Excerpt from "Abusive Churches: Leaving Them Behind"
by Pat Zukeran

"Things are changing." That is what we hear from friends who are still going to our former church. Frankly we hope they really are changing, but when asked for specific examples of how things have changed, our friends have to really reach to come up with anything really concrete. The bottom line is that for there to be meaningful change, those changes need to be made in the very foundations of this particular church. This excerpt by Pat Zukeran points out some of those foundational things that need to be addressed. ~ The Billy Goat ~

Can Abusive Churches Change?
"Those who find themselves in authoritarian churches often remain despite the difficulties because there is an underlying hope that the church can change. Even after they leave they often remain keenly interested in the affairs of the former church because they hope restoration will still occur.

Can abusive churches change? Although with God all things are possible, it is my opinion that it is highly unlikely that this will happen. Although a few have, they are the exceptions.

Why is change in these organizations so difficult? One reason is that change usually begins in the leadership. However, the leadership structure is designed so that the leader has control over the personnel. Although there may be a board, the individuals on the board are ultimately selected by the authoritarian leader. He selects men and women loyal to him, who do not question him, or hold him accountable. Therefore, he insulates himself from dealing with difficult issues or addressing his unhealthy practices.

Dysfunctional leaders also resist change because it is an admission of failure. In order for a genuine change of heart, leaders must first acknowledge a problem and repent. However, a leader who considers himself "God's man" or the spokesman for God will rarely humble himself to confess his shortcomings. Spiritual wholeness and renewal cannot be achieved until unhealthy behavior is recognized and dealt with. Unless this behavior is confronted, the likelihood of real change is diminished.

In most cases, the leadership focuses the blame on others. Those who left the church were not committed, were church hoppers, etc. Stephen Arterburn writes, "Anyone who rebels against the system must be personally attacked so people will think the problem is with the person, not the system." It is often useless to point out flaws because an abusive church lives in a world of denial. Many of the leaders are themselves deceived. Although sincere in their efforts, they may have no idea their leadership style is unhealthy and harmful. They are usually so narcissistic or so focused on some great thing they are doing for God that they don't notice the wounds they are inflicting on their followers. These leaders often twist Scripture to justify their unhealthy behavior. Most members will go along with this because they assume their pastors know the Bible better than they do.

Lastly, authoritarian churches make every effort to ensure that a good name and image is preserved. Therefore, the leadership often functions in secrecy. Disagreeing members are threatened and told to remain silent or are quietly dismissed.

For these reasons, it is my opinion that it is best to leave an abusive or unhealthy church. Learn to let go and let God deal with that group. Only He can bring people to repentance. Although painful, leaving an unhealthy church and joining a healthy body of believers will begin the healing process and open new doors of fellowship, worship, and service for you." (Complete article found here.)

Mystery Surrounds Kerry's Navy Discharge
BY THOMAS LIPSCOMB - Special to the New York Sun, October 13, 2004

An official Navy document on Senator Kerry's campaign Web site listed as Mr. Kerry's "Honorable Discharge from the Reserves" opens a door on a well kept secret about his military service.

The document is a form cover letter in the name of the Carter administration's secretary of the Navy, W. Graham Claytor. It describes Mr. Kerry's discharge as being subsequent to the review of "a board of officers." This in it self is unusual. There is nothing about an ordinary honorable discharge action in the Navy that requires a review by a board of officers.

According to the secretary of the Navy's document, the "authority of reference" this board was using in considering Mr. Kerry's record was "Title 10, U.S. Code Section 1162 and 1163. "This section refers to the grounds for involuntary separation from the service. What was being reviewed, then, was Mr. Kerry's involuntary separation from the service. And it couldn't have been an honorable discharge, or there would have been no point in any review at all. The review was likely held to improve Mr. Kerry's status of discharge from a less than honorable discharge to an honorable discharge.

A Kerry campaign spokesman, David Wade, was asked whether Mr. Kerry had ever been a victim of an attempt to deny him an honorable discharge. There has been no response to that inquiry.

The document is dated February 16, 1978. But Mr. Kerry's military commitment began with his six-year enlistment contract with the Navy on February 18, 1966. His commitment should have terminated in 1972. It is highly unlikely that either the man who at that time was a Vietnam Veterans Against the War leader, John Kerry, requested or the Navy accepted an additional six year reserve commitment. And the Claytor document indicates proceedings to reverse a less than honorable discharge that took place sometime prior to February 1978....

...The "board of officers" review reported in the Claytor document is even more extraordinary because it came about "by direction of the President." No normal honorable discharge requires the direction of the president. The president at that time was James Carter. This adds another twist to the story of Mr. Kerry's hidden military records.

Mr. Carter's first act as president was a general amnesty for draft dodgers and other war protesters. Less than an hour after his inauguration on January 21, 1977, while still in the Capitol building, Mr. Carter signed Executive Order 4483 empowering it. By the time it became a directive from the Defense Department in March 1977 it had been expanded to include other offenders who may have had general, bad conduct, dishonorable discharges, and any other discharge or sentence with negative effect on military records. In those cases the directive outlined a procedure for appeal on a case by case basis before a board of officers. A satisfactory appeal would result in an improvement of discharge status or an honorable discharge.

Mr. Kerry has repeatedly refused to sign Standard Form 180, which would allow the release of all his military records. And some of his various spokesmen have claimed that all his records are already posted on his Web site. But the Washington Post already noted that the Naval Personnel Office admitted that they were still withholding about 100 pages of files..." (Complete article here.)

This Hope

Last night we had the joy and privilege of hearing the Christian vocal group This Hope at our church's 90th Anniversary celebration.

This group does a variety of Christian acappella vocals as well as songs with instrumental backup. The acappella numbers are on par with more well known acappella groups such as Glad. Tight harmonies, underscored by an excellent "air bass" done by Tim Inabnit, make for a very enjoyable and worshipful listening experience. Speaking of Tim's "air bass", in one number he did a very excellent "air trombone" with slides and all. You had to see it to appreciate it.

Their music is done in popular Christian style, and based on sound Evangelical theology. Parts of traditional hymns are mixed with original compositions to highlight the grace of God and His awesomeness. If you have a chance to hear them, or to pick up one of their CD's, I highly recommend you give their music a hearing.

More information can be found at their www site: This Hope.

~ The Billy Goat ~

The Lord of All The Stars Who is Sara's Lord

She was just a young teen at the time. She was in town visiting her Aunt Ruthy and Uncle Bob who are good friends of ours. We had gone out together someplace or another, probably the Grand Haven Pier, or a Lake Michigan beach. In any event, on our way back home we stopped at Russ's Restaurant for a "little something".

When we came out of the restaurant, it was dark. We were in the parking lot getting ready to say goodbye before we went our separate ways home. It was then I looked up at the sky. We were in area of the parking lot somewhat shaded from the bright street lights and all the other lights that make metropolitan areas glow in the dark. The sky was clear that night and I could see the stars. I don't remember the exact conversation, but it went something like this.

I looked towards the northern sky and said aloud, "There is the Big Dipper."

"Oh really!" Sara responded, "Where?"

I pointed up into the sky where the handle and the sides of the Dipper could be seen. She looked and then recognition came.

"I've heard of the Big Dipper, but have never seen it before." she said. "That's pretty neat!"

It was a little hard for me to imagine going into your teen years without seeing the Big Dipper in the night sky, but then I grew up on a rural farm where the night sky was a familiar companion not shrouded by the man made lights of the our urban areas. Sara had spent most of her life in a large metropolitan area, so in retrospect it was not so surprising. And so it was that I inadvertently added a small moment to Sara's life experience.

It was some years latter I began to grasp the fuller meaning of God's sovereign lordship over specific areas of creation. He is Lord of all, therefore He is Lord of the stars. He orders their dance, and calls them all by name.

Sara is now grown, married, and a mother. He, who being Lord of all is Lord of the stars, is also Sara's Lord. Perhaps there will come a time when she will be out on a crisp clear night with her children. She will look up to the stars, and point out the Big Dipper to her children. And she will tell them again, as she has done so many times, about the One who being Lord of all, is Lord of the stars and Lord of the night sky and Her Lord and God. And in that witness, may the Lord of the stars who is her Lord, become her children's Lord also.

~ The Billy Goat ~

Bible Gateway On-line Search for the word “Grace” in the New Testament
As used in Young's Literal Translation (Edited)

Words in quotes indicate how “charis” or a form of “charis” is translated in the NASB.

Luke 2:40, 6:32-34 “credit”

John 1:14, 1:16, 1:17

Acts 4:33, 11:23, 13:43, 14:3, 14:26, 15:11, 15:40, 18:27, 20:24, 20:32

Romans 1:5, 1:7, 3:24, 4:4 “favor”, 4:16, 5:2, 5:15, 5:17, 5:20, 5:21, 6:1, 6:14, 6:15, 11:5, 11:6, 12:3, 12:6,
15:15, 16:20, 16:24

1 Corinthians 1:3, 1:4, 3:10, 15:10, 16:23

2 Corinthians 1:2, 1:12, 4:15, 6:1, 8:1, 8:7 “gracious work”, 8:9, 9:8, 9:14, 12:9, 13:14

Galatians 1:3, 1:6, 1:15, 2:9, 2:21, 5:4, 6:18

Ephesians 1:2, 1:6, 1:7, 2:5, 2:7, 2:8, 3:2, 3:7, 3:8, 4:7, 4:29, 6:24

Philippians 1:2, 1:7, 4:23

Colossians 1:2, 1:6, 3:16 “chariti – thanksgiving”, 4:6, 4:18

1 Thessalonians 1:1, 5:28

2 Thessalonians 1:2, 1:12, 2:16, 3:18

1 Timothy 1:2, 1:14, 6:21

2 Timothy 1:2, 1:9, 2:1, 4:22

Titus 1:4, 2:11, 3:7, 3:15

Philemon 1:3, 1:25

Hebrews 2:9,4:16, 10:29, 12:15, 12:28 “show gratitude”, 13:9, 13:25

James 4:6

1 Peter 1:2, 1:10, 1:13, 3:7, 4:10, 5:5, 5:10, 5:12

2 Peter 1:2, 3:18

2 John 1:3

Jude 1:4

Revelation 1:4, 22:21

This list was compiled as handout for a men's Bible study on "Grasping Grace". A study of the verses on this list will give you a good grounding in how the Bible uses the word "grace".

~ The Billy Goat ~

The Context and Content of a Concept

This past Wednesday was my turn at teaching the men's Bible study. The topic was "Men at Church Grasp Grace." In my preparation it became clear that grace as a concept has no real meaning unless there is a context and content to the concept.

What do we mean by "grace"? In what context are we to understand that meaning? The same questions could be asked of the concept of "faith" or "revelation" or a whole host of theological terms.

And in this Post-modern age, those are no small questions. In case you have not heard the news, Post-modernity seeks to make everything relative, especially meaning. That's why you can have a President who asks you what "is" is.

So I found it necessary to spend time with the men discussing the meaning and context of the concept of grace. The context of course is the Bible and the progress of redemptive history coming to fruition in the New Testament. The content comes from the Gospel of He who in John 1 is described as the personification of "grace and truth".

Context and content. That's what makes a concept meaningful. It is in that light that grace becomes

God's
Riches
At
Christ's
Expense.

In His joy,

~ The Billy Goat ~

Who is this guy "Norm"?

Our young friend is about the same age as our older married daughter. She is a single adult Christian woman pursuing a graduate level degree with the end of entering upon a career. And she is doing so with a sense of God's calling and purpose for her life. No desire to marry. Not even looking for a guy. No Christian singles retreats. No Christian internet dating services or chat rooms for her.

Though she has not gone into detail, our young friend has alluded to the kinds of things that are said to her at her home church where she is still a member. You know the comments... "Any young man in your life these days?" "Why don't you go to the Christian singles retreat at blah blah blah..." "God has someone special for you..." And implied in all of that, "Why are you pursuing a career instead of a husband and children?"

A few years ago I had a conversation with one of the pastors at her home church regarding the issue of singles in the church. His comment was to the effect that in the Bible it is the norm for young adult women to marry and if possible, bear children. The context of the conversation and the implication of the statement was to apply that "norm" to specific situations in his pastoral counseling, especially to young single adult Christian women.

Do you see the fallacy in that statement and application? We are not talking about the world's norm for sinful behavior such as drunkenness, cussing, or other obvious sinful behavior patterns. The Bible no where makes the issue of marriage or non-marriage in and of itself a matter of sin. But this pastor is going to take an observable norm for a general population as a whole, and make it law and gospel in a specific situation for specific young people.

Pray tell dear pastor, who anointed you with such a gift of "prophecy", that you know for certain that just because something is a general norm, you can bind the conscience of young Christian single adults as the "norm" for them specifically, and in this case specifically, young single adult Christian women? Since when did any Protestant Christian church elect this guy "Norm" as pope?

This pastors comment is a reflection of a cultural scholasticism that has afflicted his particular church and the particular movement his church is a part of. The expectations in that setting for young single Christian women in particular have more to do with that scholasticism then with honest wrestling with all the Bible has to say about Christian singleness. Yes, the family is an important part of the church, but families are not all there is to the church, and the Bible makes clear that all members of the church, married and unmarried are equally important.

That last statement sums up what Wendy Widder is saying in her recent books, Living Whole Without a Better Half and A Match Made in Heaven: How Singles and the Church Can Live Happily Ever After. Wendy is an adult single Christian woman who was blessed to run into Christian friends who affirmed her in her singleness as opposed to treating it as a temporary aberration to be quickly fled at the first opportunity. But Wendy's books are not just for young adult Christian singles like our young friend. She writes with a vision of the whole body of Christ, married and un-married, and with a reverence for the Scripture as God's authoritative Word.

We gave a copy of A Match Made in Heaven to our young friend, and I would encourage you also to read what Wendy has to say on the whole matter of being Christian and single.

~ The Billy Goat ~

Focusing on Grace

“When you focus on grace in the fullness of it’s meaning, you will keep the law, liberty, and love in their proper relationship to one another. But if you focus on any one of them instead of grace, you will invariably end up in the swamp of legalism or license.” (Transforming Grace by Jerry Bridges)

Both legalism and antinomianism (license) share the same basic fundamental flaw. Both are the result of an insufficient view of what the Gospel is, and what the grace of God in the Gospel does. It is a focus on the grace of God in the Gospel that will keep us in the way that leads to life, which will keep our life in Biblical balance, which is the basis of all true Biblical spirituality, and is the essence of what it means for Christians to grasp grace.

~ The Billy Goat ~

Summer's Passing

We are now up to the last week of Summer. My calendar tells me Autumn begins next Wednesday. Once again the year is flying by. My friends who are into that sort of thing are talking about hunting. The football season is in full swing, and I don't mean soccer. The Detroit Lions even won a game on the road, proof that wonders never cease.

The start of school and the coming of Fall also means activities and programs at church are swinging into full gear now that Summer is passing.

Yesterday the choir began a new season of ministry. The piece that we sang had a part where the choir and the congregation together sing "Holy, Holy, Holy". I was doing all right holding down my part in the bass section of the choir, but confess that when the congregation joined in with us, I had to suck it up to keep from losing it emotionally. (The spirit of the prophets is controlled by the prophets.) It was just so awesome... A taste of that worship we will engage in around the throne (Revelation 4-5).

The men's Bible study starts this week. From week to week different men will be leading the study. Lord willing, I will be leading the study on the topic "Men at Church Grasp Grace". It's been a good lesson to prepare for. Jerry Bridges' book Transforming Grace has been an excellent supplement to the study book we are using.

Bridges says a number of things I have thought and come to believe regarding the pre-eminence of grace not only in our initial salvation, but also in our on-going sanctification. Let me end this post by paraphrasing and building on one thought from Transforming Grace.

Both legalism on the one hand, and antinomianism on the other, share a common foundational flaw. Both legalism and antinomianism have a deficient view of what the Gospel is, and what Gospel grace does. More on that some other time...

In His joy,

~ The Billy Goat ~

A Dramatic Reading of Revelation 4 - 5
(English Standerd Version)

A narrative passage of Scripture lends itself to dramatic reading. Such a dramatic reading can be a useful teaching tool in engaging the class with the passage. Here is an example of how a dramatic reading of a narraitve portion of Scripture can be structured. I used this example in an actual adult Sunday school class.
~ The Billy Goat ~

The Promise: “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.” (Revelation 1:3)

[Chapter 4]

[Narrator] After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said,

[First Voice] "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this."

[Narrator] At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, 6and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: 7the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,

[Four Creatures] "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!"

[Narrator] And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

[24 Elders] "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created."

[Chapter 5]

[Narrator] Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice,

[First Voice] "Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?"

[Narrator] And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. And one of the elders said to me,

[Elder] "Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals."

[Narrator] And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying,

[Four Creatures & 24 Elders] "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, 10and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth."

[Narrator] Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice,

[All] "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!"

[Narrator] And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,

[All] "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!"

[Narrator] And the four living creatures said,

[Four Creatures] "Amen!"

[Narrator] And the elders fell down and worshiped.

“And I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals…” (Revelation 6:1a)