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On Beth Moore and Abuse in the SBC
A response to this thread from a kind man on Twitter who was willing to have a discussion.
But to the substance of your tweet – she offered a factual reason why Beth is not a threat – aka that neither her nor anyone had asked to change rules or push boundaries and in fact Beth has repeatedly said she doesn’t want to be a pastor which is in accordance with the BFM.
— Conrad (@analfordplea) June 10, 2019
I don’t think there can be any doubt by anyone who has followed the Denhollanders for any amount of time that one of the primary things they tweet about, talk about, and fight for is justice for abusers and compassion for the abused. To be excited means to have one’s passions or emotions stirred. I can’t think of a better word definitionally to describe their apparent focus on that topic. In fact, the very thread itself is evidence of it. I understand that it could be taken the wrong way and for that, I apologize. I choose to accept that on Twitter I will not always be able to communicate as precisely as needed. The intention is not to tell her to calm down about it, but rather to point out that her excitement about a topic doesn’t necessitate that others be as excited. << Which is effectively her complaint.
Having said that, I recognize how a well-meaning reader could have misinterpreted me and I am glad you brought it up.
//But to the substance of your tweet – she offered a factual reason why Beth is not a threat – aka that neither her nor anyone had asked to change rules or push boundaries and in fact Beth has repeatedly said she doesn’t want to be a pastor which is in accordance with the BFM.//
We differ here, and I don’t want to explain the details, but my point is that Beth Moore has already disqualified herself because of her associations with known heretics, her profession that she receives words from God through direct revelation, AND I will say she’s already violated the complementarian position which is more than just “women should not be pastors.” So my point is that to imply Beth Moore’s position was “affirming complementarianism” is problematic for me and seems to set up those who oppose BM as “quibbling over the small stuff.”
//Did you respond to her argument with contradictory facts? Seconsly, that these men are not one-off “famous” like Beth is a pretty rough self-own for you – that’s the whole point. They *should* be famous – infamous! That they arent shows where the energy is being directed here.//
Her argument was basically, “lots of people oppose BM but not a lot of people opposed these abusers, but they ought to!” And, in the case of someone who ACTUALLY knew about BOTH those things, I would agree that that person should oppose both. That is why I pointed out in my 4th tweet that if there were actual cowards out there who could have said something about both and chose to only speak on BM, then I am all for naming those folks. Instead, RD’s tweets come across as a broad sweeping accusation against anyone who said anything about BM but not also about these abusers having the wrong priorities.
As far as a self-own, I don’t know why a couple of guys I never heard of not being famous owns me. I’m not disagreeing that these men’s wickedness should not be made public and even infamous. I am pointing out that the fact that their wickedness is not public is reason enough a bloke like I am couldn’t have tweeted about it. I didn’t raise BM to prominence, so I don’t feel responsible for her being famous, nor do I take responsibility for men I don’t know not being famous.
So I won’t disagree with you that it is too bad this happened, but the point is that I don’t think you can say that I cannot tweet about BM until I’ve sufficiently made unknown abusers infamous. Beth’s legacy is public and I can scrutinize facts of it. Random abusers in other cities are part of police investigations and it probably isn’t my role to pass much judgment there without facts. I can judge known facts about BM without venturing into slander. I can’t accuse a man in Arizona of abusing a child without a verdict just because I read a few reports he denies.
//Finally, the problem is very much broad. 700+ victims and counting and those are just the ones known about – these are just some instances of the lack of focus and energy that has allowed there to be so many victims.//
I addressed this a couple of ways. First of all, I am not saying 700+ victims isn’t broad. What I said is that 700+ victims is not “as broad” as the number of victims of BM’s teachings. (Now if you disagree with me here that BM is a dangerous teacher to be avoided, that’s up to you. But don’t miss the point-what we of BM’s influence is far greater than the known cases of abuse.)
Now that doesn’t justify any abuse. But my point is that when the original argument by RD is that we have a problem of scale (because firestorms are bigger for BM than abusers), then we ought to consider the outrage in light of the magnitude of the influence of whom we are outraged by. Similarly, there would be more outrage if Trump did something immoral than a pastor in my city no one heard of. We all have battles to fight, and the bad teaching of BM is something more of us face on a local level than abusive SBC pastors who don’t go to our local church.
There’s probably a kid in my neighborhood being abused today. I can’t reasonably accuse you of not caring enough, now could I?
Secondly, I pointed out in my tweet that 3000 babies a day are murdered through abortion. If we are arguing magnitudes then I could just as easily argue that Rachel’s focus ought to be on that instead of 700 or so cases of abuse over a course of 2-3 decades. But my point was not to diminish the seriousness of abuse, but to point out that we all fight different important battles, none of which are necessarily based on importance or magnitude. They are usually based on “how we’ve been victimized” or “to whom we feel compassion.”
So I completely understand why a woman like RD would dedicate every waking moment to focus on abuse while babies are having their arms torn off in abortion clinics within driving range. I’m 100% OK with that being her thing she focuses on in her Christian life.
And I’m OK if she exhorts people to “do more.” I think we ought to, myself included.
Here’s the twitter thread.
I realize abuse gets you excited and so you are adamant in fighting it. Commendable.
But affirming Beth Moore as complementarian anything is as mistaken as saying child abusers who don’t kill their victims affirm the sanctity of life. At some point you’re entirely disqualified…
— Michael Coughlin (@ABereanOne) June 10, 2019
1 John 3 ESV
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TTUN @ tOSU Ministry Report – Nov 24, 2018
The outreach to the game in Columbus, OH with TTUN actually began on the evening of November 23. We had great joy that evening because several evangelists visited from out of town to help us this week!
We began the weekend with a time of prayer with president and founder of Sports Fan Outreach International, Bill Adams via conference call. After beseeching God by His mercy to bless us and our efforts, we headed to Skyline Chili to enjoy one of the many blessings God has given us through creation. The photo to the left is the Friday night team after downing some chili together.
After we ate, we headed back to my house where we worshiped the Lord through song and Bible reading. It was a sweet time of fellowship and praising God. It isn’t often that people give up an entire weekend or two days for the sake of the gospel, and I am grateful to these folks who all drove from more than 3 hours away to assist me at my primary fishing hole, the corner of righteousness, at THE Ohio State University.
“The Game”
“The Game” is always the most crowded event at Ohio State. So we left earlier than usual on a cold and rainy day so that we could begin to minister by 9am. It is actually hard to believe how many people were out walking around in cold rain at 9am when kickoff wasn’t until noon! I praise God for my co-laborer Jason Roberts who met us near the stadium in order to help with the ministry.
Most of us don’t mind getting a little wet, and we live in a culture where keeping warm in the cold isn’t very difficult (at least in central Ohio). But keeping electronic equipment and tracts dry becomes the name of the game for evangelism. No one is going to take a wet, soggy, tract, and we certainly don’t need a speaker to malfunction or even electrocute someone due to water!
The Result
The day went like any other. We sang, we prayed, we preached, and we passed out hundreds of tracts. There were very few hecklers and a lot of kind-hearted souls who God sent to offer encouragement. A young man selling pies to raise money approached me for prayer, and I prayed for him. I offered to buy some of his pies and his response surprised me:
“I can’t take money from you, sir. I see you out here every week. I just wanted to encourage you.”
I was really excited to hear that. One of the reasons we don’t change locations is so that people will consistently see us, and that maybe that would have an impact on them. Another aspect of being at the same location for years is that we actually get to know the vendors and the ticket sellers. When you think about it, we are there doing the same thing…
Street vendors and ticket sellers have the same physical goals we have:
- Keep your equipment dry/protected
- Get your message to as many people as possible
- Stay warm; go home safely, and try to enjoy yourself while there.
Now we have a supernatural aspect to what we are doing, but in many ways, we are employing methods that by God’s grace are common to man in the dissemination of information. I think we build a kinship with the vendors when they realize we are not “against them.” ** When I left Saturday, I actually walked around and said bye to all of them. They were all very kind and chuckled as I said, “See you next season.”
Overtime
After the outreach I took the team to Raising Canes, another restaurant (like Skyline) which they do not have in that state up north. So we enjoyed a final Raising Canes lunch as the result of the kind supporters of this ministry. The fellowship was sweet as we shared stories and talked theology and simply enjoyed each other’s company.
But the story doesn’t end there! The Buckeyes completed their season with a victory over our rival, and earned a place in the Big Ten Championship game. Now, several of us had already planned to go to Indianapolis on Dec 1 to minister to the crowds there, but now we get one more chance to reach our Ohio State fans. Will you pray right now that God would save souls in Indy? And pray that my crew of 8 would all be able to make it and dispense His gospel that day.
** The exception is when people peddle their pornography or strip club cards. I am openly against what they are doing, and God has driven those folks away because of His mercy toward us.
Nebraska @ tOSU Ministry Report – Nov 3, 2018
On November 3rd, we went to OSU to preach the gospel to the fans of the Nebraska Cornhuskers and the Ohio State Buckeyes. But it was the events of November 2nd which in many ways are most notable.
I was actually beginning to be a little depressed near the end of the morning of November 2nd. Only 3 people had committed to meeting me at Ohio State for evangelism the next day. Please don’t get me wrong, I am very grateful for all those who accompany me and labor with me in the gospel. But there’s a strategic side of evangelism whereby we know that the more laborers there are, the better chance we have of reaching more people, and thus, reaching God’s elect.
My brief sadness was not only quickly overcome by our Lord Jesus Christ and His providence, but HE LITERALLY OBLITERATED it.
Around 2pm, I received a text from someone asking if she could come with us.
Minutes later, my friend John texted asking if he could stay at my house and evangelize with us the next day.
Things were heating up!
Side note: John may be the smartest and most educated person I know. I relish every minute I get to sit at his feet and learn, frankly. You can buy his books here – https://www.eleutherosbooks.com/book_store
What joy I experienced now that I had 6 team members, when a coworker texted me completely out of the blue around 10pm to tell me he wanted to come too, and then Kurtis who was not sure he could make it also texted to say he could come!
I had gone from a team of four to eight in 8 hours! This was truly an answer to several prayers we had prayed throughout the season.
Here are some pictures, be sure to scroll down to the end for a really neat story about our public worship.
Dennis was quite pleased to play with us. After we finished, we prayed for Dennis and his family, thanking God for him and for salvation for all. Dennis received our tract and one of our team members had $100 bill for him as a gift. Hopefully, God will use our generosity and gratitude to lead Dennis to Himself.
After we finished, we had a sweet fellowship meal together, as is our custom. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.
Thanks to everyone who has supported us this season through prayer and financial gifts. Everything we do is made possible and more enjoyable thanks to saints who care about getting the gospel to people. We have one remaining home game on November 24th against Michigan.
But God, in His infinite wisdom has seen fit to send me to Michigan November 17th to preach at the Indiana vs Michigan game. This will be the second time Indiana fans could see me. And Michigan fans will see me two weeks in a row now.
And the Big 10 Championship game is December 1st where likely Michigan or Ohio State will be playing. So who knows what God will do with his preached Word? Maybe someone will see me at multiple locations and be affected by that? Pray it may be so!
Minnesota @ tOSU Ministry Report – Oct 13, 2018
For the second time this season we had back to back Saturdays with an Ohio State football home game. This was a particularly exciting week because I had 8 fellow evangelists who wanted to join me!
A lot of folks don’t like to talk about “strategy” when doing ministry work. Employing strategy is considered a bit taboo because so many people have used man-centered and man-made strategies to try to attract people to churches.
But there is nothing wrong with using good wisdom to try to reach as many people with the gospel as possible — as long as the methods are biblically approved. And it is wise and caring to be sure that the folks you minister with are well taken care of.
Take, for example, the fact that 8 people were offering their time to get the gospel out at the Ohio State football game Saturday. In order to maximize the amount of time on the street engaging the lost, we need to minimize any wasted time. A big time waster on game days is “looking for parking.”
Here is a description of our pregame activities along with an explanation of why we do what we do. I like to believe that my preparedness and organization is a blessing to those who join me (as long as they can put up with the pedantic nature of it).
Our first goal is to be at the preaching location 3 hours prior to kickoff. So, since the game was scheduled for noon, that meant we wanted to be there by 9am.
Nine people from 5 different vehicles all met at a location about a mile away from where we minister. Our goal was to arrive at 8:30. After meeting, as many people as possible piled into my van, while the rest walked the mile to the location. This amounted to the “young people.”
Then I drove the remaining folks to the location and dropped them off along with back packs, a box of tracts, etc. Then I went back and parked my car.
Then I rode my bike back the location. The goal is to:
- cut down on the total time spent trying to get from parking to the “corner of righteousness”
- minimize any monetary spending on parking (we park so far away we don’t pay for parking)
- reduce the amount of walking that people have to do — standing on concrete for several hours to preach and pass out tracts is actually already very tough on your legs!
So after meeting at 8:30, and all the shuffling back and forth, we were finally able to begin together by 9:08. You can see how everyone has to do their part for the team’s success.
By the time of kickoff, most of us have already been away from home over 4 hours without a meal or a break. I encourage my team to take care of restroom breaks before the crowd arrives. We have a window of about 2 hours where there is a consistent crowd, with a large concentration about 90 minutes to 30 minutes before kickoff. You don’t want to have to leave your post to use the restroom!
After the evangelism is over and we are all tired, we normally try to make time for a fellowship meal where we enjoy each other’s company, nourish our tired bodies and share stories of what we just encountered. I am very grateful to everyone who helps provide these meals, as well as the gospel tracts we pass out. This year so far we have already passed out about 5,000 tracts.
This week, because of the maturity of the team members who all arrived on time, we were able to sing Nothing But the Blood and pray together before splitting up to preach and pass out tracts. I am so thankful for Mike, Jason, Miri, Nick, Allie, Joe, Kurt and Adam who labored alongside me.
May Jesus Christ be praised by those who heard His Word preached or received a tract this weekend. He watched over us as usual, keeping us safe from harm, sending encouragement through the brethren, and sustaining us as we endured the elements. Praise His holy name.