Has it not sunk in his brain or is he just clearly delusional..

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[Ghost]

Has it not sunk in his brain or is  he just clearly Delusional.....2 Corinthians 11:13-15    For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.   


Revelations 2:2   I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false


No matter how twisted the teaching, no matter how publicly shamed the church may feel over the exposé of an unethical leader, no matter how dark the days become, no matter how helpless we may feel in guarding gospel doctrine and preserving gospel-worthy lives, we have this great sustaining hope: Jesus knows how to rescue the godly.

[Rebel in a Good Way]

Yes!  Those verses can provide much comfort for those victimized by abusive leaders because it shows how seriously God takes the mistreatment of his people. And, how deceitful and insidious those leaders can be because they act like light. It's no wonder people fall in to their trap.

Unfortunately Mark Bowen, Doug Patterson, and Brent Knox have not heeded Rev 2:2 since they not only tolerate, but praise evil men.  Well, being complicit in enabling Mark's abuse, they would likely fall in to that category themselves.  I'm sure they are busy assigning these categories to others as they mourn their loss of reputation.

[Huldah]

This goes beyond the leadership of ECC, to include the very highest leadership of GC. There was the GCC board page that thanked Mark Darling in glowing terms for his years of faithful service after he stepped down from the national board; the national board has never expressed any compassion for the victims. There's Dennis Clark, whose wife Thelma contributed a letter of appreciation on the Clarks' joint behalf to the new website in praise of Mark Darling.

On a side note, there are all those "good" GC churches that allegedly aren't abusive or controlling, but who still contribute financially to the national organization and take their leadership training from the national source. If any of their current members are still reading here, please tell me: what have your non-abusuve pastors done to confront the organization about their shabby treatment of the victims? Or have they been silent throughout?

See, this is why we don't hold out much hope for any part of GCC. There may be local churches that aren't abusive, but even those churches refuse to speak out publicly when their GC brothers hurt the innocent.

[Linda]

This goes beyond the leadership of ECC, to include the very highest leadership of GC. There was the GCC board page that thanked Mark Darling in glowing terms for his years of faithful service after he stepped down from the national board; the national board has never expressed any compassion for the victims. There's Dennis Clark, whose wife Thelma contributed a letter of appreciation on the Clarks' joint behalf to the new website in praise of Mark Darling.

On a side note, there are all those "good" GC churches that allegedly aren't abusive or controlling, but who still contribute financially to the national organization and take their leadership training from the national source. If any of their current members are still reading here, please tell me: what have your non-abusuve pastors done to confront the organization about their shabby treatment of the victims? Or have they been silent throughout?

See, this is why we don't hold out much hope for any part of GCC. There may be local churches that aren't abusive, but even those churches refuse to speak out publicly when their GC brothers hurt the innocent.

Good point about the silence from GCC national leadership and the letter of support from Thelma on the MD web page. Especially troubling since, GCC still lists Dennis Clark as a member emeritus. And wouldn't you think that Hopler would have sense enough to make a statement minimally denouncing sexual abuse of any kind?

https://pastormarkdarling.com/mark-darling-story-98/

GCC's silence in expressing sorrow over the inappropriate behavior of not only a GC pastor, but a national board member is deafening and when combined with praise of the man who had his ordination removed for inappropriate sexual behavior. Talk about being tone deaf.

[Huldah]

And wouldn't you think that Hopler would have sense enough to make a statement minimally denouncing sexual abuse of any kind?

On reflection, no, I wouldn't expect that. Hopler has always been about image control. To openly denounce sexual abuse would come too close to admitting that abuse is actually possible within the movement.

[Linda]

And wouldn't you think that Hopler would have sense enough to make a statement minimally denouncing sexual abuse of any kind?

On reflection, no, I wouldn't expect that. Hopler has always been about image control. To openly denounce sexual abuse would come too close to admitting that abuse is actually possible within the movement.

Exactly. You are correct. I shouldn’t be, yet I am always amazed when people trying to protect their image do the very thing that makes them look not only wrong, but arrogant and are blind to that fact.