There is an epidemic of moral failure in ministries; a pervasive pattern of abuse across all denominations. Following is a sample of recent cases. Southern Baptist. A 22-year-old youth leader drove his 17-year-old student home but parked along the way for oral sex. 20 years later he admitted it to the congregation he pastored at, asked for forgiveness and got a standing ovation. While this story first broke in January of 2018, the recent news is of that victim, now a grown woman, fighting for change. Jules Woodson now works for “Such a Time as This.” FSATAT pushes for change in the Southern Baptist Convention on how it deals with credible charges of abuse. This man had been moved and promoted through the years, though SBC leaders knew of the incident. He only asked for public forgiveness after the victim posted about it. Nontrinitarian Restorationist. The self-proclaimed senior apostle of…
2019 June
Family is important to many; it sure is to us. My grandparents (Maple and Cecil Chinn) had 12 children. Dad, born in 1921, was the 2nd oldest of 11 to survive past infancy. After WW II, those 11 children began to marry and have their own children. By the 60’s, their kids were having children. By 1961, we began getting together each year for a family reunion. We’ve had one every year since, sometimes with over 120 Chinns and friends all together. But things change. Dad, and most of his generation are gone now. So, my wife and I started a new thing. Last week was the first reunion with just our family (my wife and I, and our direct descendants). With just us, our 5 children, their spouses and our grandchildren, all 31 of us came together in one place for a reunion. It was a much-needed time for…
My generation had the distinct honor of sitting at the feet of the men who faced the worst dragons of recent history on battle fronts around the world in WWII. My dad and six uncles fought in those battles. Some on land, some in the sea, some in the air. Some against Germans; some against Japanese. Dad and every one of my uncles came home. Last week we observed the 75th anniversary of first day (D-Day) of the invasion to liberate France. Of the battles fought in that war, the beaches of Normandy were to the war in Europe, what the atomic bomb was in the Pacific war. It was beginning of the end of Axis rule. My best friend’s dad was there on the beach, June 6th, 1944. He was a Landing Craft pilot. 20 years later he cried as he told me, a haughty High-School kid with hair…