Misogyny Is a Mental Health Issue

 How did that title grab you?

Oh, I do miss the good old days when I used to blog regularly. One of the many pleasures was thinking up inflammatory titles like the one above. But, alas, life moves on and so must I.

However.

In my wanderings in the real world, I did come across an interesting video interview. In this video a male psychotherapist says, "Misogyny is a mental health issue." (Hear that Doug Wilson and Mark Driscoll? Your misogyny is a mental health issue. Not the oracles of God as you falsely testify.)

And while I was quite intrigued by the video, I can't say that I agreed with everything the Psychotherapist, Previn Karian, said. But I may very well agree with the above quote.

Before I go on, I must head off or at least address my critics and Wilson/Driscoll worshipers. I fully expect that if you so happen to click on the video link below that you will have a kneejerk reaction. I expect that you will rail against this psychotherapist for being a bleeding-heart liberal and a weak man. To this, I will assert that Previn Karian has more courage than Driscoll, Wilson, and any Theobro who ever Theo-ed. Here is the reason I think this. Karian askes question those other guys are too afraid to ask. He has a deep and profound honesty that those guys will never understand until they can ask the same hard question he does.

We may look at some of those questions ourselves. But at a later date.

While I don't come to the same conclusions as Previn, I do appreciate the questions he asks. While I don't agree with several points Previn makes, I am intrigued and respectful of his journey and the understanding that he has come to. I see that he is trying to make sense of the hatred and violence of men using the tools at his disposal. While those tools have their limitations, he makes great use of them.

Also, a warning. If you click on the link. He is very hard on his gender. So much so, it makes me cringe. He labels all men rather negatively, even though he asserts that he is not trying to shame men. In his deep honesty and frustration for the state of things, he lays into all men quite harshly. One of my places of disagreement with him is his view that all men are violent and want to put down women at their core. I struggle to agree with this because of the wonderful men in the various parts of my life. Family, church, and work. 

Anyway, here is a link to the video.

Misogyny: Origins of Men's Hatred Toward Women.

His conclusions were quite dismal and depressing. He brought up Einstein and Freud near the end,

My own conclusions have more hope. But I will leave this for another possible post.

Men Who Hate Women Should Not Teach the Bible

Maybe a better title should be, "Men Who Don't Understand the Love of God for both Men and Women have absolutely no business, whatsoever, teaching the Bible."

There are many such men. Mark Driscoll, formally an easy and frequent target of this blog is one. John McArthur, the man who puts women under church discipline for leaving abusive husbands is another. Then there is the new up and comer Josh Howerton who is very disrespectful of women.

The list is very long of men like these. And their raging, self-righteous followers are all over Twitter/X using the Bible as a club against women.

But today, I'm wanting to shine the light on an upcoming podcast series that takes on Doug Wilson, one of the most hateful men I've ever heard who claims to be Christian. Yes. He is even worse than Driscoll, McArthur, and Howerton. And according to WenatcheetheHatchet, Driscoll had early dealings with Wilson.

The Podcast will be starting on Monday, October 28th, and it is called Sons of Patriarchy. Here is a link to the trailer.

I am looking forward to listening and hope that it takes down that mobster pretending to be a pastor up in Moscow, Idaho.

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.

Dear Pastor John Lindell

 Dear Pastor John Lindell,

You sowed to the wind, which was Mark Driscoll.

Now you are reaping the whirlwind.

When Driscoll was rightfully held responsible for his sins in Seattle, you disbelieved all those elders and decided that the liar, Mark Driscoll, was telling the truth. So you helped him. You gave him a platform to speak. And now you are paying for it.

Mark Driscoll is a snake who lied about being a snake. So you picked him up. And he bit you.

I am sorry that you are bleeding. And I hope the death threats from all the little, worthless Driscoll fan boys stop soon.

But you brought it on yourself and your family and on your church and the church as a whole by supporting that lying, brawling, cowardly, controlling, abusive bully.

Signed, 

Mara Reid

P.S. For those of you who have come by here and have no idea what I'm talking about, I will leave two links to bring you up to speed.

Mark Driscoll has John Lindell Going Scorched Earth

John Lindell Urges Mark Driscoll to 'Repent' for 'Trying to Destroy' His Church

Don't know where this is going or how it will end. But I do know that this drama among Narcissistic Mega Church Pastors has nothing to do with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And since Driscoll is so fond of trumping up misogyny by accusing people of having the Jezebel spirit, I'm going to say something about him that is even more inflammatory. I'm going to say that Driscoll may be embodying the spirit of the Anti-Christ. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe I am going too far by saying this. But is he representing Jesus Christ? I think not. Nor is he representing the spirit of Elijah as he tries to trump up hatred for things he personally loathes and labeling them Jezebel.

Oh.

And btw. Dear Grace Driscoll. I hope you and your children are doing okay while your patriarch is raging and coming unhinged. I hope the money he is making as a false prophet and lying grifter is enough to make up for whatever hell you are living in. See ya. Wouldn't wanna be ya.

Misogynist Mark, World Class Attention Seeker

 So a thing happened this weekend.

If you are on Christian Twitter you already know.

For those who haven't gone down that time-consuming rabbit hole, here are a few links from other sources on the event.

From Baptist Global News (Egalitarian)

From Underdog Theology (Complementarian)

From The Wartburg Watch  (Not completely sure)

I shared these links with WenatcheeTheHatchet and he put in his two cents worth.

okay, fine, I'll briefly discuss a thing

Long and short, Mark Driscoll was kicked off a stage at the premier Tough Guy conference in Springfield, Missouri.

That's right, faux tough-guy Driscoll postured too big and too controversial for his friend, Pastor John Lindell of James River Church in Springfield. But it was Lindell who shut Mark down when Mark started dissing one of the circus acts presented, calling it something, something, spirit of Jezebel something.

For a video of Mark's shenanigans go to the Underdog Theology link above and start at about the 13 minute mark.

My blogging friend, Wenatchee, does not think misogyny is involved. which is I respectfully disagree with. While I often defer to Wenatchee on all things Driscoll because he actually went to and ministered at Mark's Mars Hill in Seattle, I can't agree on this one.

I tend to lean in the direction of Wendy Alsup (Complementarian) who also went to Driscoll's church and was part of the women's ministry there in Seattle back in the day. She had this to say about Mark's rant.

So Driscoll is at a testosterone infused giant grunt fest with a bunch of other guys. Somewhere that you think would be right up his alley. And he still manages to stir up controversy (because what better way to draw attention to yourself) and to blame women and their sexuality in the form of the Jezebel Spirit for some entertainment he didn't like.

Whether that entertainment was appropriate or not (probably not) I won't get into.

But rather, I want to point out that, for men like Driscoll to build power, he has to have an enemy. He has to vilify someone. And for him, the easy target is women who don't kowtow to him.

As far as the Jezebel Spirt is concerned, I've said this before, I'll say it again.

If you look as the Jezebel spirit as representing a controlling, manipulating, dominating person, Mark is the most guilty man I know of displaying the Jezebel spirit.

If, rather (or in addition to) you look at the Jezebel spirit as being about sexual immorality, again, Mark Driscoll is the most guilty man in the room, whatever room he is in. HE is the one who raped and pornified The Song of Solomon. HE is the one who was telling women that they needed to do strip teases and perhaps even pole dancing for their husbands. He is the one who instructed women that Jesus commanded them to service their husband's orally. He is the one who worked tirelessly to convince women that their primary job was to be personal porn stars for their husbands.

Yes, I have strong feelings about this. Besides anger, I have a great sorrow over how masterfully Mark manipulates and finds opportunity to promote himself and his books (yes he has a book on Elijah and Jezebel where he fancies himself as Elijah). I have friends who have been taken in by his charm and charisma. I am wary of what I will find them saying on Facebook. I am not looking forward to seeing how they have been deceived by his treachery.

But I am thankful for the voices that continue to point out who and what Driscoll is, which definitely isn't Elijah.

[Note #1: I don't get into this calling out spirits of Jezebel and Ahab business. I'm just tired of men with agendas doing it. The post above is just me lamenting Driscoll's terrible log/splinter problem. He has no basis, authority, or credibility to do so. But he's too determined to be front and center in the lime light to do anything else other than stir up controversy and betray friends at their own conferences in front of thousands of people. He can't help himself.

Note #2: I understand Wenatchee not wanting to go there concerning calling Mark a misogynist. He's never been on the receiving end of misogyny and so it's just not a priority. He also steers away from terms like narcissist for his own good reasons. I still respect and seek his insight because it is always well thought out.]

Josh Howerton: Disqualified as Pastor

 He's disqualified on so many levels.

Rather than rehash the basics I'll link a few blogs/podcast here to catch up anyone who has missed how Josh perpetuates the bad Evangelical teachings on Christian married sex. Then underneath that, I will explain why I feel Josh doesn't meet the basic requirements for being anything more than a baby Christian and has no business being a pastor.

Podcast: Why Evangelical Honeymoons Go so Badly

When Evangelical Misogyny Goes Viral

Josh Howerton's awful marriage advice (Podcast)

So, anyway, this has been going on for weeks.

Josh has been called out for giving bad marriage advice. And instead of taking correction and doing better, he's accusing people of misrepresenting him and not being able to take a joke.

Then, to add insult to injury, he goes online to instruct women on how to receive correction. You can find this bit of 'teaching' in the "Josh Howerton's awful marriage advice" podcast linked third above at the 26:40 mark in the video.

So, long and short. Josh absolutely cannot receive correction. However, he feels entitled to instruct women on how they need to receive instruction. He says that pastors must be bold in their message and not be afraid to correct women even if they get a backlash for it. He quotes Proverbs and says something about how the wise heart receives correction.

But this is for women. It's not for him.

He wants to be able to do to women something that he doesn't want done to him.

He is disqualified from the pastorate because he is a heavy weight champion at breaking The Golden Rule given by Jesus. You know that "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," part of the gospel that so many men throw away when it comes to relating to women. (Looking at you Driscoll and Emerson Eggerichs!)

He cannot obey the most basic, 101 level, Christian principle out there.

He wants women to respect him. But he cannot respect women or their voices enough to hear them and understand his sin against them.

And it's sick.

There is a sickness, a cancer in the body of Christ and Josh Howerton is part of that cancer.

He is disqualified as a pastor because he doesn't care about the hearts, minds, or bodies of Christian women.

How Dare Mark Driscoll

 How dare him for thinking that he is a pastor and teacher

How dare him for using women as props to justify his bad sermons.

How dare him for pornifying the Song of Solomon.

I have two links concerning Driscoll's defense of his "How Dare You" sermons.

One if from Underdog Theology where Dean addresses Mark's defense called "Mark Driscoll Gives 'Reason' He Screamed 'How Dare You!'" Dean doesn't start talking about Driscoll until about 15 minutes in.

The second link is from Wenatchee The Hatchet pointing out several other things, including that this sermon was no where near the level of controversial that Driscoll has displayed in the past:

Mark Driscoll revisits what he says was his most controversial moment in his public career.

Wenatchee makes some good points and brings up history about Mark that we should not forget including his infamous Scotland sermon and other pornifications of The Songs. And his time blogging as William Wallace the second.

How dare you, Mark Driscoll. While you claim to be a defender of women, in reality, you use them just as badly as any other unregenerate man. You are just better at manipulate and gaslighting than your average joe.

Edited 3/23/24 to add:

Mark Driscoll Tries to Justify "How Dare You!" Sermon

Another good one with lots of evidence like Wenatchee's post.

Edited 4/1/24 to add this link because of comments below:

Driscoll's Narcissism on full display

"Mark Driscoll is a brawler" at the 1:55 mark. And also mentions that he got physical with people, choking them, etc. in church during baptisms during Mars Hill days.

Do NOT Quote Driscoll on Social Media, Part 2

So, here is the outline the I made in order to explain to my work friend why Driscoll should not be shared on her Facebook. I started way back with my relationship with The Song of Solomon in order for her to see why I found Driscoll's take on The Songs to be so wrong, ungodly, and unholy.

*****

 I was born again in 1982 through the charismatic renewal that was happening at the time. It hit many of the mainline denominations including Catholics and Lutherans.

We sang two songs that came from The Song of Solomon (hitherto referred to as The Songs) which established for me a connection to the long tradition of reading The Songs as Allegorical in nature of our relationship with God. The two songs were "We Will Rejoice in You and Be Glad" and "His Banner Over Me Is Love."

My family moved onto another church that was pastored by a Narcissist (though we didn't know it at that time. that word was not even used yet.) I won't get into this particular thing even though it is relevant to the story. But it was there that I met and married my husband (1987) and we were given the book "The Act of Marriage" by Tim and Beverly LaHaye. This book used The Songs as a physical guided to married sex. So this established the use of the Songs in this manner in a way that greatly overshadowed my previous/limited exposure to the allegorical side of the book.

Fast forward to the mid 90s. There was an outpouring of the Holy Spirit happening at a missionary organization in (name removed to guard my anonymity). During one of the sessions a frail, skinny, redheaded, young woman was in deep worship. She was responding to the intense outpouring by saying several things including, "We enrapture your heart, oh God," several times. As I stood to the side listening to her, my internal dialogue went something like this: "That's very nice sounding. But my Bible doesn't say that about us/me." But later when I looked it up in The Songs, it was there. And my next conclusion was that it might be in The Songs but that doesn't mean it should absolutely be taken allegorically like the redhead was doing. It was then that I felt impressed by God to start meditating on The Songs. But I resisted thinking that The Songs were just too racy for this small town girl. However, God shut up the whole Bible to me, even the parts that could prompt the greatest worship within me. Reading the Bible became like reading a phone book. The only scripture that I read during that time of resistance, the only Bible verse that sparked anything thing inside of me was Psalms 2:12 Kiss the Son, that He may not be angry and you perish on the way...

So I relented and began reading and meditating on The Songs. And what a blessing it was. It was an antidote and emotional protection from the shallow and self-serving love that I was receiving from my husband. It was also a healing balm for a previous and devastating rejection from a family of origin member.

I spent a decade meditating on The Songs and decided to look on-line to see if anyone else was getting so much healing from this book in the mid 2000s. This is when I stumbled upon the outrage and controversy caused by a message preached by Mark Driscoll in Scotland. The sermon was something about "The Good Bits" from The Songs. He was preaching an overly sexualized and, I would say, even pornified version so the Book. But the part that enraged people and felt like pig's blood in the Holy of Holies to me was when he told the women in that congregation than Jesus commanded them to get on their knees and service their husbands orally. It was a hard slap in my face for someone to take a healing book and use it to invade the privacy of the bedroom and command women to do an act that some women might find distasteful. Pun intended.

I got involved in on-line discussions concerning this and how far out in left-field Driscoll had taken his teaching on sex in the Bible. In these conversations, Driscoll apologists would show up, be rude and obnoxious, challenge us, call us prudes, and said we were squeamish over what the Bible "clearly teaches". They would also point out how smart and well read Driscoll was and that we were just jealous of his amazing teaching and preaching. One fellow, who was more polite than the others, agreed that the Scotland sermon was over the top. But he insisted that Driscoll was a great teacher and handled the book more graciously in his "Peasant Princess" sermon series.  He linked to an episode of the series and challenged me to go see for myself.  I went ahead and watched it. And while it was more toned down than the "Shock Jock Preacher" antics he engaged in Scotland, I was still dismayed by what he did to the Book.

Without getting into all the gory details, I'll point out a few major issues with his handling of the book. First off, he mocks, scorns, and ridicules the long standing tradition of looking at the Songs as an allegory of our relationship with God. Then, he seeks and "finds" symbolism of explicit sex acts under every rock and tree in the book. He also takes this poetic book, written mostly from a female point of view and about what made her feel loved and safe and morphs it into a pornified male-centric monstrosity mostly concerned with what a husband is owed from his wife in the bedroom. People who have left Driscoll's church had many complaints. One particular complaint was that Driscoll was trying to force women into a tiny submissive box everywhere but the bedroom. And in the bedroom, he was trying to force women into their husband's personal porn stars and nymphomaniacs, complete with stripteases and pole dancing. 

[I stopped at this moment to let my friend know that I actually didn't care if people had stripteases and pole dancing in their bedrooms. That was their business. My concern was with Driscoll making up commands concerning sex acts and deciding certain symbolisms in The Songs simply had to be about stripteases when this was highly unlikely.)

I wondered how this man was declared one of the top 50 pastors in the United States. So I took a closer look. Turns out that, besides using the Bible as a sock puppet that always agrees with him, he also has issues with rage, bullying, and fostering a cult-like atmosphere at his church, Mars Hill, in Seattle. While I was watching him and researching about him, he was credibly accused of plagiarism and of buying a spot on the New York Times Best Sellers list.

When his elders in Seattle tried to hold Driscoll accountable for his bullying, raging, and misappropriating church funds, he fled Seattle and went to Phoenix and started a new church there where he is in charge and answers to no one. No elders to get in the way of doing whatever he wants. He continues to "pastor" and "teach' and is hustling hard to be a huge, Christian online Influencer.

As you can see, I am unhappy with Driscoll, his history, and what he continues to do. However, abusers are gonna abuse and grifters are gonna grift. I am way more upset with the men who have propped Driscoll up, past and present, and have given him a platform. Christians, especially Christian "leaders", are woefully lacking in wisdom and discernment. Many Christian leaders may also be as lacking in integrity as Driscoll. They just aren't as blatant about it as he is. But God's sheep are paying dearly for the neglect of true pastors and shepherds..
 

*****

So this is what I told my friend at work. And if you have been watching Driscoll as long as I have, you know that I haven't listed half of his blatant misogyny and sins.

Twitter is all abuzz with talk of Mike Bickle of IHOP fame, and what a flaming Narcissist he is. There are also portions of Twitter (yes, I know it is X now. It just looks better typed out as Twitter) taking on Doug Wilson. There are too many Narcissists in the pulpit. And it's not going to change unless the rank and file step up and scream "ENOUGH!" and take their tithes and offerings elsewhere.

Do NOT Quote Driscoll on Social Media part 1

 As mentioned in my 2/24/24 post, I was triggered by a friend who put a Mark Driscoll quote up on her Facebook. I knew that she did it not have a clue about Driscoll being an over-the-top abusive grifter. If she knew this, she would have never put up the quote. Because we are co-workers and interact at work, I let her know that when we had time, I would explain why Driscoll is not a good person. Since work has been insanely busy lately, I felt like I should create a streamlined and abbreviated timeline for her and I wrote it down so I wouldn't ramble, get sidetracked on the many, many stupid tangents that make up Driscoll's reprehensible history.

As I revisited my history with both The Song of Solomon and Driscoll's rape of the book, I realized two things. One thing was this: It was therapeutic for me to give this testimony out loud and in person to an understanding sister in Christ who then promptly deleted her Driscoll quote. When she looked at it again, she saw that a cousin of hers had commented under the quote saying that she would never follow this guy (Driscoll).

The second was a reminder to me that, while I still meditate semi-consistently on The Songs due to their healing properties, I haven't really dived in and immersed myself in the book for a long time. Deep and immersive meditation in The Songs, besides being healing, also brings me closer to the heart and nature of God, something I've been a bit distant from. So now, I'm spending more quality time with the book along with my regular (or irregular) scripture reading and am better for it.

And then, over the weekend, something else happened. I saw a tweet from someone.

And this made a whole lot of sense. They (Christian Leaders) made a podcast about it. But now they are done. They did their due diligence. What more do we want from them?

Well, I guess it was the grass roots movement that brought him down. So, I suppose it will take grassroots resistance to keep reminding people why Driscoll has disqualified himself as a pastor or any kind of church leader both in the past and in this present.

I did my grassroots job with my friend and so did my friend's cousin.

Where the hell are the supposed Christian leaders crying out against Driscoll. I guess they are too busy protecting their own kingdoms to give a flying flip about the Kingdom of God.

The "Taking God's Name in Vain" Diversion

 A few Sundays ago, I was at church. The pastor was away and ended up being away one Sunday longer than he planned. So the children's pastor was presenting with the help of her children's church, They were talking about the Ten Commandments at one point and was asking the adult congregation what each one meant. When they came to what "Taking God's Name in Vain" meant, I raised my hand. She called on me and I said it means, "Saying that God said something when God had not actually said it." She was taken aback and responded, "Oh, that's good."

Why was she taken aback and responded thus? Well, I believe that it is because it has been beaten into our heads from the pulpit that the actual meaning of "Don't take God's name in vain" means don't use God's name as an expletive or swear word. I think most preachers, teachers, and authors do this innocently enough because they don't know any better. But I am sure that some preachers, teachers, and authors teach this on purpose to distract from the real meaning of the command. They want to make sure that this is what people think when, "Thou shalt not take the Name of the LORD thy GOD in vain" comes up. They want people to think that this is referring to Joe Blow who hit his thumb with a hammer and is JCing and GDing all over his garage holding his injured digit. These unscrupulous preachers don't want people to realize that the greater sin of taking God's name in vain is saying that God agrees with them on some wonky doctrine, opinion, or idea that they claim is "biblical".

That Sunday mornings presentation along with the Bare Marriage's podcast on "The Problems With Lies Women Believe" put together with a quote a friend put on Facebook from Mark Driscoll has made me think again about this diversionary tactic concerning taking God's Name in vain.

First, let's look at the Bare Marriage podcast on Nancy DeMoss Wolgemoth's book concerning what Nancy refers to as lies women believe. Sheila and her guests come to the conclusion that it is Nancy who believes lies about God's attitude towards women and marriage. They did not go so far as to say that Nancy was using God's name in vain to convince women that God agrees with Nancy. But that's where my mind went. Does Nancy take God's name in vain when she wrongly uses scripture to warp God's love and nature against His daughters? When she uses the Bible to support her beliefs in a false narrative that the Bible does not actually support is she breaking that commandment? If she truly believes her lies to be true, is she then not held accountable for supporting her lies about God? I don't know. She may use these lies against herself just as much as against other women.  So this is between her and her Lord. He loves her. She is in His hands.

Now let's turn to what, in my view, is closer to taking God's name in vain. It is something Mark Driscoll said back in 2007.

The only reason I'm thinking of this now is because a friend and co-worker recently put a Mark Driscoll quote up on Facebook. It was very triggering for me to see this sold-out-for-Jesus, Celebrate Recovery Christian quote Driscoll. In order to help her understand why Driscoll is not a good person to quote, I laid out for her an abbreviated list of reasons in chronological order (that I may post later on this blog). Going through that list of things, I dealt again with the 2007 quote from Mark Driscoll's infamous sermon in Scotland where he claimed that Jesus commanded women to sexually service their husbands in a certain way. He was taking God's name in vain, issuing as command to women something that God never commanded. The bad part of that sermon is also mentioned in the Rise and Fall of Mars Hill episode entitled The Things We Do To Women.at the 34 minute mark.

People were appalled at what Mark said in that sermon. But it never came up that he was taking God's name in vain. It never came up that when Mark told those women in Scotland that Jesus commanded them to service their husbands that he was breaking one of the Ten Commandments. And I don't know why people are so squeamish about calling out this sin and naming it for what it is.

I guess I'm just tired of Christians getting all up in arms about people using God's Name in Vain when they don't actually realize that preachers do it all the time, passing off their own opinion or interpretation as the very oracles of God.

So why am I so ready to say that Driscoll uses God's name in vain over Nancy DeMoss. Well, it has to do with what each gets out of their lies. Nancy's lies hurt herself along with other women. Driscoll's lies are all about propping himself up, serving him, and putting women down. He also labels his opinion of Bible interpretation as a literal "Command" from Jesus. So, yes, I would not be surprised if the judgement against Driscoll would be stronger.

But long and short, they both hurt women and lie about Who God is and how He feels about His daughters. I would not want to be in either one of their shoes come Judgement Day.

No Quarter November Numbskull

 Stupid title. I know. But I'll get to the reason for it later.

The main reason for this post is to link a secular article about Wilson's No Quarter November Fiasco.

That Moscow Mood: How much culture war is too much, for American Evangelicals?

Linking the above because I found that it summarized the crazy events on Twitter/X that dogged Wilson's No Quarter November antics this year.

WenatcheTheHatchet was the first to draw my attention to the fact that Driscoll was influenced by Doug Wilson early on. And I can really see that. If I knew where to find that post, I'd link it. May go back and do this eventually.

Anyway, why did I use the term "Numbskull" to describe Wilson? Because it starts with an "N" like No and November. Numbskull means stupid or foolish person. Wilson is not stupid. He is very intelligent. However, Wilson is not wise. He is quite foolish, and not in a good way. He is foolish in his words and thoughts and in the way he causes "The Little Ones to Stumble". He is foolish because he is oblivious to the millstone that he has been attaching to his own neck over that last few decades of his life.

It is true that I am angry with him for his abuses and for covering up the abuses of other privileged white men. But more than that, I pity him for his foolishness and misunderstanding of the heart of God for His children.

Abusers Are Going to Abuse

 Narcissist are going to love bomb to build their kingdoms then devalue and discard the people they have used when their usefulness is deemed over.

Mark Driscoll is a Narcissist, a User, and Abuser. And he's not going to stop. He's just going to make a safe place for himself so that he can continue to build his kingdom and stoke his ego.

Mark Driscoll's Safe Space: How the Embattled Pastor Built a New Church and Became an Online Influencer

I don't want to wish him ill. I just want him to stop using and hurting people. Is that asking for too much?

There are too many narcissistic pastors in places of influence and Driscoll is one of the worst.

I found out from reading the article linked above that there is a closed forum where Driscoll's victims from both Mars Hill in Seattle and Trinity in Scottsdale meet, share their stories and support one another.

From the linked article:

"Former members of both churches have formed a private online forum to share their stories and support one another. They gather and discuss regularly on a locked Facebook group called “The Sound and Valley Connect,” named after the Puget Sound area that was home to Mars Hill and the Trinity’s location in the Arizona valley."

This is Mark Driscoll's legacy. These are the multitude of sacrifices that have been made and continue to be made on the altar of Driscoll's massive ego.

I've said it before many times. And will continue to say it for as long as it takes.

This man is NOT a pastor. This man is NOT a Bible teacher. He plays at teaching the Bible with great, fleshly charisma and pizzazz. But whatever he "teaches", it must prop up HIS massive ego.

No, Driscoll doesn't teach God's Word. He uses the Bible as a sock puppet that always agrees with him.

Driscoll's Delusional. Thinks He's Elijah

 I wanted to title this post, "Driscoll is selling War again" as a sort of part two or companion post to my 
"Driscoll is selling Sex again" post. But it just wasn't as explosive sounding as, "Driscoll is Delusional."

Because Driscoll works so hard to be so explosive, controversial, and cutting edge, I went for the more bombastic title in honor of the bombastic and attention-seeking drama queen who is the subject of this post.

First off, I guess selling sex didn't work out for Driscoll as well as he had hoped. Book sales for his "Real Romance" book must not be anywhere near what his old "Peasant Princess" series was back in the good old days of Mars Hill. If they were, then perhaps Driscoll wouldn't be so quick to try to sell war. He might not have jumped into trying to be a god of war, declaring himself to be Elijah, and saying he's a weapon if his "Real Romance" had done better in book sales. And his Real Romance book might have done better if Driscoll actually knew what 'real' meant. (No Driscoll, your thoughts and opinions are not real while everyone who disagrees with you is fake. You are not the standard for reality. You are so delusional that it is getting comical. Yes, I said it. You are becoming a big joke.)

How I wish that Driscoll could have a real encounter with Elijah and find out how far out of touch he is with reality and how far out of touch with the Bible he is. He might find that he has more in common with the prophets of Baal than he'd like. He might find out that he has more in common with the controlling spirit in Jezebel than with the Holy Ghost working through Elijah.

Poor delusional man. And poor deceived, delusional people who are following him off the rails of the crazy train.

Maybe he'll make a few bucks selling his shtick. Maybe not.

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.

Shiny Happy People Aftercare Resources

 Yes, I watched it.

No, it was not triggering to me. I managed to avoid most of the crap that came from Gothard and the IBLP/ATI propaganda. I put them in the category of Doug Wilson, so far over the cuckoo's edge, I just couldn't get bogged down in their B.S.

Also, I never watched the Duggars on TV. Couldn't stand the idea of it. Plus, I was also more laser focused on Driscoll*, Piper, TGC, and others like that at the time who were also troubling the Church with their aberrant doctrine and teaching points.

But, I know that there are many, many people who have been or are going to be severely triggered by Amazon's number one tv show. So for them, I'll link a resource page:

Aftercare resources

*For those who come here for Driscoll stuff, I've been meaning to get to this. I even started a post about it but could never get back to finish it. So I'm going to just link these two things here. Do with them as you like.

Wenatchee the Hatchet has an interesting look at a recent Tweet from Driscoll comparing menopause to demonic possession. 

Which isn't strange since Driscoll links women pretty close to Satan. He has many examples like what Wenatchee lists in his post linked above.

Also, here is a quote from another source where Driscoll calls women who don't fit into his doctrine on womanhood Satan. It is under the subheading Family Division.

You could call these last two links off-topic, if you like. But I don't think so. It all stems from the same issue of celebrity preachers building up kingdoms for themselves and using God's name in vain to do so. These cult leaders are very controlling, ,manipulative, and often hate women.

Edited to add Recovering Grace's page on the topic of Shiny Happy People.

Seen "Shiny Happy People"?

Hopefully more people will find healing.

A Pornified Brain Assaulting The Songs, Again.

 I finished Biblical Porn the other day. It's been out since 2018 but I felt no need to read it because ol' pornified brain Driscoll has been reduced to a lying little disgraced 'pastor'* in a suburb of Phoenix.

(*pastor? really? ah, no, not really. pastors care for the flock. driscoll just uses people and throws them away when they are no longer useful to him.)

But things have changed because Driscoll is at it again, assaulting a beautiful Book of Poetry in the Bible, manipulating and twisting it beyond breaking point. Then taking the twisted and broken version of that Book and using it to create a porn and rape culture in his present church. Because of this I felt the need to read the above linked book that Wenatchee the Hatchet considers to be the best book dealing with the train wreak of Driscoll at Mars Hill in Seattle.

Driscoll first unleashed his his porn heavy interpretation of the Song of Songs back in 2007 or 2008 in the form of his "Peasant Princess" series. He also gave a sermon in Scotland called "Sex, a study of the good bits from the Song of Solomon" that he has since tried to scrub because it was so wrong, un-Christian and repulsive. Listen at your own risk.

Well, a month ago, he has recycled his porn song into a book he calls "Real Romance". Unfortunately, Driscoll believes that his perception of the world, life, sex, and marriage is the only "Real" perception. All other perceptions that don't line up, lockstep, with his are, I don't know, fake? lacking? Not Driscoll centric?

Well, I waited for a while for people to do reviews on the book since I certainly don't want to read it. I'm still getting over watching the first part of just one of his Peasant Princess videos. Now, every time I read that portion of the Songs, I remember that unfortunate and video series and how it has so muddied the waters for so many people.

I know many of the people harmed by Driscoll in Seattle have no desire to review "Real Romance" and I totally get it. If I regret watching one part of one Peasant Princess video, I can only imagine what people who were immersed in his Peasant Princess/Real Marriage crap feel about ever looking at it.

Well, anyway, because of all the above, I decided to link a guest series written by Wenatchee the Hatchet concerning his view on how Driscoll mishandled The Songs back in 2011. I'm doing this as a public service for anyone who has been assaulted by Driscoll's porn meditations through his newest book and would like to see a thoughtful response from someone who had been a member of his church back in Seattle.

Introducing Wenatchee the Hatchet (WTH)

WTH on Driscoll's SoS Intro and Part 1

WTH on Driscoll's SoS Parts 2 and 3

WTH on Driscoll's SoS Part 4a

WTH on Driscoll's SoS Part 4b

Hopefully, someday, Driscoll will stop troubling the Church with his warped ideas on men, women, and sex. But I'm not holding my breath.

Mark Driscoll & Biblical Porn

 I'm reading a book highly recommended to me by my internet friend WenatcheeTheHatchet.

It is called Biblical Porn: Affect, Labor, and Pastor Mark Driscoll's Evangelical Empire

I am about halfway through. I knew things were bad and that Driscoll was doing terrible things to people up in Seattle while he dominated his church. But I didn't know how bad.

Wenatchee has a review of the Biblical Porn book that he did back in 2018 that he says is nsfw:

Prelude and Review of Jessica Johnson's Biblical Porn

NSFW? He ain't kidding.

Why am I reading this now and why am I bringing it up now? Well, I mentioned before that Driscoll has recycled his old Peasant Princess series on the Song of Solomon and written a book called "Real Romance" that he had published last month on Valentine's Day.

So far, there are still no reviews for it on Amazon, which I find surprising. Surely someone somewhere has read the book and has an opinion. I've put a few feelers out to see if anyone has said anything. But so far nothing.

I guess the bottom line for me, the reason this bothers me, is because he's still out their throwing pig feces on the Best of Songs in the Bible, making it all about how he can coerce his wife and all Christian women into becoming strippers, porn stars, prostitutes for their husbands and saying that God agrees with him. He uses God's Word to promote a rape culture and tries to make people believe that God approves of his abusive teachings.

I might not care if I hadn't spent an entire decade before I ever heard of Mark Driscoll, meditating on the healing aspects of The Songs. Within this Best of All Songs there is healing for those of us who have been abused and coerced by narcissistic husbands.

But this Narcissist from Seattle who has moved to Phoenix has used it to abuse his wife and all Christian women within ear shot. This bully of a man who thinks he speaks for God has used it to pimp out Christian women in order to build his own kingdom on sand. Please see Kyle Howard's YouTube video on the topic.

Well, I guess I'll continue to read this book suggested by my internet friend Wenatchee. He would know a lot concerning Driscoll since he used to go to his church. He was actually able to supply the author of the book I linked above with more damning evidence against Driscoll. And he was able to watch, in person, as Driscoll committed a hostile take over of Mars Hill then swerve the poor, unsuspecting congregation into terrible error, making it a hotbed of rape culture and other abuses.

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.

Brothers In Love

 Back in the day my mother used to belong to a sorority that was good about helping women get ahead in a man's world through scholarships and grants for a better education.

Along side this sorority was a group formed by some of their husbands call BIL, an acronym for Brothers In Love. And these fellows would get involved in projects to further this sorority's goal.

Today I read a post on Bare Marriage by Keith Gregoire concerning the accusations against his wife and company that Bare Marriage in it's various forms (Blog, Podcast, Facebook, Twitter etc.) engages in man-bashing. As always, he does an eloquent job dismantling these false accusations against Bare Marriage activity in his post Is Holding Men to a High Standard Man-Bashing?

Normally, I might just comment my appreciation for his words. But today, I felt like saying more.

Keith, his son-in-law, and the various male commenters and contributors, even some of the struggling but honest men are BILs to me. And I want to look at some scripture to talk about this.

[Disclaimer: The scripture I am pulling from is The Song of Solomon. I understand that many take this book of the Bible to be exclusively about sex between a husband and wife. While I understand that this is true about The Songs, I also believe in a more nuanced and even at times, allegorical take. And there is a long tradition of others looking at it this way. Some have gone way too far making an allegorical application ridiculous. And some have determined that it is never about sex, which I don't agree with. So those of you who can only see The Songs as sexual, this post may not be for you. But my personal testimony involves meditating on The Songs in order to get healing while still in a bad marriage.]

Songs 1:5“I am black and beautiful,

You daughters of Jerusalem,
Like the tents of Kedar,

Songs 1:6 Do not stare at me because I am [f]dark,

For the sun has tanned me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me;
They made me caretaker of the vineyards,
But I have not taken care of my own vineyard.

In verse 6, the beloved refers to her brothers as being angry with her and implies that they were oppressive towards her, holding her responsible for their vineyards, or someone's vineyard that was not her own to the neglect of her vineyard. This is what Evangelical men have done with their books, like "Love and Respect" and the "Every Man's Battle" series. These authors hold women responsible for the sins of men.

These Evangelical authors are not BILs. They are something else. Are they Angry Little Men Oppressing Sisters Totally maybe? Or ALMOST men? (I'll bet someone else could come up with a better acronym. This was the best I could do in the here and now.)

An over reaching theme in The Songs is about the Lover taking the beloved from being an oppressed daughter of a nobleman (or prince depending on translation) who wasn't even allowed to take care of her own business and setting her up as Queen and manager of her own vineyard.

Songs 8:12 My very own vineyard is [d]at my disposal;

The thousand shekels are for you, Solomon,
And two hundred are for those who take care of its fruit.”

Allegorically, in personal meditations, I have viewed the results in this verse as being made possible by the Lover of my Soul. Jesus.

But, I now consider all our BILs to be men of integrity that are working along side women to stop the oppression of women by false teachers. These false teachers are not true brothers and have worked very hard to lay up heavy burdens upon the backs of wives in marriage. And they don't feel the need to lift a finger to help. That would make them Pharisees or ALMOST men. (Really. Someone is welcome to come up with something better.)

As a closing thought, I am thinking of an old song that went around Christendom back in the day.

"They will know we are Christians by our love."

But according to the ALMOST men, the song might go, "They will know I'm a Christian husband by how much sex, and all the different kinds of sex I can get from my wife." (I'm looking at you, Driscoll, you Bible manipulator and leader of ALMOST men.)

I love and appreciate all our BILs at Bare Marriage. Thanks Keith for contributing to the blog.

Mark Driscoll Is So Disqualified

 He is disqualified on so many levels as a pastor, teacher, and preacher.

Yet people still support him and give him a platform. I  personally know people who think that Driscoll has repented because he is so good at spinning, spinning, spinning, and making a 'reality' that he likes rather than to deal with actual reality, with what really happened.

I have a tendency to focus on his terrible misuse of the Bible and especially The Songs as tools to further his fleshly agenda. He is busy at work building his personal earthly kingdom. Unfortunately his new fiefdom has little to do with God's Kingdom. I'm planning on reposting some things concerning this in the future, including a guest post by my blogging friend, Wenatchee the Hatchet on this particular topic. More on him later.

But for now it is good for me to remember that there is so much evidence in other areas that exposes Driscoll's woeful lack of character. There is much evidence on his failure to fulfill the requirements for the office of a pastor as lined out in the Pastoral Epistles.

There is a reason that I include Wenatchee The Hatchet in my reading concerning Driscoll. He actually attended Mars Hill in Seattle. Plus he has training in journalism so is good at research and delivery of facts. When he talks about Driscoll and the history of Mars Hill, I have never been sorry for it paying attention.

Recently, Wenatchee the Hatchet has brought up a great point that I want to link to. He has addressed an excerpt from a 2021 book, "Pray Like Jesus" written by Driscoll that completely reframes what happened back in Seattle. Wenatchee the Hatchet holds it up next to other evidence from that time including Driscoll's own words. It is a long read, but a good read for anyone who cares about actual reality vs Driscoll's self-serving spin.

an apparent account of Mark Driscoll's resignation from Mars Hill from the 2021 book Pray Like Jesus, juxtaposed with prior accounts and Sutton Turner's published notes from the 2014 investigation of Mark Driscoll

As an add on to this post, I'd like to direct your attention to a Julie Roys podcast: Escaping & Healing From Abusive Churches Part 2

Here she interviews a man who spent time in an abusive church in Oregon.

Part 1 is also good. But part 2 gets more into the difference between abusive leaders that are held up as 'good' pastors, teachers, or preachers verses a person with an actual pastor's heart.

Much of modern Christianity, and especially modern Evangelicalism, has lost its way. They want the shiny and charismatic men, the ones that entertain them and make them feel certain ways. They don't realize that these shiny men have shady characters and off-balanced teachings that often oppose the teachings of Jesus.