Month: December 2015

Ed and Scott Cash Leave The Gathering

Bob Smietana at Christianity Today is reporting that Ed and Scott Cash have left The Gathering. See this post for more on The Gathering and then the Cash website for their statement.
I also reproduce it here:

Dear Friends,
We want you to know that we have left the Gathering. For several months we have been praying, seeking wisdom, and meeting with multiple well-respected Christian leaders about this decision.
We find all the allegations against Wayne Jolley to be very troubling and are grieved by the pain others have endured. We’re praying for the Lord’s total healing and restoration for everyone involved.
We hope our lives and character make it unmistakably clear that we would never knowingly support anything that does not honor the Lord.
Thank you so much to everyone who has prayed for us throughout this difficult time. We look forward to what God has planned for the future and are overwhelmed by His incredible mercy, peace, and truth.
Ed Cash and Scott Cash
**We apologize for site disruption. We realized that our old website was created with out-dated software, and we’re doing our best to correct any problems. We wanted to post the letter above, and this was the only way we could do it.

I don’t know the Cash brothers. Many thousands of people who listen to music created by one of them don’t know them. So their lives and character don’t make anything “unmistakably clear.”  I believe a more detailed explanation is in order. I would like to know if you are going to try to remove Wayne Jolley as a songwriter from the two Chris Tomlin songs. I am still waiting for Tomlin to address why he allowed someone to have that credit on a song he recorded.
Cash was a leader in The Gathering and enabled Jolley to attain the position he has. The statement is a start but by itself opens more questions than it answers.

Top Ten Posts in 2015

The ten top posts during 2015 are as follows with the most popular first:
1. Open Letter to Gateway Church Pastor Robert Morris from a Former Member of Mars Hill Church – This was posted on November 2, 2014 but remained popular throughout 2015. Driscoll recently joined Jimmy Evans as a director to form The Trinity Church in Phoenix.
2. Former Chief Financial Officer at Turning Point Claims David Jeremiah Used Questionable Methods to Secure a Spot on Best Seller Lists – This story about David Jeremiah’s questionable tactics from a former insider was a scoop but not one which stuck to Jeremiah like  a similar scandal did to Mark Driscoll.
3. Hillsong’s Brian Houston Interviewed Mark and Grace Driscoll After All (VIDEO) (AUDIO) – First, he said he would interview Driscoll, then he said he wouldn’t, then Brian Houston aired an interview with Mark and Grace Driscoll. It was great theatre but didn’t draw good reviews from former Mars Hill leavers.
4. A major study of child abuse and homosexuality revisited – This post from 2009 is one of the most popular articles in the history of the blog. In it, I demonstrate a key mistake in a journal article often used to link homosexuality and child abuse.
5. Southern Baptists Say Enough to Perry Noble and NewSpring Church – I am surprised that this post got so much attention.
6. Gospel for Asia Faces Allegations of Misconduct; GFA Board Investigation Found No Wrongdoing – The GFA story received the most attention from me this year.
7. Pastor of Willow Creek Presbyterian Says Church Reaction to Hiring Tullian Tchividjian is “Overwhelmingly Positive” – I briefly covered Tullian Tchividjian’s comeback as a development minister at a PCA church in FL.
8. A Few Thoughts on The Village Church Controversy – Village Church’s leadership apologized for their response to a young woman who sought a divorce from her husband who had admitted having child porn.
9. Hillsong Founder Brian Houston Issues Statement On Mark Driscoll at the Hillsong 2015 Conference – Mark Driscoll’s return to the spotlight garnered much reader attention.
10. Gospel for Asia’s K.P. Yohannan and the Ring Kissing Ritual – While the financial scandals were of interest to readers, this article ranked higher than the money problems.
To fully capture activity on the blog, one should consider the Gospel for Asia scandals (Patheos considered my coverage as a part of one of their top ten Evangelical stories of 2015).
It has been a good year and I thank my readers and those who support the blog with their comments and regular visits.

Just a Few More Hours to Give to Mark Driscoll Ministries

If you can handle it, you can view Mark Driscoll and his dog asking for money here.
And then if you are lucky enough to be on the mailing list, you have this reminder:
DriscollGift2015
 
A reminder for all the folks at MDM, you have to file a 990 form. Mars Hill didn’t have to do this, but non-church nonprofits do.
 

The Ownership of Gospel for Asia's Rubber Plantation Under Investigation by Indian Government

According to The Times of India, Gospel for Asia in India is being investigated by the Indian government in relation to GFA’s claim to own Cheruvally Estate, a working rubber plantation. GFA claims to have a clear deed but the government claims that the plantation should not have been sold to GFA by the former owner Harrisons Malayalam.

The special office to deal with Harrisons Malayalam Ltd cases has already issued orders to take over 38,051 acres currently held by HML and other private players who bought land from the company.
This includes 29,185 acres currently held by HML, 1,665 acres of Boyce estate, 2,700 acres of Ambanad estate, 2,263 acres of Cheruvally estate held by Gospel for Asia, 206 acres held by Ria Resorts and Properties and 450 acres of Goodampara estate held by MMJ Plantations. (emphasis added)

If GFA was a party to a fraudulent deed, the managing trustee of Gospel for Asia and Believers’ Church might face jail time. The managing trustee is K.P. Yohannan.
You can read more about GFA’s purchase of Cheruvally Estate on the GFA website.
 

Ted Cruz to Meet Pastors at Event Organized by His Super PAC

Christian Post has the story.
Cruz will be there. The Super PAC is organizing the event at the home of one of the major donors to Cruz’s Super PAC.
How is this not coordination of the Cruz campaign with the Super PAC? Someone who knows these matters better might want to weigh in but to me this looks like the Cruz campaign is coordinating efforts with the supposedly independent Super PAC.