December 2014 – Page 12 – Warren Throckmorton

Research for Mark Driscoll's Delayed Book — The Problem with Christianity — Available to the Masses

This is an interesting development.
The research which formed the foundation for Mark Driscoll’s now postponed book, The Problem with Christianity has now been made available for free download on the Mars Hill Church website.
The way the description of the research report closes makes me wonder if Driscoll is going to release his book:

Our hope is this valuable research can be helpful for you as you prepare content such as sermons, books, or blog posts.

When he took his six week “focus break,” Driscoll said he had agreed to postpone the publication of the book until a future “season.”
Now someone else might turn it into a book first.
I have to give some unknown decision maker at Mars Hill kudos. The research for the book cost Mars Hill Church six figures and now the members and the rest of us can read it.

Soma's Jeff Vanderstelt Answers Some Questions Regarding Mars Hill Bellevue Transition

Last week, I asked Nick Laparra several questions about the transition from Mars Hill Bellevue to Bellevue Soma (or Soma Bellvue). Laparra just emailed to say that many of those questions have been answered in an open letter, which I am reproducing here. Jeff Vanderstelt, the Soma pastor tapped to possibly take on the preaching duties at Bellevue, wrote on the Soma website:

In light of the recent announcement that I am considering replanting a new church out of Mars Hill Bellevue which will cease to exist on December 31, 2014, it seemed wise and helpful to further introduce myself.
I have been in pastoral ministry for nearly 25 years and have a passion to see Jesus at work through the church, which is His body, in every sphere of life. I believe God has called me to cast this vision for the church as well as equip the church to fulfill it. I believe the church is much more than an event on Sunday or a group of leaders who run programs for people to attend. The church is God’s people, saved by God’s power, filled by God’s presence, for His purposes in all of life. And the leaders God gives to the church exist to serve and equip the church to live this out everyday of the week.
I began as a pastor in student ministry equipping students for everyday life. I then joined Bill Clem, who planted Doxa Church in West Seattle, which was part of the Acts 29 Network. The elders of Doxa sent me out to plant Soma in Tacoma where we were assessed and Soma Tacoma became part of the Acts 29 Network. For the past 10 years, I have been equipping all ages as part of Soma Tacoma’s leadership team. In the past, I served in the role of Vice President for Acts 29 and more recently as part of the Acts 29 Board over the Northwest. Presently, I have stepped away from board leadership and moved to an advisory role.
The Biblical letter to the church in Ephesus significantly shaped Soma’s vision with Ephesians 1:22-23 leading us to our ‘Soma’ name: “And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body [Greek: soma], the fullness of him who fills all in all.” We believe God wants to fill Tacoma, and every place for that matter, with the presence of Jesus through His body [soma] the church so that every man, woman, and child has a daily encounter with Jesus. We knew this could not happen through large group gatherings only, so we trained our people to live in community, on mission, in smaller groups called missional communities. As a missional community people learn together how to love one another like family, serve Jesus by serving others, and share Jesus verbally to others with the hope that they also would come to love and follow Jesus. It is not just an inward facing group but one that deliberately faces outward to a neighborhood or specific group of people who don’t yet know the love of Jesus personally.
As we equipped people to live on mission together, based upon God’s Word, out of love for Jesus and empowered by his Spirit, more groups were started and the church continued to grow. Eventually we found ourselves helping other leaders around the country and the world to plant new churches or transition existing ones to greater faithfulness to Jesus’ mission. This led to the beginning of the Soma Family of Churches in 2010. The Soma Family is a group of independently governed churches committed to a common vision of seeing Jesus work through His body in every place and every day through missional communities. We share similar doctrinal distinctives as well as common convictions regarding equipping the church for mission. We also believe every church should be led and governed locally by a plurality of elders who humbly lead and serve by example amongst their community. Though we are not legally bound to one another, we commit relationally to love one another like family.
Many have asked why I would consider replanting a church in Bellevue, especially in light of the brokenness and pain that has taken place in the existing church. The answer I have continued to share is that I really love Jesus and His church, and my heart is deeply broken over what has taken place. Everything in my flesh tells me to run the other way. However, Jesus has led Jayne, my wife of 22 years, our children, our local elders (many of whom have been praying for Mars Hill for years), and over 60 leaders from our church to see this as our brothers and sisters whom Jesus died for and whom we are called to love. We are all in agreement on this. Jesus has clearly directed us through his word (Romans 15:1-13 and Isaiah 61), through dreams, and through many wise counselors to seriously consider replanting a new church. One of my responses to a leader from Bellevue who incredulously asked why I would ever consider coming was this, “When God calls you to do something you just know. You just know! And when you know, you have to obey or you will not be able to sleep at night.”
Part of our ongoing process of discernment involved our local Soma Tacoma elders spending a night in prayer and waiting to receive counsel, concerns, and key questions from God that they in turn presented before Jayne and me. I had informed them that I would not consider this if they did not unanimously affirm it. They returned with over 30 very specific questions and concerns, some of which we answered in our next meeting together. A key question, among many, during this time was whether I truly had a heart for the people there. In response I shared that I wept over these brothers and sisters every time I prayed for the church there, “Yes, I have a huge heart for these people! And I don’t know how to explain it apart from God’s work in me.”
Many other questions and concerns could only be addressed by the Bellevue elders. So Jayne and I, along with two Soma elders, met with the elders from Bellevue. During that time the rest of the questions and concerns were addressed. One of the key points of clarification was that this new church be a genuine replant – a new start – with new vision, methodology, different staffing if needed, and a willingness from all the elders to resign if necessary. I also shared that I would want this new church plant to eventually become part of the Soma Family of Churches, which we all agreed could not happen immediately. These elders have humbly agreed to all these points. They want to do whatever is needed to see the people of the church shepherded and led well moving forward. We also made it clear that I would not be considered a part of Mars Hill in any way. In light of all that has transpired, we agreed that since many people have been deeply hurt, there is still a need for ongoing repentance, reconciliation, and restoration.
Since that meeting, we met with over 60 of our leaders from Soma Tacoma who affirmed God’s call to consider this new ministry. I also met with other leaders from the Mars Hill Bellevue and Sammamish churches, interacted with members of the body during their family meeting on November 23rd, and shared my story and vision for a new church during the 4 PM gathering.
As we continue in this process of discernment I am making myself available to members of the Bellevue and Sammamish churches, as well as Soma Tacoma. I also intend to meet with the greater Eastside pastors and leaders as well as receive ongoing counsel from leaders from around the country. We are not planning on making this decision in isolation or without the support and affirmation of the Bellevue and Sammamish church families. We hope to have clarity on this decision by December 14th, making an announcement no later than December 21st.
In everything we do moving forward, I want us to operate with dependency on the Spirit, openness and transparency, mutual submission, and with a constant posture of humility. As a result, I hope this leads to a new church that partners with other churches and other leaders in the community. In this new church, Jesus must be the only man lifted up, and I trust that as He is, by the grace of God, healing, reconciliation, and restoration will take place.
Please pray for us as we consider this together. And if the Lord should so lead us to replant a new church, pray for healing, for wisdom for establishing a new leadership culture, and above all else that we keep Jesus at the top of the org chart and humbly serve Him well on the Eastside.

Dreams?
Vanderstelt said the Bellevue elders were willing to resign but did not say if they intend to, and, to my knowledge, they haven’t.
My question about transparency was not addressed directly. I noted to Laparra that the amount of money spent on missions, and the disposition of Mark Driscoll and Sutton Turner is unknown to the members who are being asked to give money. Members don’t know if their money is going to help start the new Soma church or if it is going to pay severances. I asked if Soma would require more transparency at Mars Hill Bellevue. Other the word “transparency”being used, there is nothing specific in this letter. In my opinion, every day this information remains hidden is a day that the new boss seems a little more like the old boss.
I suspect this letter will sound very Mars Hillsy to many. That may or may not mean anything problematic but as one who did not know the language before a year ago, I can recognize it here. I do think this line must have been written with Mark Driscoll in mind: ” In this new church, Jesus must be the only man lifted up, and I trust that as He is, by the grace of God, healing, reconciliation, and restoration will take place.”

Historian Scott Culpepper: When the Church Spreads Propaganda

Dr. Scott Culpepper currently serves as associate professor of history at Dordt College in Sioux Center, IA. His Ph.D. is from Baylor University and he has a M.Div. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Culpepper is the author of Francis Johnson and the English Separatist Influence: The Bishop of Brownism’s Life, Ministry, and Controversies (Mercer University Press, 2011). When he read my post earlier today, he had the following reaction:

Two very disturbing realities are revealed in Warren‘s piece. First, while the people in the pews may still be operating out of ignorance, evangelical and Republican leaders can no longer hide behind that defense. They know Barton’s methods are unethical and they simply do not care because he furthers their agenda. Which makes one rightfully question if an agenda that rests on so little integrity is really worth furthering.
Second and perhaps more frightening, the article reveals a reluctance on the part of evangelical Christian scholars who know better to press these issues because of their fear that the evangelical constituency will retaliate in defense of Barton. Once again, I have to ask if such a constituency is really worth appeasing. I experienced some of this timidity personally at the Conference on Faith and History this fall and have no doubt that Warren knows whereof he speaks. These are sad times when the body of Christ has effectively become an arm of the Ministry of Propaganda.

Scott has had some experience with pressure to overlook Barton’s historical mischief. Appreciate his thoughts here and hope other Christian historians will continue to expose the cover up.

The Great Confrontation of 2012: David Barton and the Evangelical Historians

In August 2012, Thomas Nelson (now part of Harper Collins Christian) pulled David Barton‘s book The Jefferson Lies from publication. This rare move by Thomas Nelson took place in the midst of efforts by several people to confront Barton with his errors. While I cannot tell the whole story (in part because I don’t know it and in part because the main players are not willing to discuss it completely), I can provide a little more insight into the situation. The door was opened to this by a footnote on David Barton’s website and other vague references to a series of meetings that took place in 2012. The footnote is on the page where Barton claims to explain false quotes from his first book. Barton says this:

Although many people, including several respected academics, have told David that they admire his honesty and transparency, others have attempted to use this practice against him. For instance, in a recent critique of David’s work, Professor Gregg Frazer of The Master’s College writes:

“Having been confronted over the use of false quotes, Barton was forced to acknowledge their illegitimacy in some way on his website. There, he describes them as “unconfirmed” – as if there is some doubt about their legitimacy. In a computer age with search capabilities, we know that these quotes are false – the fact that they are listed as “unconfirmed” reflects a stubborn attempt to hold onto them and to suggest to followers that they might be true. That is made worse by the fact that under these “unconfirmed” quotes are paragraphs maintaining that the bogus quote is something that the person might have said.” ²

What an interesting reward for trying to be honest and transparent.

Barton’s claim to be “honest and transparent” requires much more attention, but for the purpose of this post, let me move on to Barton’s description of the source of Gregg Frazer’s words. In the footnote, Barton explains the source of Frazer’s quote:

From a hostile written review of David Barton and WallBuilders written by Gregg Frazer at the request of Jay Richards. That written critique was subsequently passed on to David Barton on August 13, 2012, by the Rev. James Robison, to whom Jay Richards had distributed it.

After Jay Richards read my book with Michael Coulter, Getting Jefferson Right: Fact Checking Claims about Our Third President, he asked ten Christian historians to read both The Jefferson Lies, and then our book. Richards wanted to get expert opinions on the facts in each book. He also asked Gregg Frazer to review Barton’s DVD, America’s Godly Heritage (which is still for sale on Barton’s website).

With Frazer’s permission, the complete review of America’s Godly Heritage is now available here.

As is clear from an examination of the paper, Frazer did not look at each one of the quotes in Barton’s first book. He specifically examined the DVD series America’s Godly Heritage. Even though the DVD is still for sale, Frazer found faulty quotes in it.

As Barton says in his footnote, this paper was presented to Barton by James Robison surrounding the time when his book was pulled by Thomas Nelson (August 2012). Robison is an apostolic elder at Gateway Church and host of the television show Life Today. As this footnote reveals, Robison was in on the confrontation as was Richards and the Christian historians. While I don’t know specifics, some met with Barton at his ranch where he rejected their advice and counsel. Furthermore, Barton met with at least one leader at the Family Research Council in August 2o12. In that meeting, Barton’s errors were confronted with promises from Barton to provide corrected material. However, nothing happened on Barton’s end until the Family Research Council was confronted by numerous Christian historians in the Spring of 2013.

Despite numerous clear factual errors, FRC continues to have Barton involved in their presentations to pastors. As Politico documented in 2013 (Sen. Ted Cruz defends Barton in this article), Barton has been accepted back into the good graces of the political arm of the Christian right (e.g., this apologetics conference).

The awareness of Barton’s systematic distortion of the nation’s founding is well known at the highest levels of the Christian political right and yet many such groups continue to promote Barton as an exemplary historian. Because the Christian right is aware of the problems but continues to feature Barton as an historian, the “great confrontation of 2012” has turned into the “great cover-up of the present.”

Gregg Frazer’s review of America’s Godly Heritage is a devastating critique of this popular DVD program. It has been read by high level decision makers on the Christian right and ignored. I urge readers to read it and pass it around. I intend to give it more attention by focusing on various highlights in upcoming posts. Here is a follow up post on Frazer’s review.