Sex scandal at an evangelical church this time

[ccgr]

http://www.washingtonian.com/2016/02/14 ... inistries/



/sad

[BlockHeadLewie]

It's not only sad, it's frustrating!
Satan has a good hold on a lot of people, some really good people, who will unfortunately hear the final words "Depart from me, I never knew you." Worst part about it is that since Satan can appear as an angel of light, we have no choice but to walk our walk with discernment.
One spot really caught my eye:

In the ministry Mahaney built, some of these features were readily apparent. SGM represented a society unto itself, one that functioned parallel to mainstream culture and that distrusted that wider, secular world. “They believe God’s law comes before civil law,” as one former member says.

The one phrase I always seem to return to is "out own understanding". Last I checked, it was God who placed authority where it is. In fact ALL authority is His! Just because it's bright and seems good does NOT make it so! Seems some of these people need to re-read a bit of their Bibles:

Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.

Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

OOOH! I could go on and on but that's not the purpose of this thread. I get all passionate about My Brothers and Sisters caught up in things like this!

He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

AMEN!

[ChickenSoup]

Satan has a good hold on a lot of people, some really good people, who will unfortunately hear the final words "Depart from me, I never knew you."

There's no forgiveness for these people?

I'm not really a big fan of that thinking. " He was a good Christian until Satan came along, and, well, you know the rest of the story"

[ArcticFox]

This happened right near where I live in the Maryland suburbs of DC. (And some over in VA.)

I don't really know what to say about it. Some people involved were predators, some were well-meaning but ultimately made things worse, some just got lost and confused in the chaos. The only thing that bugs me is it seems like there's a lesson to be learned here that's lost on many of the church's leaders, who are behaving like they're being unfairly persecuted when it seems it was they who failed to take action... and that's even in the best case where they may have been unaware of how bad the problem was (which I doubt.)

[BlockHeadLewie]

@ChickenSoup:
Only God knows the heart, inside and out, from it's deepest past to it's unknown (to us) future. If the heart has never honestly accepted Jesus as The Only Way, then no there is no hope for them.
As for Satan's interaction with us, or vice-versa, the answer lies within this statement:

Satan can appear as an angel of light, we have no choice but to walk our walk with discernment.

I don't really know what to say about it. Some people involved were predators, some were well-meaning but ultimately made things worse, some just got lost and confused in the chaos. The only thing that bugs me is it seems like there's a lesson to be learned here that's lost on many of the church's leaders, who are behaving like they're being unfairly persecuted when it seems it was they who failed to take action... and that's even in the best case where they may have been unaware of how bad the problem was (which I doubt.)

THIS! Major part, for sure! Also the fakers from the word 'go', actors who 'get what they want', diggers who 'look for chumps to fool' as well as those who also heard The Word but didn't have anyone explain it (water it).
Peace!

[Lazarus]

Yes, I'm sure Satan is the one to blame for a sex abuse scandal and subsequent coverup that looks very familiar to the ones that happened inside the Catholic church, and the Duggar family, and the Quiverfull movement etc etc etc.

Nothing to do with the culture of many churches that hides criminal behavior from the authorities under the guise of "God wants us to keep the police out of these religious matters", of course! Blame Satan, Christianity's whipping boy, even though His entire existence is based on a few very possibly misinterpreted passages of scripture from opposite ends of the Bible.

I'm guessing He just tricked all those poor foolish Christian preachers into thinking they should handle actual crimes themselves instead of calling the police like most normal people would. They don't sound like "really good people". They sound like terrible people who told their trusting church members to forgive the pedophiles who attacked their children and then let the pedophiles off the hook scot-free!

Maybe that's what Jesus would have done, but I seem to remember a verse about drowning these kinds of people(the pastors And the pedophiles) in a well with a stone around their neck. I could be misinterpreting that though. It's easy to do even without Satan whispering in your ear.

And of course, since they made mistakes, or just read their Bibles wrong, they're obviously going to hell. Real Christians never sin or do anything bad!

You know what I find really outrageous, besides certain people's willingness to throw these Christians under the bus to protect Christianity's "good" name? The people who covered this abuse up should be in jail right now, along with the abusers. And yet, somehow, they get a pass. I wonder why.

[ccgr]

I agree the ones that tried to cover it up need to be tried as accomplices

[BlockHeadLewie]

"Love the sinner, hate the sin."
Easy to say, right? Complicated to act upon, yes?
Drawing the line is one of my tough spots I'm still working on. I've caught myself several times looking for cords to bind together into a whip and...
**sigh**
...Ok, this isn't about that, it's about "self control" I suppose. Both ours as well as theirs and apparently they have none.
I better stop here before my words get me into trouble!
Peace!

[ArcticFox]

The simple truth is that there's no way for us to judge. Each person involved in these incidents is going to have to repent of their own errors (or not) and make whatever amends they can (or not). We can't know from this article, or even 10 more articles, what's going on in the minds and hearts of every one of these people.

As Christians, what we can do is forgive, we can learn from it, we can be vigilant in the future and we can pray for understanding.

[ChickenSoup]

@ChickenSoup:
Only God knows the heart, inside and out, from it's deepest past to it's unknown (to us) future. If the heart has never honestly accepted Jesus as The Only Way, then no there is no hope for them.
As for Satan's interaction with us, or vice-versa, the answer lies within this statement:

Satan can appear as an angel of light, we have no choice but to walk our walk with discernment.

did you just

quote yourself

[dwarf_bunny]

Things like this always upset me so much. As Christians we set an example and when people hear of a Christian doing something bad they almost always cast judgement on the religion as a whole. People will read and hear about this and drift further away from God.

[ArcticFox]

Things like this always upset me so much. As Christians we set an example and when people hear of a Christian doing something bad they almost always cast judgement on the religion as a whole. People will read and hear about this and drift further away from God.

That's exactly why so much is made of these stories. People who want to discredit Christianity will milk this stuff for all it's worth.

(Then feign offense when the tables are turned.)