Has God Foreordained an Alleged Child Sex Abuse Cover up in Sovereign Grace Ministries/Churches? Is that why CJ Mahaney is so Sacred?

Eagle’s response to CJ Mahaney resuming preaching at T4G. Why has a man who has allegedly engaged in blackmail and the alleged cover up of child sex abuse even a pastor let alone teaching? Eagle is honestly wondering…how much money has CJ Mahaney thrown around? Has God foreordained alleged child sex abuse in Sovereign Grace? Is that why CJ so valuable? Since CJ is going to be coddled by so many, Eagle is wondering….why did the Protestant Reformation even occur? Can someone explain this to me?

“My God what is wrong with these people? No, No and a thousand NOs.”

Noel in her story from Sovereign Grace Fairfax

“C.J., are you aware that you are blackmailing Larry?  You‘ll make no mention of Justin‘s sins, which he confessed and was forgiven of months ago, if Larry agrees with your statement, but you feel you have to warn the folks and go national with Justin‘s sins if Larry pushes the doctrinal button?  C.J., you are blackmailing Larry to say what you want!”

Doris Tomczak in response to CJ Mahaney blackmailing Larry Tomczak in a phone conversation October 3, 1997

“Dever, Duncan and Mohler have proved themselves to be modern-day Pharisees (hypocrites). They claim: “[Christians] must act immediately to inform legal authorities of any charge or claim of sexual abuse, and do so without delay.” And Dever, Duncan and Mohler say “We have stood beside our friend, C. J. Mahaney, and we can speak to his personal integrity.” By their own words, they have proved themselves men of defective integrity, standing beside a man who totally lacked integrity when he and his fellow leaders of SGM told the complaints not to go to the police.”

Commenter to T4G Statement on CJ Mahaney on Facebook May 24, 2013.

 

Required jingle for hearing CJ Mahaney preach to T4G. Maybe the crowd can do this together before CJ preaches?

In the story of Noel from Sovereign Grace Fairfax her husband Grizzly met with one of the Sovereign Grace Fairfax pastors for lunch. Noel and Grizzly’s daughter was sexually abused and the church was minimizing it. They also wanted Noel and Grizzly just to forgive and let it be. The County of Fairfax was pressing charges against the boy who sexually abused Noel’s daughter. At the lunch meeting the Fairfax pastor denied that they were minimizing the issue. Then at the end of the meeting the pastor asked Grizzly to pray about overturning the charges against the boy by writing a letter to the commonwealth attorney or putting their signature on a form. Grizzly told him point blank, “No.” Two weeks later at a Sunday meeting Grizzly told that pastor that in no way would they support overturning the charges, and that if they tried they would hire a lawyer immediately.

In yet another meeting with the family the mother of the boy who sexually abused Noel’s child came up to her and asked her to sign a paper overturning the charges. Noel thought, “My God what is wrong with these people? No, No and a thousand NOs.”

My God what is wrong with these people? No, No and a thousand Nos

Last week I was at my desk drinking my water when I saw that CJ Mahaney is back preaching. I almost choked on my water and my blood pressure soared through the roof. Noel has fought enough, this time its my turn to get my feathers ruffled up and say the following. CJ Mahaney preaching again after his alleged involvement in a cover up of child sex abuse and also allegedly  blackmailing his ministry partner?

My God what is wrong with these people? No, No and a thousand NOs!!

Lets spend some time looking at CJ Mahaney’s alleged blackmail of Larry Tomczak and his involvement in the alleged cover up of child sex abuse in Sovereign Grace.

 

The Alleged Blackmailing of Larry Tomczak

There are several things that are deeply disturbing about CJ Mahaney, one of the most disturbing is when he allegedly blackmailed Larry Tomczak. Larry’s son Justin confessed some sin that was serious to CJ Mahaney. Mahaney would threaten to use that confession against Larry Tomczak.  Larry and CJ were in odds over reformed theology, and CJ wanted to take PDI in the reformed direction and jump on the Neo-Calvinist bandwagon.  Larry did not agree with reformed theology. Larry wanted to leave PDI. Note what is it with these names? PDI sounds eerily similar to other names of notorious cults, for example “People’s Temple” or “Heaven’s Gate” but honestly where do they come up with these names? Anyhow, Larry decided to leave PDI and there was a phone conversation that was a conference call. In the call CJ Mahaney allegedly blackmailed Larry Tomczak. The transcript below I lifted off Brent Detwiler’s site. Its in his third set of documents detailing CJ Mahaney called “Concluding Remarks.”

Transcript of Phone Conversation between C.J., Doris and Larry Tomczak on October 3, 1997 [pp. 10-11]
C.J.  “Doctrine is an unacceptable reason for leaving P.D.I.”

Larry  “C.J., I‘m not in sync with any of the T.U.L.I.P., so whether you agree or not, doctrine is one of the major reasons I believe it is God‘s will to leave P.D.I. and it does need to be included in any statement put forth.”

C.J. “If you do that, then it will be necessary for us to give a more detailed explanation of your sins.”

Larry   “Justin‘s name has been floated out there when there‘s statements like revealing more details about my sin.‘  What are you getting at?”

C.J.  “Justin‘s name isn‘t just ‘floated out there‘ – I‘m stating it!”

Larry  “C.J. how can you do that after you encouraged Justin to confess everything; get it all out.  Then when he did, you reassured him – ‘You have my word, it will never leave this room.  Even our wives won‘t be told.‘  I repeatedly reassured him: ‘C.J. is a man of his word.  You needn‘t worry.‘  Now you‘re talking of publically sharing the sins of his youth?!”

C.J.  “My statement was made in the context of that evening.  If I knew then what you were going to do, I would have re-evaluated what I communicated.”

Doris  “C.J., are you aware that you are blackmailing Larry?  You‘ll make no mention of Justin‘s sins, which he confessed and was forgiven of months ago, if Larry agrees with your statement, but you feel you have to warn the folks and go national with Justin‘s sins if Larry pushes the doctrinal button?  C.J., you are blackmailing Larry to say what you want!”

“Shame on you, C.J.!  As a man of God and a father, shame on you!  This will send shock waves throughout the teens in P.D.I. and make many pastors‘ teens vow, ‘I‘ll never confess my secret sins to C.J. or any of the team, seeing that they‘ll go public with my sins if my dad doesn‘t toe the line.‘”

“C.J., you will reap whatever judgment you make on Justin.  You have a young son coming up.”

“Another reason for my personally wanting to leave P.D.I. and never come back is this ungodly tactic of resorting to blackmail and intimidation of people!”

C.J. “I can‘t speak for the team, but I want them to witness this.  We‘ll arrange a conference call next week with the team.”

Doris  “I want Justin to be part of that call.  It‘s his life that‘s at stake.”

C.J. “Fine.”

Note: C.J. never spoke with us [Larry and Doris] again.  He was not a participant in the critical phone meetings that followed.  It is still hard to fathom that after all the years, at such a crucial juncture, C.J. simply bowed out.  He did speak at CLC [Covenant Life Church] in a public meeting (visitors present) in labeling me a liar and stating he‘d rather be “dead then do what Larry Tomczak is doing.” Local leaders at CLC were then affirmed by C.J. and after a pause, people present (knowing only what they had been told) stood and gave a standing ovation.  One family, aware of more of what was going on than the bulk of the congregation, remained seated.  Was this necessary… pleasing to God…the spirit of Christ?
 

After that infamous conversation on October 3, 1997 the following letter was distributed to PDI members. Brent Detwiler at his website states that while he signed the letter he played no role in writing it.

October 15, 1997

 Dear Friend,

I hope this notes finds you grateful for God‘s grace.

This is a letter we never anticipated having to write.  Indeed, it represents a sad day, for it involves a departure by one of our pastors from the biblical values we have taught and practiced. Recently, Larry Tomczak informed us that he will be leaving PDI and the disciplinary process he was involved in.  No one is more grieved than the PDI leadership team by this unexpected development.

 As you are aware, in May Larry stepped down from his position in the Atlanta church due to patterns of sinful behavior which, on the basis of Scripture, disqualified him from serving in ministry. (See the attached letter Larry distributed).  This discipline was necessary and unavoidable, yet redemptive in intent, and at the time fully supported by Larry.  It has always been our desire to work with Larry so that he might once again biblically qualify for pastoral ministry and be restored to the position of senior pastor.  As you may recall, the letter Larry sent to you communicated his agreement with the disciplinary action and he wrote that, “Ultimately the timing of my return will be determined by the apostolic team and the local leadership as they observe and confirm genuine change in my life.”

After only four months Larry informed us that he considers himself qualified to return.  We regret that we cannot support this assessment.  Neither the three men locally responsible for Larry, nor any member of the of the PDI leadership team agree with his current assessment of himself or his decision to leave.  All of us have been Larry‘s friends and have served with him in ministry for 15-20 years.  In every way that we know how we have appealed to him to remain until the trust he violated has been restored and we can confirm by his patterns of behavior over time (the fruit of repentance) that genuine change has truly taken place.  Sadly, Larry is resolute in his decision to leave PDI.  Larry has asked us to entrust him to God.  As always, we do entrust him to God but we do not and cannot endorse his decision to abandon the restoration process.

 It has always been our desire to see Larry restored and serving according to the call upon his life.  But calling alone is not sufficient.  Scripture is clear that there must be character and conduct commensurate with the call to ministry (1 Tim 3:1-6; Titus 1:6-9).  Scripture is also clear that there is to be no favoritism when determining or disciplining leaders (1 Tim 5:21). The pattern of sin revealed in Larry‘s life over a period of years, as well as the needs in his family, were serious and grievous.  These not only disqualified Larry but also necessitated a sufficient period of time for the necessary changes to occur.  As was stated in Larry‘s letter, a period of 6-12 months was agreed to as a minimum.  Four months is an inadequate period of time to achieve the changes necessary, nor is it sufficient time to reestablish trust in light of the serious patterns of sin which Larry acknowledged as characteristic of his life.  (Please understand that throughout this process specific details have been withheld because they involve sins that have been confessed to appropriate leaders with the Atlanta church and the PDI leadership team. It has always been our desire to be merciful, and there is presently no justifiable reasons for revealing any further details regarding these sins.)

More importantly, one‘s return to ministry should never be determined by the one being disciplined.  Rather, re-commendation to ministry should be determined by the local pastoral team working in conjunction with the PDI leadership team so that together  they may confirm that appropriate and measurable change has occurred.  This is our established and previously agreed upon practice in PDI, for a man simply cannot trust his own assessment of himself nor determine unilaterally when he returns to ministry once he has been disqualified. Though it is often a temptation for disciplined leaders to revise their convictions and flee from the restoration process, Larry has taught differently, believed differently and exhorted others differently.  Larry‘s premature departure from this redemptive means of restoration is extremely disappointing for those of us who have cared for him for and served alongside him for so many years.

Please pray for the church in Atlanta.  Larry Malament and George Harrington have done a heroic job serving both the church and Larry Tomczak.  The character we have observed in their lives has provoked our deep respect.  Their leadership will again be tested through this development, but their personal integrity and care for the flock will make all the difference during this difficult time.

 And finally, as Larry himself counseled in his May 15 letter, “It is critical that everyone actively resist any temptation to drift into speculation or slander.” This will necessitate refusing to participate in slander or listen to gossip.  If you or anyone else have any questions or concerns, please direct these to your pastor, who is best equipped to answer your questions and prevent unnecessary division.  Let‘s glorify God by purposing to “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit” in our respective local churches.  Let us also walk humbly before God, remembering Galatians 6:1, “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently.  But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.”

With great sadness,

C.J. Mahaney

Brent Detwiler    Dave Harvey   Steve Shank

Paul Palmer           Danny James  Robert Lotinsky

 

Nate Morales and the Alleged Cover up of Child Sex Abuse in Sovereign Grace

A lawsuit commenced against SGM October 17, 2012 by several former members alleging the cover up of child sexual abuse, forcing young toddlers to forgive their molester, and giving free legal advice to the sexual abusers themself and helping them flee from the law.  This lawsuit would grow and expand again on January 14, 2013, with deeply disturbing revelations about additional child sex abuse and domestic abuse. Included in these revelations was a claim that an adult woman was physically spanked by a then SGM pastor. This lawsuit was spearheaded by Susan Burke, an attorney who cut her teeth on military rape cases.  This lawsuit would also grow to be the biggest evangelical sex scandal  to date. I don’t think anything has surpassed it.

As churches were departing SGM it became known in early November 2012 that Covenant Life Church Pastors recommended separating from SGM. This is noteworthy because CLC is the flagship church and the original church from which SGM grew CLC became embroiled in the lawsuit as horrid details of alleged criminal activity came forward. In December 2012 Covenant Life Church left Sovereign Grace Ministries.  When CLC left it took 30% of SGM national operating budget.  As the lawsuit developed SGM’s response was to claim the First Amendment as its defense in claiming pastoral assistance to those who emotionally injured by SGM.  Turmoil continued within the SGM organization with the next departure being Dave Harvey who resigned from the SGM leadership team and then in the distant future would resign from Covenant Fellowship Church in Pennsylvania in which he led.

On May 17, 2013 most of the lawsuit against SGM was thrown out on a technicality. The problem was the statue to limitations had expired. It didn’t mean the sexual abuse claims never happened, it meant that the legal avenue had run its course. In SGM culture members were discouraged from reporting child sex abuse to the local law authorities, so many of the law authorities were unaware of the abuse having occurred. Then in an act of corruption which made one wonder why the Protestant Reformation even occurred on May 24, both T4G and The Gospel Coalition “The Neo Calvinists Rome” released a statement in support of CJ Mahaney

In a statement by DA Carson, Justin Taylor, and Ligon Duncan that was called “Why We Have Been Silent About the SGM Lawsuit” the TGC stated the following, and in the process went after a SGM rape victim as well:

Reports on the lawsuit from Christianity Today and World Magazine (among others) explicitly and repeatedly drew attention to C. J., connecting the suit to recent changes within SGM. He has also been the object of libel and even a Javert-like obsession by some. One of the so-called discernment blogs—often trafficking more in speculation and gossip than edifying discernment—reprinted a comment from a woman who issued this ominous wish, “I hope [this lawsuit] ruins the entire organization [of SGM] and every single perpetrator and co-conspirator financially, mentally and physically.”

We are not ashamed to call C. J. a friend. Our relationship with C. J. is like that with any good friend—full of laughter and sober reflection, encouragement and mutual correction. He has regularly invited—even pursued—correction, and we have given him our perspective when it is warranted. While the admission of friendship may render this entire statement tainted in the eyes of some, we hope most Christians will understand that while friends should never cover for each others’ sins, neither do friends quickly accept the accusations of others when they run counter to everything they have come to see and know about their friend. We are grateful for C. J.’s friendship and his fruitful ministry of the gospel over many decades.

Also on May 24, T4G Statement of Support for Mahaney was issued by Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, and Al Mohler, in which they claimed “A Christian leader, charged with any credible, serious, and direct wrongdoing, would usually be well advised to step down from public ministry. No such accusation of direct wrongdoing was ever made against C. J. Mahaney. Instead, he was charged with founding a ministry and for teaching doctrines and principles that are held to be true by vast millions of American evangelicals. For this reason, we, along with many others, refused to step away from C. J. in any way. We do not regret that decision. We are profoundly thankful for C. J. as friend, and we are equally thankful for the vast influence for good he has been among so many Gospel-minded people.”  The responses by people on T4G Facebook’s page showed the outrage by Christians of all stripes. Some of the comments directed back at Mohler, Dever, and Duncan included the following: 

“What these men don’t realize is that their silence is pushing a large group of precious souls farther and farther from the Church…and our glorious and gracious God.” And so, again, it’s the victims who suffer. I pray that the truth will continue to come out. And that, in spite of everything, the victims will know the love of God.

***

 What you have done, T4G and all individuals who have signed their name to this statement, is officially disqualified yourselves from ever being safe individuals who can provide safe spaces to those who have been victims of abuse. Do you understand that? Until this statement is fully and wholeheartedly redacted, you’re done. Those who are being abused in your congregations will not feel safe coming forward, especially if it’s someone who holds high status in the church. You have put your friendship with one man over the safety, spiritual and emotional health, and well-being of the defenseless, vulnerable, and victimized. There is no gospel, no good news, in a statement that ignores the cries of victims, covers it up with very hollow rhetoric about “law enforcement,” brings the honesty of the victims who came forward into question, twists or completely ignores the facts, and even sometimes outrightly lies (Mahaney not being accused of any specific wrongdoing? Please.)

***

This statement is horrible. It is wrong. It is not at all reflective of the gospel. It only continues to hurt those who have already been hurt, and ensure that things will not get better down the road.

***

 Shameful lie. CJ is very much accused of wrongdoing, he is simply not accused of sexual sin. To defend him in this way is utterly … well, defenseless. Your words about abuse ring hollow when the very man you are trying to defend did not follow these vital steps of reporting and handing over to authorities. He failed to do these things. He failed as a shepherd, he failed as a man. And you have defended him. Sadly, I know how your statement has made the victims of abuse by members of CJ’s churches feel. I have been in their shoes with the Association of Baptists for World Evangelism (ABWE), and I can tell you, you have abused them all over again by ignoring their pain and ignoring CJ’s important role in how SGM handled these things. You profess to support victims, but continue to side with the man who cultivated an environment where no one would hear their cries of pain. We need no court of law to see clearly that things are very amiss with this man. He is unfit to lead until he repents of his terrible, terrible leadership in these vital matters that impacted the most vulnerable of souls.

***

Shameful and amazing, even a bit surreal. God save us from such leaders who have become so right, so powerful, so sure, so full of their own party convictions, that they would dare to say or write anything that might slight or trample on a victim of sexual abuse. A statute of limitations law is the pedophile’s dream come true, that is why many states have thrown SOL laws out that protect from criminal prosecution for crimes against children, and powerful lobbyists often fight hard against their efforts to do so. T4G should have maintained their, uh… courageous silence…at least then, some folks might have assumed they were still unbiased and even concerned for victims.

***

  To all commenting here that are Reformed brothers and sisters, thank you for your courage to call out those within our camp. I am appalled at the statement put forth by t4G, disappointed in the leaders and disgusted by the whole thing.

***

 It’s Penn State all over again. Trying to handle child sex abuse in-house instead of reporting it to the police. Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, Albert Mohler…why are you defending someone who treid to cover up child sexual abuse? As a police officer who has dealt w/ children being sexually abused, I am appalled at your reaction to this. Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, Albert Mohler…how do you think the victims feel after reading your defense of the man who tried to cover their abuse up? This is shameful.

***

Dever, Duncan and Mohler have proved themselves to be modern-day Pharisees (hypocrites). They claim: “[Christians] must act immediately to inform legal authorities of any charge or claim of sexual abuse, and do so without delay.” And Dever, Duncan and Mohler say “We have stood beside our friend, C. J. Mahaney, and we can speak to his personal integrity.” By their own words, they have proved themselves men of defective integrity, standing beside a man who totally lacked integrity when he and his fellow leaders of SGM told the complaints not to go to the police.

***

Ever seen the movie “Wag the Dog”? Spoiler: it’s all about spin and integrity.

This is really an astounding example of too little far, far too late. Even if what you said was factually correct (which its not), the spin you put on this issue would make the best DJ do a slow clap. This is an incredible remix of events and facts. I can’t believe you would choose to keep a brother protected in the inner circle rather than speak openly about the actual situation, charges, and overwhelming reality of this situation. If this is how you handle such a sorrowful turn of events that clearly needs the gospel on all sides, how can I trust you to rightly lead the souls in your collective care?

Guys, this more than ever smacks of agenda and conspiracy. Take it however you want, but what you are doing is preaching loudly against the gospel you claim is binding you together.

“Touch not the Lord’s anointed” is a really shitty move.

***

 Why is no mention made that the heart of this lawsuit is about a systematic church effort to discourage and eventually prevent the families of children who were allegedly (and repeatedly) sexually victimized by church officials from speaking out and reporting to law enforcement. This lawsuit is less about the abuse and more about an institution that took steps to protect itself and it’s reputation over the victimized souls (and bodies) of little ones. Omitting such a fundamental fact from this statement is a fundamental error.

Why no mention that CJ Mahaney was actually the Senior Pastor at one of these churches where all of this horrific abuse allegedly occurred AND that discouraged these families from bringing this matter to the God ordained civil authorities? Omitting such a fundamentally important fact from this statement is a fundamental error.

This lawsuit was dismissed for one reason and one reason only…expiration of the statute of limitation. Isn’t it tragic that the reason why this suit was dismissed – taking too long to file – was the very objective of these church leaders when they discouraged these precious souls from stepping forward.

Many of these men have not hesitated to write (or tweet) on the Penn State horrors, gays in the Boy Scouts, and Universal healthcare, but have been conspicuously quiet on this issue…just doesn’t sit right with me (and apparently a lot of others). And when they finally speak, what is omitted speaks more than what is said.

What these men don’t realize is that their silence is pushing a large group of precious souls farther and farther from the Church…and our glorious and gracious God. [sigh]

Boz Tchividjian, J.D.
Executive Director, GRACE

A short time after the statement was released on Facebook all comments were removed. On May 29, Susan Burke filed a motion for reconsideration of the thrown out lawsuit. And internally at The Gospel Coalition strife over the organization supporting CJ Mahaney led to the organization to silently change its statement and add that it doesn’t speak for everyone. Billy Graham’s grandson’s would soon find themselves immersed in the controversy. Boz Tchividjian who runs a ministry called G.R.A.C.E that deals with sexul abuse became very critical of the way SGM was handling pedophilia. Eventually the controversy would drag in Tim Keller and Tullian Tchividjian of Coral Springs Presbyterian Church. 

Back in Montgomery County, Maryland legal officials were in the process of investigating CLC.  A former youth minister Nate Morales who was arrested and tried for sexually abusing a number of victims. Under oath in a Maryland State Court Room former CLC Pastor Grant Layman admitted that he knew Morales had sexually abused victims. Layman was Mahaney’s brother in law and it also came out that the Pastoral Staff as recently as 2007 knew that Morales had a long and ongoing history of sexual abuse. Again this information was kept from police.  The question which would pop up is how much information did CJ Mahaney know? Morales was convicted of child sex abuse bringing substance to the child abuse allegations. No longer could they be alleged – in a Maryland court room they were officially adjudicated. Morlaes would be sentenced to 40 years in prison. For 5 minutes on Twitter on May 16, 2014 blogger Zach Hoag led the national tweets with the following hashtag #IstandwithSGMvictims. In a sign of ongoing and deep corruption The Gospel Coalition blocked all Tweets from those who sent that message. And then Tullian Tchividjian entered the scene on May 19, 2014. Michael Newham who nationally blogs as The Phoenix Preacher put it best: 

It was like a swarm of gnats attacking an elephant on Twitter…bloggers, lay people, victims, and one courageous reporter all demanding answers and relentlessly pursuing truth and accountability from Sovereign Grace Ministries and The Gospel Coalition.

The big boys were unyielding.

Then someone showed up with an elephant gun.

That person with the Elephant Gun was Tullian Tchividjian who validated the fact that CJ Mahaney knew about the cover up of child abuse. Tchvidjian was given the boot from TGC and explained how he and others were deeply upset about DA Carson’s statement of support for Mahaney. Tullian claimed that he didn’t want his ministry tainted by Mahaney’s. In the following statement Tullian told the Christian Post:

“Give me a break. These people, they’re family. Of course he knew,” Tchividjian told The Christian Post. “C. J. was, for many years, the micro-managing head of the organization and nothing happened under the umbrella of Sovereign Grace that he wasn’t made aware of, so for anyone to say, ‘Well he didn’t know,’ that’s totally naive.”

Josh Harris and CJ Mahaney resigned from The Gospel Coalition immediately after the fiasco. This dragged out both Tim Keller and DA Carson into the fray who tried to address Tullian’s claims and to make peace with Tullian. The last part of history in this sordid tale of corruption occurred on May 22, when CJ Mahaney issued a statement that claimed they he never knew of any child abuse cover up. In response two of the litigants Happymom and Wallice issued a statement through a blog called The Wartburg Watch that publicly disputed his claim and provided evidence of his knowledge of child abuse cover up at Sovereign Grace Fairfax.

 

Eagle’s Thoughts

I felt sick, angry, disgusted and upset. In order to have this kind of support I wonder how much money did CJ Mahaney threw around? As I reflect on this I remember my days in agnosticism/atheism  and the ways that atheists would talk about the high amount of corruption in Christianity. For many people that amount of corruption is what validated their belief that Christianity was a fraud and God doesn’t exist. And here we are seeing Matt Chandler, David Platt, Theobotti Anaybile, Kevin DeYoung, CJ Mahaney, John Piper, Legion Duncan, Al Mohler and Mark Dever confirming that argument. To ignore and disregard the alleged criminal activity of CJ Mahaney and plow ahead like nothing is wrong makes my blood boil. If a sexually abused child in Noel’s story doesn’t count as one of the least of these…then what does?

CJ Mahaney is not qualified to teach, he is not even qualified to be an elder. For CJ Mahaney to preach at T4G is like watching the following transpire:

• It would be like a member of Al Qaeda running airport security at Dulles International.
• It would be like serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in Milwaukee who also cannibalized a number of people having a cooking show on The Food Network.
• It would be like Bernie Madoff who was convicted of the largest Ponzi scheme in US history becoming the Treasurer of the local PTA.
• It would be like Jared Fogle who was convicted of child pornograghy and having sex with under age teens becoming a Big Brother in the Big Brothers and Big Sisters program.

So CJ Mahaney preaching and teaching again when he hasn’t repented of his blackmail or his involvement in the cover up of child sex abuse in Sovereign Grace? My God what is wrong with these people? No, No and a thousand NOs!!

In Calvinism, Calvinists take comfort in the answers. Its actually why I reject it because you also give birth to a system that is nothing but pure determinism.  But in thinking this though the only thing I can think of is that some of the Neo-Calvinists must believe that God orchestrated an alleged cover up of child sex abuse in Sovereign Grace, and CJ Mahaney is just doing that Lord’s bidding and playing his role in carrying out that alleged cover up.  If CJ Mahnaey were a civil servant in the federal government he’d be removed while the charges are investigated. If he were in many other professions he would be asked to step aside while the situation is dealt with; that is the way forward, and that is the proper way to do things. That’s what makes this all the more sickening. None of the guys who support, enable, and speak with CJ Mahaney have my respect. I wrote this about Matt Chandler when he apologized to Karen Hinkley but even seeing his mug shot on that above photo causes me to reach for Pepto Bismol. All I can say is that I feel sick…if this is the course of Christianity….then I find myself longing for atheism at times. Wake me up if Mark Dever has a soul. Wake me up when Kevin DeYoung discovers his conscious. Wake me up when John Piper knows right from wrong. Wake me up when Thabiti Anyabwile actually cares for the least of these. Wake me up when Ligon Duncan actually values children. Wake me up when David Platt becomes radical about wanting to stop child sex abuse. Wake me up when Al Mohler actually cares about child sex abuse as much as he does the culture wars.  Meanwhile I will close with this Green Day song,….wake me up when this garbage of the celebrity pastor is all over.