Driscoll, MacArthur, and the Jezebel Spirit

 So, back in the day, when my mind was being blown away by the fact that Mark Driscoll was Raping and Pornifying The Song of Solomon (hither to referred to as The Songs), I was looking for someone, anyone with any kind of platform to confront these crimes against Scripture.

And I did find a guy. I linked to him and his series and thanked him on this blog for confronting Driscoll. He was John MacArthur.

However, little did I  know how much MacArthur is NOT a friend to women. I knew he was Complementarian. And really, I thought that would make others take his rebuke of Driscoll more seriously.

But John MacArthur Shamed and Excommunicated a Mother for Refusing to Take Back Her Child Abuser Husband. AND shortly after this came to light A Prominent Elder Resigned from MacArthur's Church claiming that the church was failing to protect women from abusive husbands.

Even though I was disheartened by the knowledge of how awful MacArthur is to women, I left up my posts about him confronting Driscoll. My reasoning was this: I was on a journey. I learned awful things about the Evangelical movement and Neo Calvinists. And my blog is as good a record of that journey as anything else. I am imperfect, am not omniscient. and I'm bound to make mistakes. And I did in that area out of ignorance.

So, anyway, fast forward to the last few weeks. As I watched the crazy words and behaviors of Mark Driscoll and John Lindell and what a lot of people were saying about it, I was reminded of my frustration with praising MacArthur for protecting women from Driscoll when people need to protect women from MacArthur just as much.

I read one guy's tweet that said something along the lines of, "If we need Driscoll to call out sin in our conferences, we have fallen so very low."

Now, note. I don't know that Driscoll was in the right to call out the sword swallowing act. I do know that him associating it with anything Jezebel was way out of line. And I do know that he is in no way qualified to make such judgement calls.

Please see Wenatchee's Mark Driscoll is in a strange position to opine against church leaders and cultures influenced by the Jezebel spirit when he mentioned clear heels 17 times in 13 sermons preached between January 2004 and February 2008. 

Near the bottom of this blog post Wenatchee quotes from a CBMW post (a firmly complementarian site) concerning Driscoll's Real Marriage book:

"Another problem with the way the Driscolls treat pornography has to do with the reality that many people will be guided to pornography because of their book.  Make no mistake: men and women will be introduced to pornography because of this book.  For almost my entire ministry I have been talking to at least one person a week who struggles with pornography.  I do not live in some sheltered ministry context away from people with perverse struggles.  As true as that is the Driscolls taught me a lot about pornography I wish I never knew."

With this blog post, I feel Wenatchee firmly proves that Driscoll is not qualified to define or call out sexual sin.

The Connection Between Shiny Happy People (SHP) and CBMW, Danvers, and the SBC

 I am so excited that my long time blogging friend is starting a new series on her blog.

She is like me, She used to blog like gangbusters back in the day. But more recently her posts have been few and far between.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I was not triggered by SHP like a lot of my internet friends. I was never really influenced by Gothard or the IBLP. I was more involved with raising the alarm concerning Mark Driscoll, John Piper, Bruce Ware, Paige Patterson and the like who were pushing such horrible and misogynistic doctrine and causing such doctrine to become more mainstream.

And in those days, I was so glad that I had friends like Cindy Kunsman showing the links between Gothard/Quiverfull and CBMW, the Southern Baptists, and other things that were making me mad.

Anyway, SHP has affected Cindy deeply which she talks about here:

Concerning Shiny Happy People Two Weeks Later

She is now processing through the triggers, emotions and the deep personal cost she experienced for speaking out against Bruce Ware and Russel Moore. SHP has shown a bit of a spotlight on these terrible doctrines that are troubling the church and she, like so many of us, doesn't want the church to think it was just limited to Gothard and the IBLP

Following Bruce Ware's Primrose Path to Domestic Violence (Part 1: Ideas that fed those Shiny Happy People)

Cindy is good at what she does. Please go read what she had to say.

The Lying Pen of the Scibes: ESV

Jeremiah 8:8 How can you say, "We are wise and the law of the Lord is within us"? But behold, the Lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie. The New Stealth Translation: ESV

CBMW Folks Have Lost Their Minds

It's official.
The aberrant doctrines fueling the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood have finally taken their toll on the thinkers in this movement. They have boarded the crazy train and are trying to outdo one another with testosterone tweets.
Julie Anne over at Spiritual Sounding Board is following this:

Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood 2016 Live Conference #CBMW16 Live Tweets Complementarianism Cool-Aid.

I don't know what it is going to take to get these folks to face the reality of their own insanity.

Scapegoating and the Modern Molech

"Molech was an Ammonite deity who represented masculinity and the part that man played in reproduction to bring about life."

So says Cynthia Kunsman in her very good article about the worship of Masculinity in the Duggar version of Christianity.


Will Anna Duggar be offered as the next living sacrifice to save the Duggar family Brand? Scapegoating, Spread your Legs Theology, and the Modern Molech

Cynthia has done a good job of pointing out how far people will go to prop up their false version of the Gospel.

Why the Need for a Boss?

On the heels of my "Who's the Boss?" post, TWW has a post concerning this question.
Comps are quite convinced that mutual submission is either wrong or impossible or rebellion or something. I seem to remember that there is a post on the the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood site entitled, "The Myth of Mutual Submission". Yep. they are pretty much against.

Wade Burleson did a guest post on TWW last night that addresses the thought of Mutual Submission in Marriage. It is not nearly as 'Mythical' as CBMW would like you to believe.

Here is a link to that post:

Complementarianism verses Mutual Submission in Marriage.

Jock Strap Religion, Part 2

I have a lot to say but not much time to say it.

I love the title of my friend, Hannah's, blog post concerning the SGM debacle and T4G and TGC's response to it. The title is "Together for Mahaney at the Southern Baptist Convention". And she goes into analysis of how these good ol' boys have each other's backs (and privates!).

I've just recently linked to two other blogs that also demonstrate what I call Jock Strap Religion (JSR). The one linked on Friday illustrates how the Pearls hold women responsible for everything, including the sins of men. The other one linked on Tuesday shows how oldest daughters are the ones exposed to abuse and mistreatment in order to protect the abusive system of patriarchy (the ultimate JSR).

Needless to say, seeing all this protection of 'holy' and 'superior' manhood and their sins at the expense of women and children, making women and children vulnerable and the ones taking the blows and bearing the abuse (rather than the men who should bear the consequences of their own sins) has just increased my distaste of man-made JSR. This is the kingdom that Mahaney, T4G, TGC, the Pearls, CBMW, and many others are building. A Jock Strap Kingdom where men, manhood, and manlike sins are protected and covered and where women and children are thrown under the bus to protect this kingdom and the 'privates' of men.

Jesus did the opposite of this. He held men accountable for their own sins and released women from bearing that burden:

Matthew 5:27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; 28 but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

He also called all into account for hurting His little, defenseless lambs.

Matthew 18:6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Jesus didn't come to earth to promote a JSR or build a Jock Strap Kingdom. This is the work of men who want to cover their own hinneys and fronties while walking all over the vulnerable. Jesus is the champion of the vulnerable. He does not wink at the sins of men. Just because Jesus walked the earth as a man doesn't mean He 'understands' the sins of men, makes allowances for those sins, and/or looks the other way.

John 8:3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, 4 they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” 6 They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. 7 But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court. 10 Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”]

For those who don't know. The above passage was not about Jesus 'going soft' on sin. It was Jesus confronting the unjust culture that stoned women for adultery while letting the men go free. Cause really, if she was caught in the very act... where was the guy? Oh, that's right, the other men covered and hid that man and his sin from Jesus. They were practicing JSR where they protect men and condemn women. JSR is a Pharisee concoction. It has no part in the Kingdom of God that Jesus was setting up.

This is the reason why I loved the title to Hannah's post. It gets to the heart of the matter. Together for the Gospel and The Gospel Coalition, and whoever else that is coming to Mahaney's defense... They are NOT together for the Gospel. At least NOT the one that Jesus preached. They are together to protect men and their sins. They are together to protect Mahaney, the pastors, and all the pedophiles hiding in SGM. They are together against the women and children who have been trampled on by these men, including Mahaney. They are together for their beloved and worshiped Jock Strap Religion.

In case you missed part 1 of the Jock Strap Religion, unofficial series.

Remembering Journey

I had an Internet friend. I knew her real name, but then she had to divorce her husband and pull back from being an Internet figure and began using a Pseudonym: Journey. I've lost track of her but always think good thoughts when I remember her.

Another Internet friend had used part of her testimony in a blog post. Retha's most recent post quote Journey here: When Soft Complementarianism is too Hard.

Her full testimony is found here under her Internet name Journey.

Dear Happy Full Quiver-er

Those of my readers who are not familiar with this part of her testimony, please take time to read it. It is very eye opening.

'Christian' Doctrine and Systems That Promote Abuse

Someday I'm going to actually add Cindy's blog to my blog roll rather than just threaten about it. Her in depth look at and experience with the abusive doctrine of Complementarianism, Patriarchy, the Quiverful movement, and other such derelict systems is unparalleled.

If you can make the time, please read this.

Family Dogs Get Better Breaks than do Comp Wives: The Heart of Domestic Abuse in the Heart of the Complementarian Mindset.

Thanks Retha

I love the little things you come up with. They really do expose the folly of CBMW.

Complementarians Have the Wrong Priorities

Protection

There are times when we all need it. There are times when we are called upon to give it.

Protection is not gender specific even though groups like CBMW want to make it that way. My friend Marg from Australia has a good blog post on the danger of making "protection" a manhood specific quality rather than a personhood quality.

Protecting the Weaker Sex

Is It Grace Driscoll's Blog or Affair?

Dear everyone using Google and other search engines to find either Grace Driscoll's blog or juicy gossip on Grace Driscoll's supposed affair...

I apologize that your search has brought you here, because, you see, you will not find anything you are looking for here.

If you are looking for Grace Driscoll's blog, you will be highly disappointed in my blog because my blog is written by a Christian woman who has been there and done that in the Christian community. And what I mean is, I have danced to the tune that men have played for women calling that tune, "The Gospel" when really it has little to do with The True Gospel according to Jesus Christ. I didn't dance to it very long. I found it exhausting and it produced nothing but bondage and heartache.

There is a gender gospel, a false gospel, being pushed by Driscoll, Piper, Dever, Mahaney, Mohler, CBMW and other such groups. It is being pushed hard and strong by modern day pharisees that love the best seats in homes and churches and who want to rule and control and to be able to say that God has given them the divine right to rule over women.

I am no longer subject to the false gospel of hierarchy and shame that these men pushed. But Grace Driscoll is. And if you are also subject to this false teaching, you will absolutely hate what I have to say because I consider it important to expose the gender gospel for what it is. Fake and the commandments of men.

If you are looking for juicy tidbits on Grace's affair, I got nothing. I don't know anything about it, nor do I want to know anything about it if such a thing were even true. That's between her and Mark. Personally, I wouldn't put up with the crap that Mark dishes out. But an affair is never the answer. It just distracts from the real issues in their relationship.

So, anyway, again, so sorry to those of you looking for words of wisdom from Grace's blog or gossip concerning her. You won't find it here. And if you stick around, you will just be frustrated with me.

I wish you well in your search and hope you find what you are looking for.

Mara Reid,

Owner of "From Bitter Waters to Sweet"

Infecting Ephesians 5

Women in Ministry is in my blog roll. It has been for a long time. Cheryl, the blog owner, has been busy a lot, so her blog rests dormant for periods of time. But she still posts from time to time. Whatever Cheryl writes is good. But I particularly like today's blog post, "Ephesians Five Infected with the Mindset of the World."

So, if it has been a while since you've been to Cheryl's blog, or if you have never been over there, today is a good day to go see what she has to offer.

http://strivetoenter.com/wim/2012/01/08/eph-5-infected/

(I have CBMW and Driscoll in my tags because Cheryl touches on them.)

Edited to add another blog post from Wade Burleson. He's not in my blog roll yet, but he should be: http://www.wadeburleson.org/2012/01/new-testament-equality-leads-to-healthy.html)

Something Completely Different

Well, sort of completely different.

It's no secret here that I have an appreciation for fiction and in particular, speculative fiction. I've mentioned Star Trek here more than once and did a series on Apollonian and Dionysian and the affects of stories and especially Single Stories have on us.

Well, I follow a number of blogs, more than what I have listed on the side here. I follow a fictional blog in the genre of speculative fiction that also happens to be Christian. Now don't freak. It is NOT of the CBMW or Patriarchy variety. I have no stomach for fiction from those crowds.

No this is a far more mainstream Christian Spec. Fiction blog that includes Catholics and Mainstream Protestants. It is called Avenir Eclectia. Don't ask me how to pronounce it.

Mostly I have just followed it on my own, not mentioning it here because I saw little connection between it and what we talk about here.

However today's fictional post is on a topic a little nearer to what we talk about than usual so I thought I share it. Cultic misprophecies.

The lovely thing about Spec. Fiction is how it lends itself to exploring and resolving the issues we deal with today and even reoccurring issues that come up from time to time in Christian Circles.

So please, if you have time, take a peek at this piece by Walt Staples, "Stony's World: Apocalypse Preempted".

http://avenireclectia.com/2011/09/stonys-world-apocalypse-preempted.html

Images

Both Darcy and Hillary are talking about the drive among patriarchs to make women... wives, daughters... weak and helpless. (see links below). I am worried about this in church and outside church.
My daughters were into the Twilight series and the emotionally needy Bella was concerning me. So I was delighted to see this montage of Buffy the Vampire Slayer verses Edward. I showed it to my daughters and now my youngest and I are watching the Buffy series on Netflix and last night we watched season 3 episode 20 where Buffy was voted "Class Protector" and given a cute, little, pink umbrella.
I feel it is important to show my daughters images of strong, capable, heroic women to counter balance both culture and the bad things going on in CBMW and Patrio land.

Anyway, females are not weak. Have you ever seen a mama bear robbed of her cubs? Me neither, but I've heard about it more than once and from the sound of it, it can get pretty bad.
Anyway, here is Buffy vs Edward, first. And below that Hillary's and Darcy's posts on the topic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZwM3GvaTRM

http://www.quiveringdaughters.com/2011/07/gentle-reality-check-for-daughters-of.html

http://darcysheartstirrings.blogspot.com/2011/07/on-women-and-protection.html

MLK, Jr. on the Importance of Images

Getting back to my thoughts on MLK, Jr., Nichelle Nichols, and Star Trek, I want to look at King's words to Nichols from the link in the 7/21/11 post. In fact, in this post, I simply want to lay out the basics of the conversation and make a few comments on it.

MLK, Jr.: "You have one of the most wonderful roles. Images are so important. The manner in which you have created this character. We have great pride."
NN: "I'm going to miss my costars"
MLK, Jr.: "What are you talking about?"
NN: "I'm leaving the show."
MLK, Jr.: "You cannot do that."
NN: (I was dumbfounded.)
MLK, Jr.: "You have the first non-stereotypical role on television. For the first time the world sees us as we are supposed to be seen, as qualified, beautiful, intelligent people. And you are not a menial. You have to stay there."

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. understood the importance of images, the things people see. He understood how American television in the Sixties portrayed the typical African-American and how important breaking from that visual was.
I read somewhere else that when Whoopi Goldberg first saw the character Uhura on television, she got excited and ran to tell her mother that there was a black woman on TV who wasn't a maid.
This was big stuff. And M.L. King Jr. understood it even if the magnitude of it was lost on Nichols in that day.
But we see from the interview in the link that Nichols gets it today.

Images are so important. And narrow or 'single story' images must be counteracted.
For example, the image of Sarah calling Abraham 'lord' must be counter balanced with the Old Testament story of God changing Sarah's name from Sarai to Sarah, which means female ruler and the image of God telling Abraham to obey Sarah at one point.
And the images of Deborah, Huldah, the Proverbs 31 woman, Junia, the Chosen Lady that John writes about, and many others must be held up in contrast to the images that are pushed by CBMW and Neo-patriarchy.

Images are important. And as a mother of both sons and daughters, I understand the need to provide better images than what CBMW influenced churches want children to see.

A Year Ago This Coming Sunday...

On July 24th, 2010 a group of men and women, led by Shirley Taylor, demanded an apology from the Council of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW) for their teachings that diminish women and exalt and encourage men to think more highly of themselves than they should.

CBMW teaches complementarianism which states that God created men to be the leaders and women to be the followers and bars women from positions held by women of the Bible like Deborah, Huldah, and Junia.

Complementarianism is not as rigid as outright patriarchy, but, their teachings support and add power and credibility to patriarchal teachings. Their teachings are also false, based on the traditions, doctrines, and commandments of men and cherry picking proof texts rather than on anything half way resembling good Bible exegesis and hermeneutics (see link for definitions below link to Shirley's blog.)

As Shirley notes today on her blog, we are no closer to getting an apology from CBMW. Nor am I holding my breath for that apology. Those people are locked in their mindset. Some of them know the little lies that are being told about the Bible that are needed to uphold their doctrine, but still they tell the lies. Only God really knows why they hold onto the lies. Perhaps it's a, "The old wine is better" thought pattern. Who can say.

Link to Shirley's blog:
http://bwebaptistwomenforequality.wordpress.com/2011/07/18/no-closer-today-in-getting-an-apology/

Links to definitions of exegesis and hermeneutics:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exegesis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermeneutics

"Keep Sweet" After Thought

Life gets busy and it gets hard to blog at times.

But even so, sometimes little things just strike me funny about the topics we cover and I just have to share.

You remember that song, "Put Another Log on the Fire" by Tompall Glaser?
If not I'll link if for you at the bottom of this post.

One of the classic lines from his song reminds me of John Piper and the "Keep Sweet" conspiracy that is infiltrating portions of the church.
The line goes like this:
"So sit here at my feet cause I like you when you're sweet. And you know it ain't feminine to fight."

An honorable mention also found in this song makes me think of Mark Driscoll and his comment about pastor's wives letting themselves go:
"Don't I warn you when you're getting fat."

And of course the last line is:
"Come and tell me why you're leaving me."
Which is exactly what women need to do with ministries like Piper's, Driscoll's, and every form and expression of patriarchy and CBMW.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wO_6wMRS7A

The Single Story and Big Hearted Men

The beauty of big hearted men is that they DON'T reduce their women down to the Single Story or work to take away their voices.

Big hearted men create a place where a woman can speak freely from her heart of pain and bitterness and not be chided for not holding to the Single Story that CBMW and Patriarchy has written for her.

A good example of this, of course, is Lewis Wells and his drive to set the daughters of Patriarchy free from the Single Story that Patriarchy has written for them. He sees the need to give them space to heal and be delivered from the oppression of that Single Story.

Here is a link to a particularly good post from him on healing those wounded and destroyed by Patriarchy. In it, he emphasized the need for young women to find out who they are and to be given the freedom to say or not say what the want, when they want to, because they have never has that right before and don't even know how to walk in it.

http://thecommandmentsofmen.blogspot.com/2011/05/to-heal.html

Lewis doesn't use terms like "Single Story" or phrases like "Find their voice". But the road he recommends for healing will help women to break from the Single Story and find their own, authentic voice.

In contrast, Tina Anderson's pastor, Chuck Phelps, did what he could to control and squash Tina's authentic voice. He reassigned her a fake voice and gave her a Single Story concerning what happened to her. Instead of the true and many stories of betrayal, broken trust, the strong oppressing the vulnerable, etc. he gave her the story of 'temptress', 'strange woman', and needing to be held responsible for her share of the blame. He held her responsible for things she couldn't control and decided that Tina was not a wounded and exploited lamb. Rather, he assigned her the position of scapegoat, bearing the brunt of the guilt and sending her away from the camp to bear her shame with strangers. Then those strangers forced Tina to write a letter of apology to the wife of her alleged rapist for betraying her.

http://www.tinaandersonfoundation.org/

I am glad, after all these years, that Tina has found her voice and has the chance to bring to light more stories concerning her life and the dark times she was forced to walk in by others.

The Single Story and 'Biblical' Womanhood

You knew this was coming.

Much has been said about Biblical Womanhood and much teaching has been handed down by those in power concerning their Single Story of Womanhood.

Much also has been said concerning the short list of scriptures telling the same version of the Single Story. Many have pointed out how the pushers of Biblical Womanhood ignore or explain away scriptures that add more stories to what Biblical Womanhood actually is.

Those who focus on the Single Story of Biblical Womanhood ignore or explain away or redefine the stories of Deborah, Miriam, Huldah, Priscilla, the Proverbs Woman, II John's Elect Lady, Mary and Martha, just to mention a few.

The definers and story tellers of "Biblical Womanhood" have told one story. They have have shown Biblical Womanhood to be one thing and only one thing, over and over until that is what it has become to the neglect of so many other stories concerning women in the Bible.

They have also taken books of the Bible that might mention women in particular or have instructions for women or marriage and have so over focused on those few verses that they have neglected dozens of other verses within that book that tell other stories that include women.

We are not obligated to live within the restrictive structure of CBMW/Biblical Womanhood's Single Story. Doing so only brings deep sorrow and denies how big God really is.