DANIEL WHYTE III TELLS TONY EVANS AND OAK CLIFF BIBLE FELLOWSHIP TO REMEMBER THEIR ROOTS AND WHAT LEONARD RAVENHILL SAID: “OTHERS MAY, YOU CANNOT”
DANIEL WHYTE III WARNS DR. TONY EVANS AND OAK CLIFF BIBLE FELLOWSHIP THAT BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT COMING CLEAN AND CLEAR ABOUT THE “SIN,” YOU ALL ARE LOOKING MORE AND MORE TO THE WORLD AND DISTANT CHRISTIANS LIKE GANGSTER PASTORS AND CHURCHES SUCH AS T.D. JAKES AND THE POTTER’S HOUSE, ROBERT MORRIS AND GATEWAY CHURCH, MIKE BICKLE AND IHOP AND NOT LIKE THE HUMBLE “BIBLE,” “BRETHREN,” “BAPTIST,” HERITAGE YOU COME FROM. IF A CRIME HAS NOT BEEN COMMITTED AS YOU SAID, DO NOT LISTEN TO THE LAWYERS, AND DO NOT LISTEN TO PUBLICISTS; ONLY LISTEN TO GOD. WHYTE SAYS FURTHER, DR. TONY EVANS GO AHEAD AND ADMIT AND NAME THE “SIN” NOW, AND IF IT BE THE LORD’S WILL GO THROUGH THE PROCESS OF “REPENTANCE, REPARATION, AND RESTORATION.” IF THE “SIN” IS AN ABOMINATION SIMILAR IN NATURE TO WHAT T.D. JAKES IS BEING ACCUSED OF, ROBERT MORRIS IS BEING ACCUSED OF, AND MIKE BICKLE IS BEING ACCUSED OF, THEN GO AHEAD AND NOT TELL US ANYTHING; JUST GO AHEAD AND PERMANENTLY RESIGN. BUT IN LIGHT OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS, YOU AND THE CHURCH NEED CLOSURE ONE WAY OR ANOTHER BECAUSE YOU ARE RAPIDLY LOSING THE CREDIBILITY THAT YOU TOOK 50 YEARS TO BUILD.
OTHERS MAY, YOU CANNOT
If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
(Matthew 16:24-25)
If God has called you to be truly like Jesus in all your spirit, He will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility. He will put on you such demands of obedience that you will not be allowed to follow other Christians. In many ways, He seems to let other good people do things which He will not let you do.
Others who seem to be very religious and useful may push themselves, pull wires, and scheme to carry out their plans, but you cannot. If you attempt it, you will meet with such failure and rebuke from the Lord as to make you sorely penitent.
Others can brag about themselves, their work, their successes, their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing. If you begin to do so, He will lead you into some deep mortification that will make you despise yourself and all your good works.
Others will be allowed to succeed in making great sums of money, or having a legacy left to them, or in having luxuries, but God may supply you only on a day-to-day basis, because He wants you to have something far better than gold, a helpless dependence on Him and His unseen treasury.
The Lord may let others be honored and put forward while keeping you hidden in obscurity because He wants to produce some choice, fragrant fruit for His coming glory, which can only be produced in the shade.
God may let others be great, but keep you small. He will let others do a work for Him and get the credit, but He will make you work and toil without knowing how much you are doing. Then, to make your work still more precious, He will let others get the credit for the work which you have done; this to teach you the message of the Cross, humility, and something of the value of being cloaked with His nature.
The Holy Spirit will put a strict watch on you, and with a jealous love rebuke you for careless words and feelings, or for wasting your time, which other Christians never seem distressed over.
So make up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign and has a right to do as He pleases with His own, and that He may not explain to you a thousand things which may puzzle your reason in His dealings with you.
God will take you at your word. If you absolutely sell yourself to be His slave, He will wrap you up in a jealous love and let other people say and do many things that you cannot. Settle it forever; you are to deal directly with the Holy Spirit, He is to have the privilege of tying your tongue or chaining your hand or closing your eyes in ways which others are not dealt with. However, know this great secret of the Kingdom: When you are so completely possessed with the Living God that you are, in your secret heart, pleased and delighted over this peculiar, personal, private, jealous guardianship and management of the Holy Spirit over your life, you will have found the vestibule of heaven, the high calling of God.
By G.D. Watson (Leonard Ravenhill shared this with thousands)
As Tony Evans resigns from leading his megachurch following admission of sin, Justin Humphreys considers what a process of repentance, reparation and restoration should look like for fallen leaders
Recent times have seen a plethora of leaders in church and other Christian contexts ‘falling’ or ‘failing’ and either being removed or voluntarily removing themselves from their roles temporarily to enable some form of reparation and restoration to follow genuine repentance.
Earlier this month it was announced the popular US preacher Dr Tony Evans is stepping down from leading his Dallas megachurch. Few details were given as to why, but Dr Evans did state he had not committed any crimes, but rather his actions were taken “a number of years ago” and lacked “righteous judgement”.
Hearing of Dr Evans’ case, along with so many others, is both challenging and encouraging to the wider Church. We are challenged because many of these individuals are known to us and loved by us and facing the reality of their failings, misdemeanours and sometimes crimes is difficult – especially when we have to contemplate that they weren’t necessarily the people we thought they were.
At the same time, we ought to be encouraged, because in these situations we might see God at work calling leaders back to a place of righteousness and wholeness and potentially preparing them for a return to some form of ministry (where this is appropriate).
WE ARE RIGHT TO EXPECT THAT A RECOGNISABLE PROCESS MIGHT FOLLOW BEFORE BUSINESS AS USUAL CAN RESUME
When leaders fail and in doing so damage is caused to others (either emotionally, physically or spiritually) or a serious incongruence between biblically-based expectations and conduct are witnessed, we are right to expect that a recognisable process might follow before business as usual can resume. But what exactly should this process look like?
First, we are instructed in the Bible to do to others what we would have done to ourselves (Matthew 7:12). That is to say that the compassion, grace, love and mercy we would hope to receive in a similar situation is what we should extend to others. That said, we need to be careful. “Love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8) is often misinterpreted. Peter does not mean that we should cover-up, ignore or avoid the truth or obfuscate responsibility. Love may cover a multitude of sins, but it does not excuse them.
In the case of Dr Evans, the inference is that he has fallen short of the high standard that is expected of pastors and leaders in the church (1 Timothy 3:1-10). He speaks of wanting to “repent” and “restore” his relationship with God. On the face of it, there is nothing that we can argue with here. However, where such sin affects others, possibly specific individuals through the actions of a leader, there is also a moral and spiritual imperative to seek repentance and restoration with those who have been affected, not just God.
If the sin is criminal or abusive, there is much more to say, and more steps to follow. But assuming the sin in question does not fall into either of these two categories, then this is what a process of repentance, reparation and restoration should look like:
1. Repentance
Genuine repentance requires evidence and a degree of authenticity that offers confidence in the change required. This should look like time away from ministry/leadership to allow a fully self-reflective acknowledgement and acceptance of wrongs and their impact on self and others (along with a commitment to avoiding a repeat of the behaviour).
This length of time will depend on the work required and the number of people involved who may have been sinned against. Repentance includes a desire to seek forgiveness for our wrongs (from God and others).
2. Reparation
Repairing what has been broken is a highly sensitive task, and may not always be fully possible, depending on the nature of the wrongdoing and who has been involved.
Reparation must include a full apology to those who may have been affected. In this, there will at least be the need for an open acknowledgement of the specific actions or wrongdoing, acceptance of the impact they had upon self and others and a demonstrable commitment to changing behaviour and attitudes to avoid a repeat (with whatever support is appropriate or required for all parties). This requires openness and humility and a willingness to share information at the appropriate time that will contribute to the confidence of those from whom we are asking forgiveness and seeking reparations. Without sufficient openness, it is reasonable to assume that the authenticity of our response could be questioned.
3. Restoration
Full restoration of relationships is not always possible. Full restoration to positions (e.g. ministry and/or leadership) is not always possible or appropriate. A failure to selflessly pursue reparations and make genuine apologies may disqualify a leader from returning to the role or ministry they came from.
source and to read more: https://www.premierchristianity.com/opinion/how-to-restore-a-fallen-leader/17812.article