As is my Friday tradition, I offer my rundown of things – good, bad, and ugly – which caught my attention this week. If you missed any of these, I strongly encourage you to visit the links below.
The Good
- My friend Sarah Taras, co-host of the Ezer Uncaged podcast with Lauren Larkin (also a pretty awesome person!), recently decided to crush the absurdity of modesty culture with a deeply personal (and damned courageous) post on pornography, lust, and womanhood.
NDTD- Confessing Our Skeletons – Sarah Taras
2. In case you missed it, Dr. Ruth Tucker’s new book Black and White Bible, Black and Blue Wife has been released. I cannot stress enough how important and profound a book this is. If you still aren’t sold, read my review here and my interview with Dr. Tucker here. Please listen, you need to read this book!
Black and White Bible, Black and Blue Wife
3. Ashley Easter had a great post discussing male privilege and egalitarian theology at CBE’s blog. I think she hit the nail on the head, showing why so many men find gender equality in all facets of the Church so threatening.
3 Risks Men Take When Embracing Gender Equality
The Bad
4. Last week I highlighted Mark Driscoll’s deeply offensive sermon at Acts 29 flagship church Grace City. Unfortunately for Driscoll, that seems to be only the beginning of his woes. Driscoll has now been named a co-defendant in a civil RICO lawsuit charging him with Racketeering.
Both Warren Throckmorton and Brad Sargent (futurist guy) wrote excellent reflections on the suit. My own thoughts can be found here.
5. Amy Martin of The Dallas Observer has an excellent article focused on Any Smith of the Watch Keep blog. I the article, Martyn notes Smith’s work – she is a volunteer spokesperson for the SNAP network – in bringing child sex predators to justice within the Protestant church. It is absolutely astounding, and quite heartbreaking, the persecution Smith has received – even facing the rejection of her own father for her work.
An Advocate for the Sexually Abused Demands Answers from Prestonwood Baptist Church
The Ugly
6. While reading Dr. Ruth Tucker’s newest book (see above) I came across this quote from John Calvin’s commentary on the Corinthian epistles. It seems to me this quote still rings true in many Neo-Calvinist circles.
7. Given all the criticism Mark Driscoll has received recently, one would think he’d choose his words carefully. Instead, he offered this response to this critics via Twitter with a John Calvin quote. I’m not sure what Driscoll thought he was saying, but this quote isn’t helping his case much.
8. Lastly, this week it was revealed that Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy is lauded by white supremacists. Trump responded by claiming he doesn’t know anything about the KKK or David Duke and thus refusing to criticize them. This played out practically when white supremacist Trump supporters forcefully and threateningly removed a group of peaceful, silent black protesters from a rally. In addition, it was revealed that some news organizations had their press credentials for the event denied, yet a white supremacist radio host was allowed to broadcast live from his rally.
Despite all this, Donald Trump – a man who promotes a xenophobic/racist rhetoric, is openly misogynistic, has been accused of marital rape, and wants to revoke the rights of entire people groups – remains the Republican frontrunner. He also is the most popular of the candidates among self-identifying Evangelical Christians.
Yet, with all we know about Trump, it makes me sick to my stomach thinking that he could very well win the GOP presidential candidacy as the candidate most highly endorsed by evangelical Christians. The situation has become so distressing that even Dr. Russell Moore himself has declared evangelicalism dead, and has chosen to no longer self-identify as evangelical.
Why This Election Makes me Hate the Word Evangelical
Sparking Conversation 
First Driscoll and now this….(Tullian’s comeback).:-(
http://reformedarsenal.com/2016/03/03/an-open-letter-to-kevin-and-chris/
What’s going on in the Church?
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I’ll be honest, I only know the basics of Tchividjian’s affair. I’m not going to defend or condemn him because I need to read and form my own opinion first.
I will offer a couple observations on the comparison of him to Driscoll.
While I am sure there would be ample points of theological disagreement between myself and Tchividjian, I do not know of him having a history of inflammatory remarks like Driscoll does. (If you know of any, feel free to provide the links)
Mark Driscoll never took any time off. He was on stage at the Grace conference within a month of leaving Mars Hill. Further, Driscoll left Mars Hill not because he was asked to but because he was unwilling to engage in reconciliation. I don’t see that same pattern in what I know of Tchividjian.
Driscoll has worked hard to stay in the limelight. He has portrayed himself as a victim and a prophet. Tchividjian – in as much as I know – has been more humble and openl repentant for his affair.
These things being said, if Tchividjian is engaging in ministry in a formal capacity, I think it would be too soon. I would not have a problem if he was speaking to ministers about his own failings, and how they might avoid them. But I would give pause if he was being called upon to speak or teach as leader of a service. I don’t think (from my admittedly limited knowledge) he should be denied restoration indefinitely. But having attended a church under the leadership of a divorced minister, there is a serious risk of him working out personal issues in an unhealthy way from the stage. I would hate to see that be the case. His own healing, reconciliation, and restoration needs to be his focus and I hope and pray that it is.
Again, I only offer some thoughts. I do not have a full enough knowledge to form my own opinion. But I do think that – beyond time frame – a comparison between he and Driscoll is tenuous at best.
Thanks for the article Eugene 🙂
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Thank you for the clarification. My question is…. is this considered ministry or not?
http://springhills.org/onewayloveevent
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That is an excellent question. One that I think you are right to be asking. You should see if they are streaming the event at all. Seems like such a popular event might be available online. If it is, perhaps consider listening then offering some opinions afterwards.
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Thanks, Nate!
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Welcome 🙂
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I like the way Trump’s lawyer claims you cannot rape your spouse. That right there makes me not believe anything either of them are saying about this. It appears that she has been bullied into retracting her rape story so as not to make her ex husband look like a domestic violence perpetrator. God help us if this narcissistic abuser makes it into the White House! And it is absolutely astounding that even after all the things you mention, his misogyny, his white supremacy and lying about not knowing about the KKK and David Duke, that Christians are backing this guy. This is all very dangerous stuff.
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I picked up Tucker’s book at B&N last night. Still working up the courage to crack it open. Maybe I’ll wait until I talk with my therapist. 🙂 Thanks for the review, though. Never would have heard about this book otherwise.
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It is an emotional book, might be triggering. But if you can handle it, worth the read.
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