal Brains from StemExpress
-- Obama Administration to Schools: Let Boys Use Girls’ Bathrooms, Or We Pull Funding
-- Obama Administration Paid for Research Using Intact Human Brains from Aborted Babies
-- 1,500 Babies Were Killed in Abortions Every Single Hour under China’s One-Child Policy
-- Abortion Clinic Nurse to Thirteen-Year-Old: Be Brave; Abort ‘for Jesus’
+ LifeNews.com, Post Office Box 270841, Fort Collins, Colorado 80527, news@lifenews.com
+ Now the End Begins, Contact Page
+ John McTernan’s Insights, Contact Page
+ Christian News Network, Post Office Box 30000, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103, Contact Page
+ LifeSiteNews.com, Incorporated, 4 Family Life Lane, Front Royal, Virginia 22630, 888-678-6008, Contact Page
+ American Vision, 3150-A Florence Road, Suite 2, Powder Springs, Georgia 30127, 800-628-9460, Fax: 770-222-7269, Comments@AmericanVision.org
[5] The Thinning Blue Line
-- Video Shows Police Beating, Tasering University of Alabama Student
-- Rancher’s Family Gives Chilling Account of Events That Led to Him Being Fatally Shot by Police after His Bull Was Hit by Car
-- Two Louisiana Police Officers Charged with Murder, Arrested after Shooting Autistic Six-Year-Old Five Times
-- Austin, Texas Police Violently Arrest Men for Jaywalking
+ The Daily Caller, 1050 17th Street Northwest # 900, Washington DC 20036, 202-466-3004, media@dailycaller.com
+ THEBLAZE.COM LLC, 1270 Avenue of the Americas, 9th Floor, New York, New York 10036, contact@theblaze.com
+ The D.C. Clothesline, dean.garrison.99@gmail.com
+ Liberty Upward, 1500 Elton #7, Austin, Texas 78703, Contact Page
[6] Raging Heathen and Vain Imagining
-- Putin Gives Order for Russian Weapons Able to Penetrate U.S. Missile Shield
-- My Parents Lived as ‘Brother and Sister’ for Twenty-Five Years So They Could Receive Communion Says Roman Catholic Priest
-- Verizon FiOS Internet Service Now Reading And Censoring Customers Emails
+ Now the End Begins, Contact Page
+ LifeSiteNews.com, Incorporated, 4 Family Life Lane, Front Royal, Virginia 22630, 888-678-6008, Contact Page
[7] The Religion of Peace
-- George Soros Admits He’s Behind Muslim Migrant Invasion of Europe
-- Judicial Watch Proves U.S. President Barack Hussein Obama and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton created ISIS
-- Anger As U.K. Spies Discover Exploded Russian Jet Was Likely Taken Down by ISIS
-- ISIS Terrorists Film Mass Execution of Hundreds of Syrian Soldiers
-- Hamtramck, Michigan First American City to Elect a Muslim-Majority Council
-- New Muslim Majority City Council in Hamtramck, Michigan Warns, “Today we show the [non-Muslims] and everybody else….”
-- Twenty-Three to Twenty-Seven Documented Honor Killings Every Year in the U.S., Many More Go Unreported
-- U.K.: Fourteen Muslim ‘Men’ Accused of Gang Rape with Thirteen-Year-Old Girl
-- Imam Unmasked as Russian Passenger Plane Bombing Mastermind
-- Iran No Longer Dismantling Centrifuges in Two Uranium Enrichment Plants
-- Canadian Magazine “Maclean’s” Puts Jihad Murderer on Cover, Portrays Him as Victim
-- German Teachers 'Racist' For Warning Female Students to Avoid Refugee Men Lest They Be Raped
-- Muslim Migrants in Germany Riot in Churches, Steal From Stores, and Defecate in Gardens
-- Obama Silent as Persecuted Christians in the Middle East Face Extinction
-- Muslim Inmates Extorting ‘Infidel Tax’ from Non-Muslims in U.K.’s Toughest Jails
-- Obama Crushes Keystone Pipeline, Ensuring American Dependence on Muslim Oil
-- Iraq Passes Law Forcing Children to Convert to Religion of Muslim Parent
-- Chemical Weapons Used By ISIS in Syria
-- Georgetown University's John Esposito Shills for Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood
+ Now the End Begins, Contact Page
+ Crow’s Nest Politics, Editor’s Facebook Page
+ Live Leak, Contact Page
+ Judicial Watch, 425 Third Street Southwest, Suite 800, Washington DC 20024, 888-593-8442, Fax: 202-646-5199, info@judicialwatch.org
+ Jihad Watch and Dhimmi Watch
+ Atlas Shrugs, writeatlas@aol.com
+ Truth Revolt, tips@truthrevolt.org
+ Breitbart.com, 149 South Barrington Avenue #401, Los Angeles, California 90049
+ Assyrian International News Agency (Nineveh Software Corporation, 2317 West Farwell, Chicago, Illinois 60645, 773-575-5863, Fax: 773-761-8534)
+ Campus Watch, 1500 Walnut Street, Suite 1050, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania19102, campus-watch@meforum.org
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
4 November 2015
“But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.” [Ezekiel 33:6]
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” [Ephesians 6:12]
Presbyterians Week Headlines
[1] Prayer Requested for Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church Pastor the Rev. Dr. Jeff Bost
[2] New Christian Observer Articles for November 2015
[3] New Translation Available: John Wallis's Brief and Easy Explanation of the Westminster Shorter Catechism
[4] Tim Keller: Redefining Sin and Justifying Love for the Pop Culture
[5] Tim Keller’s Infatuation with Catholic Authors and Practices
[6] News from the Deepest Recesses of Hell
[7] The Thinning Blue Line
[8] Raging Heathen and Vain Imagining
[9] The Religion of Peace
---
[1] Prayer Requested for Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church Pastor the Rev. Dr. Jeff Bost
ARPTalk Editor the Rev. Dr. Chuck Wilson sent the following message to his readers on 2 November 2015:
Dear Readers of ARPTalk,
I have been asked to relay to you the sad news that Jeff Bost, the Pastor of Young Memorial Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, Anderson, South Carolina, announced Sunday to his congregation that he has been diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic and liver cancer. I know you will join me in prayer for Jeff, his family, and the Young Memorial congregation.
An informational account has been set up at www.caringbridge.org. Jeff is listed as Dr. Jeff Bost. Follow the prompting.
Eric Skaar, Stated Clerk of Second Presbytery, in his e-mail to Second Presbytery wrote: “If you can encourage Jeff, please do. He is particularly desirous of speaking with people who have experienced cancer.”
Looking to the One who is the Great Physician,
Chuck Wilson
+ ARPTalk Blog, 864-882-6337, wilson6114@bellsouth.net
+ Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, 1 Cleveland Street Suite 110, Greenville, South Carolina, 29601, 864-232-8297, Fax: 864-271-3729
[2] New Christian Observer Articles for November 2015
New Christian Observer articles for November 2015 include:
-- Catholic and Protestant – by Christian Observer Contributing Editor David Brand – The real meaning and usage throughout church history of the term “catholic;”
-- The Educational Trojan Horse of the New World Order – by Christian Observer Contributing Editor Dr. Joe Renfro – The New World Order’s use of the public schools to teach children a humanist, socialist, and statist worldview;
Plus, links to the daily devotionals of Christian Observer Contributing Editor T.M. Moore on the Fellowship of Albee website.
+ Christian Observer, Post Office Box 1371, Lexington, Virginia 24450, christianobserver@christianobserver.org
+ The Fellowship of Albee, Contact Page
[3] New Translation Available: John Wallis's Brief and Easy Explanation of the Westminster Shorter Catechism
http://beforgiven.info/translations
John Wallis, the author of the Explanation, was one of the scribes of the Westminster Assembly and is more broadly known as a pioneer in mathematics. The Explanation met with great approval by the Assembly and was printed in 1648. Wallis’s Explanation contains the original text of the Shorter Catechism, including questions, answers, and Bible proof texts. For each Catechism question and answer, Wallis inserted a series of additional questions, each of which has a “Yes” or “No” answer. In the spirit of Wallis’s original work, this present translation of Wallis’s Explanation uses the main questions and answers from the editor’s translation of the Westminster Shorter Catechism and simply inserts translations of Wallis’s new questions and answers into the modern Catechism text between the question and the long answer of the Catechism.
+ Beforgiven.info, Contact Page
[4] Tim Keller: Redefining Sin and Justifying Love for the Pop Culture
The following is excerpted from “Redefining Sin” by E.S. Williams,
www.newcalvinist.com
“In his book Every Good Endeavour (2012), Tim Keller, founder of The Gospel Coalition and prominent New Calvinist, expresses his disappointment that Christians are not more involved with popular culture. He writes: ‘Christians’ reaction to popular culture in the last eighty years has been some form of disengagement. ... Why this disengagement with our culture? One reason is a ‘thin’ or legalistic view of sin, where sin is seen as a series of discrete acts of noncompliance with God’s regulations. You pursue Christian growth largely by seeking environments where you are less likely to do these sinful actions. ...This view of sin comports with a lack of understanding of the thoroughness and richness of Christ’s gracious work for us. ... If we have a thin view of sin, we will feel safe if we remove from our view anything that could tempt us to commit actions of overt sexual immorality, profanity, dishonesty, or violence’ (Keller, Every Good Endeavor, pp. 192, 193). ... He says that Christians, who hold such a view of sin, are ‘legalists’ who withdraw from the popular culture of the world in order to avoid situations that could tempt them to commit ‘thin sins’, like overt acts of sexual immorality, profanity, dishonesty, or violence. ... Here we should note the biblical definition of sin. The Bible describes sin as breaking God’s law (1 John 3:4). It is also defined as rebellion against God (Deuteronomy 9:7), which separates the sinner from God (Isaiah 59.2). Sin is an offense to God’s holy character, and all sin is primarily sin against God. ... Keller’s assessment is completely wrong, for it is those who hold what he calls a ‘thin view’ of sin who have been convicted of their sin and rebellion against God’s holy law and understand that their only hope of salvation is God’s grace revealed in the Cross of Christ. Hence their prayer: ‘Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy Cross I cling’. Born again Christians, who have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and stand in God’s grace for their salvation, are those who delight in God’s moral law and seek to obey it with all their heart, and do all they can to comply with what Keller calls ‘God’s regulations’. [This is the true grace of God, Titus 2:11-15.] ... Keller’s ‘thick view’ of sin encourages Christians to engage with worldly culture ... But Scripture makes no distinction between thick and thin sin. It teaches that sin comes from the lusts and desires of the human heart that is desperately wicked (James 1:14-15). Keller’s classification of sin into thin and thick is entirely without scriptural authority and purely a figment of his foolish imagination; it is profoundly heretical, for it presents a false and misleading view of sin that downplays the wickedness of disobedience to God’s moral law, suggesting that Christians should engage with the world in order to overcome what Keller calls ‘the compulsive drive of their heart to produce idols’. ... Scripture warns that friendship with the world is enmity with God (James 4:4). Christians must not conform to the pattern of the world (Romans 12:1-2; Ephesians 5:11; 1 John 2:15-17). ... God commands his people to be separate from the things of the world (2 Corinthians 6:17).”
+ Way of Life Literature, Post Office Box 610368, Port Huron, Michigan 48061, 519-652-2619, fbns@wayoflife.org
+ The Gospel Coalition, 2065 Half Day Road, Deerfield, Illinois 60015, contact@thegospelcoalition.org
+ Presbyterian Church in America, 1700 North Brown Road, Suite 105, Lawrenceville, Georgia 30043, 678-825-1000, Fax: 678-825-1001, ac@pcanet.org
[5] Tim Keller’s Infatuation with Catholic Authors and Practices
Many of America's most popular "evangelical" preachers are infatuated with Catholicism, as we have frequently documented. Consider Tim Keller, pastor of the Redeemer megachurch in New York City, head of the Redeemer City to City church planting network, and co-founder with D.A. Carson of The Gospel Coalition (council members include John Piper, Alistar Begg, Mark Dever, Moody Church pastor Erwin Lutzer, and Southern Baptists Russell Moore and Al Mohler). Keller has a huge influence by his writings via books and blogs, his books reaching the top ten of the New York Times bestseller list even in an apostate age. His love for Catholicism is evident in his book The Reason for God (2012), in which he quotes and refers to Catholic theologians and philosophers frequently, passionately, and non-critically. He includes Roman Catholics and Greek Orthodox within his definition of true Christians. Referring to the Apostles, Nicene, Chalcedonian, and Athanasian creeds, he says, "For our purposes, I'll define Christianity as the body of believers who assent to these great ecumenical creeds" (p. 117). In The Reason for God, Keller quotes Catholic philosopher Peter Kreeft, Catholic writer Mary Flannery O'Conner, Catholic mystic Simone Weil, Polish Catholic poet Czeslaw Milosz, and Catholic Archbishop Oscar Romero, whose doctrine Keller calls "orthodox" (p. 66). He also quotes from Malcolm Muggeridge, J.R.R. Tolkien, and G.K. Chesterton. Not one of these people hold to the one true gospel of grace alone without works. All of them trust in baptism and Rome's sacraments for salvation. Not surprisingly, Keller promotes Catholic contemplative prayer. In 2009, his church taught "The Way of the Monk," encouraging Catholic monastic practices such as lectio divinia, centering prayer, "silence," the "prayer rope," and the spiritual exercises of Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuits. In his lecture series What Is Meditation? Keller promotes the contemplative prayer techniques of four Catholic "saints": Loyola, Francis de Sales, John of the Cross, and Teresa of Avila. He says, "The best things that have been written are by Catholics during the Counter Reformation. Great stuff!" This lecture series was promoted on The Gospel Coalition website.
+ Way of Life Literature, Post Office Box 610368, Port Huron, Michigan 48061, 519-652-2619, fbns@wayoflife.org
+ The Gospel Coalition, 2065 Half Day Road, Deerfield, Illinois 60015, contact@thegospelcoalition.org
+ Presbyterian Church in America, 1700 North Brown Road, Suite 105, Lawrenceville, Georgia 30043, 678-825-1000, Fax: 678-825-1001, ac@pcanet.org
[6] News from the Deepest Recesses of Hell
-- U.S. House of representatives Speaker Paul Ryan: To Be Honest, We Can’t Defund Planned Parenthood
-- U.S. Department of Education Orders Illinois School District to Allow Boy to Shower with Girls
-- U.K. Prison Worker Barred from Participating in Chapel Services for Quoting Scripture About Homosexuality
-- Bernie Sanders Says the Death Penalty is “Murder,” But He’s Fine with Killing Babies in Abortions
-- We’re Burning Babies
-- Obama Administration Threatens to Sue Texas for De-Funding Planned Parenthood after Selling Baby Parts
-- Woman Who Killed Her Baby Has Conviction Overturned: Court Says Six-Day-Old Baby Isn’t a Person
-- Planned Parenthood Doc Selling Baby’s Eyeballs Should be Investigated, Pro-Life Group Says
-- Bioethicist Says Planned Parenthood Likely Killed Babies Born Alive to Harvest Their Brains
-- Federal Judge Forces Louisiana to Continue Funding Planned Parenthood after It Sells Baby Parts
-- Planned Parenthood Targets School Board Elections to Sell US$125 Sex Kit to Kids
-- Doctor Says She'll 'Strive' for Intact Fetal Skull in Latest Planned Parenthood Video
-- Homosexual Couple Face Trial for Raping At Least Five of Their Nine Adopted Sons
+ LifeSiteNews.com, Incorporated, 4 Family Life Lane, Front Royal, Virginia 22630, 888-678-6008, Contact Page
+ GOPUSA, Contact Page
+ LifeNews.com, Post Office Box 270841, Fort Collins, Colorado 80527, news@lifenews.com
+ Zionica
+ American Vision, 3150-A Florence Road, Suite 2, Powder Springs, Georgia 30127, 800-628-9460, Fax: 770-222-7269, Comments@AmericanVision.org
+ Red Flag News, Contact Page
[7] The Thinning Blue Line
-- Police Threaten to Arrest Pro-Life Advocate Just for Wearing a Pro-Life T-Shirt
-- Report: At Least 1,000 Police Officers Fired for ‘Sexual Misconduct’
+ LifeNews.com, Post Office Box 270841, Fort Collins, Colorado 80527, news@lifenews.com
+ Ben Swann, Contact Page
[8] Raging Heathen and Vain Imagining
-- Obama Uses Executive Order to Remove Criminal History Question from Government Job Applications
-- U.S. National Debt under Barack Obama Doubles to 20 Trillion Dollars
-- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Kennedy: Christians with Convictions Resigned Under Hitler and They Should Today Too
+ GOPUSA, Contact Page
+ Now the End Begins, Contact Page
+ LifeSiteNews.com, Incorporated, 4 Family Life Lane, Front Royal, Virginia 22630, 888-678-6008, Contact Page
[9] The Religion of Peace
-- Devout Muslim Prisoners Extort Jizya Payments From Non-Muslim Prisoners In Britain’s Toughest Prisons
-- The Muslim Migrant Invasion Is Permanently Changing the Face of Europe
-- U.K.: Muslim Group Boycotts, Threatens Police Over Investigation of Muslim Rape Gangs That Destroyed Lives of 1,400 Girls
-- Bernie Sanders Vows to Lead Fight Not Against Jihad Terror, but Against ‘Islamophobia’
-- Obama Sending Special Operations Ground Troops to Fight in Syria
-- U.S. Citizen Siamak Namazi Arrested in Iran
+ Atlas Shrugs, writeatlas@aol.com
+ Now the End Begins, Contact Page
+ Jihad Watch and Dhimmi Watch
+ CNN, One CNN Center, Atlanta, Georgia 30303, 404-878-2276, Fax: 404-827-1995
[1] Prayer Requested for Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church Pastor the Rev. Dr. Jeff Bost
[2] New Christian Observer Articles for November 2015
[3] New Translation Available: John Wallis's Brief and Easy Explanation of the Westminster Shorter Catechism
[4] Tim Keller: Redefining Sin and Justifying Love for the Pop Culture
[5] Tim Keller’s Infatuation with Catholic Authors and Practices
[6] News from the Deepest Recesses of Hell
[7] The Thinning Blue Line
[8] Raging Heathen and Vain Imagining
[9] The Religion of Peace
---
[1] Prayer Requested for Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church Pastor the Rev. Dr. Jeff Bost
ARPTalk Editor the Rev. Dr. Chuck Wilson sent the following message to his readers on 2 November 2015:
Dear Readers of ARPTalk,
I have been asked to relay to you the sad news that Jeff Bost, the Pastor of Young Memorial Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, Anderson, South Carolina, announced Sunday to his congregation that he has been diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic and liver cancer. I know you will join me in prayer for Jeff, his family, and the Young Memorial congregation.
An informational account has been set up at www.caringbridge.org. Jeff is listed as Dr. Jeff Bost. Follow the prompting.
Eric Skaar, Stated Clerk of Second Presbytery, in his e-mail to Second Presbytery wrote: “If you can encourage Jeff, please do. He is particularly desirous of speaking with people who have experienced cancer.”
Looking to the One who is the Great Physician,
Chuck Wilson
+ ARPTalk Blog, 864-882-6337, wilson6114@bellsouth.net
+ Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, 1 Cleveland Street Suite 110, Greenville, South Carolina, 29601, 864-232-8297, Fax: 864-271-3729
[2] New Christian Observer Articles for November 2015
New Christian Observer articles for November 2015 include:
-- Catholic and Protestant – by Christian Observer Contributing Editor David Brand – The real meaning and usage throughout church history of the term “catholic;”
-- The Educational Trojan Horse of the New World Order – by Christian Observer Contributing Editor Dr. Joe Renfro – The New World Order’s use of the public schools to teach children a humanist, socialist, and statist worldview;
Plus, links to the daily devotionals of Christian Observer Contributing Editor T.M. Moore on the Fellowship of Albee website.
+ Christian Observer, Post Office Box 1371, Lexington, Virginia 24450, christianobserver@christianobserver.org
+ The Fellowship of Albee, Contact Page
[3] New Translation Available: John Wallis's Brief and Easy Explanation of the Westminster Shorter Catechism
http://beforgiven.info/translations
John Wallis, the author of the Explanation, was one of the scribes of the Westminster Assembly and is more broadly known as a pioneer in mathematics. The Explanation met with great approval by the Assembly and was printed in 1648. Wallis’s Explanation contains the original text of the Shorter Catechism, including questions, answers, and Bible proof texts. For each Catechism question and answer, Wallis inserted a series of additional questions, each of which has a “Yes” or “No” answer. In the spirit of Wallis’s original work, this present translation of Wallis’s Explanation uses the main questions and answers from the editor’s translation of the Westminster Shorter Catechism and simply inserts translations of Wallis’s new questions and answers into the modern Catechism text between the question and the long answer of the Catechism.
+ Beforgiven.info, Contact Page
[4] Tim Keller: Redefining Sin and Justifying Love for the Pop Culture
The following is excerpted from “Redefining Sin” by E.S. Williams,
www.newcalvinist.com
“In his book Every Good Endeavour (2012), Tim Keller, founder of The Gospel Coalition and prominent New Calvinist, expresses his disappointment that Christians are not more involved with popular culture. He writes: ‘Christians’ reaction to popular culture in the last eighty years has been some form of disengagement. ... Why this disengagement with our culture? One reason is a ‘thin’ or legalistic view of sin, where sin is seen as a series of discrete acts of noncompliance with God’s regulations. You pursue Christian growth largely by seeking environments where you are less likely to do these sinful actions. ...This view of sin comports with a lack of understanding of the thoroughness and richness of Christ’s gracious work for us. ... If we have a thin view of sin, we will feel safe if we remove from our view anything that could tempt us to commit actions of overt sexual immorality, profanity, dishonesty, or violence’ (Keller, Every Good Endeavor, pp. 192, 193). ... He says that Christians, who hold such a view of sin, are ‘legalists’ who withdraw from the popular culture of the world in order to avoid situations that could tempt them to commit ‘thin sins’, like overt acts of sexual immorality, profanity, dishonesty, or violence. ... Here we should note the biblical definition of sin. The Bible describes sin as breaking God’s law (1 John 3:4). It is also defined as rebellion against God (Deuteronomy 9:7), which separates the sinner from God (Isaiah 59.2). Sin is an offense to God’s holy character, and all sin is primarily sin against God. ... Keller’s assessment is completely wrong, for it is those who hold what he calls a ‘thin view’ of sin who have been convicted of their sin and rebellion against God’s holy law and understand that their only hope of salvation is God’s grace revealed in the Cross of Christ. Hence their prayer: ‘Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy Cross I cling’. Born again Christians, who have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and stand in God’s grace for their salvation, are those who delight in God’s moral law and seek to obey it with all their heart, and do all they can to comply with what Keller calls ‘God’s regulations’. [This is the true grace of God, Titus 2:11-15.] ... Keller’s ‘thick view’ of sin encourages Christians to engage with worldly culture ... But Scripture makes no distinction between thick and thin sin. It teaches that sin comes from the lusts and desires of the human heart that is desperately wicked (James 1:14-15). Keller’s classification of sin into thin and thick is entirely without scriptural authority and purely a figment of his foolish imagination; it is profoundly heretical, for it presents a false and misleading view of sin that downplays the wickedness of disobedience to God’s moral law, suggesting that Christians should engage with the world in order to overcome what Keller calls ‘the compulsive drive of their heart to produce idols’. ... Scripture warns that friendship with the world is enmity with God (James 4:4). Christians must not conform to the pattern of the world (Romans 12:1-2; Ephesians 5:11; 1 John 2:15-17). ... God commands his people to be separate from the things of the world (2 Corinthians 6:17).”
+ Way of Life Literature, Post Office Box 610368, Port Huron, Michigan 48061, 519-652-2619, fbns@wayoflife.org
+ The Gospel Coalition, 2065 Half Day Road, Deerfield, Illinois 60015, contact@thegospelcoalition.org
+ Presbyterian Church in America, 1700 North Brown Road, Suite 105, Lawrenceville, Georgia 30043, 678-825-1000, Fax: 678-825-1001, ac@pcanet.org
[5] Tim Keller’s Infatuation with Catholic Authors and Practices
Many of America's most popular "evangelical" preachers are infatuated with Catholicism, as we have frequently documented. Consider Tim Keller, pastor of the Redeemer megachurch in New York City, head of the Redeemer City to City church planting network, and co-founder with D.A. Carson of The Gospel Coalition (council members include John Piper, Alistar Begg, Mark Dever, Moody Church pastor Erwin Lutzer, and Southern Baptists Russell Moore and Al Mohler). Keller has a huge influence by his writings via books and blogs, his books reaching the top ten of the New York Times bestseller list even in an apostate age. His love for Catholicism is evident in his book The Reason for God (2012), in which he quotes and refers to Catholic theologians and philosophers frequently, passionately, and non-critically. He includes Roman Catholics and Greek Orthodox within his definition of true Christians. Referring to the Apostles, Nicene, Chalcedonian, and Athanasian creeds, he says, "For our purposes, I'll define Christianity as the body of believers who assent to these great ecumenical creeds" (p. 117). In The Reason for God, Keller quotes Catholic philosopher Peter Kreeft, Catholic writer Mary Flannery O'Conner, Catholic mystic Simone Weil, Polish Catholic poet Czeslaw Milosz, and Catholic Archbishop Oscar Romero, whose doctrine Keller calls "orthodox" (p. 66). He also quotes from Malcolm Muggeridge, J.R.R. Tolkien, and G.K. Chesterton. Not one of these people hold to the one true gospel of grace alone without works. All of them trust in baptism and Rome's sacraments for salvation. Not surprisingly, Keller promotes Catholic contemplative prayer. In 2009, his church taught "The Way of the Monk," encouraging Catholic monastic practices such as lectio divinia, centering prayer, "silence," the "prayer rope," and the spiritual exercises of Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuits. In his lecture series What Is Meditation? Keller promotes the contemplative prayer techniques of four Catholic "saints": Loyola, Francis de Sales, John of the Cross, and Teresa of Avila. He says, "The best things that have been written are by Catholics during the Counter Reformation. Great stuff!" This lecture series was promoted on The Gospel Coalition website.
+ Way of Life Literature, Post Office Box 610368, Port Huron, Michigan 48061, 519-652-2619, fbns@wayoflife.org
+ The Gospel Coalition, 2065 Half Day Road, Deerfield, Illinois 60015, contact@thegospelcoalition.org
+ Presbyterian Church in America, 1700 North Brown Road, Suite 105, Lawrenceville, Georgia 30043, 678-825-1000, Fax: 678-825-1001, ac@pcanet.org
[6] News from the Deepest Recesses of Hell
-- U.S. House of representatives Speaker Paul Ryan: To Be Honest, We Can’t Defund Planned Parenthood
-- U.S. Department of Education Orders Illinois School District to Allow Boy to Shower with Girls
-- U.K. Prison Worker Barred from Participating in Chapel Services for Quoting Scripture About Homosexuality
-- Bernie Sanders Says the Death Penalty is “Murder,” But He’s Fine with Killing Babies in Abortions
-- We’re Burning Babies
-- Obama Administration Threatens to Sue Texas for De-Funding Planned Parenthood after Selling Baby Parts
-- Woman Who Killed Her Baby Has Conviction Overturned: Court Says Six-Day-Old Baby Isn’t a Person
-- Planned Parenthood Doc Selling Baby’s Eyeballs Should be Investigated, Pro-Life Group Says
-- Bioethicist Says Planned Parenthood Likely Killed Babies Born Alive to Harvest Their Brains
-- Federal Judge Forces Louisiana to Continue Funding Planned Parenthood after It Sells Baby Parts
-- Planned Parenthood Targets School Board Elections to Sell US$125 Sex Kit to Kids
-- Doctor Says She'll 'Strive' for Intact Fetal Skull in Latest Planned Parenthood Video
-- Homosexual Couple Face Trial for Raping At Least Five of Their Nine Adopted Sons
+ LifeSiteNews.com, Incorporated, 4 Family Life Lane, Front Royal, Virginia 22630, 888-678-6008, Contact Page
+ GOPUSA, Contact Page
+ LifeNews.com, Post Office Box 270841, Fort Collins, Colorado 80527, news@lifenews.com
+ Zionica
+ American Vision, 3150-A Florence Road, Suite 2, Powder Springs, Georgia 30127, 800-628-9460, Fax: 770-222-7269, Comments@AmericanVision.org
+ Red Flag News, Contact Page
[7] The Thinning Blue Line
-- Police Threaten to Arrest Pro-Life Advocate Just for Wearing a Pro-Life T-Shirt
-- Report: At Least 1,000 Police Officers Fired for ‘Sexual Misconduct’
+ LifeNews.com, Post Office Box 270841, Fort Collins, Colorado 80527, news@lifenews.com
+ Ben Swann, Contact Page
[8] Raging Heathen and Vain Imagining
-- Obama Uses Executive Order to Remove Criminal History Question from Government Job Applications
-- U.S. National Debt under Barack Obama Doubles to 20 Trillion Dollars
-- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Kennedy: Christians with Convictions Resigned Under Hitler and They Should Today Too
+ GOPUSA, Contact Page
+ Now the End Begins, Contact Page
+ LifeSiteNews.com, Incorporated, 4 Family Life Lane, Front Royal, Virginia 22630, 888-678-6008, Contact Page
[9] The Religion of Peace
-- Devout Muslim Prisoners Extort Jizya Payments From Non-Muslim Prisoners In Britain’s Toughest Prisons
-- The Muslim Migrant Invasion Is Permanently Changing the Face of Europe
-- U.K.: Muslim Group Boycotts, Threatens Police Over Investigation of Muslim Rape Gangs That Destroyed Lives of 1,400 Girls
-- Bernie Sanders Vows to Lead Fight Not Against Jihad Terror, but Against ‘Islamophobia’
-- Obama Sending Special Operations Ground Troops to Fight in Syria
-- U.S. Citizen Siamak Namazi Arrested in Iran
+ Atlas Shrugs, writeatlas@aol.com
+ Now the End Begins, Contact Page
+ Jihad Watch and Dhimmi Watch
+ CNN, One CNN Center, Atlanta, Georgia 30303, 404-878-2276, Fax: 404-827-1995
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