With Dr. Michael Brown on the shelf, the machine turns to Shane to defend the wolves...

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"I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. - Amos 5:21-24 (ESV)

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The great Charismaniacal machine's primary function is to protect the brand. Churchianity is now a billion-dollar industry when you factor all things in. There are people who enjoy great levels of power and greed and comfort from their position within this hierarchy. That is why they naturally gravitate to dominionism and the worship of this country. Because they like the excess this country allows them. They like the sin this country encourages. That is why they are always chasing this fictional "revival," even though the bible promises no such thing. One role that the machine assigns is in rehabilitating those that are exposed as fallen leaders through their own expression of the sin excess, they idolize. We saw just recently the collective debacles of Mike Bickle, Robert Morris and now Dr. Michael Brown. Before them we saw the likes of Ravi Zacharias, Brian Houston, Carl Lentz, and Mark Driscoll, just to name a few. Part of the rehabilitation of these wolves is the notion that the focus in these cases should be on their restoration, as opposed to their victims. Ironically, Dr. Brown was a primary deliverer of propaganda such as this and he was very good at it because he always had a certain level of gravitas, but apparently not anymore. As such, the task this week fell to Shane Idleman, dominionist extraordinaire from California. The above link is to an article that he ran on Crosswalk, which was designed to provide cover for fallen leaders and smear the discernment ministries that expose them. So, let us reason once more together through this article.

"Over the years, we've seen many failures and fallings in the evangelical church. And it begs the question: WHAT IS GOING ON? In my article, Why Do Leaders Fall? I wrote: "They fall for the same reason that all Christians fall. Each of us is drawn away by our own evil desires and enticed. When these desires are acted upon, they lead to sin (cf. James 1:14-15). Sin has a life cycle " it either grows or withers depending on whether we feed or starve it. John Owen, the prolific Puritan author, wrote, 'Be killing sin, or sin will be killing you'." A quick word to those whose faith is faltering because of fallen leaders: Never look to man, they will let you down " look to God, He never will." - Shane Idleman

It is easy to quote trite sayings like this because they are obviously true. The problem of course is that the NAR apostate church, which Shane is a leader in, spends every day reinforcing and teaching the opposite. Spiritual dependency is bred for the cult of personality pastors. That is the Purpose Driven Model that Rick Warren has taught this generation of church leaders. Instead of Jesus being the vision caster, that responsibility falls to the pastor. Instead of trying to save people, which would be God's responsibility, they have learned to try and church people, which is their responsibility. The result is the compromise of the gospel of course but it also breeds dependency upon man instead of God. So, it is a little rich to then simply wave your hand and say, oh you should never look to man! Yes, leaders fall for the same reasons any of us do. The issue remains of what we are to do with such fallen leaders. When a congregant falls, we seek to restore them with love but that restoration is to their walk with Jesus Christ. What Shane and the NAR tries to do with fallen leaders is shift that restoration process to their job, not their walk. You see, these folks are big earners. Mike Bickle, Robert Morris, Dr. Michael Brown made millions of dollars for the Charismaniacal Industrial Complex. Not just money for their own personal enrichment but for all of the ancillary monies that are leeched off of their success. There are forces who are solely invested in getting those earners back into the ring to earn again. Jesus? Yeah, they will pay the necessary lip service but at the end of the day it is about the power and money that is on the line. That may sound cynical but just we have decades of data to draw from. Tangible real-life examples. In 2006 Ted Haggard was the head of the National Association of Evangelicals. He used to rail against homosexuality every week from his pulpit in Colorado where he had 14000 congregants. Then it was revealed that he was engaged in a 20-year relationship with a male prostitute that he liked to do crystal meth with. Oops. Within six months Haggard declared that he was repented and ready to be restored, hallelujah! Even though he would not return to his church, he did become a pastor again of another church in the same state, where he served for many years until a more recent scandal where children were sexually abused. Perhaps God knew what He was talking about when He established pastoral qualifications? Perhaps if people had been more worried about restoring Haggard's walk rather than his employment, children would not have been hurt, the cause of Christ not further damaged and even Haggard might have been genuinely repentant.

"Because of the Internet's ability to spread massive amounts of information, it's not surprising that so much is coming out. With this HUGE tidal wave of information being shared on countless social media outlets, it's easier than ever before to expose sin. On the one hand, exposure is sorely needed and long overdue, but on the other hand, it becomes very destructive when it is used as a weapon by arrogant and judgemental people. To truly change lives, truth must be seasoned with grace and watered with hope. Instead of pointing people to hope and restoration, we often rush to premature judgment: "Guilty Until Proven Innocent." Many outlets that profit from click-bait are eager to drag someone through the mud again, and again, and again." - Shane Idleman

What? The destructive factors are within the behavior of the fallen leaders, NOT in the reporting of such. Shane is reflexively trying to share the blame. The advocate group in Kansas City does not share ONE iota of the blame for Mike Bickle. People correctly commenting on the despicable nature of Robert Morris do not share ONE iota of the blame. Truth needs to be seasoned with truth, because there is no grace in a lie. The issue that people like Shane always miss is that our position should be about protecting the sheep, not the wolves. The sheep need the grace. The sheep need the consideration. Notice here that Shane is whining about hope and restoration. That should NOT be our focus as church leaders. Our focus should be helping victims, spreading sound doctrine, and restoring the walk, assuming the fallen leader was actually saved. That is not however, what he is advocating here. Everything is always couched to help his fellow church leaders, regardless of what they may have done. I do not recall any instances of accusations of guilt that were not born out in reality far, far worse than even initially reported. The original Mike Bickle accusations paled in comparison to the reality of his multiple child victims. Originally, Morris tried to pretend that he had a lapse of judgment with a "young lady" but it turned out she was 12 years old at the time. What Morris and Bickle backers tried to do, which we also just saw in the Dr. Michael Brown case, is control the flow of information to lessen the severity of the backlash. That is all Shane is advocating for here. People like Bickle, Brown, Morris or Ravi Zacharias were not dragged through the mud. They secretly lived in the mud while pretending they were squeaky clean in the name of Jesus. Someone correctly saying that Mike Bickle and Robert Morris were child predators are not being "judgmental." That is absurd.

"Priority #1: We Must Listen - I'm assuming that the reader understands that I'm not lumping everything into the same category. A leader who abuses children is handled much differently than a leader who stepped down due to anger and a controlling attitude. When there are victims involved, we must listen carefully and prioritize their issue. That's obvious, but what might not be so obvious is that we often become cold, callous, and overly critical in our zeal for justice.

We must provide a safe, non-threatening environment for victims to come forward, but also avoid the spirit of accusation behind some of these so-called "ministries" who love pulling others down. They can be right in their reasoning yet wrong in their heart. That's what I'm addressing in this article. The Spirit of Accusation Kills Humility - I've personally seen false accusations hurt good, godly people " a grandma is accused of something because the daughter-in-law doesn't want her seeing the kids, a manipulating spouse turns on her partner with false accusations, or a church member falsely accuses leadership because they've been hurt. Again, I'm not minimizing abuse " it must be dealt with swiftly " but we must be careful that arrogance and the spirit of accusation don't kill discernment." - Shane Idleman

There are always victims of any false teacher Shane. Always. They may not be as obvious as actual victims of sexual abuse for example but they are victims nonetheless. If a pastor is controlling and angry they have multiple victims Shane and they should not be minimized. Trying to smear discernment ministries is not going to work either. Correctly reporting what someone has done, is not a "spirit of accusation." That is ridiculous. You know you are in trouble when you have to swear you are not doing something you are obviously doing! Shane is obviously minimizing abuse because he pretends that "dealing with it swiftly" somehow must be tempered. No one is speaking about false accusations. I would be just as much against accusing someone falsely. Facts have to be established. Do you know who is zealous for justice Shane? God is. Read the key verses. God hates our religiosity when we act without zeal for justice. The false teacher is not the victim Shane. The fallen leader is not the victim. The sheep are. Save us the noise of your songs and bovine excrement justifications. Let justice flow down water.

"One particular ministry comes to mind as I'm writing this: Years ago, a pastor had to step down because of his aggressive leadership style, but some Christian outlets still bash him without looking into the possibility that he's been humbled and broken by God. Where's the compassion? Where's erring on the side of grace? Unless we have evidence proving otherwise, why aren't we rejoicing that God has done great work in his heart? Has the spirit of accusation and the lack of humility and brokenness crept into your own heart? I've been guilty of this myself. When we recognize this, we must repent." - Shane Idleman

Now, I hate when these faux-leaders pretend to stand against something but are being deceitful. It is of no use to vaguely reference someone real but not identify them. This time however, I think it is 95% obvious that Shane Idleman is talking about his good buddy and dominionist friend, Mark Driscoll. The only example recently of a pastor stepping down due to "aggressive leadership style" was Driscoll. That of course is a whitewashing of what actually happened. Mark Driscoll stole $200,000 in tithes to hire a marketing firm to cheat the New York Times Best Seller List so he could market himself as a "NY Times Top Ten Author." Additionally, his "aggressive" style resulted in him boasting about running over many people with the Mars Hill bus he was driving and hoping that by the time he was done the bodies would amount to a mountain. He was not deemed aggressive Shane. He was deemed abusive. He was so abusive that his own handpicked board was going to have to discipline him when he packed his family up in the middle of the night and ran away from Seattle, leaving his sheep scattered across the state of Washington, spiritually bleeding from the wounds he inflicted. Mark Driscoll was ENTIRELY disqualified from ministry. Where is the erring on the side of grace for his victims Shane? Where is your compassion for them? Why do you only have grace for the wolves? You think Mark Driscoll has been humbled by God Shane? You think God has done a great work in his heart? Are you serious? Have you been paying attention at all? Did you see how he abused local officials in Arizona and broke their local laws recently to try and sell more copies of his latest trash book pretending he knows who Jkesus would vote for? My heart breaks for his current victims and the people he drove away from Jesus Christ in Seattle. That is who my heart breaks for.

"We MUST Do Better - One thing is certain: Leaders need to be more forthright and admit their sins. People would respect them a lot more, and it would set a good example. Leaders not only lead by example with integrity but also with repentance. We must provide a safe haven for those with issues and instill an open-door policy where members can go to any of the elders if they have concerns with leadership. The Pain of Pride - Each side tends to be biased: We guard friends but assault enemies. Conservatives are quick to point out fallen charismatics but say nothing about fallen conservatives, and charismatics can be guilty of the same. The enemy of our soul doesn't care what denomination we belong to; he is set on destroying us if left unchecked.

We should never be excited about accusing our brothers and sisters. Exposure must flow from a broken, humble heart that is focused on restoration and repentance rather than chastisement and banishment." - Shane Idleman

No, no, a thousand times no. What part of biblical qualifications does Shane not understand? The problem often is that these people are not pastors. They are hirelings. Pastoring is a job to them and as such they think, why can't I return to my job? Because God said you disqualified yourself! It is not about you! It is about the sheep and the cause of Jesus Christ. The focus of the NAR churchianity machine is always restoration because that is how the money generator gets back in business. The problem is that focus is solely on the perpetrator and not on the victims. The focus should be on healing victims and restoring doctrine. The banishment of the perpetrators is for the collective good of the body of Christ and is only relevant to their service. If someone genuinely repents and wishes to return to the congregation, I do not think any would seriously object but their days in leadership are OVER. If they had any humility or decency, they would realize that. Let us not lose sight of what we are talking about here. We are not talking about a minor sin issue. No one is suggesting excommunication for a genuine struggle that someone seeks help and forgiveness for. We are talking about grievous sin that has damaged people.

"Both Will be Held Accountable - Let me be clear: To adequately assess situations, the critic contending for the truth must be filled with the Spirit to display the fruit of the Spirit. Sadly, that's not the case with many of these so-called discernment ministries that are fueled by pride and motivated by revenue. It's very hard to speak with clarity and precision when we only have snapshots of a story. Some of these outlets even do a lot of dirty work behind the scenes, baiting people for evidence that might not even be valid " looking for exposure rather than truth. Take heed: Not only will fallen leaders be held accountable but so will heresy hunters who are operating from a wrong spirit." - Shane Idleman

Nice try Shane. The person pretending to be a church leader was the one who should have displayed the fruit of the spirit. When practicing discernment against wolves, I am operating out of a place of love for the body of Christ. It is kind and good to expose error and false teaching that would scatter people away from Jesus Christ. I try to show deferential patience to those deceived under false teaching because there is joy when one person is saved. I can assure you Shane, there is no revenue. I have written thousands of devotionals in the past fifteen years and I think I have received donations, twice. It was very sweet when that happened but to pretend that discernment ministries are raking in the bucks shows how disconnected Shane Idleman is from reality. The rank heretic Paul Crouch is the idiot who came up with the term heresy hunter and I wear it like a badge of honor. Do you know who else was a heresy hunter? Paul was when he exposed the false teachers of his day. Jesus Himself was when He did likewise. By the way, no one is "looking for exposure." That is yet another absurdity from Shane Idleman. I do not have to seek out the Mike Bickles and Dr. Michael Browns of the world. They expose themselves every single day. Baiting people for evidence? If Shane Idleman has an example of such nonsense, I would love to hear it but I guess he does not or he would have offered it up. No beloved, this is just more distraction and whining about how wolves are being treated by people who would dare expose them for the frauds they are. It really is a shame because Shane used to have a decent reputation as a gospel preacher. Then he got hit upside the head with the dominionist Trump stick and he has lost all sense of right, wrong and sound doctrine. He has flouted the laws of his state, mocked politicians he views as enemies, and twisted God's word to suit his own carnality. At the end of the day, he is a cog in the great churchianity machine and this article was solely designed to defend that machine. Sure, he pays the requisite lip service to the true victims but this entire piece was in defense of his friends who have made themselves indefensible. We will all be held to account Shane, for every careless word, but that really should not be a source of solace for you.

Reverend Anthony Wade - December 12, 2024

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.