An Open Letter to Mark Mitchell (Executive Pastor Covenant Life Church)

Mark Mitchell of Covenant Life  Church claimed that “satan” was attacking Covenant Life in the form of a Washingtonian article that revealed the cover up of child sex abuse in Sovereign Grace. Eagle’s BS detector was screaming and this is a response to Mark Mitchell. If Mark Mitchell in a passive aggressive way is going to attack fine people like Pam Palmer then Eagle will come back and hammer Covenant Life hard. I will go to war for fine people like the Palmer family. If such behavior is going to be the norm out of Covenant Life then the best way God can be glorified is to drive a bulldozer through the building and pulverize it.

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There is a discernment quiz here for you to look at and analyze. It is the webpage of Redeemer City Church in N.E. Washington, D.C.  How would you analyze this church? By looking at their doctrine, beliefs, associations, etc…what can you learn?  By practicing your discernment, would you get involved in Redeemer City Church? After giving people an opportunity to review  and study this church then I will write a post and discuss Redeemer City Church. expect to see that happen in late January early February.

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Todd Wilhelm wrote another fantastic article that I am going to encourage you to read. It deals with Covenant Life Church’s response to the Washingtonian article.

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“You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.”

Abraham Lincoln

“Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish”

Euripides

“Fools’ words get them into constant quarrels; they are asking for a beating.⁷ The mouths of fools are their ruin; they trap themselves with their lips.”

Proverbs 18:6-7 NLT

Baltimore Raven fans give Mark Mitchell a verbal response to his claim that Covenant Life is under satanic attack in the form of a Washingtonian article

Dear Mark-

This letter will be blunt, short and will push back hard.  Yesterday the Washingtonian magazine published an article about Sovereign Grace and the problem of child sex abuse in the denomination.  I have been looking forward to this day as I want the victims who have their stories posted on SGM Survivors and Refuge to have justice. I want each family to have closure and I want Sovereign Grace and C.J. Mahaney held accountable for the cover up of child sex abuse. Those who are hurt have time on their side and proclaim what they do with a clean conscience. You can’t suppress truth, nor can it be hidden. I have known about this article for some time. I remember when Dee Parsons called me up and told me about her interview. It was one of the only times she gave an interview. I plan to discuss this article in depth on Monday.

You said something very off the wall at the membership meeting at Covenant Life Church this past Sunday. It was done in response to this long awaited article in the Washingtonian.  At SGM Survivors the other day it was revealed you attributed the timing of the article to a satanic attack trying to interfere with what God is doing at CLC.

A satanic attack…?

Really?!?

Covenant Life and Sovereign Grace creates their own problem and the response is to say that they are under satanic attack?  I have one thing that I need to say in response. Actually I’ll let some Baltimore Raven fans scream the response and call your statement for what it is. You can listen to it up top.  Mark make sure you turn your speakers up to full volume I want to make sure the message is driven loud and clear! Many Raven fans are responding by calling your statement BS. I agree, and I think many people who have a long desire to see justice and see a wrong made right would say the same thing. I had actually planned to write about Jonathan Leeman today, but when I read your remarks my blood pressure soared through the roof. Mark we need to have a long talk, I can drive up to Gaithersburg and have this talk with you in person. However I decided to share this commentary with Covenant Life Church. I enjoy seeing my articles being traded and shared in the Covenant Life forums and no doubt expect this to be added to the forum. (How do I know…I see it on my statistics pages Mark)

You imply something that is sickening and turns my stomach in your comments. You imply that the people who were a part of this article were a tool of satan. Are you the Covenant Life Church version of the Church Lady in Saturday Night Live? Can I hear you say, “Well…isn’t that special!” I don’t like the way you have referred to people in this statement. It is the epitome of passive aggressive behavior as you indirectly took a swipe at some fine and beautiful people. I’ve had the privilege of meeting some of them who used to attend Covenant Life or other Sovereign Grace churches. I’ve met their families and heck even offered career advice from time to time when they have asked. These people are beautiful and have been through enough hell Mark. They don’t need more garbage tossed at them. What is that you say in response Mark, there is a way you want to respond? Well shoot Mark I can’t hear you over the Baltimore Raven’s crowd.

Mark let me be crystal clear about this situation. For nearly three decades Covenant Life Church has been engaged in a cover up of child sex abuse. The allegations are horrific and I believe them.  Each and every one. I am not being a zealot, I just want to see a church actually act like a church and not a public relations machine that is slicker than Bill Clinton’s White House. What’s next…a definition of what “is” is”? For three decades Covenant Life under the leadership of C.J. Mahaney and then his successor suppressed and covered up child sex abuse. It was the  modus operandi of the organization. It’s the way you guys have done business. Now you became a pastor in 1996 and my question to you is what did you know yourself Mark? Were you involved in a cover up as well? Did you know about Nate Morales? What would have happened if you had testified under oath in a Maryland courtroom? Would you have said the same thing Grant Layman said? Is the reason why you responded the way that you did is because your don’t want the knowledge of your involvement being made public…so you have to attack this Washingtonian article? I am asking these questions out loud.  Now let me be straight with you…what would be satanic is to ignore the claims and the issues at hand. To let the child sex abuse continue unabated is what would be satanic. A church that does nothing to protect its youth is wrong. Covenant Life’s child sex abuse policy is evil. Actually Sovereign Grace’s policy in this area is evil. It’s clear that you have not learned from the Roman Catholic church sex abuse scandal. The fact that this is being exposed is good, and needed. Abuse and un-ethical behavior thrives in silence and the only way things change is when it is brought to the light. Covenant Life Church has caused many people intense grief, pain and misery. However I would also like to challenge you to this account Mark. Pull out your Bible….and go read it. Yes read it… it’s filled with stories of scandal and sleaze. From genocide, to adultery, incest, drunkenness, prostitution, and even terrorism. Much of it is exposed. The dirty laundry of David and Bathsheba was exposed to a watching world Mark. It is my belief and my practice that the only way the church changes is when its dirty laundry is dragged out for the world to see.  For the rest of Washington, D.C., the atheist community, and others the church needs to be transparent.  That is the best policy and why I will write about the Covenant Life’s and Sovereign Grace’s  dirty laundry.  I will bet my 401K that Covenant Life won’t engage in this policy again of covering up child sex abuse.

Mark, Sovereign Grace is a system that rewards loyalty. People climb the ladder based off how loyal and dedicated they are. There are rings and internal movements within the organization. The only way a person like you gets where they are is by “Gospel Centered” brown nosing. That brown nosing paid off Mark. Eric Hoffer would describe you as a “True Believer” Can I recommend you read the book as you might learn about yourself. Now here is another question I have…is part of the reason why you are at Covenant Life because you are stuck and can’t move anywhere else for employment? Yes according to your biography on the CLC website you have an electrical engineering degree from the University of Florida (1988) and Georgia Tech (1990). Yet you have been removed from that industry now for a few years, certifications and credentials have probably lapsed. Your employment options are probably pretty limited leaving you stuck where you are at now. Is that part of the reason why you acted the way that you did? You had to attack and go for the jugular? Can you at least been more original than to claim it a Satanic attack? Couldn’t you have come with something better than resort to the old party line? Or Mark are we learning how healthy Covenant Life is when its separate from SGM but still acting like it is a part of SGM. You just revealed your roots and modus operandi when you opened your mouth.

You know Mark I have news for you. I write this blog to push back hard and prevent other people from getting hurt. I went through hell as a result of a member of one of Covenant Life’s church plants. I want you to know Mark that I am going to be a lot more aggressive when I have to be when I write about a questionable situation. People need to be protected from the wolves like yourself. Where Dee Parsons ends is where I begin. I will use this blog as  a hammer when its appropriate. And I am going to hammer, and hammer, and hammer until I get my message across and its loud and clear. So you better get used to what I have to say because I am just going to turn up the heat considerably. The people you indirectly went after such as Pam Palmer are beautiful, and after the crap they went through I will go to war against Covenant Life to protect them and others.  All in all I like where I sit…I stayed out of Sovereign Grace. The air is better on this side of the room, and when I put on a tie in the morning and look at myself in the mirror I can be at peace knowing what I avoided and did not contribute to and in the end bankroll. You can’t do that especially if you knew about child sex abuse being covered up and towed the party line.

Mark I laid out a plan for P.J. in a prior post. Let me say that your attack was uncalled for and so off the mark. If that is going to be the modus operandi there are two things I am hoping for. The first is to ask members of Covenant Life Church to stop giving, and stop tithing altogether. It’s about time people spoke with their wallets and refuse to support a questionable entity or pastor like yourself.  And if you still do not get the message then there is one more thing that needs to occur. If the culture of Sovereign Grace is going to continue at Covenant Life then the next thing that needs to happen is that someone needs to drive a bulldozer through the building and tear it down. Tear it down…every steel beam, every brick and every aspect of it. Pulverize it so that the corruption doesn’t continue. In our history we have de-Nazifed Germany and de-Baathed Iraq ( I believe…) well if we can do that we should be able to de-SGM Covenant Life permanently.

Having said that here is what you are going to do. You are going to repent and say that the Washingtonian article is not a satanic attack. You come from a movement that likes to talk about what being a man is… for once in your life act like it. Act like a man and be responsible. Take back what you said. I will be writing about you from here on out and I will be writing about Covenant Life Church on a regular basis as information comes out. I have a feeling Mark you are going to give me a lot of material to work with. And if you do not have the basic human decency to do the right thing than Mark I have one thing to say to you.

You are a fool, and you need to get out of the pulpit….

There is a principle in Christianity today that I think is deeply flawed and your behavior Mark illustrates this issue. People seem to think that just because a person is a pastor that they should be immediately respected. Nope not true….respect is something that is earned in time through a pattern of behavior and owning mistakes and admitting them. Mark you are going to have to win me over and right now I don’t think you are capable of doing that. Let’s see what happens in the course of time.

Mark do the right thing, and if you can’t then the next thing that needs to happen is that Covenant Life needs to be torn down and destroyed. Now that would glorify God when you consider how much evil had taken place there under the guise of “Christian.” In closing I am going to leave you with Fleetwood Mac singing about “sweet little lies.” My final message to you Mark is this…you keep lying baby and I’ll keep writing about it. If you keep creating preposterous statements that try and shift responsibility and deflect, well my bullshit detector will scream loud and long, and every time it goes off I will call you out. Comprende amigo? You better get used to me.

Very Sincerely,

Eagle

I want to go on record as noting that this article was emailed to Mark Mitchell.