Aristotle and Ephesians

 Wanting to be able to find this quickly for a deeper reading so am linking it here.

How Reading Aristotle Frees Us from John Piper and Albert Mohler's Complementarianism

Hope others find it and learn something from it.

Edited to add this link for good measure. It is where I found the previous link

Complementarianism and Abuse

The Problem with the ESV

Actually there is a problem with Sovereign Grace Ministries (SGM). And I found an article called Unpacking the Web of the Sovereign Grace Ministries Scandal. It looks like a pretty good, if rather involve, article.

But skimming, I found these comparisons between the ESV (English Standard Version) and the NIV (New International Version). Well, just let me quote the author of the article.

"Keller, Carson, Dever and Mohler (as well as other leaders I’ve listed above) are readily published through Crossway books. These men have been influential in popularizing the ESV Bible (English Standard Version) to usurp the popular NIV to become THE evangelical translation of choice.

But, it’s just a translation! you might say.

The best way I know to show the problem of ESV is to compare two passages that reveals a masculine bias NOT in the Hebrew, but present in the ESV (bold mine).

So God created mankind in his own image,
    in the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them. (NIV)

So God created man in his own image,
    in the image of God he created him;
    male and female he created them.(ESV)

Do you see the key difference? Consider how the subtle word “man” without “kind” sounds in the ears of modern men and women today.

The Gospel Coalition is also the loudest “evangelical” voice advocating for men’s spiritual priority over women, softly called “complementarianism” (Christians for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood is housed by STBS, Mohler’s school). See both the ESV bias and Crossway publications pointing in the complementarian direction.

Here’s how the ESV makes females universally silent in the church (bold mine, 1 Cor 14:33-34):

33) For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people.
34) Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. (NIV)

33) For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.
34) As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. (ESV)

Notice how the NIV (and KJV) make orderliness the universal call.  The ESV sneaks that phrase over to verse 34 (I underlined it) to make women’s silence, not peace, the universal. Then, note the reemphasizing by capitalizing the word “Law.” (There is no such Law in Torah and scholars believe it was a cultural law in view… hence the lowercase.)

Having studied complementarianism extensively, the push for ESV appears to be a sly manipulation of Scripture to fit a powerful organization’s agenda. The Hebrew and Greek allow room for the way the NIV interprets these passages.

It saddens me that men will manipulate scripture like this in order to promote their agenda, one that includes oppressing women.

Jeremiah 8:8 says, "How can you say, ‘We are wise, And the law of the Lord is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes Has made it into a lie."

 It was true back in Jeremiah's day. Now we see that it is also true today.

Patriarchy: a false Gospel

Yes, Patriarchy being promoted as "God's Design" or "God's Intention" is a perverted form of the Gospel and far removed from the actual words of Jesus recorded in the books of the Gospels.

I've said this for a long time. I get tired of saying.

But I don't get tired of seeing others say it. So here is a link to TWW's

Patriarchy and Abuse: Twisted Scriptures

Link to T4G's Cowardly Statement

It needs to be on record and the info must be passed on.

Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, and Al Mohler put this statement up on facebook in support of CJ Mahaney. Then the negative comments came rolling in. First they tried to delete comments. Then when they were overwhelmed with the flood they deleted the statement.

Fortunately a certain Bill Kinnon took a screen shot of it before it disappeared.

So, for those who haven't seen it yet, here is a link to the screen shot.

T4G Statement in defense of Mahaney

Be of good cheer. The outcry against T4G and TGC and their misguided support of CJ Mahaney is getting louder and louder.

(Edited to add that T4G has put their statement up on their own site but have disallowed comments... cowards... They won't be able to hide behind the lies they believe forever. The flood of truth will overtake them eventually.)

C. J. Mahaney Loves Being the Boss

He loves being in Charge and the perks of being at the top of his religious hierarchy food chain. He (allegedly) loves his paid for vacations in the Kiawah Islands (LINK!!!)*... Paid for by an abuser that Mahaney's authority protected so that the abuser could keep on abusing.

C. J. Mahaney Loves all the wonderful things that being the boss of hundreds of people brings to him.

C.J. Mahaney doesn't give a rip for the vulnerable little ones dangling at the bottom of his hierarchy food chain. He doesn't care that they were being consumed by ravenous wolves and trampled upon by mindless beasts, lusty bulls who gloried in their own strength and their own 'God-given', 'biblical',  'authority'.

C.J. and his hungry wolves and lusty wolves worship the idols of authority. They have sacrificed women and children on the altars of their gods. They have shorn and eaten the meat of the lambs they were supposed to feed and protect.

Sovereign Grace Ministries was built to worship the hierarchy structure that C. J. and his fellow wolves love to bow down to. May this SGM temple fall and may its captives be freed and its wounded healed by the One true God. The One that walked the Earth, Jesus Christ. The One that said:

Luke 22:²⁵ And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’²⁶ But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant. ²⁷ For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves.


John Piper... The Gospel Coalition... Al Mohler...  Mark Driscoll... do you see where your devotion to the hierarchy god leads? It leads to abuse and makes the churches that serve this god look no different from the world that had always worshiped this dog-eat-dog god.

BTW... the hierarchy god has a name. Baal means "lord, owner, possessor".
Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
Then for your own sakes flee the temple Baal. He has no part in the Kingdom of God where Jesus is the bedrock and the Chief Cornerstone.

(*the link above inspired this tirade. the sgm  debacle just keeps getting uglier and uglier as more is exposed to the light. where or where are the real men among the yrr who will rise up and stop this. all i see are fake men, claiming to be men, thumping their chest and pointing at their own authority with pride as they seek new ways and more 'biblical' 'proof' to unrighteously rule over God's Kingdom.)

Churches... Safe Places?

Well some may be.

But some Churches involved in Sovereign Grace Ministries are definitely not. In fact, they (allegedly) have become hell holes where children are not only not protected, they are molested. It appears that those in charge have turned their backs on children and on God Himself. They have taken God's house, a house of prayer, and turned it into a den of thieves and predators.

I thank God for the hands of feet of Jesus who are going into these dens of thieves and turning over the tables of the money changers and pedophile protectors.

For those interested who are not yet aware and would like to find out about those taking action against the criminals in SGM here are a couple places to get you started.

House of Horrors (at The Wartburg Watch)

and

Amended complaint against SGM (at Spiritual Sounding Board)

How can Piper and Mohler support Mahaney? At best they are ostriches with their heads in the sand, a very vulnerable position. What are they at the worst? I'll leave that for others to discuss.

The Violent Take It By Force

It is hard to watch. It is hard to hear about. But it is not something that I can pretend is not happening.

Matthew 11:12  From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence [is forcibly entered], and violent men take it by force [seize it for themselves].

The Southern Baptist Convention is being taken over by men, by force. That once paragon of Christian grace and promoter of "the priesthood of the believer" is being taken over by power hungry men who seek to build their own kingdoms. Under shepherds are infiltrating the sheep pen to fleece the flock and lay heavy burdens upon them.

Here is the latest move by Al Mohler. He closed the independent music department so that he could move his own guys in.

Who Calls the Tune in the Southern Baptist Convention

Men, who claim authority unto themselves, who cover over the sins of pedophiles in order to save face and to keep hold of their ill gotten places of power in the Kingdom, these men seek to rule and reign on this earth in God's name. They are no different than the Pharaohs of Egypt, the Pharisees in the days of Jesus, and the Borgia Popes during the times of the worse corruption in the Catholic Church.

First they twist scripture to make it say what they want it to say to support their position:

Jeremiah 8:8 How can you say, 'we are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us'?
But behold, the lying pen of the scribe has made it into a lie.

Then they congratulate each other on being such great men of God and being so theologically brilliant and being so holy etc...:

John 5:44 How can you believe; when you receive glory [honor or fame] from one another and you do not seek the glory [honor or fame] from the one and only God.

Men see the church as an opportunity to advance themselves and build their own kingdoms. They take up residence as kings and lords of the manor claiming they speak for God when really they speak from the darkness of their own hearts.

I see this over and over again. I saw it in the abusive church I went to back in the 80s. I see it in Driscoll now. And now I see it taking over SBC. It is a time for mourning.

For those who were not following my blog back in 2009, here is a link to a post on a dream that I have about violent men who forcibly enter the Kingdom and seize it for themselves.

Do you believe in dreams, pt 3

Having that dream helped me to get some perspective on these false shepherds.