On December 14, Bob Smietana at Christianity Today posted a must read article on what appears to be a mind control splinter of Christianity called The Gathering.
I read the CT article about The Gathering just after I posted yesterday about Mark Driscoll’s beliefs in spiritual parenting being a part of apostolic gifting. The notion of one’s minister being one’s parent is, in the modern context, fertile ground for authoritarian teaching making the minister into a tyrant. Smietana’s article provides a troubling look at one expression of this teaching from one Wayne Jolley.
In addition to the spiritual parenting teaching, Jolley is painted as a controlling figure (e.g., church boards are demonic) who preaches a lot about spiritual warfare (e.g., the Jezebel spirit) and prosperity. You must go read the CT article to get the full effect.
Worship Leaders, Reconsider Your Set Lists
One of the reasons The Gathering is of interest to the broader church is the fact that one of the authors of “How Great is Our God” is a member of The Gathering. Ed Cash, Nashville producer whiz, is co-author with Chris Tomlin of the massively popular worship song. Tomlin wrote most of it and Cash added the bridge. It appears that some of the royalties from this song have helped fuel the emergence of The Gathering.
According to the CT article, Cash has actually added Jolley as a co-writer to some of the worship songs co-written and performed by Tomlin (e.g., “The Table” and “The Roar”). Tomlin issued a statement distancing himself from Jolley saying he has never worked with him. However, I was troubled that Tomlin did not see more of a problem with adding Jolley as a songwriter when in fact, has has never worked with Jolley on the songs. The arrangement is obviously a deception for Wayne Jolley’s financial gain. Jolley gets royalties from Tomlin’s success.
All of a sudden, I am a lot less interested in playing Tomlin’s songs. In fact, I hope all over the country, there are worship leaders rethinking their set lists for Sunday.
The Website Cleansing Is Underway
It is so predictable. After an expose, an organization takes down the website for “updating.” That is now true for The Gathering’s and Wayne Jolley Ministries‘ websites. They were up on December 14 (see the Google cache). Just yesterday, a You Tube uses uploaded a collection of Wayne Jolley’s sermons. Seems like it should be a red flag when a Christian ministry hides instead of proclaims what it is about.
Show Wayne the Money
Wayne says it isn’t that he wants your money, he wants you to be blessed. What a guy!
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PHvaSLq8SE[/youtube]
Category: Religion
Jerry Falwell Jr.'s Irresponsible Machismo
For so many reasons, I am glad I don’t teach at Liberty University.
I can’t embed the clip so click through to watch Liberty University president Jerry Falwell, Jr. encourage students to carry guns on campus. He also seems to challenge “Muslims” (I assume he means radical Muslim terrorists) to come visit Liberty, and not for a college tour.
I have no problem with self-defense but this seems like an irresponsible challenge to people who are capable of responding to it. As a college president, your first duty is the safety and well-being of your students, not to go all John Wayne.
Former Mars Hill Church Downtown Now Known as "The Mark"
You can’t make this stuff up.
Note the banner on the old Mars Hill Downtown Seattle location of Mark Driscoll’s old church. It is now known as “The Mark.”
You can read about the project at TheMarkSeattle.com. Quick, someone check to see if “TheMarkPhoenix.com” is registered.
Here is what it looked like back in the day.
Joel Connolly described the final service of Mars Hill Downtown in the old Methodist church. The announcement day of closing the church was a dark one indeed.
On a serious note, the history of the building is fascinating. It is summarized in this video done by the former Mars Hill Downtown folks.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LOp3OxTT70[/youtube]
A Very Starbucks Christmas
Starbucks continues to take Christmas criticism from various quarters but I don’t think it is deserved. Donald Trump even wants to create a government register of every Red Cup, or something like that. I don’t visit the place often but when I did over the weekend, I felt positively festive.
I got a tall Vanilla Bean frap and so I got a clear cup instead of The Red One. But I did notice that Starbucks is selling a Christmas coffee blend and markets an Advent product. Check it out.
Seems like Starbucks is sending cleverly coded Christmas messages to their customers. I know what Advent means.
And then I saw this gift card option:
Merry Christmas!? How could that be? I had to check my location to see where I was enjoying crushed vanilla ice and alternative music. Sure enough, I was still in Starbucks. Confused, I asked myself how can Starbucks be engaged in a war on Christmas with all of this Christmas stuff around?
For a moment, I wondered if all of the Red Cups and references to Christmas and the Advent Code had lured me into some kind of trap from the pit of Seattle. I waited to see if anti-Christmas subliminal messages would bombard me from the sound system. I kept hearing the same music and names being called out by the baristas.
While I waited, the most evil thing that happened was the temptation from the Christmasy-looking baked goods. I settled on the snowman doughnut and peppermint cake pop as souvenirs from the front line of the Christmas wars.
All in all, the whole situation seemed pretty tame, just a business commercializing the Season, which may have been the point in the first place.
Ted Cruz, Bobby Jindal, and Mike Huckabee and the Alternative Reality Conference
Kevin Swanson appears to be a tortured soul. It is beyond ridiculous that Ted Cruz, Bobby Jindal and Mike Huckabee spoke at a conference organized by this fellow.
During the conference Christian reconstructionist minister Phil Kayser distributed a publication calling for the death penalty for gays and others who violate Mosaic law. I brought Kayser’s views forward four years ago when he endorsed Ron Paul. Paul initially was thrilled to get Kayser’s endorsement until I pointed out Kayser’s views on gays.
One speaker at the conference said the movie “Frozen” was satanic.
Here is Swanson saying gays need more time to repent.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgZU6pGKgRk[/youtube]
Religious liberty is a cherished right. However, the right to impose one’s religious views on a minority is not a right and should be resisted by followers of Christ.
Cruz, Jindal, and Huckabee have offered a legitimacy to Christian reconstructionism that is frightening. Even Ron Paul distanced himself from Kayser and his reconstructionist views 4 years ago. It is appalling that these three went anywhere near that conference.