“Functional” female elders and confusing the debate 🧵

Lest we waste a bunch of time talking about some non-PCA patriarchalist’s personal convictions, we need to understand some basics. If a woman does not govern the local church then she is not an elder or “functionally” an elder.

A woman having some qualities or qualifications of an elder does not make her an elder no more than a woman serving others in the church is automatically or “functionally” a deacon.

A quick response on the PCA and Deaconesses 🧵

First, I appreciate Thomas's attitude while reading this. He doesn't at all come across as someone looking for problems but rather as someone with sincere concerns.

1/

https://twitter.com/ThomasERickard/status/1896560639872843848

I'll be brief with this response but that doesn't mean more couldn't be said. My hope is that my brevity isn't taken as flippant. I also want to (again) reiterate that I'm not an elder but rather a member who is interested in the health, maturity, and future of the PCA.

2/

Why I'm Voting 3rd Party 🧵

First, I have basic level requirements for supporting a candidate. I don't ask for perfection, but I do ask to meet a certain moral and policy line. In other words, the two major party candidates are off the table.

1/ Second, continuing to support bad parties incentivizes more of the same.

When a previously "fine to good" party drifts too far in a bad direction and crosses that line into "unacceptable" territory, continuing to offer them support signals that they can continue drifting.

2/

This is fair.

Though it's worth noting that Megan's book is not an analysis of any kind of data-driven trends. It's a book of anecdotes.

1/

https://twitter.com/NeilShenvi/status/1819899660921721081

The only conclusion that you can rationally come to is that out of the specific examples wherein both (1) the facts are accurate and (2) the "leftist agenda" claim is reasonably show, her claims of them "selling out" to a leftist agenda (to one degree or another) are true.

2/

Shepherds for Sale & Factual Errors Concerning Ilegal Immigration Homicide 🧵:

This will serve as a hub since there's already been multiple posts about this.

There's, at this time, 4 different and significant errors in the attached claim made by @megbasham.

1/ (1) Megan claims illegal migrants were responsible for 33k deaths, etc.

However, according to her cited source, the data provided also includes legal migrants.

This significantly inflates Megan's number.

2/

What I don't like about Trump 🧵:

Multiple cases of adultery and divorce, sexual assault allegations, supporting and funding pornography, a long list of financial scandals involving shady business practices, megalomania, said he had nothing to ask God forgiveness for...

1/

https://twitter.com/CreateInspiring/status/1796494634119737380

...blasphemous campaign stumping painting himself as a Messiah figure, created the single largest federal debt ever, increased our military presence in the Middle East after campaigning on bringing the troops home...

2/

Qualifications for Civil Rulership & God's Law 🧵:

Earlier I said that Trump was unfit for office.

I said this because of *explicitly* Biblical standards.

Let's look into it.

(Hint: Biden isn't qualified either).

1/ Regardless if you're a theonomist or not, most of us can agree that God's Law is profitable for instruction and provides (at least) guiding principles on many social and ethical principles.

And God's Law is not silent on the qualifications we should have for our leaders.

2/

Sexual Assault Cover Up, The OPC, and Greg Bahnsen 🧵

Thanks to Valerie for bringing this to my attention.

First of all, I'm horrified and sickened by this. I'm praying for justice, even if only partial justice here on earth is possible.

1/

https://twitter.com/vhobbs5/status/1758156481235386390

It's good to note that it's early in the case. The complaint has been filed but not a lot else. But it certainly looks really bad and we also know how statistically unlikely for there to be false accusations of this nature, though convictions are difficult.

2/

Some say Doug went bad because of RHE. Others say it was the Trump years.

Documentation supports there being severe character problems going back to at least the nineties.

94 ecclesiastical charges were filed against him in 2003 regarding sinful practices and character.

1/ Here's the 106 page document laying out the charges.

2/
drive.google.com/file/d/1hRPfNL…

The Moscow Mood is Rotten Fruit From a Rotten Tree 🧵:

As much as I appreciate most of this article, I think Kevin does a disservice to his readers by ignoring the theological underpinnings of Moscow.

1/

https://twitter.com/RevKevDeYoung/status/1729112043234447510

The "Moscow mood" that DeYoung rightly criticizes isn't just some sort of bad tactical choice. Rather, it's a consequence of bad theology.

Wilson's Moscow Mood is a result of a culture heavily focused on law rather than Gospel.

2/

If one thing is crystal clear about this conversation and where @aimeebyrdPYW is at now both theologically and in terms of where she’s worshipping, it’s that many of her critics actively do not want her to be faithful.

1/

https://twitter.com/mbird12/status/1680353090430705664

They revel in celebration at any move she makes that could be used as an ex post facto justification for how they’ve treated her. They have treated her worse than a heretic deserves, so now they eagerly look forward to anything at all they can use to make sense of that.

2/

Of Course Stephen Wolfe is a Racist 🧵

It’s no great surprise that this bit of low hanging fruit of discernment is being mocked by the Christian Nationalists.

But, like I said, this is not a hard conclusion to come to. Not even close. But I’ll break it down.

1/ Wolfe has said a lot of questionable things on socials and it’s likely a good bit of it is just to incite controversy. But we don’t need to go to vague Twitter posts that maintain a tiny bit of deniability.

Rather, the racism of Wolfe is apparent if you just read his book.

2/

Cage Stage Christian Nationalism 🧵

I could nitpick on some of @ScottAniol’s points here, but I do think his first point is valuable in at least a few ways.

And this is coming from someone who’s also opposed to CN, albeit for slightly different reasons.

1/

https://twitter.com/scottaniol/status/1651972931960832010

When a relatively large sub-section of Reformed Christendom quickly adopts a new idea within less than a two year timespan, I have a hard time believing it’s a core unifying standard.

When they denounce people for being where THEY were just several months ago, it feels off.

2/

Shamefully, part of me wants to smirk and maybe even scoff a bit that @G3Conference guys are getting called, by some, woke or compromisers because they don’t want to jump on the Christian Nationalist train.

1/ This temptation to have a bad attitude toward these sorts is due to being fed through a similar vitriol grinder for being *perceived* as slightly to the left by them. Now it’s happening to them and many of them have spoken up about how that’s just not accurate or fair.

2/

Crenshaw bought Meta stock at a really low point back in October and then helped start a political crusade against its main competitor.

Meta stocks are now way up.

https://twitter.com/dancrenshawtx/status/1648749972752302080

Democrat Nancy Pelosi also owns major stocks in Alphabet (Google). Who also stands to win big if TikTok is stifled.

And the list can go on an on.

My wife used to attend Platt’s church and I’ve visited many times. But we’ve also decided to not re-join his church when we move back to the area next month. We have our criticisms for sure.

But this is more tabloid journalism.

https://twitter.com/protestia/status/1649368428346589184

Platt isn’t saying that abortion isn’t an important issue or that having a conviction on abortion is idolatry. He’s saying that we shouldn’t strictly divide based on who you vote for.

Agree or disagree with that take, it’s just not the same thing. At all.

Wolfian vs Northian (nationalism vs theonomy) 🧵

This one will be a bit niche, but still a helpful discussion imho.

I’m not Northian in many respects, but there is a pretty substantial differences between North and Wolfe.

1/

https://twitter.com/presbycast/status/1649428481887854595

This, to be very transparent, makes me far more sympathetic to North than Wolfe (besides North being an economics scholar and Wolfe being more of a pop level commentator).

The first big difference is that North isn’t a nationalist. At all.

2/

Jesus was the friend of sinners and the enemy of the proud religious elite.

Yes, I affirm the friend/enemy distinction. But to set up a “no enemies to the right” or “no enemies to the left” standard is pure idolatry.

1/ Regardless of politics and theology, Jesus was gentle and kind to the humble and he was also confrontational and harsh to the proud. He dunked on those who thought themselves wise and he comforted the sexually immoral who sought him out.

2/

The single biggest mistake in the conversations about cultural Christianity is thinking that it’s the same thing as Christian culture.

It’s not Cultural Christianity flows out of culture and then gets associated with Christianity. There’s certainly elements of true Christianity mixed in, but there’s also a lot that’s not distinctly Christian. Some of that is wicked, some of that is innocuous.

Concerning John MacArthur, evangelicalism is full of red herrings, pettiness, virtue signaling, performative culture warring, and plenty of fan boyism.

1/5 But the facts are the facts. So much actual evidence is never even addressed, much less refuted. That’s on purpose.

Here’s a clear articulation of many concerning points.

2/5

lambsreign.com/blog/saying-go…

It’s far more complicated than that. I’ve heard from both small town patriarchal preachers and hugely influential patriarchal leaders something very different.

• I’ve heard that they can’t give a talk at a daily chapel.

https://twitter.com/joshbuice/status/1638884105139159045

• I’ve heard that they can’t teach a mixed-gender Sunday school class

• I’ve heard that they can’t lead a mixed-gender small group.

• I’ve heard that women can’t street preach outside of abortion clinics.

• I’ve heard that they can’t vote.