WISHING EVERYONE A MERRY CHRISTMAS                     

                                                             AND

                                         GOD'S BLESSINGS FOR 2022

                            

                      

                 

Female leaders are at all times to please the pastor: James Macdonald P/5

                                      Read Part One HERE

In this post I will begin to share the story of Lina's abuse by James Macdonald, pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel, Rolling Meadows, Illinois, USA. (He has since been fired).

Lina: "I attended Harvest Bible Chapel for 8 years and served as the Women's Ministry Director. A year or so before leaving Harvest I had written a blog post on holiness in which I had referenced the growing fad of tattoos in our culture. I hadn't realised that James had gotten a tattoo that week. My blog had indirectly underminded James. As a result I was asked to meet with the elders, pull the blog piece and write a new one that James would first approve. James ended up sending me a copy of the newly approved blog post and out of fear, I complied. I didn't want to be rebellious against authority. I also managed to write an apology to James for the pain I had caused him. I regret staying at Harvast after that meeting with the elders. I should have left that week, but I was too afraid to cause damage to Jesus and His Kingdom and the women I was leading at that time."

Lina: "By the time I left I had discovered something dark about myself. I was a woman ruled by fear. I didn't want to upset James."

Lina: "There is no question in my mind that what I did see and experience increasingly at Harvest was a culture that functioned and was sustained by fear and the desire to please James at any cost."

P.S. I will comtinue the story of Lina's abuse at Harvest Bible Chapel in my next post.

Read Part Six HERE

Pastors are allowed to lie: James Macdonald P/4

                                      Read Part One HERE

In this post I will share the story of Jill Monaco's abuse by James Macdonald, pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel, Rolling Meadows, Illinois, USA. (He has since been fired).

Jill was the Executive Assistant to Kewn Shaw at Harvest Bible Chapel from 2005 - 2008. She was, furthermore, part of the worship team. She has suffered abuse at least on three occasions as follows:

1. A married pastor was inappropriate with her.

2. An elder pulled out her shirt and looked down her back without her permision.

3. A married man and leader at church used an opportunity for a hug to kiss her neck and touched her behind.

Her story is one of the following: spiritual and emotional abuse, sexual harrassment, fear tactics, control, financial mismanagement etc. She had been groomed to be isolated from other influences outside Harvest. Moreover, she had been gaslighted, gossiped about and people had been instructed not to speak to her.

She has seen first hand how pastor James Macdonald destroyed people who spoke out about him. She knew that he lied about people but she did not want to be a target.

Read Part Five HERE

 

Abused wives do not deserve to be supported: James Macdonald P/3

                                      Read Part One HERE

In this post I will continue to share the story of Anne Frers' abuse by James MacDonald, pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel, Rolling Meadows, Illinois, USA. (He has since been fired).

 

As suggested by the church, Anne and her husband went into intensive counseling led by the church. However, after the counseling, her marriage was a "thousand times worse" according to Anne because her husband was angry how much she had revealed.

According to Anne, the abuse continued and more than two years later she contacted two leaders by email, once again appealing to them for help. She wrote that due to her husband's view of headship/submission she did not feel "comfortable in the role/position he has in the church." However, nobody from the church ever contacted her in response to that email. Instead, one of the leaders told her husband about her email, which enraged him. This escalated the emotional, physical and spiritual abuse.

Anne eventually checked herself into a hospital where she was diagnosed as an abuse victim. She stayed in the hospital for a month. After she came out of hospital she was told by the leadership of the church to move back in with her husband. However, Anne refused to do so and, consequently, Harvest withdrew all support for her having declared that she has rejected the leadership of the church who attempted to emotionally encourage and assist her. Anne has since divorced her husband. and has left Harvest Bible Chapel.

Read Part Four HERE

 

 

The wife is not allowed to ask questions: James MacDonald P/2

 

                                      Read Part One HERE

In this post I will begin to share the story of Anne Frers' abuse by James Macdonald, pastor of Harvest Chapel, Rolling Meadows, Illinois, USA. (He has since been fired).

From 2008 -2015 Anne Frers' husband served various pastoral roles for churches connected to Harvest Bible Chapel. For all these years, Frers' husband abused her physically, sexually, emotionally and spiritually. She reached out to Harvest leaders numerous times for help but never got the help she needed.

Anne shared with one of the pastors that she and her husband fought frequently and that her husband would "corner her" and would not allow her to go out, spend money or ask questions. That same pastor saw Frers cower at her husband at one occasion and exclaimed to her husband: "She's terrified of you!"

At another time Anne told a good friend of her that her husband used Scripture against her. According to this friend, there was spiritual and emotional abuse going on. Anne was told, "You can't do this; you can only do that. You can't say this; you can only say that." There was a lot of dominant, overpowering behaviour.

P.S. I will continue Anne Frers' story of abuse by pastor James MacDonald in my next post.

Read Part Three HERE

 

It is the wife's responsibility to fix her marriage: James MacDonald P/1

 

 

In this post I will share the story of Bonnie Brztowski's abuse by James Macdonald, pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel, Rolling Meadows, Illinois, USA. (He has since been fired).

For 12 years Bonnie worked as an administrative assistant at Harvest Bible Chapel's Rolling Meadow, IL, Campus. She had a difficult marriage and had started to receive counseling from the church after she and her husband had separated.

Bonnie: "The counseling my husband and I receivd was very one-sided. Rather than focusing on my husband's abusive and manipulative behaviour, the counseling focused on my lack of compassion, the anger I had towards my husband and the "obvious break" in my relationship with God."

Bonnie: "I was told that my separation from my husband was unbiblical and that I needed to live with him again. I was, furthermore told that I was to submit to him as head of the home, trust God and suffer just as Jesus did for me."

Bonnie: "Harvest upheld the belief that I was to submit to my husband regardless of how I felt."

Bonnie: "The general message that Harvest communicated to me was: "You are the strong one. You are the committed Christian. You have the strength to do this, to suffer. It's the woman's responsibility to fix her marriage by her obedience to Christ."

Bonnie: "I felt isolated and unprotected at Harvest. Other women who underwent counseling at Harvest, have said that they felt pressured to remain with abusive husbands and submit to them. Moreover, Harvest leaders ignored the signs of their abuse and failed to hold their abuser accountable."

Read Part Two HERE

It is all about the Driscoll family: Victims of Mark Driscoll P/11

Read Part One HERE

In this post I will share the story of Chad Freese's abuse by Mark Driscoll, pastor ofTrinity Church, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA. Chad was in charge of security at Trinity Church before resigning.

Chad: "In one of the security meetings, you, pastor Mark, told the team that you are "the Head Coach" and no decisions are  made without your guidance and ultimate approval. You told the team if they did not like that, they could find another team. You went on to say the church is structured on your family's values and the security team is to support what you and your family believe. How about what God's values are and supporting what the Bible says?"

Chad: "At another meeting, you, pastor Mark, gave an overview of your background as pastor when you said, "I have the fastest growing church in the nation. I have the largest ministry presence in the southwest Unites States. My content reaches more people per month than any other church, and in December alone (2020) I hit over 10 million people around the globe. Every church in the valley is shutting down and I am exploding.It is miraculous how quicly I have grown." It was alarming to me how you talked about yourself. It was all about you. It was all about numbers. It was apparent to me that "It's all about Driscoll."

Chad: "At yet another meeting you, pastor Mark, went over a " Spectum Trust" with the staff, where you rated individuals on a sliding scale of 0-10 based on how much trust you and the church have in them. The higher level of trust, the more access someone gets to your family because you are at level 10. Once again is it all about the Driscolls.

Chad: "I have been told that the church cannot control who people can be friends with, but if people choose to be friends with those the church does not like or has fellowship with then these people can no longer be trusted and cannot volunteer or have fellowship with members of the church. The bottom line is: are you part of Team Driscoll, Trinity? I was surprised to hear that statement because my team is always Team Jesus."

P.S. This is my last post on abuse by pastor Mark Driscoll. In my next post I will begin to share stories of abuse by James MacDonald, (ex-) pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel, Rolling Meadows, Illinois, USA.

 

I might lose my position at the church: Victims of Mark Driscoll P/10

                        Read Part One HERE
 

In this post I will share the story of Luke Chase who was abused by pastor Mark Driscoll, Trinity Church, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA.

Luke: "I worked at Trinity Church as a worship assistant, and acted as interim worship director."

Luke: "While I learned a lot and did have some buffer of protection from worship pastor Dustin Blatnik who was my mentor and I consider to be a friend, my time on staff had its challenges. This problem was amplified once pastor Dustin was let go off and I was discouraged by other pastors from continuing to associate with him."

Luke: "The church leaders dictated who I was allowed to be friends with. There were some employees I was allowed to spend time with outside of work, probably because of their trust rating. Other employees I was told would be fired soon, and that if I were to hang out with them I might also be fired."

Luke: "On several occasions I was pulled into private rooms for disciplinary conversations. The infractions ranged from parking in the wrong lot to not being active with other worker when I had more important tasks to do. My supervisors resorted to cursing and itimidating me."

Luke: "I eventually resigned when it became clear that the abuse I experienced was not an isolated thing that was normal in the workplace, but a pattern of behaviour that goes far beyond what I first knew. I just couldn't continue to work for an organisation that required its employees to live in fear of being fired."

Read Part Eleven HERE 

My friends are not considered safe to be with: Victims of Mark Driscoll P/9

Read Part One HERE

In this blog post I will focus on Tiffany Eneas who suffered abuse at the hand of Mark Driscoll, pastor of Trinity Church, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA.

Tiffany: "Things were incredible at church until Trina Blatnik was no longer fellowshipping with us since her husband Dustin Blatnik was fired from his position as worship pastor. This was a massive blow to the church as a whole."

Tiffany: "One day my husband and I were approached by pastor Eden Fine. He told us that especially Trina Blatnik, was unsafe. He, furthermore, questioned my husband as a leader because he was still allowing me to fellowship with my friend Trina. He ended the conversation by saying that if we wanted to remain personal friends with him and his wife, the friendship between Trina and me had to cease."

Tiffany: "I then had a one on one meeting with pastor Mark Driscolls' wife, Grace. She told me that one of my friends named Mariya Kiforishin was dangerous. It was, therefore, better for me to not fellowship with her until her husband "leads their house better."

Tiffany: "At that time I let Grace know that I had purchased tickets for Mariya and me for an event. She advised against going and told me to give the tickets to Mariya to attend with someone else. I complied."

Tiffany: "The day after the event I realised what I had let happen to me. I had totally believed the lies.This is cult behaviour to manipulate people and friendships. I have apologised to these women. They are incredible friends."

Read Part Ten HERE

My friends have been dismissed from the church: Victims of Mark Driscoll P/8

Read Part One HERE

In this post I will continue to share Kim Thompson's story of abuse by Mark Driscoll, pastor of Trinity Church, Scottsdale, USA.

Kim: "We began to hear murmurings from people about Dustin Blatnik's mysterious disappearance from leading the worship. We heard that "he wasn't leading his family well." I found it interesting that he just disappeared with no explanation from the pulpit.I had never experienced that before. Normally when a pastor is dismissed something is said, wishing him well or explaining if there truly was sin involved."

Kim: "One time we had made dinner plans with another couple. The wife cancelled at the last minute and just told me that "something unexpected had come up and they could use some prayer." I did not see them for a few weeks at church so I reached out to her only to be told by her that they had been asked to leave the church."

Kim: "I began to notice more and more people disappearing from church. Then I heard stories about how people were told who they should and should not be friends with. We began to feel more and more uneasy about attending the church any longer."

Kim: "Leaving Trinity Church was certainly not easy. Looking back I see how the cultish aspects of Trinity Church really took a hold on me. Now that we have left, I have spoken to many more who all have very similar stories They are unique but have common themes to them - control, manipulation and fear mongering."

Read Part Nine HERE

I received a scolding: Victims of Mark Driscoll P/7

 Read Part One HERE               

In this post I will share the story of Kim Thompson who suffered abuse at the hand of  Mark Driscoll, pastor of Trinity Church, Scottsdale, USA.

Kim: "My family and I began to attend Trinity Church in December 2019. We knew a lot of what happened at Mars Hill Church but he seemed repentant and we had high hopes that he had healed from it all. We even bought it when he said from the pulpit, "Don't believe everything you read online," and "how evil the media can be..."

 
Kim: "I began attending the Flourish women's groups at night. Everything seemed perfect... until December 2020, We had the interns at our home for a sleepover when I got a call from pastor Mark. He was concerned that I had left the interns, including one of his sons, alone for 30 minutes with some other teenage girls at our home. I was arriving home from an event and got back a little later than I had planned. I basically got reprimanded by him. His first question was, "Is your husband home?" Bruce was on a hunting trip so he was not there. Then the interrogation began, I felt like I was talking to the principal after getting in trouble at school. The conversation ended with him saying, "We are coming to get our son." Grace came to get the interns and ended up taking them to their house for a sleepover. When Grace came into the house I told her how the conversation had made me feel. I even began to cry because I was so upset and felt so vulnerable due to pastor Mark's tone with me and the lack of grace shown in the situation. She was very apologetic and said that I would not have known their family rules etc and that they were "under attack" due to baptisms taking place that weekend, so they were kind on edge. (I now see that this is the tactic used when they sin against someone, it is all "spiritual attack." A convenient way to not deal with their bad behaviour). I did expect an email from him at least apologising for how it was handled. I now see why that was a ridiculous expectation."

P.S. I will continue the story on Kim Thompson's abuse at the hand of Mark Driscoll, pastor of Trinity Church, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA, in the next blog post.

Read Part Eight HERE

I was told Satan leads my home: Victims of Mark Driscoll P/6

Read Part One HERE
 

In this post I will share the story of Jolie Monea's abuse at Mark Driscoll's Church, Trinity Church, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA.

When Mark Driscoll started Trinity Church Jolie Monea began to serve. She served on the creative team and taught a women's study on Daniel. However, when Jolie refused to submit her teachings to pastor Mark Driscoll's wife,Grace Driscoll for approval, Grace began edging her out of a teaching role.

Jolie said she then got an opportunity to teach women at another church which she communicated to Grace. Jolie said that Grace told her she was going "outside the family business and that is disloyalty and so... I cannot have you in leadership anymore."

Then one Sunday morning, Jolie said Driscoll mentioned in a sermon that either the husband is leading the home or Satan is. "We sat in the front row... and it felt very targeted at me," Jolie said. "Like, your husband isn't leading well. Your husband commutes and he is not there and you are taking charge." Her family left Trinity Church after that event.

Since then Jolie has taken the time to invite people into their  home, listen to their stories of hurt and abuse and does her best to love them and stand with them. Because of her choice to publicly stand with the hurting and open up her home to people, her home is now considered unsafe by Trinity Church.

Read Part Seven HERE

I was cut off from my church friends: Victims of Mark Driscoll P/5

Read Part One HERE

In  this post I will share a personal story of a woman named Kailea who was abused by pastor Mark Driscoll when she was a member of Mars Hill Church, Seattle, Washington, USA.

Here is Kailea'story in her own words:

"You'll hear this a million times: If you don't submit, you are prideful and rebellious," says ex-Mars Hill member Kailea. Though she was raised in a strict evangelical household, many of Mars Hill's views - especially those regarding gender -  never sat well with her. Nevertheless, Kailea started attending Mars Hill in high school since it was the cool church to go to. "I liked that there were a lot of people smoking outside," Kailea says. "The pastors were giving each other beer for Christmas."

When she turned 18 Kailea became a member along with her boyfriend Jeff whome she married shortly after. Mars Hill's emphasis on traditional gender roles began to strain their relationship. "Jeff felt like he was failing as a leader. I felt like I just couldn't submit enough." At the time Kailea was working as a manager at a coffee shop and Jeff was staying home to take care of the kids. "There was a lot of pressure to change that." The couple started going to marriage counseling with one of the pastors, who continually suggested that all their marital problems were rooted in their denial of their God-given roles. "No matter what we told him, that became what our issue was,"Kailea says.

She eventually quit her job and Jeff started working as a manager at a hardware store. Their relationship continued to detoriate, and when she confessed an infidelity to Jeff, the church leaders took action, drawing up "a spiritual discipline contract" for Kailea.It promised, among other things, that she and Jeff would move back in together immediately, and that she would stop seeing her therapist, who was unaffiliated with Mars Hill. When Kailea refused to sign, she was kicked out of the church. The leadership posted a letter on the church's member website asking her friends to stop contacting her, and she has not heard from a single one of them since.

Kailea's story echoes dozens of testimonies from former Mars Hill members.

P.S. In my next post I will begin to focus on the abuse in pastor Mark Driscoll's new church, Trinity Church, Scotsdale, Arizona, USA,

Read Part Six HERE

 

Women should never ask any questions: Victims of Mark Driscoll P/4

Read Part One HERE

 In this post I will continue to focus on abuse by pastor Mrk Driscoll when at Mars Hill Church, Seattle, Washington, USA.

Some of pastor Mark Driscoll's statements from that time are as follows:

1. A response to a woman in a discussion board: "I speak harshly because I speak to men. A woman might not understand that. I also do not answer to women. So your questions will be ignored. I would, however, recommend to you a few verses to memorize: 1 Timothy 2:11-15; 1 Corinthians 14:34-35. To learn them ask your father or husband. If you have neither ask your pastor. If she is a female, find another church. If you are a pastor, quit your job and repent."

2."The bottom line is very simple. Men are supposed to rule on Christ's behalf, sometimes with a rod of law and sometimes with the tender touch of grace. And young Christian men are doing very little of either, and hardly anything with the rod of grace. I assure you I speak from a wide range of experience."

3. "...... It all began with Adam, the first of the pussified nation, who kept his mouth shut and watched everything fall headlong down the slippery slope of hell/feminism when he shut his mouth and listened to his wife who thought Satan was a good theologian when he should have led her and exercised his delegated authority as king of the planet...."

(pastor Mark Driscoll has made certain statements that are so crude I cannot repeat them in my posts).

My Comment

Pastor Mark Driscoll has apparently very little knowledge of Bible passages as they relate to women. He would do well to study passages such as Genesis 1:26-28; Exodus 15:20; Micah 6:4; Judges 4:1-16; 2 Kings 22:11-20;  Matthew 26:56;  Luke 8:1-3; Acts 2:17-18; Acts 18:24-26; Acts 21:8-9; Romans 16:1-2; Romans 16:3-5; Romans 16:7;  Romans 16:12; 1 Corinthians 1:11; 1 Corinthians 11:5; Philippians 4:2-3; Colossians 4:15 to name a few.

Read Part Five HERE

Women cannot be trusted to lead: Victims of Mark Driscoll P/3

Read Part One HERE

In this post I will continue to focus on abuse by pastor Mark Driscoll previous pastor of Mars Hill Church, Seattle, Washington, USA.

Pastor Mark Driscoll has made the following comment on 1 Timothy 2:12-14

"Without blushing Paul is simply stating that when it comes to leading in the church, women are unfit because they are more gullible and easier to deceive then men. While many irate women have disagreed with this assessment throughout the years, it does appear from this that such women who fail to trust his instruction and follow his teaching are much like their mother Eve, and are well intended but ill-informed... Before you get all emotional like a woman in hearing this, please consider the content of the womens' magazines at your local grocery store that encourages liberated women in our day to..... ( the language he used here was not suitable to be repeated at this post)....and ask yourself if the it doesn't look like the Serpent  is still trolling the garden and that the daughters of Eve aren't gullible in pronouncing progress, liberation and equality.

My Comment

Pastor Mark Driscoll has obviously not made a careful study of 1 Timothy 2:12-14 and, consequently, has come to an unbiblical conclusion what this text is about. He, moreover, calls women daughters of Eve, but the Scripture calls female believers sons of God as we know from Romans 8:14

"For all who are led by the Spirit are sons of God."

Read Part Four HERE

Wives are considered "gardens": Victims of Mark Driscoll P/2

Read Part One HERE
 

In this post I will continue to focus on abuse by pastor Mark Driscoll at his previous church, Mars Hill church Seattle, Washington. USA.

Pastor Mark Hill has made the following statement on "Men and Marriage ."

"A husband should be the firm and responsible head of his household, the leader of "a little flock called home and family." He should think of his wife as "a garden" and himself as "the gardener." "If you look at your garden and don't like how it looks," Driscoll preaches, "just remember: You are the gardener."

My Comment

Pastor Mark Driscoll seems to have been influencedy by pastor Doug Wilson whose wife Nancy Wilson wrote in her book "The Fruit Of Her Hands" that the wife is a garden that belongs to her husband as follows: "In many ways the husband is the garden tender, and his wife becomes a great source of joy and delight to the husband as he spends time in the garden he faithfully tends."

However, the Bible does not teach that the wife is a garden that the husband is to spend time in as her gardener. But in John 15 we read of God as the Gardener. In this passage Jesus is the Vine and every Christian is a branch. Such a branch is to bear fruit and may be pruned by the Gardener in order to be able to bear more fruit. As for bearing fruit, it refers to the spiritual fruit of the Spirit that we read about in Galatians 5:22

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

A Christian wife is responsible before God for her own life and for the development of spiritual fruit in her life. It is not her husband's task to tend to the fruit for that is done by God the Father who prunes it as the Gardener so this Christian wife may bear more fruit.

Read Part Three HERE

The story of abuse at Mars Hill and beyond: Victims of Mark Driscoll P/1

 

In this post I will begin a series of blog posts on abuse by pastor Mark Driscoll. He led Mars Hill Church, Seattle, Washington,USA, until he resigned in 2014. In 2016 he started a new church The Trinity Church, Scotsdale, Arizona, USA, where, he has continued his abusive pattern.

We will first look at abuse at Mars Hill Church as follows:

Mark Driscoll was pastor of Mars Hill Church until he resigned in 2014. At that time twenty-one pastors filed charges against him saying that he engaged in a pattern of abusive and intimidating conduct.

The charges lodged with the executive elders of the church, include:

1. Pastor Mark exhibits lack of self-control by speech and by verbally assaulting others.

2. We believe that the way pastor Mark leads has created a culture of fear instead of a culture of candour and safety. People are afraid to ask questions or challenge certain ideas.

3. Pastor Mark is verbally abusive to people who challenge him, disagree with him, or question him. 

Mars Hill Church was disbanded in 2016.

Read Part Two HERE

 

The husband is lord of the home: Christ Church Idaho P/4

                                                      Read Part One HERE

                
In this post I will share my final story on abuse at Christ Church, Moscos, Idaho, USA, pastored by Doug Wilson.

One woman was councelled for hundreds of hours after which she was being suspended "from the Table of the Lord" until she confessed and repented after leaving it up to her husband to clean and prepare food, putting her kids in daycare and "ignoring the God given roles" including submission.

Another woman, Cori Philips, a home schooling mother of 10 children who attended Providence Church, the church planted by Doug Wilson's brother Gordon, was cast as a dangerous woman by a church leader when Mrs Philips began to raise concerns about Doug Wilson's blog to her church leaders and on Facebook.

Doug Wilson has written in his book Reforming Marriage, "Wives need to be led with a firm hand" and "It is tragic that wholesale abdication on the part of modern man has made the idea of lordship in the home such a laughable thing." In "Federal Husband," Doug Wilson asserts that men must assume full spiritual responsibility for the household, including any wifely negligence to submit in "spending habits, television viewing habits, weight, rejection of his leadership, laziness in cleaning the house, lack of responsiveness to sexual advances." Such a husband must confess failure in leading his wife, outline clear expectations, and repeatedly point out her failures. If she complies, "He must move up a step, requiring another of her duties be done." If she continues to rebel, it's appropriate to call in the church elders.

 

Wives need permission for a haircut: Christ Church Idaho P/3

 

                                                      Read Part One HERE

In this post I will continue focusing on the abuse that has taken place at Christ Church, Moscow, Idaho, USA, pastored by Doug Wilson.

Kimberly McCullough was a member of Christ Church. Her husband was a early Doug Wilson disciple. She was a dutiful home schooling mother who read the Bible with her children. She recalls her husband saying, "No wife of mine is going to work." and needing his permission to cut her hair. But when he started disappearing from the home for long stretches, he still demanded sex on his return. Her husband was absent so much, she was left feeling, "who is this strange man who is taking my body?" Not to submit to his wishes would be sinful, she knew from Doug Wilson's teachings. 

Mrs McCullough says she was counselled "if the wife did not concede she was in sin," and believed a woman could be ex-communicated from the church for refusal to have sex with her husband. Faith was central to her. She couldn't understand why sometimes her throat would seem to close, her body suddenly gripped with panic. Her anxiety attacks went undiagnosed for years. She finally left her husband after 18 years.

P.S. in my next post I will share one final story on abuse that has taken place at Christ Church, Moscow, Idaho, USA, pastored by Doug Wilson.

Read Part Four HERE

Physical abuse takes place at the Logos School: Christ Church Idaho P/2

                                                     Read Part One HERE

In this post I will continue to share stories of abuse that have taken place in Christ Church, Moscow, Idaho, USA, pastored by Doug Wilson.

Kamila Niska who is now in her twenties and attended Christ Church and the Primary School Logos attached to Christ Church, shared the story of being spanked with a wooden paddle in 6th grade, once by a female administrator and once by a male principal. Later in 10th grade, when Niska was covertly seeing a boy at Logos, Nancy Wilson (Doug Wilson's wife) started pulling her into classrooms to talk, and asking if they had done anything physical. Were they in a relationship? Was she keeping pure?

Since Niska left the school and the church, she has heard about Nancy and Doug asking multiple students about their sexual activitity."He (Doug) wants to sit there and listen to everything that transpired between these two teen lovers, like all the graphic detail," says Niska.

Former Logos student Helen Shores, in her late thirties, was called in for a solo meeting with Doug Wilson after she lost her virginity at 16 to her then boyfriend, who had confessed they had had sex to his parents. According to her, "Wilson wanted me to tell in detail, everything that happened when we had sex," says Shores, who was told by Wilson that her boyfriend had already told him everything." So I needed to tell him in absolute detail what sexual experience happened, how many times it had happened, all that kind of stuff."

P.S. I will continue focusing on abuse in Christ Church, Moscow, Idaho, USA, pastored by Doug Wilson, in my next post. 

Read Part Three HERE

Wives are not allowed to report abuse: Christ Church Idaho P/1

  

In this post my focus is on Christ Church, a church in Moscow, Idaho, USA, pastored by Doug Wilson. His view on marital intimacy is that the husband is to be in authority and the wife is to be in submission, a view that opens the door to sexual abuse within a marriage.In this church community women are told they must defer to church leaders and cannot say "no" to their husbands, men are taught to strictly control their homes and those who speak out can be isolated and harrassed.

One of their members, Jean, was a student at New Saint Andrews, Christ Church's College. While at that College she met a charming, handsome upperclassman. His father was a deacon at Christ Church. By her second year, they started dating and soon he said he wanted to marry her. Within their first year of dating, he  would get her drunk and refused her wishes not to have sex. They were eventually married by pastor Wilson. That is when marital rape began to take place. This took place for about a decade and has caused Jean to develop PTSD.from sexual assault. Years into her marriage, Jean reported to several pastors that her husband had been raping her. She was told "You are not to report it" and "You are wrong. A wife is not allowed to tell her husband "no."

Jean's husband's drinking increased. And so would his violent behaviour. He would hold her against walls, slam a lot of doors, pounded the walls, once pointed a loaded gun at her. Nevertheless the pastors told her not to go to the police and not to separate.

Jean did eventually divorce her husband and left the Christ Church community, knowing that she would just be ex-communicated if she stayed.

P.S. In my next post I will continue to focus on abuse in Christ Church, Moscow, Idaho, USA, pastored by Doug Wilson.

Read Part Two HERE

Women And Abuse: Naghmeh Panahi P/2

 

                                                                                     Read Part One HERE

In this post I will continue to focus on Nagmeh Panahi, the ex-wife of American-Iranian pastor Saeed Abedini (her husband initated the divorce proceedings).

 As mentioned in my first post on Naghmeh, men like Franklin Graham and Jay Sekulow refused to support her when she revealed her abuse at the hands of her husband. Instead, Franklin insisted they go for marital counseling, something that should never be done in the case of abuse, so that their marriage could be fixed. According to him, "If you, Naghmeh, want to make it work you have to move a bit." This despite the fact that Saeed never repented of his physical, spiritual as well emotional abuse by calling his wife "Jezebel,", "whore" etc during phone calls, had committed adultery, had watched pornography and had visited prostitutes.

In the case of Jay Sekulow, he had asked Naghmeh to lie, which she refused to do. 

It is clear from the above that both Franklin Graham and Jay Sekulow behaved in a bullying manner towards Naghmeh.

Interestingly, Anne Graham Lotz, Franklin Graham's sister, supported Naghmeh and told her that "Franklin does not understand. And I can also tell you, Franklin is not a good listener." The bottom line is that Franklin did not want to understand. And he certainly did not want to listen to Naghmeh for she was not doing what he had in mind for her to do.

As for Naghmeh, she is doing well and is now helping abused women in the Middle East.

Women And Abuse: Naghmeh Panahi P/1

 

In this post I want to focus on Naghmeh Panahi. She advocated for the release of her husband - Iranian American pastor, Saeed Abedini - from an Iranian prison. However, months before his release, Neghmeh revealed a dark secret: for years, Saeed had been physically, emotionally and sexually abusing her.

Yet rather than rallying to support this battered wife, Naghmeh says the Christian community attacked her. And she says some - including Franklin Graham and Jay Sekulow - relentlessly pressured her to reconcile with her abusive husband, or even to lie about what happened.

P.S. In the next post I will share more details about how these two leaders in the Evangelical world treated Naghmeh.

Read Part Two HERE

It has been a while since my last post so it is time to write some posts again.

 

Today is 1 October and for the whole month of October the focus is on 

 

                           DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS

 

Let's all keep this subject in our prayers as we grapple with the reality of it, be it domestic and/or spiritual abuse.

In my next blog I will begin to share a story of a woman who dared to tell the truth about her abuse.

 

 

 

 

Women Cannot Be Senior Pastors: Robert Jeffress P/11

                                                                                Read Part One HERE

In this post I will continue to focus on Dr Robert Jeffress, Pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas who told his daughter when she was 11-years old that she could not be "head" or senior pastor just as he could not have babies...

My  Comment

I would like to introduce one final female Biblical character to Pastor Robert Jeffress, using Miriam as the one to introduce her... "Hello everyone... I have so enjoyed meeting with you these last few weeks.... Before I forget, I am Miriam.... And I have been introducing various friends to our pastor friend... Sad to say, this will be the last time I will be doing so for it has been a real privilege to have been given the opportunity to introduce some of my special women friends from the Book we all love so much.... The Bible... As for this time, I would like for him to meet  my special friend Junia.... I will let her do the talking."... "Hello pastor, good to meet you.... I have heard much about you from my friends such as Deborah, Mary Magdalene, Persis and Chloe.... Excuse me for being rude... My name is Junia.... I worked as an Apostle together with Andronicus... And we had a very close relationship with the Apostle Paul... In fact, we are his relatives... I believe there has been some confusion about my name in some of your Bible translations... But let me assure you that my name is Junia which is a female name... I believe, futhermore, that at least in one of your translations, the ESV, Andronicus and I are known "to the apostles" rather than "noted among the apostles."... I wonder if that is because I am a woman... However, the Apostle Paul had no problems recognising me as an Apostle because he saw me do the work of an Apostle.... A work that even caused me to be put in prison at a certain time in my life... I would like to invite you to study a correct translation of Romans 16:7 where you can read all about me."....

P.S. I hope you have enjoyed these stories of the pastor's meetings with some female Biblical characters to help him understand that women have served at every level in the Church...

Women Cannot Be Senior Pastors: Robert Jeffress P/10

 

                                                                               Read Part One HERE

In this post I will continue to focus on Dr Robert Jeffress, Pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas who told his daughter when she was 11-years old that she could not be "head" pastor just as he could not have babies....

 

My Comment

It is time for two more women to be introduced to the pastor we have all gotten to know so well... I will let Miriam take over from here... "Hello, pastor, good to meet you... Miriam here... I hope you very much enjoyed meeting Deacon Phoebe.. I am sure you agree with me that she was a remarkable woman having travelled all the way from her town Cenchreae to Rome to deliver the Apostle Paul's letter to the church in Rome....Today I would like for you to meet two female overseers.... I will ask them to introduce themselves to you.".... "Hello pastor.... It is good to meet you.... My name is Chloe.... I was the overseer of a house church in Corinth....You can read about me in 1 Corinthians 1:11.... At that time we had some challenging issues to deal with.... Thankfully, the Apostle Paul wrote to us via a letter you will know as his first letter to the Corinthians....His solutions to the issues helped us deal with these challenges....You may like to know that I was not the only overseer of a house church at that time.".... "That's right pastor.... Oh, my apologies, for not introducing myself.... My name is Nympha...I was the overseer of a house church near Colosse.... You can read about me in Colossians 4:16... I believe that in some of your Bible translations my name has been incorrectly translated as Nymphas and the church was supposed to have met "at his house."... Let me assure you that my name is Nympha and consequently the church met "at her house.".... I have heard too that you believe women cannot be "head" or senior pastors based on your view of 1 Timothy 3:2 "Now the overseer must be....., the husband of but one wife".... However, pastor, you can know from the original text of 1 Timothy 3:1 that Paul writes "everyone who desires to be an overseer desires a good thing" refers here to males as well as females since he used the Greek term "tis" for "everyone"which is a generic term. My dear frend Chloe and I are, therefore,  proof that the Apostle Paul supported female "head" or senior overseers or pastors since we both functioned as such... Perhaps, one day you may like to introduce us to your congregation."....

Read Part Eleven HERE

Women Cannot Be Senior Pastors: Robert Jeffress P/9

                                                                                Read Part One HERE

In this post I will continue to focus on Dr Robert Jeffress, Pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas who told his daughter when she was 11-years old that she could not be "head" or senior pastor just as he could not have babies....

 

My Comment 

Today I would like to introduce another woman from the Bible to Pastor Robert Jeffress, using once again Miriam as the one to introduce her..."Hello everyone, it is me again, Miriam....The other day I introduced some of Paul's female co-workers to the pastor who does not believe women can be "head" pastors....Talking about this pastor, I just learned that he bases his view on one line in 1Timothy 3:2 "Now the overseer must be....., the husband of but one wife."... Very interesting... I think I will mention it to some of the female overseers and will ask them to comment on it... For now I will ask my friend Phoebe to introduce herself to the pastor.... "Hello Pastor... As Miriam mentioned, my name is Phoebe... It is good to meet you... I lived in Cenchreae..... Perhaps you have heard of it.... We had a thriving church in that town... And I was a "diakonos" of that church....Moreover, I was a "prostatis" to many believers.... My understanding is that the term "diakonos" has been translated as "servant" in many of your Bible translations.... A better translation would be "deacon" or "minister" since I functioned as such in our church.... Moreover, the term "prostatis" has been translated as "help" in these same Bible translations... Hoever, this term in verb form has been used for church leaders to indicate these elders were guiding the congregation as  you will know from 1 Timothy 5:17.... Likewise, part of my functon in Cenchreae was to guide the church.... I am a little puzzled as to why the terms for my function are somewhat diministed in your Bible translations.... Especially, in light of the fact that the Apostle Paul entrusted his letter to the church in Rome to me because he had absolute confidence in me that I would represent him well before the church in Rome.... Perhaps you could introduce me one day to your congregation, pastor, as the Deacon from Cenchreae who guided her church just as you guide your church today."....

Read Part Ten HERE

Women Cannot Be Senior Pastors: Robert Jeffress P/8

Read Part One HERE

In this post I will continue to focus on Dr Robert Jeffress, Pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas who told his daughter when she was 11-years old that she could not be "head" or senior pastor just as he could not have babies....

 

My Comment

This time I would like to introduce a small group of women from the Bible to Pastor Robert Jeffress, using Miriam as the one to introduce her... "Hello everyone, good to meet all of you... As you may guess, I am Miriam...I thought that today I would introduce some of my friends who have served as co-workers of the Apostle Paul to the pastor we have all gotten to know.".... "Hello Pastor, I trust you have appreciated getting to know the women I, Miriam, have presented to you... Today I would like for you to meet four women... I will leave the introduction to them.".... "Hello Pastor, good to meet you... Our names are Mary, Tryphena, Tryphosa and Persis.... Perhaps you are not familiar with us.... But you can find us mentioned in Romans 16:6 and Romans 16:12... We worked with the Apostle Paul.. And he greatly appreciated our ministry as  his co-workers... It is true that Paul did not describe our ministry in details but it did involve Kingdom Ministry.... And through our minstry lives were touched and changed... It was done at great cost to ourselves...But we can assure you that it was worth it... We were so grateful to be able to serve alongside the Apostle Paul... Of course, we did not do so in our own strength... No, we did so because we were called and equipped for our task by the Lord... I trust our example will encourage you to allow women in your church to function in their particular calling be it as co-workers so that many lives may be touched and changed by their ministry as well."....

Read Part Nine HERE

Women Cannot be Senior Pastors: Robert Jeffress P/7

                                                                               Read Part One HERE  

In this post I will continue to focus on Dr Robert Jeffress, Pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas who told his daugther when she was 11-years old that she could not be "head" or senior pastor just as he could not have babies...

Hello, everyone.... I would once again like to introduce a woman from the Bible to Pastor Robert Jeffress using Miriam as the one to introduce her... "Hello, Miriam again.... How time flies... It is only a few days ago that I introduced my friend Mary Magdalene to my pastor friend you have gotten to know so well... Today I would like for him to meet my friend Lydia.... "Hello Pastor... Miriam here... Please allow me to introduce a friend of mine named Lydia."... "Thank you, Miriam, for introducing me."... "Yes, Pastor, as you have already heard from Miriam, my name is Lydia... You may have heard of me.... If you have then you will know that I was a successful business woman... However, though I was successful in business I lacked peace in my heart... One day I was in Philippi, Macedonia for business... On the Sabbath Day I had gone to the beach to join a women's prayer meeting... That day a visitor joined us.... His name was Paul... You may well know of him... If you do then you will know that he used to be a very religious Jew named Saul....That he was in fact, a Pharisee... As a Pharisee, he should have never spoken to us, women.... For that would have been against the rules.... But he spoke to us that day... Because, as he told us, he had had an encounter with the Lord Jesus...And because of that encounter his life had completely changed... That meant that his view on women had completely changed as well... My heart was so touched after his preaching... Peace entered my life.... I then asked Paul and his companion Silas to stay with me.... They were delighted to do so... That day my home became the meeting place of the believers... We continued meeting long after Paul and Silas left town.... Many more believers joined us over time.... We became a thriving church in Philippi.... Everyone had a role to play in accordance with their giftings... It was so wonderful to see all believers fulfill their calling regardless of their nationality, status in life or gender as taught by Paul...You may like to read my story in Acts 16:11-40... I have heard rumours that over time Christians began to teach that the Apostle Paul limited the role of women to some extent just because they are women....However, I can assure you that Paul approved of the ministry of women and did not put any limits on it, apart from when some women needed to be corrected  first before they could teach...You look a little doubtful perhaps... Don't woryy, Pastor, I am sure Miriam will have some other women friends in mind for you to meet in time to come to help you understand how much Paul supported andencouraged women to function in theit God-given callings be it as co-worker, deacon, overseer or even apostle."...

Read Part Eight HERE

 

Women Cannot be Senior Pastors: Robert Jeffress P/6

                                                                                Read Part One HERE

 In this post I will continue to focus on Dr Robert Jeffress, Pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas who told his daughter when she was 11-years old that she could not be "head" or senior pastor just as he could not have babies...

My Comment

I would once again like to introduce a woman from the Bible to Pastor Robert Jeffress, using Miriam as the one to introduce her..... "Hello everyone, it is me again, Miriam....I thought it is time to introduce another friend of mine to our pastor friend... You know, the one who has a daughter who could not be senior pastor... I thought this time I would bring along my friend Mary Magdalene... I met with him... I asked him how he was and then introduced Mary Magdalene to him... The conversation went as follows: "Hello pastor, good to see you again... I trust you are well... I hope you have enjoyed meeting my friends Judge and Prophetess Deborah, Prophetess Hulda as well as the Samaritan female Evangelist from Sychar.....Today I would like for you to meet my friend Mary Magdalene."... "Hello pastor, as Miriam has already told you, my name is Mary Magdalene... I am called Mary Magdalene because I am from the town called Magdala.... However, I left my town to follow Jesus... I know it was very unusual in my time for women to leave home and to travel with Jesus... But that is what I did... And I had some other women friends such as Joanna and Susanna who travelled with Jesus as well... Jesus did something for me that no one else had been able to do... He delivered me from seven demons... I was so grateful!!... Then the day came that Jesus was crucified... My women friends and I watched Him suffer and die on that Cross.... I have to say, apart from John, I did not see any of the other male disciples... Three days later I went back to the tomb to take care of His body.... I was so shocked when there was no body.... I ran to Peter and John....They came and realised as well that Jesus' body was not in the tomb....They then went back home... I could not... I had nowhere else to go.... I then had two angels speak to me.... They did not understand why I was crying... I then saw another Man.... I thought He was the gardener.... He then spoke my name... I right away knew He was the Lord.... He had come back to life!!... I wanted to hold on to Him... But He had to see His Father....However, He gave me a task....I had to go to the other disciples to tell them He had risen....That is what I did!!... I have heard a rumour that some in the Church believe that I was a prostitute.... Please do not believe that story...I never was a prostitute... And part of the Church has given me the title of Apostle to the Apostles...No doubt, that is because, as I said, the Lord sent me to the disciples, including the eleven Apostles, to preach the Good News of His Resurrection as you can read in John 20:1-18... Can I ask you if you see me as the Apostle to the Apostles?"....

Read Part Seven HERE

Women Cannot Be Senior Pastors: Robert Jeffress P/5

                                                                               Read Part One HERE

In this post I will continue to focus on Dr Robert Jeffress, Pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas who told his daughter when she was 11-years that she could not be "head" or senior pastor just as he could not have babies...

 

My Comment

Hello overyone, it is time again for Miriam to introduce another biblical figure to the pastor we have begun to get to know so well... This time she has brought to him the Samaritan woman. Their conversation went as follows: "Thank you, Miriam, for introducing me.... As you will realise from Miriam's introduction, pastor, I am not a Jewess but a Samaritan woman.... On the whole Jewish people avoid us but one day I met a Jewish Rabbi... I met Him at the well near my town where I had gone to draw water... And He spoke to me... He asked me for some water... I was so shocked when He did that... And I told Him so... But it did not stop Him from continuing His conversation with me... He began to talk about "living water"... I did not know what exactly He meant by that but I knew I would like to receive that "living water".... He next began to talk about my husband...I felt I should kind of be honest with him so I told Him I did not have a husband...To my shock He then revealed to me that He knew everything about my life even up to my present situation... But He did not condemn me for the fact that I had been married five times and that I was not married to the man I was living with.... He would have known that my divorces have not been my own choice since as a woman I cannot divorce my husband while husbands can divorce their wives for all kinds of reasons... The most amazing thing is that He declared to me that He is the Messiah!!... The long awaited Messiah was standing in front of me.... A Samaritan woman....I was so excited by this revelation I ran quickly back to the town square where I knew the men of the town would be gathered... And they listened to me when I told them what had happened to me... They listened and believed!!... I then took them to meet Jesus.... So that day I changed from having been a despised women, a woman who had been looked down on, to a female evangelist.... All because of Jesus... He changed my life... He restored my dignity.... I am now respected in my community... I am now being listened to... My story can be found in John 4..... I sincerely hope that you will introduce me one day to your congregation just as Miriam introduced me to you today."....

Read Part Six HERE

Women Cannot Be Senior Pastors: Robert Jeffress P/4

                                                                               Read Part One HERE

In this post I will continue to focus on Dr Robert Jeffress, Pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas who told his daugher when she was 11-years old that she could not be "head" or senior pastor just as he could not have babies...

 

My Comment

Today I will once again ask Miriam to introduce a female Biblical figure to the pastor we have become familiar with... She is going to introduce Hulda to him... "Pastor, I, Miriam, thought you may appreciate getting to know another Biblical character... Her name is Hulda."... "Hello pastor... I am not sure if you even know of my existence since there are only a few verses about me in the Bible... You can read about me in 2 Kings 22:11-20... It is true, it seems I appear out of nowhere but I can asssure you that I was known by leading figures in Israel as a prophetess with a trustworthy record... That is why they turned to me for counsel when the king had need for guidance... The king was greatly comforted after he received my message...  And as a result, God's Covenant with my nation was re-established... I would like to encourage you to read the passage that speaks of me and my message for the king which, as I have already said, can be found in 2 Kings 22:11-20... God must have found these words important enough to include them in His Holy Word.. I trust they will become meaningfull to you as well.. And one day you may want to introduce me to your congregation.".... 

Read Part Five HERE

 

Women Cannot Be Senior Pastors: Robert Jeffress P/3

                                                                               Read Part One HERE

In this post I will continue to focus on Dr Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas who told his daughter when she was 11-years old that she could not be "head" or senior pastor just as he could not have babies...

 

My Comment 

Perhaps you remember that in my previous post I introduced Pastor Robert Jeffress to an Hebrew woman named Miriam... In turn Miriam would now like to introduce another woman of the Bible to him... Her name is Deborah... let's find out how that conversation went... "Good morning, pastor... I trust you still know who I am... I am Miriam... I told you I would like to introduce you to other women in the Bible... Today I would like for you to meet Deborah.... I am sure you have heard of her... I will now allow her to speak for herself."... "Good to meet you pastor... As you have already heard my name is Deborah... I am a Hebrew and my main role was that of a Judge in my nation... I know that some people believe that I should not have functioned as a Judge because I am a woman....They believe that God could not find a suitable man in Israel and that is why He had no choice but to select a woman as a Judge.... Perhaps that is your view as well.... If that is the case then let me assure you that I was a Judge in my nation because God appointed me for this role and planned for me to be a Judge long before this happened... This is a principle based on a verse in a Book you will be very familiar with namely Ephesians 2:10... Moreover, I was a female prophet.... Our nation had been at war for many years.... But God had shown me the He would give us victory over our enemy so I spoke with our general Barak... He asked me to accompany him...And I did... I then gave him specific instructions on how to fight the battle as shown to me by the Lord... And, consequently, we had victory.... We then had peace in our nation.... Would it surprise you if I told you I did not ask my husband's permission whether or not I could go with Barak to the battle field?... Neither did I speak with my Rabbi about it...My husband knew, of course, of my plans... And he has been supportive in all that I have been doing... He knew that I was called by God to be the Judge in our nation for that time.... By the way my story can be found in Judges 4-5....Can I encourage you to read these chapters and meditate on them to help you understand how God views women and how He desires to use them for His purpose without placing any limitations on their roles?"....

Read Part Four HERE

WomenCannot Be Senior Pastors: Robert Jeffress P/2

 

                                                                               Read Part One HERE

In this post I will continue to focus on Dr Robert Jefrress, Pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas who told his daughter when she was 11-years old that she could not be "head" or senior pastor just as he could not have babies....

My Comment

I have decided to introduce a number of women from the Bible to Pastor Robert Jeffress.... I will start with Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron... I wonder what she would have said to him had she overheard his conversation with his daughter... I am sure she would have interrupted his conversation along the following line: "Excuse me, pastor, I could not help but overhear your conversation with your daughter. If I am right then you do not believe your daughter can have a leading position in the church because she is a female. ... Please forgive me for my rudeness for I have not told you who I am.... My name is Miriam.... Perhaps you have heard of me.... I am a Hebrew who lived in Egypt.... I have two brothers Moses and Aaron... My brother Moses was brought up in the palace of the Pharao until he was 40 years old.... He then spent the next 40 years in the desert.... But then God called him to lead our people out of Egypt... I am sure you are familiar with these facts...However, are you aware that God called me to be a leader beside my brother even though I am a woman?... Apparently, it was not a problem for God that I was a woman when he called me to be one of the leaders... I am, therefore, a little puzzled that you have told your daughter she cannot be senior leader in the church.... I fully understand, of course, that my example alone will not convince you to change your mind about this subject.... But there are many other women in the Bible who, like me, have had leadership positions.... You may like to meet some of them as well.... I am sure they would like to meet you to discuss this very important topic... By the way my story can be found in Exodus 2:4-9; Exodus 15: 20-21; Micah 6:4."

Read Part Three HERE

Women Cannot Be Senior Pastors: Robert Jeffress P/1

 

In this post I will begin a series of posts related to Dr Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, USA.

Dr Jeffres advised his eldest daughter when she was 11 years old (she is now in her thirties) that she could never be "head" or senior pastor just as he would never be abe to give birth to children.

He has, moreover, stated that his reason  his daughter and, in fact, any woman, cannot be "head" or senior pastor is because of one line out of 1 Timothy 3:2 Now the overseer must be.... the husband of but one wife...."

My Comment

Dr Jeffress' statement to his daughter when she was 11 years old does not make sense since he will no doubt acknowledge that pastoring is a spiritual gift and calling while giving birth to children is a biological function and is not related to anyone's spiritual gifting and calling.

His reason that women cannot be pastors because of one line out of 1 Timothy 3:2                              "Now the overseer must be.... the husband of but one wife...."   

Does not make sense either since in 1 Timothy 3:1                                                                                           "Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task"   

Paul makes it very clear that men and women can be overseers because the word "tis" is used for "anyone" which is a generic term.      

 As for the overseer having to be the husband of one wife only, in Jewish culture men could have more than one wife as we know from the Talmud "She is restricted to one husband while the husband may have many wives." So Paul addressed that issue. He does not have to address that issue with women since they could only have one husband at a time.

Read Part Two HERE

Jeremy Gardiner; because of Church Practice: Head Covering P/16

                                                     Read Part One HERE

In this post I will contine to share on the Head Coverings Movement founded by Jerememy Gardiner

He has written the following article: "Why Head Coverings? Reason No 4: Church Practice."

 

Jeremy Gardiner: "Head covering is authoritative apostolic teaching." 

Jeremy Gardiner: "All churches from Corinth, to Antioch practiced head coverings. All these churches have a mixture of Jews and Gentiles fellowshipping in them and are from different cultures. Yet, they all hold to the same Christian doctrine regarding head coverings. How can such unity be accounted for except the church's understanding of head coverings as a command for all Christians?

Jeremy Gardiner: "The Church in Corinth 150 years later. Tertullian wrote "The Veiling of virgins" in which he argued that all women are to be covered.... This teaching remained the standard practice of the majority of  Church History. As RC Sproul Sr noted: "The wearing of fabric head coverings in worship was universally the practice of Christian woman until the 20th century. What happened? Did we suddenly find some biblical truth to which the saints for thousands of years were blind? Or were our biblical views of women gradually eroded by the modern feminist movement that has infiltrated the Church of Jesus Christ which is "the pillar and ground of the truth"? Head coverings are not some new strange doctrine. This is an old doctrine, based in the Bible and understood by the majority throughout the history of the Church. Head coverings were practiced in all churches and we are the exceptions today. It is time to change that."

My Comment

As for the issue of head coverings, some religious leaders in the church in Corinth wrote that women are to have head coverings as we know from 1 Corinthians 11:4-5. However, Paul corrected them and made it clear that churches do not have such a custom as we know from a correct translation of 1 Corinthians 11:16                                                                                                                                        If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no SUCH practice - nor do the churches of God.                                                                                                                                                    Jeremy Gardiner then follows the pattern of  the Protestant Reformers, Theologians, pastors and leaders we have already studied by quoting Roman Catholic Church father Tertullian who, as we have already mentioned, came out of a pagan culture and brought into the Church their view that women are considered inferior. One of the pastors Jeremy Gardiner mentioned is the now-deceased minister R.C. Sproul Sr. He, apparently, blamed the modern feminist movement that women began to stop wearing head coverings. In the case of R.C. Sproul Sr head coverings would be in the form of hats. However, hats do not cover the heads of women for they do not fall down from the head as the original text mentions....It is clear, therefore, that this Head Coverings Movement founded by Jeremy Gardiner is not based on Scripture but on man's incorrect interpretation of Scripture regardless whether this head covering consists of a hat or a veil....

 

P.S. This is my last post on the Head Coverings Movement. .