“Here lies one who neither flattered nor feared any flesh.”
Testimony by James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton at the grave of John Knox, as quoted in Trumpeter of God (1974) by W. Stanford Reid
It would seem that one of the ways to gain access into the “good old boys” network of celebrity conference speakers is to shamelessly flatter one of the “big dogs” in attendance while speaking to the masses of conference attendees. C.J. Mahaney has fine-tuned this technique to perfection and never fails to utilize it. Amazingly it seems to work wonderfully. These celebrity preachers all love to have praise lavished on them publicly. This past weekend Al Mohler, in an attempt to revive C. J. Mahaney’s floundering conference ministry, shared the speaking venue at a conference on leadership. Below is a four minute excerpt from Mahaney’s message on the subject “The Leader and his Home.” Loosely based on Ephesians 5 it is a wandering oratory having little to do with the text. I think his schtick is getting old, but I guess there are still enough devotees willing to fork over the necessary cash to hear Mahaney’s wisdom “live.” Personally I think one practical way you could lead your home is to quit shelling out the cash for these conferences and instead give the money to your wife to spend on whatever she would like.
Update 20 November 2013: Bob Allen of Associated Baptist Press came out with a great article on this situation yesterday.
Here are some good comments on the Mahaney-Mohler love fest. (Found here.) Proof that the average individual in the pew “gets it” while the “leaders” in the Gospel Coalition, 9Marks and Together 4 the Gospel haven’t a clue! They will always have their share of devotees, but I think their refusal to boldly speak out against Mahaney has sealed their demise.
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“Mahaney waxed in his admiration for his friend and fellow leader in the Neo-Calvinism movement”
Conviction?!! This mutual-admiration, slobbering and flattering bunch is starting to wear thin on me! Good Lord, we are talking about some serious allegations against Mahaney/SGM that the courts have not fully settled! Ministerial integrity demands that Mahaney step down from the pulpit and that his friends in the ministry don’t give him a pulpit or share his until the legal system files the case away … a case, by the way, which should have no statute of limitations when it comes to the alleged abuse of children.
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So Al Mohler’s “stack of books” is bigger and better than any of the rest of us. Wow. Is this how evangelical top-dogs build each other up? By putting everyone else down? And for what? For having a “sorry and pathetic” stack of books by comparison to Mohler’s? The whole thing sounds more like a comedy routine. Really. In any event, there’s enough great books out there that EVERYONE can have a mighty fine stack — no need for comparing whose stack is more “impressive.” Just enjoy the stack you’ve got.
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christa – Dr. Mohler’s stack of books is so tall that he has become king of the mountain in Southern Baptist ranks. A “comedy routine”? … yes, I would be laughing if I wasn’t crying as I reflect on the impact New Calvinism is having across American Christendom, particularly in the 20-40s generation.
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