Wolves Among the Sheep > Steve Lawson - a Wolf, or the Victim of One? Or, perhaps both.

 

Al Mohler mourns sin of 'dear friend' Steven Lawson,

promotes Billy Graham rule for young men in ministry

'I didn't see this coming,' theologian says

By CP Staff, Wednesday, September 25, 2024

Southern Baptist theologian Al Mohler has some advice for young men in ministry who want to avoid the fate of Pastor Steven Lawson and others alleged to have engaged in sexual misconduct: don't allow yourself to be alone with a woman.

Curious response - Lawson is 73 years old, what advice does he have for us old guys? His partner-in-sin was in her 20s. What does a 20-something woman want with a 73 year old man? I suggest it was Satanically motivated and Lawson left himself open for attack.

The 73-year-old Lawson, lead preacher at Trinity Bible Church of Dallas and president of OnePassion Ministries, was removed from ministry in recent days after an alleged "inappropriate relationship" with an unidentified woman.

Mohler, 64, shared his advice Tuesday following a chapel service at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, where he serves as president.

While Mohler declined to refer to Lawson by name, he called him a "dear friend" who is a "well-known preacher" and admitted he "did not see this coming."

"I want to share that I did not see this coming, and for the sake of history and anyone who may hear this, I don't want to send them Googling for a name, but I also didn't want to turn it off, so I won't use a name," said Mohler. "I'll simply say this preacher is well-known, a man who has preached right here from this platform, and a dear friend with whom I have preached all over the country and many parts of the world. I didn't see this coming."

Discernment seems to be a lost spiritual gift in today's churches.

Mohler said while he couldn't have predicted his failure, there were some signs in retrospect, including the amount of time Lawson spent traveling alone.

"When a catastrophe like this falls upon us, you can look backward and connect some dots, but they didn't appear until you look back," he said. "One of those patterns is just an awful lot of time traveling alone and the exposure of being all over the world alone. I just want to speak from the heart and say this kind of catastrophe — the fall of this house — is very great."

He also warned his audience that while the sins of men in ministry in the past may have been revealed in a slow drip, the emergence of instant communication through the internet and social media results in a more immediate and public scandal that ultimately brings "disrepute upon the Gospel."

"I honestly think it's not so much that more is happening, but that more is being immediately communicated everywhere with social media and the digital revolution," said Mohler. "Beware, your sins will find you out, and your sins will be broadcast across the world in a matter of seconds on social media platforms."

Not only did Mohler say those who are called to ministry should "be absolutely horrified" by Lawson's fall, but they should also take heed to what's known in contemporary Christian circles as the "Billy Graham rule."

He urged those looking to go into ministry to "make certain there are protections and policies in your life, which means the avoidance of certain patterns in your life that would expose you to this kind of vulnerability and this kind of temptation and this kind of sin."

Now, if we were Muslims, we could simply keep our women at home, invisible and silent. Then we wouldn't have to deal with temptations.

"I want to speak more bluntly than I have ever spoken in this chapel before," Mohler said. "I want to share with you a word that was shared with me by a man I won't name, a very, very honorable name in Christian ministry. His words were these: 'You will not have sex with a woman not your wife, if you are never alone with a woman not your wife,'" he said.

"That's simple math. I'm not going to ask you to repeat it, but I want you to think about it. The moment we allow something to happen, we expose ourselves to a temptation greater than we can resist."

Mohler, who appeared with Lawson, John MacArthur and late theologian R.C. Sproul in a number of Reformed events over the years, including the 2012 and 2017 Ligonier conferences, also suggested Lawson's sin is "as grievous as it looks, and honestly, it's almost always worse than it looks."

Following the initial report about Lawson on Sept. 20, several allegations about Lawson's affair have surfaced, including a report from Phil Johnson, executive director of MacArthur's Grace to You, who suggested Lawson was engaged in a long-term extramarital affair.

That, of course, answers the question in the title. Lawson should have stepped down when he realized he was beyond the boundaries of fidelity.

According to a series of now-deleted X posts, Johnson wrote that Lawson only informed the elders at Trinity Bible Church after "the girl's father had confronted Steve and threatened exposure."

"This was not a noble confession of sin," Johnson added.

In another reply on X, Johnson said the woman was in her late 20s and was not a member of Trinity Bible Church. He also said while the nature of the relationship had "strong romantic overtones," both Lawson and the woman "insist no literal fornication was involved, but their tie to one another was adulterous in spirit, if not in fact."

Johnson later deleted the X thread but not before it was captured in a screenshot and shared across the platform.

"In deference to the elders of Trinity Bible Church of Dallas, I removed the comments I posted this morning regarding the Steve Lawson scandal," Johnson wrote Wednesday evening. "Those elders shepherd the local church Lawson belonged to, so their pastoral duty takes precedence over mine."

"These are godly men, committed to the truth of Scripture, and I'm fully confident they will do the right thing," he added. "They have every right to set their own pace."

With more than 40 years dedicated to ministry as a prominent figure in the Reformed/Calvinist Evangelicalism movement, Lawson formerly served as a teaching fellow at Ligonier Ministries and as the dean of Doctor of Ministry Studies at The Master's Seminary but has since been removed from both websites. 

A frequent speaker with MacArthur at TMS events, Lawson often appeared in front of MacArthur's congregation at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, for The Shepherds Conference and other events.

The Media is the Message > Oct 7th, The BBC, and Melanie Phillips

 

Eye-witness to atrocity at Supernova A vital, heart-breaking film stands against the west's insanity over Israel Melanie Phillips Sep 27 Hamas terrorist attacking shelter where Supernova festival-goers were hiding during October 7 pogorom. An important, extraordinary and shattering film started screening this week. Surviving October 7th: We Will Dance Again is about the massacre at the Supernova music festival during the October 7 pogrom in southern Israel. A preview was shown at the JW3 Jewish community centre in London on Tuesday evening; it was subsequently being screened on BBC television and is being streamed on Paramount. Somewhere over 360 of the approximately 3,500 participants and staff at the festival were murdered and about 40 kidnapped into Gaza, where an unknown number are still being held hostage. The film stuns because it shows us the events of that terrible day as they unfolded through the eyes of the young festival-goers — and of the Hamas terrorists themselves — through footage taken from phones, Go-Pro cameras and studio interviews with survivors themselves. We see the secular young Israelis dancing during the Friday night before the attack at what they called a “trance party” (with a disconcerting number of them high on drugs). We watch with them as dawn rises — and in the sky rise the first rockets from Gaza, which the festival-goers think is just a regular attack that will soon be over. We see their increasing alarm as the rockets keep coming. We and they hear the shooting start, and they can’t believe what’s happening— disbelief accentuated by the effect of the drugs they’ve taken. Shockingly, we see what’s unfolding through the Hamas Go-Pro cameras as, deliriously screaming Allahu akbar (“God is great”) and about martyrdom, the Gaza stormtroopers smash through the border fence and ride their motorcycles and vehicles into Israel and the festival. And then we watch as they systematically commit mass slaughter. We watch the young Israelis being mown down as they run. They film themselves as they confide their terror to their iPhones and desperately chart what’s happening. Through the eyes of Noam, we watch them hide in a garbage bin which is then raked with bullets, killing her longtime boyfriend, David, and leaving her wounded among a pile of bodies. We hear the heartbreaking sound of these secular young Israelis crying out the words of the Shema as they realise they are facing their deaths. We see the astounding courage of Aner Shapira, who tosses out, one by one, no fewer than seven grenades thrown by terrorists into the roadside shelter where he is trapped — with a group including his best friend, 23-year-old Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was subsequently taken hostage and murdered — but is finally killed by the eighth. Another young survivor, Eitan, takes over throwing out the grenades until he passes out after an explosion, only to recover to find himself among a mound of the dead. Four of these survivors, along with Aner’s father, Moshe, spoke at the London screening. This took great courage because they clearly remain in the deepest possible trauma. But they came to deliver an urgent message. Tell everyone to see this film, they said. Make people understand what happened that day. Alas, we know that the people who most need to see it will refuse to do so. These are the people who deny what happened on October 7, who say accounts of these atrocities are just Israeli propaganda, who say if they did happen it was Israel’s fault and who obscenely support Hamas as a “resistance” movement. And even if they do watch it, will it make any difference? How on earth can so many deny the obvious truth of what happened? The reason is that, for many on the left, absolutely nothing can be allowed to contradict the narrative that Israel is an illegitimate state that has colonised and oppressed the Palestinian Arabs who are the indigenous people of the land. Although every element of that is untrue, it constitutes the default belief in liberal circles which permit no challenge to it whatever. That’s because such liberals believe that their support for the Palestinian cause defines them as moral and good people. The fact that the Palestinians have committed bestial and sadistic atrocities upon Israelis therefore cannot be believed — because it would mean the Palestinians are in fact the oppressors and the Israelis their victims. And that would place these liberals on the side of evil. As a result, they put forward any explanation, however preposterous, to deny what actually happened. They are totally immune to demonstrable evidence, because they fear that accepting it would shatter their entire moral personality. When it comes to Israel and the Palestinian Arabs, their whole thought system is therefore entirely sealed against the truth. So the overwhelmingly liberal western media will continue to tell murderous lies about Israel. Interestingly, the film was made by the BBC in its Storyville strand. Yet the BBC’s appallingly biased coverage of Israel is the prime reason why the vast majority of the British public remains almost wholly unaware that Israel is being subjected to an eight-front Iranian war of extermination —and why so many have so viciously turned against the Jewish state. So why has the BBC made this film? Storyville’s commissioning editor, Lucie Kon, is herself a Jew with a courage and determination that are vanishingly rare in the BBC. Even so, there were reportedly difficult negotiations to get the film on the air. Director Yariv Mozer told The Hollywood Reporter that the BBC forced him to agree not to describe Hamas as a terrorist organisation if he wanted the film to be shown. “It was a price I was willing to pay so that the British public will be able to see these atrocities and decide if this is a terrorist organisation or not,” Mozer said. In fact, the young Israelis in the film refer to terrorists in Hebrew on many occasions. The film itself states: “The IDF says that more than 3,000 terrorists breached the 40-mile-long border in around 30 places.” This apparently met the BBC’s distinction between using the “t-word” itself and reporting others doing so. The problem with the BBC’s reporting of the Middle East, however, goes far beyond its perverse refusal to use the word terrorist. Day in, day out the British news outlet disseminates the malevolent falsehoods and distortions about Israel produced by Hamas and its fellow travellers in the international “humanitarian” establishment that wickedly portray the IDF entirely falsely as human-rights abusers and war criminals.   Not once has the BBC — or any other media outlet — ever told the public that every correspondent in Gaza is forced to toe the Hamas line under threat of death or expulsion, and so every piece of information from there has to be treated as unreliable or worse. The BBC’s chief content officer, Charlotte Moore, attended the London screening. She introduced the film by referring to the “incredibly difficult year” for so many in the room and said: “I hope this film is a demonstration of the BBC commitment to telling stories fearlessly and fairly in pursuit of the truth.” Well, no it isn’t. The BBC has contemptuously dismissed all complaints about the shocking malevolence of its coverage as being without foundation. It is nevertheless deeply discomfited by the charge against it of systematic bias and antisemitism. So while the commitment of Lucie Kon to the truth is not in doubt, it’s hard not to conclude that the BBC top brass are using this film to sanitise their coverage — a prime source of incitement to hatred of Israel and the Jews — by giving the impression that it is instead fair-minded. The deeply perverse response to October 7, however, goes far beyond one news organisation. Mozer says he offered the documentary to multiple streaming platforms in America, but they were unwilling to pick it up due to “concerns about the political situation”. Israel is battling not just against genocidal enemies but also against a tidal wave of lies in an epidemic of insanity that has consumed the west. This film is vital because, like Israel itself, it stands for truth and justice against a west that has simply lost its mind.

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French Student murdered by another migrant who had been convicted of rape and ordered to leave France

 

Funeral begins in France for Philippine,

19-y/o student, killed in the Bois de Boulogne

The funeral of Philippine, the 19-year-old student killed and found dead in western Paris on Saturday, began on Friday at the Saint-Louis cathedral in Versailles.

The suspect, 22, who had been convicted of rape, and had been ordered out of the country, was arrested in Switzerland. 

Why was a man convicted of rape not in prison? Why was he not put on an airplane and sent back to the Hell that he came from?

============

Suspect in student's murder in Paris park arrested in Switzerland

The 22-year-old Moroccan national had already been convicted of rape. He was under an obligation to leave the French territory which had not been enforced due to the lack of consular travel documents issued by Morocco.

By Antoine Albertini and Julia Pascual, La Monde

Published on September 25, 2024, at 12:50 pm (Paris), updated on September 25, 2024, at 2:45 pm 

2 min read

On Saturday, September 21, a 19-year-old student called only by her first name Philippine was found partially buried in the Bois de Boulogne, a wood in Paris's 16^th arrondissement. The subsequent investigation, which has been in full swing since the discovery of the victim's body, has mobilized considerable human and material resources. On Tuesday, a 22-year-old Moroccan national, strongly suspected of having killed Philippine, was arrested by Swiss police at the Geneva train station, revealed the Actu17 news website.

For the time being, no information regarding the identity of the young man has been made public by the police or judicial authorities, a sign that this case, beyond its criminal aspects, is considered particularly sensitive due to the political context. According to several sources close to the case, the individual arrested is of Moroccan nationality and was already sentenced to seven years in prison in 2021 for a rape committed in Taverny, north of Paris, when he was a minor, in similar circumstances: The victim was followed into a wood.

He was released in June, due to the application of a remission of sentence. He also was under obligation to leave the French territory (OQTF), but the order was not enforced. The French authorities did not get a consular pass (LPC) from Morocco, a travel document required for the removal of a foreigner without a passport.

What madness! Why would an application for remission of sentence result in being released from prison before it is even acted upon? Whoever ordered his release has very bloody hands.

The Perverted Lives of the Rich and Famous > Harrod's ex-owner has 60 women accusing him of rape; "The Voice of Holland" suspended due sex abuse scandal

 

Some 60 more women accuse Mohamed Al-Fayed, ex-owner of Harrod's and the Paris Ritz, of sex abuse

Some 60 women have come forward with new allegations since a BBC documentary aired last week detailing sexual assault claims against Mohamed Al-Fayed, the former owner of Harrod's department store and the Paris Ritz. A former executive assistant at the Ritz told the BBC that she plans to ask the Paris prosecutor to open an investigation. 

By:NEWS WIRES

Around 60 women have now come forward to allege they were sexually abused by former Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed, lawyers representing them said on Friday.

A BBC documentary last week aired claims by women that Fayed, who died last year aged 94, raped and sexually abused them during his ownership of the luxury department store.

The accusations make the Egyptian billionaire the latest high-profile figure to join a list of rich and powerful men, such as Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, disgraced by sexual abuse allegations.

"The response has simply been enormous," the lawyers said in a statement. We can confirm that we now represent 60 survivors as part of our claim, with more to come."

The legal team said that since going public following the television expose, they had been contacted by people from all over the world.

"Our claim is becoming increasingly global in scope... We expected that anywhere Mohamed Al-Fayed went, abuse would follow," the statement read. "Sadly this has proven to be true. 

"We are now in possession of credible evidence of abuse at other Al-Fayed properties and businesses, including Fulham Football Club." 

British prosecutors have said they twice received evidence against Fayed.

Pattern of abuse 

In 2008, Fayed was accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) reviewed evidence in 2009. 

In 2013, he was accused of raping a woman, a claim investigated in 2015.

In both instances, the CPS, which decides on prosecutions in England and Wales, said there was no "realistic prospect of conviction" and did not bring charges against the Harrods chairman.

The lawyers said they would continue to respond to inquiries from potential victims or witnesses and called for an "independent and transparent process to evaluate and adjudicate these claims".

The women they represented, they said, had "lost all faith in Harrods and their processes".

Harrods' managing director, Michael Ward, said this week his former boss presided over a "toxic culture of secrecy, intimidation, fear of repercussion and sexual misconduct".

But he said he had not been "aware of his criminality and abuse" and expressed his "personal horror at the revelations".

Fayed's accusers say the assaults took place in his apartments in London and his properties in Paris, including the Ritz hotel.

Allegations include a repeated pattern of women who underwent a selection process for positions close to Fayed.

Once selected, they were subjected to an "invasive" gynaecological examination, the results of which were shared with Fayed.

The women said that when they tried to complain about their abuse, were threatened by senior security staff, demoted and subject to false allegations until they had "no choice" but to leave Harrods.

Fayed sold Harrods to the investment arm of Qatar's sovereign wealth fund for a reported £1.5 billion ($2.2 billion).

He also owned Fulham Football Club.

(AFP)

RTL: The Voice will “absolutely return” to

Dutch television after sex misconduct scandal

RTL's content director Peter van der Vorst confirmed that reality musical competition show The Voice of Holland “will absolutely return” to the Netherlands. The show was indefinitely suspended in January 2022 following serious allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse of power by jury members and The Voice's bandleader, dating back to 2018.

“It will likely take about a year and a half, but we still need to finalize the timeline,” he added. RTL is aiming to re-launch the reality show in 2026.

“Next year would be too soon because we need at least a year to prepare the program. We are currently brainstorming on how to bring The Voice back and refresh the format,” Van der Vorst elaborated. He said the concept needed to be locked down before production can begin.

The internationally sold format was developed by Talpa and is broadcast in the Netherlands on RTL. An extensive criminal investigation was launched into the misconduct. Despite the serious allegations, the case against the bandleader, Jeroen Rietbergen, was dropped due to a lack of evidence. Rietbergen was married to Linda de Mol, the sister of Talpa head John de Mol. He was central to allegations about promising he would help contestants advance in the show if they engaged in sexual activity with him.

John de Mol was widely criticized for simultaneously claiming he has an open-door policy to field complaints about his business operation, while also seeming to place the blame for The Voice scandal on the victims. One of the show's coaches, Ali B., was also named in allegations, as was singer Marco Borsato. Ali B. was recently convicted in a separate sex crimes case.

Victims´ lawyer worried about the show`s comeback

Attorney Sébas Diekstra, representing several alleged victims associated with The Voice, expressed “serious concerns” about the show's return. He stated it should only happen after “a thorough and independent investigation into the misconduct” is conducted. “We have seen that such an investigation has not taken place. The criticism of the investigation that did happen was devastating. Both supporters and critics agreed on that.”

According to Diekstra, an independent investigation should also focus on “the management’s role.” He added that the results should prompt a complete overhaul of the support and aftercare system for contestants, including necessary rules needed to prevent the show environment becoming unsafe for the contestants.

Diekstra continued by noting that many former contestants are still afraid to speak out about their experiences, which means there
is no clear understanding of the full extent of the issues within the production. However, he acknowledged that several of his clients view the show as “a beautiful and important concept” for artists.

RTL has promised to approach the show's return carefully. “The Voice remains a very strong international format, and we’re hearing from viewers that they want to see it back. [...] We will carefully evaluate all aspects, including content, coaches, and the team, to ensure a safe and supportive environment for everyone involved in the show, as well as address all other issues related to its return.”

Thailand Approaching Sodom with Gusto > leading SE Asia down the Garden Path

 

Thailand legalizes same-sex marriage

with king's signature

By Doug Cunningham

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, pictured here, offered "congratulations on everyone's love" as Thailand's King Maha Vajiralonghorn signed same-sex marriage into law late Tuesday that will take effect Jan. 22. File Photo by Rungroj Yongrit/EPA-EFE

Sept. 25 (UPI) -- Thailand's King Maha Vajiralonghorn signed a same-sex marriage bill into law late Tuesday, becoming the first nation in Southeast Asia to recognize same-sex marriages.

The new law, which will take effect on Jan. 22, grants same-sex couples adoption and heritage rights and users gender-neutral language to replace "men," "women," "wives" and "husbands."

Thailand's Senate gave final legislative approval for same-sex marriage legalization in June on a 130-4 vote and sent it to the king for signing, which was required for it to become law.

Thailand will be the third Asian government to legalize same-sex marriage when it takes effect in January.

Taiwan was the first in 2019 followed by Nepal in April, ten months after Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the government to begin registering the marriages of same-sex couples.

Thai public support for the law was 96.6% in a 2023 government survey.

"Congratulations on everyone's love. Thank you for the support from all sectors. This is a fight for everyone," Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said on X,

Thai LGBTQ advocate and law lecturer Nada Chaiyajit told NBC News, "We show that diversity means diversity, and the government hears the voice of the people that we are ready to build inclusive societies where everyone will be able to form families, regardless of their gender identity, sexual orientation, et cetera."

The government hears the voice of the people

 - but no one is listening to God!

Bangkok Pride Movement co-founder Ana Chumaporn called the new same-sex marriage law a "triumph of equality and human dignity."

Do you think God would agree with her?

She said Thailand is writing a new page history and she told the BBC she's planning a mass wedding of more than 1,000 LGBTQ+ couples Jan. 22.

Child Sexual Abuse > Pope Apologizes for Catholic Child Sexual Abuse in Belgium

 

Pope Francis apologies (sic) for clergy abuse in Belgium, leaders want more

By Clyde Hughes

Pope Francis (R front) is welcomed by the Belgian royal couple, King Philippe (C) and Queen Mathilde (L), during a private meeting at Castle of Laeken, the official residence of the Belgian royal family, in Laken, near Brussels, Belgium, on Friday. Photo by Olivier Hoslet/EPA-EFE

Sept. 27 (UPI) -- Pope Francis asked for forgiveness in Belgium for the Catholic church's clergy abuse scandal and its poor response to it on Friday, but the country's prime minister called for faith's leadership to do more.

Prime Minister Alexander De Croo called for the Vatican to take "concrete steps" to address the abuse as Francis started a three-day trip to Belgium.

"Victims need to be heard. They need to be at the center. They have a right to the truth. Misdeeds need to be recognized," De Croo said.

The Christian-Democrats-Flemish Party, the Forward Party, the Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats Party and the Greens Party all said they would not attend the university celebration on Friday.

"Talking to some of the victims is important," Conner Rousseau, of the Flemish Party Vooruit, said "But far more important is to crack down on any form of abuse within the church and thus avoid future victims."

The sharp tone is in likely response to a 2023 documentary on clergy abuse in Belgium. The film led to the Belgian Federal Parliament and the regional Flemish assembly to open their own investigations into the church's clergy scandal and its poor response to it 15 years ago.

Belgium's King Philippe had a private meeting with Pope Francis in 2023 in Rome to ask the pontiff to visit the country to recognize the Catholic University of Leuven's 600th anniversary.

In his address on Friday, Pope Francis said that the church must face the "shame" of child sexual abuse, calling it a "scourge" on Christian humanity.

And, what about a thousand slaps to the face of God?

"[Clergy abuse is] the shame that today we must confront and beg forgiveness and resolve the problem, the shame of abuse, of the abuse of minors," the pope said, according to the Vatican News. "In the church, we must ask for forgiveness for this. This is our shame and our humiliation."