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Mark Scheiderer
Carl-
Can you provide links to the boards for ex- Driscoll and Sovereign Grace? Thanks. Does Sovereign Grace put out music? I've seen the words "Sovereign Grace" at the bottom of praise and worship choruses at one church I visited. Are they "Baptist Sovereign Grace" ( hyper-Calvanists)?
Mark
There are a fair number of forums on Sovereign Grace (SGI). I don't know if they'd be considered hyper-Calvinist, but I do know they do espouse 5-point Calvinism with a semi-charismatic twist and, like New Frontiers (another authoritarian neo-Calvinist group connected informally to SGI) they do make and publish a lot of music. So they're probably the ones to which you refer.
SGI evidently tends to be exceptionally authoritarian, by many accounts downright brutal. My ex-pastor, the one with the abusive tendencies who'd matriculated at MacArthur's sem, also had a stint as a youth pastor of some sort at a SGI church in Georgia (USA).
These things all seem to be connected through the leaders.
There are evidently informal alliances between MacArthur and Mahaney, the defrocked (but by some accounts back from the dead) former leader of SGI. There are also some informal connections between Driscoll and the Acts 29 movement and Mahaney and SGI. This should be of no surprise to anyone who's kept an eye on the growing authoritarianism in reformed movements targeted towards young people and growing families. They tend to act alike and associate with one another (at least at the leadership level) because, in my opinioon, they share the same spirit (i.e., not from God). I believe, just my gut, that all of the above, while running their own fiefdoms and occasionally publicly renouncing one another over some non-substantive issue (such as MacArthur's criticism of Driscoll's potty talk from the pulpit) are closely aligned, at least in terms of writing recommendations for each others' books, promoting each other's writings, tapes, etc., providing venues for the others to speak at conferences and churches with lucrative honoraria, etc. While most of these neo-Calvinists tend to promote an exclusivist agenda in their churches, which keeps members safely away from other churches, they employ a "You scratch my back, I scratch yours" agenda at the top.
Here are some links to a few SGI fora: [
sgmsurvivors.com] [
sgmrefuge.com] [
www.brentdetwiler.com] [
spiritualtyranny.com]
Links for Driscoll: [
www.facebook.com] (Facebook page "Mars Hill Seattle Survivors") [
marshillrefuge.blogspot.com] [
marshillchurchabuse.blogspot.com]
I've read some of these fora, not all, and certainly not every post. I can't vouch for everything, but take a look for yourself.
All the best.