Sovereign Grace Ministries is not Neo-Calvinist

Someone needs to issue a correction:

While sex abuse scandals in the Roman Catholic Church made headlines in the early 2000s and were the focus of the critically-acclaimed film Spotlight, Evangelical Protestants have had their own share of child sex abuse allegations. In 2013, Sovereign Grace Ministries (SGM), a network of about 80 evangelical Neo-Calvinist churches headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, faced a an amended class action civil lawsuit filed by 11 plaintiffs alleging church leaders of covering up child sex abuse crimes through the 1980s and 90s, and requesting about $50 million dollars in damages against SGM (a judge dismissed nine of the eleven plaintiffs based on an expired statute of limitations, and the other two on a question of jurisdiction).

New Calvinism is not Neo-Calvinism. It’s easy to tell the difference. New Calvinists don’t use Queen Wilhelmina Mints during the preaching of the word.

5 thoughts on “Sovereign Grace Ministries is not Neo-Calvinist

  1. Mark Dever—“The Sovereign Grace Churches in general that I’ve had to do with have marked fruits of the Spirit, more marked than any other group of Christian churches I know of, and I am thankful for that,”

    Dever, senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., spoke at the church that meets in a Louisville hotel. Dever told the congregation of hearing “gossip” about Mahaney the day before while attending the wedding of Mohler’s daughter. “There were three Christian leaders standing there. I overheard them talking about C.J., and I stepped in to listen. And all three of them know him, and all of them were bragging on him and his integrity in a number of ways, one of which is the way he’s begun in leading this church plant.” “So you all who are here in this church,, you have a privilege in having this man as your pastor that you don’t fully grasp, and that’s absolutely fine,

    mcmark—Don’t you think that people who try to “do hard things” that actually change things should get a break in their private life? Or is that only for Martin Luther King and Jesse Jackson and Bill Clinton?

    http://therebelution.com/blog/2011/02/the-city-a-sermon-by-tim-keller/

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  2. The alleged activity took place in the name of “discipline,” a method of handling sin popular in churches that follow a model that goes by Neo-Calvinism… https://baptistnews.com/article/dever-adds-praise-for-c-j-mahaney/#.V93Yp_ArKM8

    extra ecclesiam nulla salus

    Larry Ball—“The efficacy of baptism is not tied to the time of the administration of baptism, but it is tied to the administration of baptism itself. No Christian parent should expect that grace be “conferred” (Confessional language) on their children apart from their children being recipients of the sacrament of covenant (infant) baptism. The same can be said of adult baptisms. The grace promised in the ordinance of baptism is actually conferred in God’s appointed time “by the right use of this ordinance” (Confessional language). Grace is conferred because the ordinance is used. God uses means to accomplish his ends. This in no way conflicts with the sovereignty of God or the independent work of the Holy Spirit.

    Larry Ball–“Certainly, the grace is conferred to those to whom it belongs as the Confession clearly states. I am certainly not denying the doctrine of election. However, the doctrine of election was never given to negate the hope of the promises that are given to Christian parents. It is interesting to note that the doctrine of election taught in Romans 9 does not stand alone in the Bible. It exists because there was a need to explain the departure of Israel from the faith (Romans 9: 1-5). It was necessary to explain why there was unbelief among the covenant people of God. It was intended to be an explanation — not a qualification to the promises of God. Sadly, in some reformed circles it has become just that — a constant qualification. Some preachers are haunted by what I call the “if clause.” For example, it is often said to Christians that the promises of God are for you “if you are saved” or “if you are a true believer.” The very promises that give hope to Christians often die a slow death by a thousand qualifications. “

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