C.J. Mahaney Apologizes To Pastors And Is Temporarily Stepping Down
July 6, 2011 in Sovereign Grace Ministries
Here is C.J.’s letter to the pastors of Sovereign Grace Ministries:
July 2, 2011
My friends,
I need to inform you about some recent developments that I believe are expressions of God’s mercy and intended to serve our future together as a family of churches.
Over the last few years some former pastors and leaders in Sovereign Grace have made charges against me and informed me about offenses they have with me as well as other leaders in Sovereign Grace. These charges are serious and they have been very grieving to read. These charges are not related to any immorality or financial impropriety, but this doesn’t minimize their serious nature, which include various expressions of pride, unentreatability, deceit, sinful judgment, and hypocrisy.
I believe God is kindly disciplining me through this. I believe I have by the grace of God perceived a degree of my sin, and I have been grieved by my sin and its effects on others. I have had the opportunity to confess my sin to some of those affected in various ways by my sin. And I am so very grateful for their forgiveness. But I want to perceive and confess any and all sin I have committed. Although my experience of conviction has already started—and this is an evidence of God’s mercy—I’m sure there is more for me to perceive and acknowledge. Even with the charges I disagree with it has been beneficial to examine my soul and ask for the observation of others. And I am resolved to take responsibility for my sin and every way my leadership has been deficient, and this would include making any appropriate confessions, public or private. Most importantly I want to please God during this season of examination and evaluation.
So here is what I am going to do. I’ve asked to take a leave of absence in order to give time to considering these charges, examine my heart, and receive the appropriate help from others. With the guidance of the SGM board, I would also hope to pursue reconciliation with former pastors of Sovereign Grace during this leave. I have stepped off the board and I will not be the President of Sovereign Grace Ministries during this period of examination and evaluation. In order for me to receive an objective evaluation in relation to these charges the board is securing the help of a ministry called Ambassadors of Reconciliation (www.hisaor.org). This ministry was chosen due to its professional credentials, and it has no history of relationship with SGM. A team from this organization will conduct a thorough investigation and evaluation and submit their objective findings and recommendations to the board at the conclusion of this process. After processing these findings, the board will determine the appropriate steps I should take going forward. This leave of absence will also help remove any impediment to the panel’s exploration that could potentially arise if I remained in my current position, and it will enable me to fully cooperate in the process.
Just so you’ll know, I have also contacted David Powlison and Mark Dever and asked them to review the charges and provide me with their counsel and correction. I have enlisted them to serve me personally during this time and to ensure this process of examining my heart and life is as thorough as possible. And for the past year I have been the recipient of Ken Sande’s correction, counsel and care. That, I am grateful to say, will continue. And as you would expect I will continue to meet with the appropriate men on the board of Sovereign Grace and benefit from their correction, counsel, and care as well. I am deeply moved as I reflect on how rich I am relationally and I am humbled by the time these men are willing to spend serving me and Sovereign Grace.
My friends, I would greatly appreciate your prayers as I continue to walk through this process. Please pray that God would give me the gift of sight where I have been blinded by would give me the gift of sight where I have been blinded by my sin and others have been adversely affected by my sin. Pray that I will be convicted and experience godly sorrow resulting in reconciliation where necessary and adjustments to my heart and leadership. Thank you for praying in this way for me.
One more thing. For the past 5 years or so I have become increasingly aware of certain deficiencies in my leadership that have contributed to deficiencies in Sovereign Grace Ministries’ structure and governance, the lack of a clear and consistent process of conflict resolution and pastoral evaluation, and the number of former Sovereign Grace pastors who are offended with me/SGM. I have met with some and by God’s grace there has been reconciliation with men like Larry Tomczak (I wish I had recognized and repented of my sin against him years ago). This brings great joy to my soul. In other cases, appeals for mediation have thus far been declined, but I’m hopeful this process will facilitate further reconciliation. But beyond this, there are still issues that need to be addressed and fixed in our family of churches. And I bear a primary responsibility because it has happened on my watch and under my leadership. I have resolved that I and the Sovereign Grace team can’t effectively lead us into the future without evaluating the past, addressing these deficiencies, improving our structure, and as much as possible pursuing reconciliation with former pastors. So during this leave of absence I will not only devote all the appropriate and necessary time to the independent panel and the charges but also to doing what I can to identify where I have failed to lead us effectively in relation to pastoral evaluation and conflict resolution.
My friends, though my soul can be easily overwhelmed as I contemplate my sin and its effects I am also resolved to examine my heart, address the past, and play my role in preparing Sovereign Grace for a future of planting and serving churches. And given the mercy of God portrayed in the gospel my heart is filled with hope that his good purpose for us will come to pass and cannot be frustrated. And I can’t thank God enough for you men and your support. Please pray for me.
With deep gratefulness,
CJ
© 2011, Kris. All rights reserved.
“Truth” –
You silly little pickle. (Said in my best French Pea voice, a la Veggies Tales. :D )
Are you trying, by posting that link, to give people here the “subtle” message that discussing SGM’s issues is “gossip”? Really? That responding to SGM’s public teachings is “gossip”?
If so, you’re showing a very skewed understanding of what constitutes gossip. If it’s not OK to call out public ministers for public missteps, then even the Apostle Paul (and by extension, the Holy Spirit, since He inspired scripture) would be guilty of gossip, since we can point to plenty of places in the Bible where Paul names names and calls out people for their issues.
What’s really sad, though, is that if SGM hadn’t tried so hard to control the flow of information – hadn’t tried to redefine “gossip” – and if SGM leaders had built a system with true accountability for themselves, sites like this one would never have been necessary.
Stunned,
You’re right. I guess I wasn’t “believing the best” of our friend “Truth.” He/she was just trying to help the leaders out.
“Truth,” never mind my #101.
Kris #30 – “Instead, the guys with the power need to consult with their lawyers and help all the churches in their denomination family of churches to create new Articles of Incorporation that would make pastors and everyone else up the food chain formally and legally accountable to a congregationally-elected board of elders. The corporate entity of SGM (which CJ leads) could then be made accountable to a board of directors that would be elected from elders representing each local congregation.”
This is what has to happen, nothing less than this will constitute a major change. CJ returning back to his old position will be the same old. Like many said, this is a good small step. But I will be holding my breath. Oh come Holy Spirit!
Not to be fickle, but in all of the CJ Letters that are now circulating, he says there was no financial impropriety.
I’d say that, as a beginning, handing a friend of Happymom and Wallace a check for $5,000 just for being there might fall under financial impropriety. And that’s only one story of such “payoffs.”
Sid
Here’s my two cents……
These past two posts, CJ’s letter and Dave’s follow-up letter, remind me of what we went through at KWCC…… damage control. The new improved board of SGM is laughable. They have recruited men who are as equally “blind” as CJ confessed to be. The blind are now leading the blind!
Dave has no business leading anything until he returns to KWCC and repents for his “tyranny of the aggrieved party” message, and M. Connelly has currently admonished the church at KWCC of their responsibility to submit to and obey their leaders rather than insist that the leaders repent of the 40+ sins/issues identified as the result of Peace Makers coming to town.
Regarding CJ’s confession, I don’t believe CJ came to these sin revelations as a result of being easily entreated. Rather, they are the result of a constant barrage of “shock and awe” confrontations by the body of Christ, over a long period of time. As a result, he has no other choice but to deal with them. Also, CJ does not use terms like “lording over” people’s faith, being unteachable, having an idol of protecting his reputation (see GE/KWCC), and worst of all, the direct and indirect practice of spiritual abuse against the people of God.
Please notice he begins and ends his letter with the assumption that SGM is currently receiving God’s “mercy” and ultimately will make it through this process. What about the possibility that God intends to dismantle SGM and allow the churches to be autonomous and independent. More importantly this insinuates there is no intention of giving up the Holy Grail (control and authority over the people of God). What is most disturbing to me is most people in SGM will likely trip over themselves praising CJ for his “humble” response to these charges and begin ardently defending his “exemplary effort” to course correct.
As CJ states, “Please pray that God would give me the gift of sight where I have been blinded by my sin and others have been adversely affected by my sin.” I think a better word than blinded might be “deceived”. In other words it might be more accurate to say:
As a result of my pride and arrogance, and the insistence that I and other SG pastors have authority and control over the people in SGM, I have thereby allowed myself to be deceived by such beliefs. In turn, I have unwittingly propagated this deception down the chain of command so as to vicariously affect everyone “under me”, extending to the least of these. Because I myself was and continue to be deceived, I have and continue to propagate this deception, and therefore must remove myself from ministry at this time. Unfortunately, this has resulted in the current members of SGM also being deceived, by embracing and believing such nonsense.
Therefore, I would appeal to all my brothers and sisters in Christ to renounce and repudiate this twisted and perverted notion that marks SGM as a movement, that someone other than the Holy Spirit has authority over your faith and volitional will. Unfortunately, I and the leaders of SGM have engaged in varying degrees of manipulation, coercion, and spiritual abuse in the lives of countless people as we endeavored to apply our understanding of “spiritual authority”.
By the way, one of the reasons the word “cult” is referred to in the context of SGM, is because when SG leaders make such “confessions” (i.e. CJ’s, GE’s),the people in SG do more defending than they do confronting and demanding, that these men take responsibility for the atrocities they have inflicted on the body of Christ. But I digress.
In the final analysis, CJ and these men are accountable to the church for their actions. I trust Mr. Dever will remind them of this biblical principle of our Christian faith. Of course this may be a mute point.
After all, the people of SGM don’t believe this, .. …… they’ve been deceived.
Jedi:
I finally found it:
Direct quotes from Dave Harvey’s message at KingsWay given Sept 6, 2010 entitled “Peter, Polity and Us”:
“Little gets resolved in public meetings” “Might be wise to save the public meetings for the intended biblical purpose for public meetings which is to address the unrepentant sinner.”
And now this guy is in charge? Good luck folks.
They’ll have to change their theology that has served them so well….
A couple of questions I think SGM members ought to be asking:
1. Is CJ receiving his regular salary and compensation during this sabbatical?
2. Will CJ also be stepping away from his positions of influence in organizations like CBMW?
3. Will CJ continue during this sabbatical to go around speaking at conferences?
I think what truth is trying to remind us of is something all the SGM members have been reminded of before and after being relayed this current information. After 5 years I can still remember proper protocol, so everyone, on behalf of SGM ( and God himself of course) I’d like to implore you to please resist the temptation to sinfully speculate. Even though the information we have provided is deliberately vague and you were given no warning that such big news was coming, it would be wrong for you to think about much less talk about what we might actually mean by all our fancy yet nonsensical language…just sit back and relax and trust us, and if you must speak or think of anything, let it be about how wonderful and humble and godly we your leaders are and how small and insignificant you are (not forgetting how blessed you are to have such incredible men to lead you despite your smallness and insignificance, oops did we alread say that?) Just because you are members doesn’t mean that any of the details are any of your business. Oh, please be in prayer about what God would have you to give over and above your regular tithes and offerings so that we can bless the Mahaney family during this difficult time.
@Kerrin (#73) made me laugh out loud. Should be the new theme music or the next song BK hums on stage.
(#93) is brilliant!
Kris (#107) word.
A reader just emailed me with a great suggestion – that to better serve those who might be visiting the site for the first time, we put our heads together and come up with a thorough list outlining SGM’s issues.
So, those of you who are so inclined, leave comments here or email me with what you see as SGM’s issues. I will compile all the feedback and we’ll post it as a tab sometime within the next few days.
Ellie #61 — There is no task force from SGM to determine if a pastor is in the ministry. I believe that I have offended Caution or Caution is close to someone who I have hurt while at PDI and is having a go at me. I hope he or she will give me the opportunity to try and make things right with them but the ball is in Caution’s court.
OK – after reading everyone’s ideas on what SGM should do, I have my own that should happen. CJ should disband SGM, close it, end it, done no more SGM. He should also work on RESTITUTION for those SGM/PDI has damaged. He should up a fund for counseling feeds for those in SGM that need deprogrammed. The people should be allowed to choose who to see – not an SGM mandated “We have taken the services of X to help people during this diffiCULT season” because it will just be another “Ambassadors of reconciliation” controlled by people who know people CJ “trusts”
Again, this should be about RESTITUTION not “reconciliation” to the many, many people he has damaged. I am not talking about a 5k bribe that CJ loves to offer – that is not restitution.
He should also set up a fund to repay the legal fees and counseling fees that have already been paid out by those SGM has damaged.
His letter should state “we are closing SGM due to the damage we have caused. I will step down and NEVER act in any type of ministry or leadership role again. I will be moving into a private life and never be in the spotlight again. I am sorry that out cultic teachings and control hurt so many people. I will do my best to make restitution with all of the resources that SGM has financially, including but not limited to selling off all church assets. They sale of these assets will go into the restitution fund.”
THAT would be real change, not this BS letter nor the second note announcing that steve shank is part of the board (wtf????)
How many people are quickly switching into their “Dave Harvey is my homeboy” shirts today? 8)
Lucy,
Hang on to the contact number for the friend with possible ties to 20/20.
That list of men…Dave Harvey, Craig Cabaniss, Mickey Connelly, Rick Gamache, Pete Greasley, John Loftness, Aron Osborne, Mark Prater, and Steve Shank…ALL “president’s men”…is NOT encouraging.
Long time lurker. But had to come out to say:
@Guy, holy crap that was funny!!
“Ambassadors of Reconciliation” is not very encouraging, either.
And I’m with some of the others…DON’T SIGN ANYTHING!!
Guy,
That was pretty darn funny! :lol:
During the last meeting my husband and I had before we left our local franchise of SGM, we asked the pastor if he would consider taking the church out of SGM. The pastor said to us, “I will follow CJ as CJ follows Christ” — that’s when it was very clear to us that leaving was our only option. I’m thinking a lot of the pastors have this mindset. So I’m thinking of sending a copy of CJ’s letter to the local pastor and asking if he will consider following CJ now? If he’s willing to take time to consider how he’s hurt folks that were under his care (including us) as CJ claims he is doing. What if we all challenged the pastor’s this way? Just my thought. What do others think?
Guy, maybe there’s some money to be made! When will your new t-shirt be out?
My first thought was, “Is it April 1??” I thought someone was kidding!
Mrs. Stretch,
That is a good idea!
By the way, when did your pastor utter those words (“I will follow CJ as CJ follows Christ”)? That’s a pretty overt demonstration of some twisted loyalties…and people typically say that this attitude wouldn’t be evident nowadays, that it would only be a relic from long ago.
Maybe we could design a shirt that has photos of several guys, with a spinning arrow, so the wearer could be more confident of his ability to honor whichever man is his homeboy of the moment. :D
There are some serious accountability issues with this. I personally was very glad to read CJ’s letter and it was a long time coming. The ‘new’ board is very troubling. This has CYA written all over it. All these folks including Powlison, Dever, Ambassadors of Reconciliation have a vested interest in CJ and SGM – Holy book deals gone bad Batman.
First why would anyone think that Dave’s sins against the body are any different that CJs? I thought they were a plurality (you know all for one and one for all). It seems to me that all this has been under ‘their’ watch. This is NOT good! Where are the letters of apology and stepping down of the plurality? As good as CJ is, there is no way he could do all of this on his own. I don’t get the ‘his watch’ – it is ‘their watch’.
And then I am bewildered as to why expand the board with some of the worst abusers and offenders. There are too many people that know way too much for them to sweep CJ and his mess under the carpet. As Jim (Refuge) said, CJ can’t outwit the bloggers, because he has no idea what we know. The control of information is a thing of the past.
With what CJ and the boys did to Larry T, what makes CJ think that Dave and boys won’t do to him? It reminds of the mistress who became the wife, who believed the husband wouldn’t get another mistress. Hello!!!!
CJ, please re-think this strategy. This one is not going to produce what you say you want to produce in your letter.
I first thought it was a hoax, too. I didn’t feel comfortable posting CJ’s supposed letter until I saw that Jim and Carole at Refuge also had it up.
If CJ is truly open to hearing about his sin, maybe he should sit down with Guy, Kris, Jim and Carole. A nice little roundtable of those that have been gracious enough to shoulder the load of damaged humanity that has been left in the SGM wake and finding their way to the Survivor and Refuge doorsteps. Bring Dave along too. As well as a truly neutral third party. I bet Deb and Dee would like to participate as well.
Our Lord faced accusers that were far less gracious in their criticisms of Him.
There’s a reason it’s called “Survivors” and a reason people have needed a place of “Refuge”.
Uh whoa! S’all I gotta say. (for now, that is.)
Oh and this: Y’all know all the SGMers are gonna come in here and yell about how even this apology, like Josh’s, isn’t good enough. That it will be picked apart and so forth, and that nothing will please the crowd here. Hahahah! I say, yeah, AnD? WHAT! Apparently, apologizing to pastors is sufficient, rather than coming out and REALLY apologizing to the members for specific grievous sins. Hmmmmm…. Talk about avoidance.
Of course, Paul said “Follow me as I follow Christ;”
but (thinking about it recently) I kind of think he meant “only as I follow Christ;” because Paul was not in favor of us “following” anyone but Jesus.
“Follow along with me as I follow Christ!” :wink: “Let us follow Christ together!”
(This portion of the Luna Moth Bible Commentary is brought to you by a cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal… :P )
Interesting that it’s only Mahaney having an attack of conscience – no one else on the leadership team is suggesting that anything could be troubling their sleep. Particularly Dave Harvey. Mahaney is accepting all blame/responsibility for sins identified by “former Sovereign Grace pastors”. It’s very curious – after learning of these sins over the past number of months, hasn’t any other SGM leader searched his own soul, and cried out, “mea culpa!” (“my fault!”)
As Irv noted, this is eerily similar to Larry Tomczak’s discipline process: Larry was the ONLY person in the entire apostolic team who could be identified as commiting such heinous sin that they needed to isolate and shun him till he began to sing the right tune again (which, of course, he was not able to bring himself to do).
This tells me there is no widespread, Holy Spirit-breathed repentance underway at SGM headquarters. Harvey has circled the wagons; Mahaney has been designated the fall guy (or, the fall guy who goes on to write “Humility – Revised and Updated!”).
Still, Mahaney is not – yet – letting this really get to him, else he wouldn’t have promised to return at some future date to “play my role in preparing Sovereign Grace for a future of planting and serving churches.” I suppose that, in his mind, not committing “immorality or financial impropriety” means he’s not disqualified from returning to the helm (though he WOULD disqualify anyone else whose accumulated sins comprise the list he provided – especially the dreaded “pride”).
What I have to keep remembering – and perhaps others do, too – is that we’re dealing with leaders of a business corporation that calls itself a Christian ministry. The leaders have all been selected and trained by His Baldness to function as efficient businessmen – not compassionate shepherds of God’s people. Their first loyalty is to the business, not to King Jesus and the Kingdom of God. They need to keep collecting tithes and selling product, or find real jobs. If dethroning Mahaney guarantees cash flow, then it’s a wise business move.
Despite any claims by Mahaney that he’s having a delayed mid-life crisis (via revelation of hubris), this whole thing has been carefully crafted and lawyered to protect Mahaney and SGM from lawsuits and news-media snooping – in other words, from anything that would hinder their ability to generate monthly and recurring revenue. Two things stand out to me:
– The use of an organization that will sign everyone to confidentiality agreements means that Mahaney’s and SGM’s public reputations will be unsullied, and they can continue BUSINESS-as-usual;
– Mahaney’s emphasis that his sins do NOT include “immorality or financial impropriety” is a coded message to the news media: “nothing for you here”. Secular news media will not be interested in “various expressions of pride, unentreatability, deceit, sinful judgment, and hypocrisy” without the “immorality or financial impropriety” angle.
So far, I see the rending of Mahaney’s clothing (external displays) rather than his heart (true grief over sin, and an eager desire to repent). Until we see evidence of the latter, I think skepticism, and continued prayer for true repentance, are necessary.
But here’s a big problem. We’ve seen copious tears and similar emotive displays from Mahaney for over 25 years. Leaders in and out of SGM have repeatedly stated how humble he is. He’s even written a best-selling book titled “Humility.” If he’s done all these things while in the grip of “pride” and “hypocrisy” (his words), what can he do – in the words of the Baptist – to “produce fruit in keeping with repentance”? Since he’s put on such a good act of humility and brokenness, what can he DO to convince people that he’s truly been humbled and repentant? He’s been stiff-necked and defiant for so long, there’s no “believing the best” trust left in the former SGM pastors – and in the overlooked, abused sheep – for him to lean upon. (“Way to go, slick! ” I hear the long-haired C.J. Mahaney laugh.)
Getting rid of confidentiality agreements – trusting himself to the Lord rather than to attorneys – is a good start. Coming into the light – admitting everything and instructing other leaders to admit everything as well – is of first importance. Taking off the defensive armor recommended by corporate attorneys and SGM-salaried leaders is what’s needed. It might bring down Sovereign Grace Ministries, but it could it be the one thing that will convince the abused – and God? – that Jesus has become their Lord.
One question I have: about this unnamed group of Mahaney mentions – “the number of former Sovereign Grace pastors who are offended with me/SGM,” who have so far rejected his attempts at reconciliation? (“In other cases, appeals for mediation have thus far been declined.”) If any of you are reading this, could you please explain why you’re unwilling to reconcile with him? Is it because his repentance isn’t genuine? Is he insisting on confidentiality agreements or guarantees that he won’t be sued? I ask this because Mahaney stated that he’s willing to make “any appropriate confessions, public or private.” Is it a question of what Mahaney considers to be “appropriate”?
Kris, that conversation took place in 2010. I can tell you that the pastor has been around since the PDI days.
Mrs Stretch, as I see it, if your ex pastor is following CJ’s lead, he and anyone else who claims to do so needs to step down immediatly. After all, it’s just following CJ’s lead.
PS. He is following CJ as CJ follows Christ? How creepy is that?
‘As Jim (Refuge) said, CJ can’t outwit the bloggers, because he has no idea what we know. The control of information is a thing of the past.”
Irv, As I said on refuge, I agree about the control of information. But I think this is the exact reason everything is vague. It won’t matter what comes out because he has “repented” and put himself in the hands of Dever, etc. So, in the future, anything that comes out will only look like piling on. It will also be a de facto hit on Dever, etc.
He is neutralizing the damaging “information” before it can get to the masses.
“With what CJ and the boys did to Larry T, what makes CJ think that Dave and boys won’t do to him? It reminds of the mistress who became the wife, who believed the husband wouldn’t get another mistress. Hello!!!!”
Did Larry have a Mohler in his court? Mohler is a national presence and has invited CJ into his inner circle. The T4G guys? Mohler has even taken donations from CJ and SGM..
SBTS has incorporated many SGM methods. CJ has preached at the SBC pastors conference.
I predict the big boys are not going to let CJ be thrown under any buses because they need to sae face, too.
Kris, love the spinning arrow idea!
Mrs Stretch, I am reminded of a cg leader who said he speaks in tongues because the leadership said it was a good thing to do. How about because he was empowered by the Holy Spirit? Whom are we following anyway?
CJ said, “play my role in preparing Sovereign Grace for a future of planting and serving churches.”
Does anyone else find this frightening? I thought our role is to love God with all our heart, all our mind and all our spirit and to love our neighbors as ourselves? Planting and serving churches? Baby, Jesus wants you to serve the broken, not an organization.
Here is a letter that was emailed to CLC members today:
With Mahaney assuming he will come back maybe he should read what he wrote when he explained to people in PDI about Larry’s departure (dated 10/15/1997). This included:
– Timing of restoration to be determined by local apostolic team.
– The need to show patterns over time that confirm repentance.
– There should be no favoritism shown when disciplining a leader.
– 6-12 months minimum based on his pattern of sin.
– One’s return can never be determined by the person being disqualified.
– One should not flee from the restoration process.
Lets hope Mahaney follows his own rules especially about him not being the one to determine he is no longer disqualified. I am skeptical he will but one can hope and pray.
Steve,
Do you still have the letter that notified people of Larry’s departure? If so, would you be able to post it here?
I can already hear the applause from the rows and rows of SGM elites and the CJ clone types wanna be’s, knowing so profoundly of their greater degree of enlightenment than other believers due to their teaching which cometh from where the very mercy seat of God’s elect teaching proceedeth, these underlings applause so effortlessly pounding away at CJs overly dramatic, beaming, and strategically placed contrite and humble countenance glowing outward in return to the eager awaiting people. Except in this case CJ’s glow does not scare anyone or trigger an appropriate fear of the Lord. Just prompts them to throw their flowers to the stage with declarations of how humble CJ is and how great it is to have such a humble leader and such quality leadership to back him up during his momentary lapse. A man truly is tested by the praise he receives. Gotta feel for the brother being is such a position of adoration and presteige. He could be thinking even know…..
“And, bummer, gotta take a leave of absence to hang out with old friends and talk about how much of a donkey I had been….in the past, of course. And my current path to restoration is clearly checking off all the Ken Sande boxes of peacemaking correctness. Man, Im Godly. All the humility is just ooozing out of me even more now. What an evidence of grace that is. For sure. Surely this is just another example of a means of Grace that God is using to build his church thru Me and my example of humble, servant leadership. Thank God I set up a sabatical account for just such an emergency. Those plane tickets are gonna cost….and then I’ll probably have to buy them lunch or coffee….Hmmmm….might need a CJ hardship offering so people dont think Im using church funds for all this travel during this unidentified length of leave. Better have Josh or Dave get going on something for that. Let’s see…supposedly offended persons to visit list….Brent Detwiler…Naaaah, we’ll put him last and might not be able to make it through all these anyway….One or two is probably sufficient with my greater capacity for higher degree of examination of others…I mean….of self, of course….by Gods grace, of course.”
I bet, secretly, CJ even hears this applause too, and loves it, and may even be practicing his contrite look in the mirror right now.
Good luck, “Bro”.
Oh, I have an idea. Dissolve the propagation of this horrible nature in leadership by getting rid of your multiple layers of pharisaical counsel and boards and disband the pastors college along with all those sallaried researchers and psuedo social workers you have there.
Hire back Larrry Tomzack and Che-Ahn and even Brent for that matter and return back to the good attitude of leadership that was there back in the late eighties.
Dont throw out the good boundaries of good Theology. Just throw out your bad ideas of the bad administration you guys helped to build. The church is the administration of God on earth. You guys were given the reigns….and, so far, you blew it. All this firing, letters of getting the log out of your own eye just so you can justify keeping your positions of authority after the dust of biblical enforcement has settled. I dont know what happened to Steve Shank, but if he were on the east coast still he would probably no longer be part of the apostolic crew anyway. What happened with you guys. What a great church experience I was born into there at FCC (Fairfax Covenent Church) back in the late eighties, People of Destiny and the Celebrations. Very cool stuff. Very Godly teaching. Perhaps not at the current depth you many teachers could provide today, but it was good and it was enough to inspire and appeal to people to get it right and keep it right with God and share it with others. I saw what happened and how things changed. Dont know all the gruesome details but none of the stories here on this blog smack of insincerity since I experienced the leadership in all its ugly glory on many a different occasion. Thankfully, I did not get the full treatment like some of you have. My apologies on their behalf and my admiration to you for enduring that without kicking somebody’s AS$. Can you say, On the job training. Most of them got hired and fired already anyway. The ones still there that were there have managed to act appropriately around those who could rat them out for one or another of these parsing hair infractions. And those who can rat them out but will not are only NOT doing so because the person holds the key to their next step along the pecking order to either get where the want to be or stay where they are today.
Hey, here’s some counsel for the pastors of SGM…stop being a D!CK.
I think this will account for a great deal of these hair splitting sins of pride and deception and hypocrisy. And no sabatical is necessary. And all that money can go to some food provider to something like that.
Sadly, I dont think this advice will be given any creedance. I am sure it has already been heard in many different forms.
I can remember the apostolic team standing up there berating the current church’s degree of separation between leadership and laity. “We are your Bros” we heard and everyone clapped and felt that sense of unity and shared purpose together.
Was this one of the items of hypocrisy CJ mentions. Will he bring further clarity or is this now a private matter between him and his old friends.
Years later after this “We’re Bros statement”, no more guest teachers in the church or at Celebration. No more meetings designated to ministering to one another there in the Celebration corporate meeting area. No more extended times of worship…unless, of course, Bob Kauflin was putting together his worship tape for Integrity Hosanna.
And the loss of LT and Che Ahn and others. Never heard why, just saw the drastic influx of influence of the ever changing PDI and its control over local churches.
God help you back then if you tried to ask any questions. Shame on me for asking questions. I got the submitting to Authority meeting with more than one pastor on that one. Which there is nothing wrong with asking for people to submit to authority. But its all about context, right? Mr. Hermenuetics Mullery.
What replaced this early church experience was the following:
(Speaking in the voice of any SGM leader clone)
We are your leaders and are in the very mercy seat of God delivering the good message.
You cannot be in the mercy seat to hear this message..Have to go to Pastors college first. You might not make it through that though….Yes, its who you know. If you want to hear the dumbed down version you can talk to your home group leader…they were invited to the leadership conference where we applauded ourselves and them for applauding us. They have not been to the pastors college so dont get your hopes up too much. Even your pastors are under the microscope(some of them have not yet been to pastors college) so careful who you hitch your wagon to if you are one of the ones participating in the pecking order of things there locally.
We find teaching and the giftings we have to communicate this teaching to you to be of first importance. This way, the attention focuses on us……and our teaching, of course.
We cannot have people running around exercising spiritual gifts that we may not possess or even choose to seek or ask for at all. That’s not our emphasis.
And you can kiss that Baptism in the Holy Spirit thing good bye. Good Lord, what were we thinking? And can you imagine someone having the gift of healing and we dont!!! The horror and implications of that and what it would do to our leadership paradigm. May even have to let them speak up front! Yikes!!!!
We cannot have people prophesying words that do not follow the current theme of teaching or that dont follow the exactness of the principals we deemed most important…in our current teaching or in CJs blog.
In conclusion, CJs letter answers and acknowledges the same amount as the other letters we got from LT or from our own local pastors who got the boot or were transferred to sunny Florida. Where I heard another church split occurred. I doubt CJ is going anywhere…I mean….after his sabatical, leave of absence, time in the monastary for personal reflection and growth…..whatever. I hope he atleast sees how so far out of touch he has become. Similar to politicians in Washington. The power and presteige of position and authority have the dyabolical capability to wash a glaze of someone that can let them get away with something the normal guy would never have a chance getting away with. Hi honey, taking a sabatical from work this month. Hope you dont mind sweating over and paying the bills this month while I go visit some old friends after having some along time at the beach to do some very in depth self examination. I am reporting to an outside party. So everything is cool. Right? And the third party is just another party that will come in at the end and declare CJ justified and humble as ever.
CJ, we welcome your undeserved vindication that is already brewing within the masses of SGM. Not sure you really needed any vindication from anything, but you got some brewing for you now…..Perhaps this was all intended…just as you had planned…Mwahh-Haaa-Ha-haaaaaaaaa.
Good chance this “personal matters” stuff will be made known on the Internet? Google SGM, my dear! It’s already there! Hello? Oh, you’re already here? Well, sit down for a spell with a tall glass of fresh squeezed lemonade, and an aspirin or two. “Personal matters” happen to matter to a lot of persons. How many more persons will be wounded before they make it right?
I’d really like to get down to who was the “first” to start slinging around the phrase “follow me as I follow Christ” for control purposes.
The reason I ask, I first heard it being used in this way when one of my children was on a campus where a ministry called “Campus Outreach” was housed. Campus Outreach frequently used this line to control and manipulate the students. Of course one would think it to mean “discipleship”, and that’s what they sold it as, but it was exactly the same “culture” that you see in SGM – IDENTICAL – with virtually all the same problems. It messed up a lot kids, and many are still suffering from their experience with the group today.
Campus Outreach was founded under Briarwood Presbyterian Church, Birmingham, AL, in 1978. I struggled with the fact that such “shepherding type control” was stemming from a reformed Presbyterian church. My research showed that neighboring Presbyterian churches were the ones supporting the Campus Outreach Ministry on the different campuses.
http://www.campusoutreach.org/templates/cuscampusoutreach/default.asp?id=28421
They’ve grown to be a rather large campus ministry. And from what I’ve been told, they’re still doing the same crap they were doing to kids a few years back.
I’m assuming Briarwood Presbyterian was influenced by Gothard like so many others.
Why would anybody follow a pervert like Bill Gothard?!?
Because I’m here to serve, I thought I’d provide some questions, for those of you who are thinking of emailing questions@covlife.org. I’m sure y’all will have even better ones to add to my list, but here’s a start:
Questions for the Emergency Family Meeting:
1. Will C.J. continue to draw his regular salary during this sabbatical?
2. What is C.J.’s regular salary?
3. Is C.J. planning on stepping down from other organizations, like the CBMW, where he holds leadership positions?
4. Will C.J. continue to speak at conferences?
5. Will the 100+ pages of allegations brought by an ex-member be released to ordinary church members for their own review?
6. Will the organization acknowledge that SGM authorities asked this ex-member to hold off from going public with the allegations?
7. What steps is the organization taking to bring real, formal, and legal accountability to the guys in charge?
8. Will members of local congregations eventually have formal (legally designated) input in the accountability of pastors and other leaders? If not, why not?
9. Why is C.J. the only person being held accountable and asked to examine his sin, when prior to this the organization was constantly touting the idea that they were a “team,” with nobody acting outside the knowledge and the volition of the rest of the team?
(Please send your questions to: questions@covlife.org)
This is the question mailbox so that questions can be filtered and uncomfortable questions eliminated.
Wow–
Maybe some of you who are still technically “members” can go sit in on that meeting Sunday to get the scoop.
* * *
Roadwork–
I forgot to give you a hug yesterday after reading your story. I didn’t want to forget to here goes {{{{{{{{{{{Roadwork}}}}}}}}}}}}.
I hated reading your story. Not because of you, but because you are in your 50s and these things still have some ways to heal. I can’t imagine being older and still continuing to deal with such painful events of the past–like your dad. That seems so unfair to you and I’m sure that you’ve spent a great deal healing from many of those things, yet, there are still things that cause you pain. I know what that feels like. I pray that each and everyday, the Lord will continue to heal many of those hurts and that your heart will grow more healed and repaired. Your father may have left you nothing but hurt, but your Father in Heaven is your Abba. He’s your Jehovah Rapha–your Healer. Your Jehovah Shalom– your Peace. Your Jehovah Shammah– the Lord who is there, who is with you.
The Lord, your God, shall be a wall of fire around you, RoadWork, and He will be your glory within. (Zech 2:5)
A tight hug to you, Big Brother.
The “Larry Letters” can be downloaded here:
From 5/15/97: http://db.tt/jei6rub
From 6/16/97: http://db.tt/nM6qrmE
From 10/22/97: http://db.tt/EnYf4xU
Kerrin,
Thanks for posting those.
It’s fascinating, if you line Larry’s May 15, 1997 letter up side by side with CJ’s, they’re quite similar. The phrases, the “sin” talk, everything. Amazing.
Kris #107: I think this portion of the SGM statement, when run through the SGM Decoding Machine, assures us that Mr. Mahaney can continue patronizing the Flower Hill Starbucks on a daily basis: “the board is working to ensure that a clear and helpful plan is in place to provide adequate care for C.J. and his family during this season. This plan will integrate the local care C.J. receives with other lines of counsel he receives from those outside of SGM.”
Mrs. Stretch #118: I’m amazed at the blindness and idolatry of this man, and that his blindness is so extensive that he felt free to reveal to you its extent. You’re correct: every “pastor” should be looking deeply into his own heart at this time, asking Holy Spirit for eye salve and repenting of forsaking his First Love. And the legally disenfranchised laypeople in their congregations should “do hard things” by asking tough questions of these men.
On a larger scale, at the very least this event should cause Multnomah Press to cease sales and printing of “Humility”.
It should also cause Mark Dever and other leaders to examine their own hearts – to ask why they didn’t take at face value Mahaney’s repeated claims over the years that he is NOT HUMBLE. (Quote from the “Humility” promo blurbs: ” ‘C. J. Mahaney is not humble. At least, that’s what he’ll tell you. And that’s one reason he’s so well qualified to write this book.’ – Mark E. Dever”)
When a Christian man repeatedly says he’s not humble – and gives repeated evidence to back up his claim – shouldn’t that mean something to a supposedly Christian organization? Oh sorry, SGM is a BUSINESS, and humility is not required to run a business. Humility isn’t required to write and publish a Christian book on humility, which will generate $$$ for Multnomah and the author!
So, Reformed Big Dog and other non-SGM ministry leaders, tell me. What attracted you to C.J. Mahaney: his unchristlike non-humility – or, his success at putting together a huge, well-oiled, cash-generating empire? Have you been putting up with his pride, arrogance and other irritating qualities, just to pick his brains about business and cooperate with him in lucrative joint-ventures (conferences, speaking engagements, mutual book promotions)? Now that he’s stepping back to look at the fruit of his non-humility, is it possible you should ask what affect your relationship with C.J. Mahaney has had on YOUR life and ministry?
Freedom #112, Julie #108, Guy #113: rock on.
I’m wondering about the timing of CJ’s announcement along with reconciliation of SGM with Larry T. and also the Kerrin/Megan saga. Doesn’t it all seem so coincidental? Is it a diversion tactic or is the rubber really meeting the road?
Kris
I sent you the letters (in PDF). I see Kerrin posted them.
keepinstep,
to paraphrase the wisdom of an older woman of our age, “The first a man tells you who they are, believe them.” (Great dating advice. Apparently really good church shopping advice, too.)