They tell me am not a child of God: Eileen's experience P/8

                                                      Read Part One HERE                                                    

In this post I will continue to share the story of abuse suffered by Eileen Gray, previously a member of Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, California, USA, pastored by John MacArthur.

On the evening of August 18, 2002, Pastor John MacArthur, preached a sermon with dire warnings about the severity of God's discipline. "Sometimes the punishment can be so severe that the person dies," Pastor MacArthur stated, "In the Corinthian church, there were some people who were weak and some were sick and some were dead because their sins were manifest at the Lord's Table.Then before administering communion MacArthur urged his listeners to confess their sins so they "wont' suffer discipline."

He then took time to address a grave matter at his church.  he alleged a woman at Grace Community Church was living in sin. And though shaming her publicly was sad, according to Pastor MacArthur, it was necessary to maintain fidelity to God and His Word. So as men were distributing the elements for communions, Pastor MarArthur stated, "I want to mention a sad situation, a person who is unwilling to repent. And the church bears responsibility before God to be the instruemnt of discipline.... This is what the Lord wants. He wants discipline... to to put out of the church, to be publicly shamed, to be put away from fellowship. In this case it applies to Eileen Gray."

According to Pastor MacArthur, Eileen's sin was that she had decided "to leave her husband, to grant no grace at all, to take the children, to go away, to forsake him." This, Pastor John MacArthur emphasized, meant "rejecting all the instruction and counsel of the elders, all instruction from the Word of God." 

Pastor MacArthur then encouraged the church to pray for Eileen and to "treat her as an unbeliever - for all we know she may be."

Read Part Nine HERE