Money, Power, and Sex

I heard a famous old time preacher back in the day say that it was Gold. Glory, or Girls (or any combination) that makes Pastors, Evangelists, and other Christian leaders fall. This preacher died in 1996. If only he could see things now he would be completely heart-broken over all the corruption in the denominations and mega churches today. More on this after a bit.

My guilty pleasure the last few months is watching "Escaping Polygamy" on YouTube. And the series is exactly what is says it is. It is a reality show starring young ladies who have escaped the Kingston Clan in the Salt Lake Valley who are helping others from that Clan and the FLDS who want to escape.

In the opening credits, one of the girls says, "They think it's about religion but it's not. It's about sex." Also in the credits it is noted that the Kingston Clan, or the Order, rules by fear and intimidation. In one of the episodes I watched recently, it was noted that the Order loves money way more than its own people. Sounding a little bit like Girls, Gold, Glory?

Back in 2011, I used to compare Warren Jeffs, the prophet of the FLDS, with John Piper. Warren Jeffs was all about "Keeping Sweet". That is the way he wants his people to behave, especially his women. They are not allowed their own emotions. In comparison John Piper is concerned with how women respond to men, even in the face of abuse. Their response must be sweet and submissive.

As I work my way through the "Escaping Polygamy" series, I am again reminded of how the FLDS and the Kingston Clan have taken the Money, Power, and Sex religion to dizzying levels.

But the Catholic Church, The Southern Baptist Church, and scores of Mega Church pastors have also been worshiping at the Money, Power, Sex Altar. They are sliding down the same slippery slope that the FLDS and Kingstons are on. It is no longer about Jesus and healing the broken hearted. It's about building the kingdoms of men on the sand of greed and narcissism.

Some years back I wrote a series entitled Sex, Drugs, and Mark Driscoll [Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4], and I discussed how Driscoll's Rock Star Preacher status helped him to get away with stuff your average guy cannot. I'm adding today that Driscoll's Rock Star Preacher status helped him to get away with things the average Narcissist couldn't get away with. This is bad for both the church and the Narcissist.

So, yes, that old time pastor from back in the day, who was concerned about Gold, Glory, and Girls taking preachers down would be shocked to see that nowadays Money, Power, and Sex are all just in a days work for many of these Rock Star/Celebrity Preachers.

Now I'm going to state the obvious.

This needs to stop.

Article on Cult Mind Control

I want to be able to find this later.

It is posted at Freedom of the Mind Resource Center and it concerns the BITE Model:

Steve Hassan's BITE Model of Cult Mind Control

I have a particular interest in the Emotional Control section. Seem that women are often told they are not to feel anger and men are told they are not to cry.

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.

Comment from Former MH Volunteer

For several years I have watched the happenings at Mars Hill from a distance. I wondered how long this was going to keep going, how long could Mark weasel his way in the spotlight pretending to the world that he was an integrity filled pastor.

There was a comment on Throckmorton's blog on an old post that I think is worth looking at but I'm afraid it might be lost so I want to link it here.

InklingBooks comment on Throckmorton.


There are some interesting quotes from the comment.

This first one is about MH's claim to be a church reaching the lost. (Hint: It's not. At least not anymore.)

"On one Sunday a few years ago, they asked everyone who'd become a Christian through MH to stand. I looked around. Only about two or three people out of a hundred were standing. I never saw that asked again. The image and the reality had clashed, so conceal the reality. That's one of MH core ills."

And this concerning MD's cutthroat way of building MH:

"To grow MH, Driscoll was preaching and promoting MH is such a way that he was weakening other churches in the area and later in other cities."

And this concerning Driscoll's serious anger problem:

"Driscoll has mountains of rage inside him that seem to shift their targets over time."

And this concerning who Driscoll thinks the leaders in the church should be (Hint: Not Women):

"One of my frustrations with the children's ministry was that they put young (and often single) male interns over it rather that capable, experienced mothers."

I and several others have been sounding the alarm that all is not right with Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill. So many have tried to defend him and turn the tables on us saying that we were the ones with the problems, that we were jealous and getting in the way of the work of God.

There are still those defending him. But they are becoming fewer and looking more ridiculous all the time.

Another Child Set Free

Thanks to Joe at Incongruous Circumspections for the heads up on this article of a woman who has exited Westboro Baptist Church.

I rarely mention people or groups, who are this far gone over the cuckoo's edge because I simply don't know what to say. A little bit of snark can go a long way. But the amount of snark that it would take to express my disgust with Westboro? It's better to just back off and let people with more grace deal with those wackos.

BUT, when I hear about someone who has escaped a cultic group like Westboro, I do want to bring it to the attention of others. There is hope in spite of vast amounts of brain-washing riddled with, "Thus saith the Lord"s. People can and do escape.

Here is an article about Megan Phelps-Roper:
Damsel, Arise

More Analysis of Driscoll's Desperation

More Analysis from someone in the know.

Former Mars Hill member, WTH* spent time on Driscoll's plane and jumped off, hopefully making a soft landing, rather than being thrown off the bus or under the bus or shot or something else...

I'll let WTH explain these transportation metaphors and what they mean to him, a successful parachuter fleeing the doomed Mars Hill plane.

Mark Driscoll has shifted transportation metaphors

I always love a good metaphor. Even bad ones hold a certain amount of entertainment value if you can get past the automatic gag reflex.

* WTH is short for "Wenatchee the Hatchet", not "What the h*!!", something I've said more than once watching the Mars Hill machine lurch forward toward its doom. Speaking of machine, I've always thought of Mars Hill as being a train speeding down the track toward the gorge where the bridge is out. How many metaphors can we come up with in one short post?

Driscoll Is Beginning to Sound Desperate

Not one of my best titles, I agree. I wanted to go with "Driscoll Is Easily Deceived" as sort of a spin on his view of women as being easily deceived when really he's the one who is deceived concerning his own infallibility. But then you get into, "Is Driscoll deceived, or is he the deceiver?"

Yes, I know. Those sound like pretty strong accusations, so that's why I backed off of the "Deceived/r" way to look at things and went with Desperate instead.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, take a look at Dee's post at The Wartburg Watch:
Mark Driscoll: He Ain't No Captain Sully

Then, for more excellent analysis, check out this radio broadcast:
Driscoll Cult

Driscoll is either deceived, a deceiver, desperate, or going off his rocker.

Freedom and Courage

You need freedom to be happy.
You need courage to pursue freedom.
You can't have either without truth.

Linda Murphrey, Jack Hyles daughter, speaks of her life in her father's cult. And of her escape. And the ingredients of her escape. Courage, truth, and freedom.

Linda Murphrey