The Reading Mom

A pastor once told me my autobiography should be called “Nailing Sisera.”

[The Reading Mom @Hemwanthi]

@Rural_KS_Pastor The 82% claim was around in 2021 and Johnson is using the same study. My husband read the study because I was pregnant. He said it was a category error and untrue. It was made by someone who either didn’t understand studies and data or who wanted to deceive.

[The Reading Mom @Hemwanthi]

@Rural_KS_Pastor But Fauci didn’t say that. Johnson said that’s what the study showed. This tweet claims Fauci said it. The article says something different. Have you read the study to see if that’s what it showed? That’s a study that’s been public since 2021.

[The Reading Mom @Hemwanthi]

@presbyterianpew @WojoKen I think this word has been used widely for a long time in many circles. Think even “shepherding a child’s heart.” Some people want to limit Titus 2 to only child rearing and taking care of the home. I suspect the issues are far broader than this.

[The Reading Mom @Hemwanthi]

@ajaugenstein @JayMallow3 Should there be a different standard for elders than for criminal penalties. The above reproach seems to me to be the criminal standard in the Bible. The standard for elders is above reproach. Was he above reproach? I think the standard being used is wrong.

[The Reading Mom @Hemwanthi]

@AdrienneRoyer Oh I know. Anyone thinking about listening to him needs to consider. I think it’s quite possible he has identified 500 reviling women because he’s counseled that many couples and more. Why does we trust HIS judgement that that is what was happening?

[The Reading Mom @Hemwanthi]

@AdrienneRoyer And he determining a reviling wife while a session determines an abusive husband isn’t just theoretical. It’s happened. So why does he get that authority and the session’s long investigation gets none?

[The Reading Mom @Hemwanthi]

@AdrienneRoyer Well yes. I think more to the point that HE determined there was reviling. How? Is there a standard? Is it his opinion? What constitutes reviling? Is it measurable and repeatable or just one pastor’s judgement? What if another pastor says the same marriage is an abusive husband?

[The Reading Mom @Hemwanthi]

@AdrienneRoyer So 500 doesn’t seem overblown to me based on the system he works in. How he established they were reviling I wonder about ….

[The Reading Mom @Hemwanthi]

@AdrienneRoyer Jay Adams taught that most counseling cases could be completed in 6-8 weeks. Forty days is where we see Biblical change. So call to repentance and walk in new obedience and boom counseling is done.

[The Reading Mom @Hemwanthi]

@realprophetguy I know of a pastor who recently was deposed for covering up sexual abuse who defines forgiveness as the wronged bearing the weight of the offense every time it comes up. So yes I do think that’s what many think forgiveness is and that’s why there’s so little care.

[The Reading Mom @Hemwanthi]

This!!!!

[Susan Danielle @realprophetguy]

I’ve been watching the response of Christians to David Wood’s flippant and explicit admission of statutory rape, and overwhelmingly what I have seen has left me convinced that the church is not a safe place for victims.

Many of you have confused *admission,* *cessation,* and *remorse* with contrition, confession and repentance.

Perhaps remorse isn’t possible for Wood because of his condition. That’s ok — it’s the weakest indicator of repentance anyway. It can be performed. And often we are remorseful only because of the impact on ourselves.

But contrition? That would be achievable and apparent. It is an attitude and posture that would look like humility, graciousness to pushback, and willingness to deeply consider whether he treated this too cavalierly. I have not seen that.

What about confession? Has he done that? I don’t think so. Confession would involved accountability.

What Wood did was admission: he acknowledged that he committed a crime.

Confession would mean disclosing to the authorities for the sake of justice—not to an audience for an object lesson on the evil of Muhammad. It would mean fully accepting that he was at fault for choosing to violate minors for his gratification.

It would mean willingness to face the legal consequences. It would mean registering as a sex offender.

Do you see the difference? Admission serves only Wood and his audience. Everyone gets to feel good about supporting the reformed abuser and score points against an enemy.

Confession, however, works for the justice of victims and safety of others.

Similarly, “repentance” does not mean “cessation from rape” and “successful internet ministry.” Imagine if Zaccheaus’ repentance had looked like that!

Repentance would mean working for the good of those he harmed — protecting their dignity, contributing funds towards their therapy if he has them. It would mean learning about the damage done, and then learning how to properly discuss those topics (of at all!) so as not to cause harm, both to those victims and to the other victims who hear.

Do you see the difference? Cessation is passive, and largely beneficial to oneself and one’s reputation. Repentance is actively working to repair the damage at cost to oneself.

And here is my profound concern: I don’t think other men in the church could even lead him towards that because I don’t think I’ve ever seen true repentance, in my entire life, from a perpetrator in the church.

What I usually see is the perpetrator treated as though they are a victim. Men appeared in droves to surround their brother and defend HIS dignity, despite the fact that the bodies of two teen girls were violated and then discussed like objects in front of hundreds of thousands of strangers on the internet. No one gave a single thought to the victims, to justice, to safety. It was enough for them that THEY enjoyed his ministry — victims of abuse be damned!

And if I or any victim is angry watching this play out because we know the cost — in our own bodies, our own life, in the lives and bodies of our daughters and friends — well, then we are man haters. We are unforgiving. If we express concern for safety, knowing the profoundly high chance of reoccurrence, we have no faith.

Is this the righteousness of the church? Does it simply exist for the restoration of men’s reputations? Is it a place where men can safely and openly talk about sodomizing a teen girl because it’s under the blood?

Is the church ever going to be a safe place that restores dignity to victims? Or are these girls, and every girl like them, simply acceptable collateral in the kingdom of God.

Look me in the face and answer honestly: did God truly design the cost of both the violation and the restoration to be carried on the shoulders of those who are harmed?

I cannot imagine that he did.

#churchtoo

[Liam Adams @liamsadams]

Since January, I’ve been speaking with survivors of abuse within the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) and studying how the evangelical denomination’s unique system of oversight can be used to cause further harm.
Here are those women’s stories... https://t.co/6DKdwxyIlK

[Diane Langberg, PhD @DianeLangberg]

Trauma stories do not first come out with a beginning, middle, and end. They come out in broken pieces, disordered and perhaps unclear.

[Diane Langberg, PhD @DianeLangberg]

When we turn from those who are vulnerable or who have been abused, in our midst or elsewhere, we have chosen to value something else more than love and obedience to our God.

[Diane Langberg, PhD @DianeLangberg]

A truth-teller disturbs, alerts, awakens, and warns against indifference to injustice and complacency about the needs of human beings. To be silent about injustices in this world is to be a partner with those who carry out violence, evil, and corruption.

[The Reading Mom @Hemwanthi]

There was prayer that Jesus didn’t celebrate. I’d suggest that politicians saying they are praying is like standing on the corner to be seen. God also calls us to act to protect the vulnerable. We can debate what the action should be but prayers are never the end.

[The Reading Mom @Hemwanthi]

@stevemarusich @sassiterian It’s such a stupid trichotomy. Jesus is our prophet priest and king. Why would anyone think a healthy following of Jesus would include splitting his character and following part of it? Sure someone might naturally be more inclined to one but also naturally we are sinful so….

[The Reading Mom @Hemwanthi]

@AdrienneRoyer A pastor who was recently honored as a faithful servant by the seminary Everhard teaches at, told me his observations there are far more faithful women in reformed circles than men. His ministry to single women is something I wish would have impacted more pastors!

[The Reading Mom @Hemwanthi]

@WVPitt Repentance must begin with an awareness of where and how we have sinned. As denominations I suspect all know very little of the wickedness that has been hidden for decades. I suspect because I hold the stories of too many in the small part of NAPARC I was raised and have lived in

[The Reading Mom @Hemwanthi]

@WVPitt I’d suggest the problem has been there far longer than many are willing to admit. Perhaps we begin by thanking God that he has begun to expose the wickedness through people like Julie Roys and then we seek to expose by asking independent organizations to investigate us.