From church members being banned, to sudden staff firings, to alleged deceptive changes in bylaws, MO megachurch pastor @JohnLindell has been driving away the faithful.
What's been going on at @JamesRiver, once one of nation's largest @AG_USA churches? 1/4
julieroys.com/james-river-ch… The flashpoint came last year when the church hosted a men’s conference featuring a shirtless sword-swallower.
It drew sharp criticism from visiting conference speaker, @PastorMark Driscoll, and provoked a public clash with Lindell, exposing deeper tensions over leadership. 2/4

.@Daystar Sr. VP Steve Wilhite just pub post praising Daystar as "an amazing ministry...reaching the world w/ a message of Hope!" Then, he disparages whistleblowers as "spiritual vagabonds who grow more and more bitter, offended, isolated, and have a persecution complex..." 1/ This is classic image repair strategy. The graphic below, developed by image repair analyst @jdahlmd, describes the tactics advocates for organizations in crisis use. 2/

Anatomy of an evangelical celebrity pastor scandal...

"The aspiring, narcissist pastor, who has little interest in serving people, gets trained by a church planting group like @arcchurches. There, he learns to “launch large,” or essentially, build a megachurch overnight... 1/ "Then, he leverages his large congregation to build a big social media platform online. This enables him to get a book contract with a major evangelical publishing house... 2/

Interesting development in @jamesmacdonald's lawsuit vs.@MancowMuller. JM is subpoenaing docs from @Moody_Bible b/c JM alleges Moody ended its relationship w/ Walk in the Word because of Muller's "defamation" of JM

BUT... 1/4
acrobat.adobe.com/link/review?ur… In a recorded staff meeting in 2019,
@jamesmacdonald states that HE decided to pull Walk in the Word off radio and onto a digital format. In other words, JM claimed it was HIS decision, not @Moody_Bible's, to pull Walk in the Word from Moody Radio. 2/4
julieroys.com/james-macdonal…

Interesting development in @jamesmacdonald's lawsuit vs. @MancowMuller. JM is subpoenaing docs from @Moody_Bible b/c JM alleges Moody ended its relationship w/ Walk in the Word because of Muller's "defamation" of JM

BUT... 1/4
file:///C:/Users/julie/Downloads/2019CH14303-62.pdf In a recorded staff meeting in 2019, @jamesmacdonald states that he decided to pull Walk in the Word off radio and onto a digital format. In other words, JM claimed it was his decision, not @Moody_Bible's, to pull Walk in the Word from Moody Radio. 2/4 julieroys.com/james-macdonal…

An AU charity watchdog has announced it’s investigating @Hillsong, following bombshell allegations the global megachurch engaged in $$ laundering, tax evasion & fraud—and used church money “to do the kind of shopping that would embarrass a Kardashian" 1/4
julieroys.com/charity-watchd… Whistleblower docs say @BrianCHouston treated "private jets like Ubers" & once used church $$ for $150K "3-day luxury retreat" in Cancun.

Church also reportedly bought gifts like $6.5K Cartier watch & $2.5K Louis Vuitton luggage for @bobbiehouston 2/4

EXCLUSIVE: @joshgagnon, pastor of @NextLevelChurch, has a years-long pattern of hazing, bullying, financial misconduct & spiritually abusive behavior

That's accdg to 25 frmr pastors/staff/members of his @ARCchurches megachurch, based in New England. 1/4
julieroys.com/dozens-say-arc… Allegations against @joshgagnon & @NextLevelChurch (NLC) are the latest in a string of scandals at @arcchurches (ARC). Like other scandal-ridden ARC churches, NLC was once touted as one of the fastest growing churches in America by @outreachmag. 2/4

Glad to see @ChurchLead finally cover the documented evidence that @johnmacarthur & @GraceComChurch covered up abuse and punished abuse victims. I'm sad, though, that it took almost a year for CL to finally cover this story. Why the glaring omission? 1/6
churchleaders.com/news/444567-do… .@ChristianPost has yet to publish anything about latest revelations. But here's article CP ran 2 days after I published initial report in March showing @GraceComChurch & @johnmacarthur excomm & shamed Eileen Gray. Mention of cover-up buried in story. 2/6
christianpost.com/news/john-maca…

Since I began reporting on @johnmacarthur & @GraceComChurch, I hv been accused of slander & libel. Yet no one has shown evidence of even 1 falsehood I've published. However, I hv produced receipts of many falsehoods propagated by JMac & GCC. Here's thread with examples... 1/17 On April 9, 2021, @johnmacarthur submitted a statement to the court accusing me of numerous falsehoods. However, as I will show in this thread, MacArthur is the one spreading untruths. You can read JMac's full statement here: acrobat.adobe.com/link/review?ur… 2/17

Should pedophiles ever be allowed back into church services? @DianeLangberg emphatically says no. And doing so does not only exposes the congregation to harm, it does not help the offender. I appeal to the @The_ACNA to put a policy in place that bans this practice. 1/4 "They want to put a pedophile back in the church service and (are) going to have all these people around him, so he’s not ever going to do that again. He’s going to do it in his head, with your children while you’re singing..." @DianeLangberg 2/4

I'm stunned at the revelation that my frmr church allowed a frmr pastor, who had sexually abused a boy over a 6-year period, to attend services without informing the congregation. This latest communication from the church came only after @ACNAtoo made the information public. 1/4 Accdg to @DianeLangberg, one of the signs that a pedophile is repentant is that he understands his propensity to re-offend & willingly removes himself from environments where this might happen. This includes church. 2/4

I have so many questions for @johnmacarthur but he never responds. So, here's the list, @JoshBuice. Hope you have the guts to actually ask . . . 1/11

https://twitter.com/JoshBuice/status/1572227009736249344

Please ask @johnmacarthur to explain why he excommunicated and shamed Eileen Gray when she refused to allow her child-abusing husband back into her home. 2/11
julieroys.com/macarthur-sham…

Unbelievable clip by @johnmacarthur from 2012, highlighted in recent article by @baptist_news.

"It is a little strange that we have such an aversion to slavery because historically there have been abuses..." 1/5

Follow link to read story: baptistnews.com/article/what-h… "There have been abuses in marriage. We don't have an aversion to marriage, particularly, because there have been abuses. There are parents who abused their children. We don't have an aversion to having children because some parents have been abusive..." @johnmacarthur 2/5

So glad this story is now getting attention from the secular media. What @Franklin_Graham did to @NaghmehSPanahi is appalling & it's shocking there's been zero accountability for him. 1/5

https://twitter.com/spulliam/status/1538840381189722112

@NaghmehSPanahi spoke at our recent Restore Conference & told her eye-opening story. She also revealed how Christians are idolizing marriage & using it to protect abusers, instead of families. Her talk outstanding. 2/5

After spreading false accusations about me for days, Protestia has now published an article retracting their defamatory statements. However, I just learned some survivor advocates have picked up these false accusations by @MeganStonerIN. This is so grievous. 1/5 I got pulled into Megan's bizarre world several weeks ago when Pastor Jeff Thompson called to warn me about an alleged "hit" that had been put out on me & him. The next day, he called to apologize, saying he had been duped by @MeganStonerIN who had created an elaborate hoax 2/5

How does someone talk 13 minutes about an article she hasn't even read? This is embarrassing Allie Stuckey (@conservmillen). For your own credibility's sake, go back & actually read my TWO articles on David Gray & revisit this

Kudos to @newvangelicals for breaking this down. 1/2 Watch @newvangelicals full video here. 2/2

A statement from Eileen Gray: "The supportive responses from so many people who love Jesus have truly been a comfort. Thank you all for demonstrating the love of Jesus." 1/5 "I hear the cries of many for @johnmacarthur to respond. Honestly, I doubt he will respond. He and @GraceComChurch members ignored me for years & I don't expect them to show love or care now." 2/5

Phil Johnson has tweeted a response to his supposed non-response. (Apparently, sending an email to the admin of a FB page, disparaging me and my article & calling into question the legitimacy of a "20-year-old discipline case" is not responding to my article. 🤔1/4

https://twitter.com/Phil_Johnson_/status/1503596348678889472

Phil claims he wasn't an elder in 2002-05. I'm working to verify. If you have info, please reach out. In the meantime, I'm hoping @Phil_Johnson_ will clarify if he was on GCC's Elder School Council in 2001? This pic is from 1994, the year David Gray was hired. 2/4

Longtime @RZIMhq board member, Tony Cimmarrusti, posted on FB today that he had no idea @RaviZacharias was living a double life. He added he has no intention of resigning because "quitting when the going is the toughest" does not seem like the way forward." 1/6 Sir, with all due respect, it seems you are DQed from service. As board mbr, you have fiduciary responsibility. Under your watch, @RZIMhq ran a shell ministry, which funneled funds to Ravi's victims & obligated them to provide sexual favors. How do you account for this? 2/6

I asked @wademullen to analyze @DrThomasWhite's statement to faculty when he hired Anthony Moore: White begins by telling faculty they need "to embody a culture of grace" & boosting teachings on forgiveness. Meanwhile, he buries teachings on truth, justice & accountability. 1/6 White compares Anthony Moore's crime w/ the wrongs of notable people from Bible. "The vast majority of people have not committed a sex crime against a subordinate while serving in a position of trust. Such a false equivalence grossly minimizes the crime." @wademullen 2/6