Things I Think
1. The tragedy in South Carolina is almost too big to comment on as it displayed two things that are incomprehensible…the evil among us and how the Gospel can triumph over it. There are times when we should put our hands over our mouths and bow our heads…
2. If you’re using the death of nine people to make political points before we have even buried the dead, you really should put your hand over your mouth or stuff something in it…
3. It may be a good time for each of us to think about how much hate we’re encouraging through social media towards some people group or entity…but we won’t because we all baptize our hate and adorn it in robes of righteousness.
4. James McDonald sent out this tweet when news of Tullian’s fall began to spread. Be assured, James, that when your time comes…and it’s long overdue…that you will be judged by the measure you have judged and tweeted as you have tweeted others. I promise…
5. Tullian’s theology is not the reason he fell into sin, but it’s the reason that that he will survive the fall…
6. Men like McDonald hate the teachings of grace because grace breaks the chains that allow men like him to control the people of God with performance metrics that they set for their own profit.
7. I’m ashamed that I have such a hard time forgiving people for minor offenses in the face of those gracious brethren in South Carolina…
8. When you baptize Christianity in capitalism, then pragmatism and numerical success will be your guiding principles instead of Biblical virtues…and you entrust the Gospel to CEOs and celebrities, not pastors.
9. In other news, thousands of pastors in thousands of churches worshipped God in complete anonymity which pleased Him greatly…
10. Take heed…lest you fall also. That’s my thought this morning.
Awesome!
Thanks, Jim…
Sometimes bad thinking and theology does indeed lead to bad behavior… that narrative is one that requires nuanced response.
Great thoughts.
What the surviving members of those black folks said to that murderer racist kid, wow. I couldn’t do that. I’d want to cut him to pieces with a chain saw while he was still alive.
Another “moral failure” evidences that the Transformation Gospel is not true as taught, and yes James MacDonald is even more immoral than that as he has made him self a very rich man from selling the Gospel for gain. That is more immoral than what TT got caught for. Manipulating people for your personal gain to make yourself a famous multi millionaire, it doesn’t get much more immoral than that.
Amen….and particularly #9 & 10. Amen.
So Michael, how many times did you have to edit what you were really thinking about James McDonald before you hit publish?
I was shocked by James MacDonald’s tweet. This is a man who has been the subject of a number of posts regarding the enormous debt of his church, his poor treatment of four elders, and much more. Maybe he is deflecting.
I must say I am deeply sorrowful regarding the Tullian thing….. and the dark process that led to it…and his caviler tweet and then, the, as someone yesterday put it, “throwing his wife under the bus”…..sick sick sick…. SO incredible grievous to me…. praying praying.
Yes, yes, and yes. 1-10, amen.
I was disgusted when I saw JM’s tweet last night. Like you said (and Paul wrote), take heed lest you fall. It’s a humbling thing to watch the fall of another. May God guard us from our own corrupt ways.
The forgiveness displayed by those in Charleston, and in some similar past cases, to me is one of the greatest evidences for there being a God, and that a God who is actively involved in people’s lives. Because that type of forgiveness cannot be derived from human power only.
KevinH,
You know me too well… 🙂
Paige,
He threw his wife under the bus and sounded like Adam when he did likewise to Eve.
It was classless to say the least.
And yes, I was more distraught to have heard about Tullian’s fall than to have heard about most of the others. While I know we are all vunerable to fall, he seemed different than some of the other mega pastors out there. His message and approach seemed to be more refreshing. Some who were not in favor of Tullian at Coral Ridge obviously have a different opinion. But from my long distance viewpoint, he seemed to be a breath of fresh air. But lest, we are all prone to temptation. It just sucks when someone you admire messes up like this.
Kevin H,
I really wasn’t that surprised.
When TT first started his ascent into popularity I was very critical of him because I felt he was standing on the shoulders of other teachers like Steve Brown without recognizing them.
He was making a product out of grace and I didn’t like it.
As he got more popular those concerns fell by the wayside as defending the teachings became more important than correcting the messenger.
I think TT was a climber…this fall will make him a grounded in grace instead of packaging it.
I cursed James McDonald when I read his tweet. Referring to portion of the body. I need to repent, but hope he stops acting like my description.
Good news is that the Gospel and its Savior will be glorified in a tension filled, race baited and hate enslaved culture through the Charleston tragedy. The power of the remedy is experienced in the midst of the pain of tragedy.
Good news is that the Gospel will be modeled and exemplified within arms reach of local communities and families because of the persevering faithful described in #9.
Our God of glory does not need the glory of man to manifest His glory through His people. The light always shines in the darkness even though it may never occupy a lighting system on stage.
I am encouraged to receive and remain in the grace of God trusting that my participation will be pleasing to Him and profitable to others.
I am so struck by the message of forgiveness in Charleston. Such an incredible sermon of people willing to live the gospel. I am so heartbroken that it took such tragedy for their voices to be heard.
These are the people we should be listening to rather than the numerous talking heads that we think we cannot live without.
I saw Christ in the words and actions of the survivors of the Charleston tragedy. I was able to view their service yesterday and Christ was on display there as well.
I pray this senseless act doesn’t lead to more. Racism is alive and well in our nation.
“The forgiveness displayed by those in Charleston, and in some similar past cases, to me is one of the greatest evidences for there being a God, and that a God who is actively involved in people’s lives. Because that type of forgiveness cannot be derived from human power only.”
Buddha teaches that.
http://dharmawisdom.org/teachings/articles/forgiving-unforgivable
From “God”?
A Friend:
So, I have no problem with anyone teaching Godly ways of living and treating our fellow humanity and creation.
Somewhere ( actually multiple times) in the text it teaches the things of God are self-evident. What does that mean to me? We don’t “need” the Bible to tell us when we do wrong to others. One ancient sage said this, “Don’t do to others what is hateful to you.”
But sadly, even when people know and even do the right thing, many (if not the majority) want nothing to with the One who created it all. That is course unless there’s some personal gain involved.
The text says many times, “If you love me…”
I’m sure glad He loved us first.
A Friend:
Instead of reading this so called “prophet” read this book on forgiveness. It has a whole lot more to say and is far more worthy of reading.
“The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness”
Well A Friend, if Buddha taught that, then maybe he was on to something.
I just know when I think on these horrific acts of evil or think about one ever happening in my own life and taking the lives of my loved ones, I don’t think I would ever be able to forgive, at least not from any place that was coming from my own being. And I don’t think I’m alone in feeling that way.
I am so very glad that a friend gave me a heads up on JMac when they first wanted to plant one of their franchises out here. That is a trap that I am sorry to admit that I was tempted to fall into.
It appears James Mac has deleted the “grace grace grace…” tweet. Interesting though, he tweeted this last week: “The quickest test of a person who is self righteous? They treat others with contempt. Luke 18:9”
If my respect for James MacDonald could be graphed over the past 10 years, it would be y=-x where Y= respect and X = time
But for the grace of God…
In regards to Tullian, I mean.
OK I am just going to ask and I most likely going to spew some brian’isms but I really need to ask. This entire forgiving thing really has me twisted up. First I do not expect God to forgive me, He won’t or can’t but I don’t expect it. Like I was taught we all have it coming and its all our fault. I get that. I don’t but let’s just pretend I do.
I have had three family friends that were murdered in my life and counting the students I have worked with well over 100 abused children who were so badly abused it left them in a wheelchair with brain damage or literally a broken back from being raped so badly as a child. Now she would scream in the middle of the night due to nightmares or when she went through a psychotic episode and started hallucinating that the entire thing was happening to her again some thirty years later. Now when I brought this up at church I was told that she has bitterness in her heart and she is sinning and needs to forgive her uncle / father for doing this to her, I was never sure which relative did this. Now That is just mind numbing but let me move on to a more personal issue.
I did not lose a parent to gun play or an accident, my father was killed very slowly by horrible medical care from a quack doctor and my father loathed asking for help so my mother did not know about it until it was too late. Eventually, my father died a horrible long drawn out death and all of our friends and my friends at church told us to sue the doctor. We are a very stupid and pathetic family, but we knew my father’s wishes, he did not believe in suing people, he was adamant about that. I agree we are a stupid and pathetic family. We just wanted him to go in peace and honor his memory. I know, Barf.
But my main point whenever I did do things like this and forgive, which is almost always and rather quickly I was told or it was pointed out that my motives were always bad and somewhere in there Satan was leading me. So I dont get it.
Now on to my thoughts on the numbers
James McDonald tweeted what he tweeted to bolster the team and nothing works better than gutting an opponent or a brother or whoever when they are down, good for him.
4. Not if he keeps up the revenue stream, nothing or nobody, especially God can touch that.
6. No, it interferes with the revenue stream, it is, has been, and always will be a business.
Now that is not the gospel of Jesus, but he is just a place holder for many folks.
“When you baptize Christianity in capitalism, then pragmatism and numerical success will be your guiding principles” YOU WIN. That is always and I do mean always good all the time always.
I dont get why that is but it sure seems to work out that way.
Number 9: Yes!
I always wanted to be a DJ. Donner has requested Number 9 so here it is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVf5Cr4M-F8
Ah – 1968, I was a long haired war protester who faked like I knew what this was all about. 🙂
1. I saw that on the news and it shook me to the to the core. Evil at it’s worst. My prayers are for the family’s of the victims just having a hard time right now.
I still had a slight drop of respect for James MacDonald, until I read that tweet. What an ass!!!
Doesn’t James McDonald have his own problems? If the crash of TT was no surprise to some, then isn’t the present trajectory of James obvious? It will be more than CRASH but CRASH, BOOM BANG!
I see all of these stories and wonder if mega church pastors are “doomed” like all of the well intentioned people who go into politics. They go in as one person and turn into another.
Heck! It even happens with men or women who aren’t in these huge churches or ministries.
I appreciate those who do it right but it is disheartening to see so many stories about those who have the name power who are crashing and burning. People are going to think that if so and so isn’t or can’t do it what hope is there for me?
One thing for sure is there are many disillusioned believers out there right now which is never good.
The word disillusioned is an interesting one. We almost always use it in a negative way, but if you break it down, doesn’t it really mean that someone has been believing in something that is not there, or not true, and they have been confronted by that false belief? It can be painful, for sure, but disillusionment is probably in many cases just a step toward finding a deeper truth… in many cases this means letting go of an idol. That is certainly a good thing.
#4 – The day James MacDonald falls, my first reaction to the news will be one of pleasure.
The second reaction will be one of pity and asking the Lord to comfort him and others involved.
Hopefully the gap between the two reactions will be short….