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Thursday, March 27, 2014

Documenting the Problems with Mars Hill Pastor Mark Driscoll [UPDATED]

[UPDATE: New links continue to be added regularly]

In order to understand what went wrong at Mars Hill, we highly recommend that you first read this article by former Mars Hill elder Paul Petry. According to Petry (and other witnesses in the form of former Mars Hill elders who have also since come forward), there was a dramatic change in the climate of Mars Hill in late 2007, when new bylaws were instituted under which Mark Driscoll was not accountable to anyone who disagreed with him. (Here is a copy of the 2007 bylaws)

And here is a concise timeline of Driscoll's downfall.

** Mark Driscoll Resigns - October 15, 2014 **

Mars Hill Pastor Mark Driscoll Resigns, Claims He Is Not "Disqualified From Future Ministry"

Mars Hill “Global Fund” Contributors With Concerns Invited to Contact Washington State Attorney General’s Office

Paul Petry, The First Elder Fired From Mars Hill, Is Interviewed (Paul and Jonna Petry's Website)

Driscoll Fleeing Church Discipline, Seeking To Set Up NEW Church?

Former Mars Hill Pastor Mark Driscoll Considering New Ministry, Still Has Not Repented, Sought Reconciliation Say Former Mars Hill Members/Elders

One Year Ago Today Janet Mefferd Interviewed Mark Driscoll

Mars Hill Elders Were Going to Discipline Mark Driscoll (listen beginning at the 37 min mark)

Mars Hill Church Board of Elders: Mark Driscoll Resigned Instead of Entering a Restoration Plan

Current Mars Hill Pastor Says Investigation Findings Showed Mark Driscoll Not Qualified as Elder

Gateway Pastor Robert Morris Welcomes Mark Driscoll Onto the Stage One Week After Driscoll's Resignation, Even Though Driscoll Has Fled the Discipline Process at Mars Hill and Still Has Not Repented And Sought Forgiveness From Those He Abused (audio of Mars Hill pastor A.J. Hamilton speaking at 10-19-14 church service, listen beginning at the 37 min mark)

Open Letter to Gateway Pastor Robert Morris From a Former Member of Mars Hill Church

Driscoll Has Resigned - What Next?

Mars Hill Church To Dissolve

Lessons From Mars Hill - An Interview With Warren Throckmorton

Beauty From Ashes: 18 Mars Hill Elders Issue Letter of Confession to Former Mars Hill Elders Who were Railroaded Out in 2007

Interview with Former Mars Hill Elder/Pastor Paul Petry, Part 1 and Part 2

Former Elder Jon Krombein Issues Public Challenge to Current Mars Hill Pastors To Release Information (Patheos)

Unanswered Questions at Mars Hill Church

Dr. John Piper Finally Addresses the Issue of Mark Driscoll.....and Misses The Mark

What John Piper Said When He Finally Addressed the Issue of Mark Driscoll......What We Wish He Had Said Instead

John Piper and Mark Driscoll: Lessons Not Learned? (Pyromaniacs)

Pastor Driscoll's abusive nature toward the flock in his care

The Out Of Control Bus That Runs Over Sheep (Sarah Leslie, Herescope)

Ungodly Behavior

Mark Driscoll Proud of the Dead Bodies Behind the Mars Hill Bus?

Audio of Mark Driscoll chuckling about the "pile of dead bodies behind the Mars Hill bus"

Pastor Mark Driscoll Called Women “Penis Homes”

Mark Driscoll: "Shut Up and Do What You're Told."

Mark Driscoll Brags About Pile Of Bodies Behind Mars Hill's Bus

"Break their nose"

A Former Mars Hill Pastor Speaks Out and Why Others Are Afraid: The Mars Hill Church Non-Disclosure Agreement

Mark Driscoll Joking About His Anger

Mark Driscoll's Church Discipline Contract, Part 1 and Part 2

Mark Driscoll affirms false teachers as Christian brothers

Mark Driscoll calls Word of Faith heretic Joel Osteen his Christian brother

Mark Driscoll affirms Trinity denier T.D. Jakes as a Christian brother at his Elephant Room event

Former Mars Hill pastor claims violations of city ordinances

Former Mars Hill Pastor: Mars Hill Leaders Ordered Violation of City Ordinances

The Mars Hill Orange County Discrimination Narrative: The Rest of the Story?

Former Mars Hill leaders and church members going public with concerns

Former Mars Hill Women’s Ministry Leader: “The cult of personality . . . isn’t how God builds his church”

According to multiple witnesses, Mark Driscoll refers to himself as "The Brand" (Seattle Times)

The Reckoning of Mars Hill

Current Mars Hill Members Write An Excellent Letter To Mark Driscoll, Make Suggestions

Former Mars Hill Elder Sutton Turner Releases Explosive In-House Email Detailing Mars Hill's Disastrous Financial Condition (Turner's entire email can be read here)

New Disclosures by Former Mars Hill Elder Bent Meyer (Written record of Mars Hill events compiled by Meyer directly linked here)

Mars Hill Co-Founder and Former Elder Leif Moi Interviewed On Camera About Formal Charges Against Mark Driscoll

Twenty-One Former Mars Hill Church Pastors Bring Formal Charges Against Mark Driscoll (Statement of Formal Charges and Issues brought against Mark Driscoll linked here)

Nine Mars Hill Pastors Take A Bold Stand (Aug 28, 2014)
..........and All Are Now Gone (Oct 8, 2014)

Pastor Dustin Kensrue – Mars Hill Bellevue (RESIGNED)
Pastor Drew Hensley – Mars Hill U-District (DISMISSED)
Pastor Mark Dunford – Mars Hill Portland (DISMISSED)
Pastor Ryan Kearns – Mars Hill Bellevue (DISMISSED)
Pastor Ryan Welsh – Pastor of Theology (DISMISSED)
Pastor Adam Ramsey – Mars Hill Bellevue (RESIGNED)
Pastor Cliff Ellis – Mars Hill West Seattle (DISMISSED)
Pastor Gary Shavey – Mars Hill Bellevue (RESIGNED)
Pastor James Rose – Mars Hill Ballard (RESIGNED)

Nine Mars Hill Church Elders Took a Bold Stand and Now Eight Are Gone

Mars Hill Church Director of Worship Dustin Kensrue Resigns

Members Flee Mars Hill; Remaining Members Are Berated For Not Giving Enough Money

Dozens Protest Mars Hill Church after Leader Resignations and Mark Driscoll Apology

Pressure being brought for Mark Driscoll to step down from spiritual leadership

Mark Driscoll's Problem, and Ours (Carl Trueman, March 2014)

Mark Driscoll To Step Down While Mars Hill Elders Review Charges Against Him (Religion News Service)

Mark Driscoll's Statement To Mars Hill Church (Audio Included In the Body of the Article)

Twenty-One Former Mars Hill Church Pastors Bring Formal Charges Against Mark Driscoll

Mark Driscoll: “A lot of the people we were dealing with in this season remain anonymous, and so we don’t know how to reconcile or how to work things out with people because we’re not entirely sure who they are.”

New Group To Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill Church: We Are Not Anonymous

Dear Pastor Mark and Mars Hill: We Are Not Anonymous (Facebook group)

I. Am. Not. Anonymous. (Acts 29 co-founder Ron Wheeler pens open letter to Mark Driscoll)

Former Mars Hill Members Protest Mars Hill, Call For Driscoll's Resignation (The Seattle Times)

James MacDonald Resigns From Mars Hill Board; Paul David Tripp Resigns But Continues To Work With Mars Hills As Consultant

Paul David Tripp Releases Clarifying Statement

Why Mark Driscoll Might Go Down and Why He Should......

Rock Star Pastor Loses His Luster (USA Today)

Mars Hill Church and Pastor Mark Driscoll Removed from Church Planting Network (Acts 29) That He Co-Founded

Acts 29 Pioneer Ron Wheeler Sends Open Letter to Mark Driscoll, Asks Him to Resign

Acts 29 Network Removes Co-founder Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill Church From Membership (UPDATED)

Questions about Mars Hill Global Fund

Former Mars Hill Church Members Speak Out About Church Finances

Mars Hill Member Wants Accounting of Global Fund Donations

Mars Hill Church’s International Mission Ministry: Mars Hill Global

Mars Hill Church Scrubs Three Mars Hill Global Videos

Websites of former Mars Hill leaders

WenatcheeTheHatchet

Joyful Exiles - Website of former elder Paul Petry and his wife Jonna

Jonna Petry's Testimony (Jonna Petry is the wife of former Mars Hill elder Paul Petry)

Miscellaneous

Mark Driscoll's Salary While At Mars Hill Church

Thoughts On Driscoll and The Biblical Qualifications For A Pastor

"Demon Trials" At Mars Hill Church ??

Mark Driscoll: I Made The Mistake Of Trying To Be Under the Authority Of My Elders

Mark Driscoll: It was a mistake to submit to these young, new and green elders

Will John Piper Publicly Address The Mark Driscoll Virus That He Unleashed Into the Church by Keynoting Mark Driscoll at the 2006 Desiring God Conference?

Mark Driscoll Gives Himself a 6-Week Timeout

Former Mars Hill Elder Deconstructs Mark Driscoll's Public Statement

Pastor Jesse Johnson Weighs In

An Open Letter To Mark Driscoll (made after Driscoll's public statement, which can be read and watched here)

Mark Driscoll: A Brash Style That Filled Pews, Until Followers Had Their Fill (New York Times)

After $2 Million Raised For Mars Hill Event, ‘Jesus Festival’ Disappears Without a Trace or Explanation

Mars Hill Resurgence Ministry Cancels 2014 Conference

Lifeway Christian Stores Pulls Mark Driscoll's Books

Mars Hill Church in May and June of 2012: Systemic Deficits and a Million-Dollar Home Purchased in Snonohomish County

An Open Letter To Mark Driscoll (Pyromaniacs)

Driscoll bought his way onto the New York Times bestseller list

Mark Driscoll bought his way onto the NY Times bestseller list through anonymous 3rd parties

Mark Driscoll Repents? Not So Fast, Say Phil Johnson and Chris Rosebrough

Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability: Buying Place on Best Seller Lists Violates Standards

Chris Rosebrough interviews Janet Mefferd about Driscoll's latest scandal

The signed contract that helped get Mark Driscoll’s Real Marriage book on the New York Times bestseller list

Mark Driscoll's plagiarism

Janet Mefferd's Interview With Mark Driscoll

Allegations That Mark Driscoll Plagiarized Dr. Peter Jones

Driscoll's Citations Errors At-A-Glance (Chart)

Former Colleague Provides Evidence Mark Driscoll Plagiarized Material in Two Books

The Evangelical Celebrity Machine: Janet Mefferd accused pastor Mark Driscoll of plagiarism then deleted all her proof. Why’d she back down?

More on the Silencing of Janet Mefferd, the Shamefulness of Tyndale Publishers, and How Mark Driscoll the Plagiarist is Getting Away With It

College professor James Duncan evaluates evidence of Mark Driscoll's plagiarism, assigns him an "F"

American Copy Editors Society: Leading The Charge Against Plagiarism

The Atlantic Asks Can Megachurches Handle Mega Money? Puts Focus on Mark Driscoll Controversy

This Was No Boating Accident

Of Mefferd and Driscoll and Integrity

On Plagiarism, Tone and Tribalism

Evidence of Plagiarism or Swatting at a Hornets Nest

Mark Driscoll Reacts to Janet Mefford’s Questions About Plagiarism and Strange Fire

New Twist In Mark Driscoll Plagiarism Scandal: 'You May Not Go Up Against The Machine'

Mefferd producer reportedly resigns over Mark Driscoll controversy

The Best Dumbest Excuses Made by Plagiarists

Driscoll's vulgarity and pornographic mindset
***Please note that the links below contain strong, explicit sexual content. My desire is not to cause anyone to stumble, so please prayerfully bear this in mind. The links are here for documentation purposes ***

Mark Driscoll: "Look, I had this vision. Let me tell you about it."

Dreamweaver: The Visions of Mark Driscoll

Pornographic Divination

Mark Driscoll Issues Apology for Pussified Nation Comments; Is This Just the Beginning? (**Warning: Extremely Vulgar Content**)

Mark Driscoll and His Rated R Sermon in Scotland - transcript here, audio here (**Warning: Very Explicit Content**)

Explicit sexual discussion/recommendation on Mars Hill website

***Please note that the links below contain strong, explicit sexual content. My desire is not to cause anyone to stumble, so please prayerfully bear this in mind. The links are here for documentation purposes ***

(NOTE: These links were active as of 2:00 PM EST on 8/12/14, but appear to have been recently removed. Attached is a screenshot of the Mars Hill Q and A about the use of sex toys as it appeared before being removed.)

Mark and Grace Driscoll Comment on a Mars Hill Q/A Regarding the Use of Sex Toys

Link to Sex Toys Site ("Covenant Spice") From the Above-Referenced Mars Hill Q/A

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

1 Timothy 3:1-13 - Qualifications for Overseers and Deacons

Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.

In the same way, deacons are to be worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain. They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons.

In the same way, the women are to be worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything.

A deacon must be faithful to his wife and must manage his children and his household well. Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Titus 1:5-10 - Qualifications for Elders

This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you— if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Mark Driscoll Repents? Not So Fast, Say Phil Johnson and Chris Rosebrough

Post by Christine Pack

"I wish (Driscoll) would step out of ministry, at least for a time, for a long time, and really try to get the issues---, really seriously reboot his life. I don't think that's gonna happen. I think what we're actually gonna see -- because he's hanging on to all of his authority and all of his influence and all of the things that really seem to matter the most to him -- I don't see him making the sort of changes that are needed." (Phil Johnson - Executive Director, Grace To You, beginning at 27:20 mark in his 3-18-14 interview with Chris Rosebrough)

In the wake of recent scandals that have rocked the Mars Hill empire of celebrity pastor Mark Driscoll, Driscoll has written an open letter of apology which was recently posted by Renue Magazine. Driscoll's apology (A Letter Of Apology From Mark Driscoll) reads in part:

"(A) marketing company called ResultSource was used in conjunction with the book Real Marriage, which was released in January 2012. My understanding of the ResultSource marketing strategy was to maximize book sales, so that we could reach more people with the message and help grow our church. In retrospect, I no longer see it that way. Instead, I now see it as manipulating a book sales reporting system, which is wrong. I am sorry that I used this strategy, and will never use it again. I have also asked my publisher to not use the '#1 New York Times bestseller' status in future publications, and am working to remove this from past publications as well." (online source)

Driscoll wrote that, in conjunction with what he termed a "Board of Advisors and Accountability," he has decided he will "be doing much less travel and speaking" and "will not be on social media for at least the remainder of the year."

While many Christians (fans?) have rushed to accept this letter from Mark Driscoll as a genuine offering of true repentance in keeping with biblical mandates, a few are not so sure. For instance, Phil Johnson (Executive Director of Grace To You) and Christian talk show host Chris Rosebrough (of Fighting For the Faith radio) recently discussed Driscoll's repentance letter, and are publicly questioning the sincerity of it. On the 3-18-14 FFTF show, Phil Johnson made the following statement:

"Even the confession, if you call it that, was a bit weak because (Driscoll) manages to make himself sound like kind of a victim. He does this throughout the letter. He talks about the crushing weight of the responsibility, and his lack of a personal pastor, but when he gets to that part about the New York Times (bestseller) list, he makes it sound like he was sort of duped into doing that, that it was unwise, it was a bad decision and all of that. He doesn't really address the heart of what it is that makes (what he did) so wrong. And that it's a) dishonest, and b) he used church funds to do it."

And later in the discussion:

Phil Johnson: "When it comes to that letter (Driscoll) is the one calling all the shots when it comes to defining both what his sin was and what his consequences are going to be. That's not genuine repentance. Real repentance lets Scripture define the nature of the sin, and somebody else needs to define what the consequences are."

Chris Rosebrough: "Right. The way I read it is, Jesus supposedly is the pastor of Mars Hill, and Jesus and Mark Driscoll decided Driscoll's punishment, and then it was rubberstamped 'Approved' by their Board of Accountability.' I've never heard of or even seen a scheme like that run in any organization even remotely calling itself 'Christian.'"

Phil Johnson: "No, but you have to see that that is the inevitable result of the notion that God speaks directly to (Driscoll). He's a prophet, he thinks of himself as a prophet. I think he even calls himself a prophet in that letter. He sees himself as a prophet, and therefore, he's in control of what is said about this, what is going to be done about it, because he and Jesus worked it out, just the two of them together. And they have this (Board of Advisors and Accountability)--- whatever they call it, it's hard not to see that as a total sham, because it was set up in the wake of several moves that so changed the leadership at Mars Hill, where (Driscoll) actually got rid of anyone who had any inkling of trying to hold him accountable."

Also discussed in the Johnson/Rosebrough FFTF interview:

- That Driscoll has made public mea culpas in the past which don't seem to bear the biblical marks of genuine, biblical sorrow for the sins being apologized for

- That Driscoll has yet to apologize for the lies he told in his gate-crashing publicity stunt at the Strange Fire conference

- That Driscoll has claimed to receive what can only be termed as "pornographic visions," and which Driscoll has blasphemously ascribed to the Holy Spirit.

- That Driscoll continues to engage in coarse/off-color language

- That Driscoll delivered sexually explicit content during a sermon (the infamous Song of Solomon incident), and when the inappropriateness of that sermon was pointed out by John MacArthur, Driscoll scrubbed the record of that sermon from the internet and told a series of lies to cover himself

- That, perhaps most alarmingly, Driscoll has extended the hand of Christian fellowship to modalist heretic TD Jakes

Rosebrough also commented that Driscoll has never publicly apologized to Janet Mefferd of The Janet Mefferd Show for saying on-air that she was just "having.....a grumpy day" for questioning him over his several incidents of plagiarism she had uncovered. (Incidentally, it is to Janet Mefferd that many Christians owe a great debt for being willing to publicly confront Driscoll over his plagiarism in a show some months back, for which she was severely criticized and forced to make a public apology. So kudos to Janet for being the first across the battlefield and being willing to be bloodied for that. It seems God has vindicated her in this matter.)

Quite a laundry list of known sin issues with Driscoll, isn't it? And yet, Driscoll's fanbase (there's no other term I can think of that more accurately describes them), continue to come out en masse whenever Driscoll gets into hot water and vigorously defend him against the charges made, no matter how heinous the charges might be. So in closing, I'd like to publicly give a big "thank you" to Chris Rosebrough and Phil Johnson for having the willingness and the boldness to publicly state that the problems with Mark Driscoll have reached enough of a critical mass for Driscoll to be disqualified from holding the office of pastor (see biblical qualifications listed below). May other Christian leaders come to understand how grievously harmful Driscoll has been to the body of Christ, and follow suit in calling Driscoll to step down from pastoral office.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

1 Timothy 3:1-13 - Qualifications for Overseers and Deacons

Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.

In the same way, deacons are to be worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain. They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons.

In the same way, the women are to be worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything.

A deacon must be faithful to his wife and must manage his children and his household well. Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Titus 1:5-10 - Qualifications for Elders

This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you— if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party.

Additional Resources

How to Identify True Repentance (Fighting For The Faith)

Documenting the Problems with Mars Hill Pastor Mark Driscoll [UPDATED]

True Repentance, The Ministry and What (Really) Just Happened (Janet Mefferd)

Mark Driscoll's Problems and Ours: The Crisis of Leadership in American Evangelicalism (Carl Trueman)

Documenting The Problems With Mars Hill Pastor Mark Driscoll

Mark Driscoll's Failed Publicity Stunt That Ended With Him Lying About What Really Happened

Mefferd/Driscoll Interview

Mark Driscoll bought his way onto the NY Times bestseller list through anonymous 3rd parties

Chris Rosebrough interviews Janet Mefferd about Driscoll's latest scandal

Mark Driscoll and His Rated R Sermon in Scotland (Warning: Explicit Content)

Mark Driscoll: "Shut Up and Do What You're Told."

Mark Driscoll Brags About Pile Of Bodies Behind Mars Hill's Bus

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Mark Driscoll: "Shut Up and Do What You're Told"

Posted by Christine Pack

Mark Driscoll: "The one issue though that they were struggling with surrounded conflict and sin with two leaders. They're mentioned in chapter 4, verse 2 (of Philippians). And these two leaders had somehow gotten into sin, or pride, or folly, we're not exactly sure what. But there was contention and controversy around these two leaders. We find ourselves in exactly that same season as a church, where we recently had to discipline two senior leaders in the church. The people in the days of the Philippian church, they responded with grumbling and questioning. Many of the members of our church are guilty of those same sins. Lots of grumbling and questioning........So some of you are like, what does that mean in Greek? It certainly can't mean shut up and do what you're told? That's what it means."

If a pastor ever tells you that asking questions about an elder leaving is a sin, well, you might want to think about looking for another church. This is how cult leaders talk. Cult leaders demand blind obedience and will try to tell you that asking questions about leadership matters is sinful. Sometimes they do this harshly, but sometimes they do this with a very winsome, humble appearance.

Additional Resources

Documenting the Problems with Mars Hill Pastor Mark Driscoll

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Mark Driscoll's Failed Publicity Stunt That Ended With Him Lying About What Really Happened

Posted by Christine Pack

Strange Fire

A dust-up recently occurred at the Strange Fire Conference (a conference exposing the theological errors of the charismatic movement), in which megachurch pastor Mark Driscoll (who is a charismatic) showed up at the conference and tried to hand out his books, probably for the purpose of "correcting" what he sees as the errors of the cessationist movement. Initial reports of what happened (including Driscoll's own Facebook, Instagram and Twitter feeds) were that security had seized Driscoll's materials. They didn't. I was on the phone in almost real time with friends of mine at the conference who were told by a member of the security detail what actually happened.

This is what I was told: Mark Driscoll was NOT a registered participant for this event, and his materials had not been cleared for distribution. Every vendor present at Strange Fire had to go through an extensive vetting process before being allowed to set up their tables. When security explained this to Driscoll, Driscoll continued to try to give out the materials. He was told by security that they would help him take his materials back to his car, and he told them he would like to give them to Grace Community Church as a gift. They accepted this "gift," (Driscoll's words), and when they parted company with Driscoll, Driscoll immediately began broadcasting via social media that his materials had been seized. It was a bald-faced lie.

Mark Driscoll went in with an agenda to kick up a fuss, and get his books into the hands of GTY personnel. Only, the GTY folks were far more kind and gracious in dealing with him than he probably thought they would be, and he literally had to force his books on them.

Mark Driscoll to the GTY personnel: "Why don't y'all just take 'em and do whatever you want with 'em."

Mark Driscoll on his twitter feed: "Security confiscated my books."

I would also like to point out that Driscoll slandered the security personnel at GTY by claiming they did something that they did not do, and he has yet to publicly apologize for that. By all accounts, the security personnel who dealt with Driscoll are godly, humble men who were just doing their jobs, and as the video evidence proves, they did their jobs with Mark Driscoll very kindly and graciously (you can read more about that here). All of the people who comprise the security team at GTY are real people, and are all members of the body of Christ. Just because nobody in Christendom knows the names of the GTY security personnel doesn't mean that they aren't every bit a part of the body of Christ as all the rest of us no-namers out there. It also doesn't mean that they can just be used as a means to an end for a Celebrity Pastor with an agenda. I might potentially like to see a public interaction between MacArthur/Driscoll at some point (which Driscoll has publicly asked for), but it surely cannot be like this, not with Driscoll gatecrashing an event at which he was not a paid registrant in order to pass out unvetted materials, and then leveraging himself up over the no-name bodies of security personnel to get what he wanted. That's not right.

Video of what happened:

Additional Resources

Mark Driscoll: A Timeline of His Downfall (Sola Sisters)

Mark Driscoll Repents? Not So Fast, Say Phil Johnson and Chris Rosebrough

Strange Fire: The Danger of Offending the Holy Spirit with Counterfeit Worship

Strange Fire - media

Thoughts On Driscoll and The Biblical Qualifications For A Pastor

Documenting The Problems With Mark Driscoll [UPDATED]

Monday, January 30, 2012

T.D. Jakes: Through a Glass Blurrily

By Marcia Montenegro (Christians Answers For The New Age)

“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.” 2 Peter 2:1-3

The Trinitarian God is revealed in God’s word and has been confessed by Christians throughout the centuries. And during that time, the Trinity has also been attacked and denied by many. Satan is always assailing the nature of God with a multitude of false teachings and heresies. The early anti-Trinitarians, such as Arius and Sabellius, were condemned as heretics.

MODALISM

Anti-Trinitarian beliefs are many and often differ drastically from each other. There are even variations within the same views. Modalism is only one of these anti-trinitarian teachings, and is also called “Oneness.” It is the belief that, instead of three Persons in the Godhead, God has three “modes:” Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Modalists also use the word “manifestations.” A common statement of belief about God on the website of Oneness churches is that God “manifests as God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.” What is meant by this is that God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are but three aspects of one God; they are not co-existent. Jesus was the human side of God the Father, who is spirit. Modalism is, technically speaking, a unitarian view of God; that is, unitarian as opposed to Trinitarian.

Modalism is not always expressed the same way. For example, a modalist may not necessarily use the term “modes” or the label “modalist.”

T. D. JAKES, THE “BISHOP”

T. D. Jakes (born 1957) has been known as a modalist or “Oneness” minister. There is a lot of information supporting Jakes’ modalism, including the statement about God on his church’s website that uses the classic modalistic phrase about God in three manifestations. Jakes, who has no theological training, preached his first sermon at 19; was “licensed as a minister in the Church” at 20; and at age 23, planted his first church in West Virginia, a Oneness church (quote and other information from the Potter House website here).

Jakes' title of “Bishop” comes from the Higher Ground Always Abounding Assemblies (HGAAA), a network of Oneness Pentecostal churches. This title was given in recognition of his position as a prelate of this organization. According to the HGAAA website, Jakes gave several talks in 2011 sponsored by HGAAA and is listed as a speaker at this year’s upcoming “24th Annual Holy Convocation” in June 2012. His is listed in the HGAAA Directory as Vice-Prelate.

Jakes was invited this past January to be a speaker at a revival called Code Orange, held at a large evangelical church in Charlotte, NC, called Elevation, pastored by Steve Furtick. This event was disturbing for many Christians because Jakes, as a known Oneness follower, denies an essential of the faith and cannot be considered a brother in Christ. Furtick may have thought that Jakes had become a Trinitarian. However, if that had been the case, then it should have been announced. To give Jakes, a non-Trinitarian, a platform in a church violates 2 John 7-11.

THE ELEPHANT ROOM INTERVIEW

Not long after Code Orange, on Jan. 25, Jakes was the guest in what is called the “Elephant Room” (this is a meeting/interview event that has been somewhat controversial due to various reasons) to be interviewed by a well known Reformed pastor, James MacDonald, and pastor Mark Driscoll. MacDonald, in fact, had recently resigned from the Gospel Coalition, a group of Reformed pastors, due to disagreement over his invitation of Jakes to the Elephant Room (known this year as ER2).

This is the only transcript available at this point of the Elephant Room dialogue with Jakes.

My brief comments on this available interview (James MacDonald has posted on his blog that he had decided not to release the full transcript) follow.

Unclear/ambivalent statements by Jakes are bracketed by ==, followed by my comments:

==“But how they describe and explain the Godhead in a traditional oneness sense is very, very different from how Trinitarians describe the gospel.”==

COMMENT: This raises the question: Does this mean that Jakes thinks only the verbal description differs?

==“He is one God who expressed Himself in a plurality of ways.”==

COMMENT: This is a modalist statement.

==“There are distinctives between the working of the Holy Spirit - the moving of the Holy Spirit - and the work of Christ.”===

COMMENT: This is also modalist language. To express a distinction in the "workings" or functions of Jesus and the Holy Spirit indicates a difference in the operations of Jesus and the Spirit, not a distinction in the Persons. He has a similar statement later about God and the "workings" of the Son.

==“I don’t think anything that any of us believes fully describes who God is. And if we would ever humble down to admit that we in our finite minds cannot fully describe an infinite God.”==

COMMENT: Actually, God has revealed himself clearly as a Trinitarian God. Jakes in the past has used this ruse of how nobody can really know God, implying that a discussion of the Trinity is either unimportant or impossible. However, we can describe God according to what God has revealed to us about himself.

==“Three Persons. One God – Three Persons, . ..[ . . .] . . . I am not crazy about the word persons this is…most people who follow me know that that is really. My doctrinal statement is no different from yours except the word…”==

Driscoll: “manifestations”

Jakes: ==“Manifest instead of persons. Which you describe as modalist, but I describe it as Pauline.”==

COMMENT: It looks possibly like Jakes is equating "Persons" with "manifestations." If so, we are back to square zero with Jakes and the Trinity. Also, it is not “Pauline” to say God manifests as three persons. Jakes and other Oneness followers, in an effort to bolster their stance, point to scriptures such as 1 Tim. 2:10 and 3:16, Heb. 9:8, and 1 John 3:5 where the word “manifest” means to “appear” or “disclose.” However, these scriptures and the use of the word “manifest” in them have nothing to do with a belief that God is a being who takes on the role of three beings.

==“I think that it is important that we realize that there are distinctives between the Father and the working of the Son. The Father didn’t bleed, the Father didn’t die, only a different person in Jesus Christ…is coming back for us in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is with us, but only indwells us through the person of the Holy Spirit; we are baptized into the body of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. I don’t think any of that is objectionable to any of the three of us. So that is consistent with my belief system.”==

COMMENT: A modalist could say that the Father didn’t bleed because he (he Father) was in the role of Jesus at the time of the cross, so it was Jesus who bled. So this is no affirmation of the Trinity. Also, saying that one is baptized “into the body of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit” could be said by a modalist. It is unclear what Jakes means by this. Is he referring to water baptism, which Oneness Pentecostals believe is necessary for salvation?

==“I’m with you. I have been with you. I teach/preach that all the time. There are many people within and outside quote unquote denominations labeled Oneness that would describe that the same way. There are some that would not. But when we get to know people by their labels, then comes all the baggage of how we define that label.”==

COMMENT: Jakes says that he's been teaching this all along! Yes, he has been teaching modalism all along. Jakes has never been on record affirming or teaching the Trinity; in fact, he has reacted negatively to questioning on the topic. If anything, this is an admission to Oneness beliefs. He also plainly states that Oneness is not really different from Trinitarian, or at least he wants it to sound that way. He is also back to the “description” remark because for Jakes, it seems to be just a semantics issue. That is what he has said in the past about the difference between Trinitarian and non-Trinitarian views.

==“I still have fellowship, associations, relationship, and positions within and without Trinitarian and Onenness movements.”==

COMMENT: A Trinitarian can have a friendship, but not fellowship, with Oneness followers and modalists. Fellowship is only within the body of Christ. This statement is very revealing and indicates Jakes still doesn't get it, or is trying to blur the line between modalism and Trinitarianism, something many believe he has been doing for years.

IF…..

If Jakes has truly become Trinitarian, then he needs to relinquish his title of “Bishop,” make a clean break with the HGAAA, clearly affirm and teach the Trinity to his church, and renounce modalism. Jakes has been misleading his flock with false teaching for years (this includes the Word of Faith and prosperity gospel, which is another deeply problematic issue). I certainly allow for a small possibility of Jakes’ conversion to the true God, but until these outward evidences, we cannot declare Jakes a Trinitarian.

This event, judging by some defending the claim that Jakes is now a Trinitarian, has revealed either a crack in the knowledge about the Trinity amongst some Christian leaders, and/or an apathy to the Trinity. But if Christians do not get the nature of God right, we cannot truly preach the gospel. Like sheep, we tend to stray.

A reaffirmation of the Trinity and more teaching on it in churches would be a good result of this rather depressing affair. There is no salvation in modalism; it is false. Therefore, this is of utmost important because this is a salvation issue.

There is a link to the Athanasian Creed at the end of the links below. Please read it if you have never read it before.

RESOURCES

On the Jakes Interview:

Excellent interview of former Oneness pastor Jordan Dayoub who gives his views on Jakes, and whose insights are extremely instructive on this issue

Informative remarks by Daniel Neades on modalism, the Trinity, and the interview with T. D. Jakes, and why Jakes’ remarks are troubling

Minister Voddie Baucham who was invited to the ER2 interview with Jakes, on why he declined and why later he withdrew from speaking at a men’s conference sponsored by James MacDonald

On T. D. Jakes:

Concerns About the Teaching of T.D. Jakes

CARM - T.D. Jakes Articles

On the Trinity:

CARM - The Trinity

CARM - Early Trinitarian Quotes

Watchman.org (Put the word Trinity in search box at this link and links will come up to several articles)

On Oneness:

Watchman - Oneness-Pentecostalism

On Sabellianism and Modalism:

Basic Theology - Sebellianism

Got Questions? - Sebellianism - Modalism - Monarchianism

Sabellianism: Third and Twentieth Century Heresy

Basic Theology - Modalism

CARM - Modalism

Helpful Illustrations of Modalism

"Oneness Doctrine" (Jesus Only) vs. Trinitarianism

The Athanasian Creed, which affirms the Trinity