Welcome to De-Commissioned, a place for former members of the Great Commission movement (aka GCM, GCC, GCAC, GCI, the Blitz) to discuss problems they've experienced in the association's practices and theology.

You may read and post, but some features are restricted to registered members. Please consider registering to gain full access! Registration is free and only takes a few moments to complete.
De-Commissioned Forum
March 28, 2024, 04:22:44 am *
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
 
  Home   Forum   Help Search Login Register  
Pages: [1] 2   Go Down
  Print  
Author Topic: Text of Mark Darling's "In Defense of My Honor" if you don't want to click  (Read 20774 times)
Rebel in a Good Way
Private Forum Access
Household Name (300+ Posts)
****
Offline Offline

Posts: 455



« on: October 29, 2018, 06:57:48 am »

IN DEFENSE OF MY HONOR
MY STORY, IN MY OWN WORDS

To my dear friends and family, here in Minnesota and around the country,
The last 9 months of my life have been the most devastating, difficult, gut-wrenching, and heartbreaking time of my whole life. I am writing this document in the hopes that it might help many of you out there whom I have loved so dearly and served with my life for the last almost 32 years. I hope to clear up some of the confusion and questions some of you may be having about things you may have heard regarding the allegations against me, and what has unfolded the last 9 months.

Proverbs 18:17 (Living Bible) states: “Any story sounds true until someone tells the other side and sets the record straight.”

I have been silent for these 9 long months and I felt it was time to share with you my side of this story. I wish each of you all God’s very best. By God’s grace and mercy, I am moving forward to find new ways to serve Him and others, for the rest of my life.

Because of Jesus,
Mark Darling
 
20 FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT MARK DARLING AND THE LAST NINE MONTHS OF THESE FALSE ALLEGATIONS

For 9 months since this false allegation was leveled against me through a tweet sent out to approximately 20 people, I have not been afforded the opportunity to share with you my side of this story. When Evergreen decided to publish this accuser’s unsubstantiated allegation against me, on the church’s Facebook account to over 6000 people, no one heard my side of the story. When slander, false allegations, and hateful things were written about me online, day after day for months, no one heard my story, in my own words. When Fox 9 news put out their supposed news story, no one heard my story, in my own words. When Evergreen decided to publish their report, and the subsequent things they have stated about me, implied about me, or written about me, since July 1st when I resigned, I have not been afforded one opportunity to speak to the people I have served and loved for 31.5 years of my life. This then, in fundamental fairness, is what I would like you to know, in my own words.  – Mark Darling

1. In my 39.5 years of marriage, I have never been sexual in any way with another person, other than the holy, intimate relationship with my precious wife, Kathy.

2. On the Fox 9 news story, which aired on May 2, there were 3 individuals accusing me of vile, and salacious, inappropriate behavior. I have in my possession, a total of 19 handwritten letters from these same people, written by them, during the time/years (25 to 30 years ago) they now allege I said and did these terrible things. In these letters, in my possession, they state in their own glowing words, their tremendous respect for my life, and my character. They express their genuine Christian love for my wife and family and for me. They thank me enthusiastically for the spiritual guidance and help I gave to them.
Their own words, written in their own hand, contradict everything they now allege. All these letters I sat and read out loud to the investigator. My attorney gave all these letters to the church attorney, and we assumed the board of trustees, however, we are not certain they ever saw or read through the evidence book, which my attorney gave to the church’s attorney.

3. In my 31.5 years of pastoral ministry, the vast majority of my limited counseling of any women has been primarily through email, then the telephone, and in a very limited way, in my living room, always with my wife and kids in the home.

4. When being interviewed by the investigator in this investigation, with my attorney present to be an eyewitness to my interrogation, I was asked by the investigator, “Mark, have you ever met alone with women?” I respectfully said, “Before I answer, may I ask you a question”? She said yes. I asked, “What do you mean by alone?” She seemed taken aback I would ask such a question.
I then said, “Early in my ministry years, 87,89, 90, 91, and on a few other limited occasions through the years, if a woman really wanted advice, or some spiritual counseling, and insisted on meeting face to face, they could come and sit in my living room. I was on one chair, they across from me on our couch. This was a large living room, with a doorway, and kitchen, where my wife would sit doing homeschooling with our kids. Is that alone?” The investigator said, “No.” I said, “If my wife walked down to put in a load of laundry, is that alone?” The investigator said, “No.” I said, “If my wife walked through the living room to go 20 feet down our hallway to put a child to bed, is that alone?” She said, “No.”

I made it clear that it is not my practice to meet in a home with no other people in the home but myself and another woman. I do not meet in an office space alone with people and the door closed.

It came to my attention after the release of the BOT report, that a woman informed EC staff, that about 3 years ago, I met with her alone at my house. When my son-in-law found out who this person was, we were incredulous. At the time in question, this woman called me on the phone distraught about something her husband had done. I had just come from visiting with him for approx. 3 hours. I asked if we could talk over the phone, she said, “I would really like to come to your home.” I said, “My wife just left to go run errands, but my daughter and her husband are here as they live with us downstairs.” She said that would be ok. We sat in my living room as she poured out her grief and pain, I listened and sought to comfort and advise. My daughter and son-in-law were in the home the entire time and clearly remember the day she came over.

This person greatly misrepresented the situation and gave an impression that was not accurate. I know of others who have done the same. Context matters, and I am stunned by how inaccurately things have been portrayed. It is not right for Evergreen to redefine what alone means when the investigator they hired defined it one way, that I explained above, and they were not in my meeting with the investigator. Now, they redefine what alone means in their own way. I answered the investigator’s questions truthfully and honestly based on what was asked of me there and of the definition the investigator gave to me, which my attorney witnessed firsthand.

Let me state emphatically, that if I were told years ago that in every meeting I ever have with a woman in my home who wants advice, or help, that my wife must sit with us through that meeting, or I cannot do my job, I would have politely told them that is absurd, and I cannot take the job. My wife is not paid by this church, my wife is not a defacto women’s counselor or pastor. She is my wife, the mother of our 4 children, and was in our home educating them and caring for the needs of our home and family.

5. I was very straightforward and truthful in my interrogation with the investigator.   I have spoken at 195 conferences. Here in the states and several other places in the world.  I almost always stay in a motel where the conference is held. I have never taken a woman to my room who wanted to visit. Never. I have had hundreds of conversations in the lobby area with men and women, or outside the room where I was speaking, or outside the auditorium I just spoke in. Men and women often have questions or want to share something with me, regarding things I spoke about. All of these were done in a public area.

6. I do not go out to dinner or lunch, or coffee with just me and another woman. However, I would like to explain an exception that happened several years ago. A mother, whom my wife and I helped greatly years ago, called and asked if I would meet with her daughter. She said it was a desperate situation that needed immediate attention. The daughter had just been through a very traumatic, devastating experience. I have known this young lady since she was a toddler. I explained that my wife was not home right now, and I could not have her come to my home. I asked the mother if she was ok if I met her daughter at a coffee shop near our home, which is a very public place. The mother approved of that and was deeply appreciative so that is what I did. This young lady has since written me a letter expressing to me her deep gratitude for that meeting and the way it impacted her whole life for good.

7. In the very early years that I helped start Evergreen, my wife and I had 3 little children. My wife also had severe chronic fatigue syndrome. I was not only pastoring, teaching, etc., but I was our worship and bandleader. I had to arrive at least 90 minutes before the service started early on Sunday mornings. Kathy and I only had one car, as that was all we could afford. There was no way I could ask Kathy and 3 little kids to get up super early, and ride with me to the building and just sit and wait. I could not possibly afford to buy a second car, as we were just starting the church, and I hardly made enough to live on. Therefore, I needed a ride to the church building to practice music before the service. None of the men in the band lived near our home. There were, however, several female singers who I sang with that lived nearby, or could easily come by to pick me up. This was exactly 4.5 miles from my front door to the building we used to meet in for services. It took 8-9 minutes to drive from my home to the building. It was during this time, I was at times alone, with no one else but the female singer, as we carpooled to the church building.

8. One woman alleges that on 10-15 occasions, I drove from my home in Bloomington, MN, approx. 15 miles to the University of Minnesota campus, to pick them up, then turn around and drive about 15 miles back to Fort Snelling State Park, where I supposedly met with them alone to counsel them and then drove them back home and then I returned home to my family. This did NOT happen.

9. Over the years, I have written tens of thousands of emails. No one has produced anything written by me containing anything untoward, sexually inappropriate, or salacious in nature.

10. I have never owned a smartphone. I don’t text, I don’t sext, I don’t take photos of myself to send to anyone, ever. I don’t do social media and have no personal social media site.

11. As we all know, everyone can be brave behind a computer screen, writing an email. Yet I have never received an email from any woman, where she was asking for clarification about something untoward that I supposedly said, or suggesting that I said something sexual in nature that was offensive to her.

12. During the course of my ministry life in the last 31.5 years, I have counseled and visited with hundreds of people, both men, and women. In the course of many of those conversations, people will open up to me and share on their own initiative, personal things about their lives, their story in its rawness. They may share some of their struggles with things that were done to them by others that were of a sexual nature, or the immoral things they did. I have never asked deeply personal, salacious questions of them, or egged them on to tell me more and more details of sexual matters. I have always sought to direct them to God’s grace, God’s truth found in the Bible for dealing with the hurts, or betrayal, or shame and guilt they may feel for things they have done, or the things that were done to them.

13. I do not engage in long, extended hugs with anyone, other than my family members. The only other time this has occurred with a non-family member was with people dealing with great grief, whose sorrow has overwhelmed them, and they hug me for a bit longer than normal.

14. Over the 31.5 years of pastoring and planting churches, I have endured some tremendous ridicule and unbelievable abuse. I have been bullied, suffered many vicious personal attacks and mistreatment. I have been slandered, lied about, and defamed online for years by others, and the last 9 months has been the most abusive and vicious I have ever endured. It took a tremendous toll on me, my precious wife and my kids. I communicated this with Pastor Brent Knox and Pastor Mark Bowen in the month of May, with my son-in-law John, present.    I resigned July 1st from my pastoring role at The Rock and Evergreen, primarily because I refuse to take the abuse and mistreatment I have endured, anymore. I communicated to Brent and Mark that that was the primary reason I would be resigning when I met with them in May.

15. I was offered a severance agreement by Evergreen. However, after the things that were stated from the pulpit, written, and communicated about me on their website, in the last 3 months since I resigned July 1st, I did not feel I could accept the churches severance in good conscience. After much prayer, a letter was hand-delivered to them on Tues., Sept. 4th, respectfully stating that I was declining their severance money, and defined those reasons why clearly to them.

16. My attorney Bret Merkle, who has practiced law for 25 years is a passionate, devoted Christian.  His own faith has been tested in a most severe way, and he has written a book about it called Tragic Blessing. He stated to me, and others, that in his 25 years of practicing law, what has been done to me the last 9 months is the greatest injustice he has ever witnessed.

HERE ARE A COUPLE OF BRET’S NOTED POINTS:

1. The investigator did not ask Mark specific questions during the interview about the details of claims despite our written request for that information in an email to her on April 2, 2018. We requested the following: 1. Names of the accuser(s), 2. Specific allegations made, 3. Dates or approximate time periods of each alleged incident, and 4. Any evidence discovered to support each claim.  We also directly requested this information from EC more than once, but those requests were all denied. Instead, the investigator only asked Mark questions that were general in nature with no names, dates, or any other details of each allegation to allow Mark a fair opportunity to respond.

2. To this date, Mark has not been provided any corroborating evidence of the claims against him discovered from the investigation.

3. The attack on the Honorable Justice Kavanaugh is no coincidence in its timing relative to the similar attacks against Mark.  In Justice Kavanaugh’s situation, his confirmation hearing was essentially an employment interview. Similarly, Mark’s situation involved his employment.  Both involved unsubstantiated claims in an employment situation, however, Justice Kavanaugh was afforded basic constitutional rights of due process which allowed him to respond and counter the allegations against him.  Mark was not provided that same kind of justice leaving those he served for over 30 years in the dark as to his side of the story. Proverbs 18:7 states, “The first to plead his case seems right until another comes and examines him.”  This is one of the many Biblical truths requiring Godly justice that can be found in the US Constitution, which is not only reserved for the courtroom. We know that God’s Word applies to all situations of life. To make matters worse, EC published several written explanations in an attempt to rationalize its handling of social media claims by way of an outside third party investigation that further damaged Mark and his reputation as a Godly man and faithful pastor, in complete disregard of the Holy Word of God and the US Constitution.

In my 31.5 years of pastoring, working with churches, and many complicated, difficult situations in churches, I have never witnessed a greater injustice or abusive situation than this one.

17. I personally abhor sexual violence and the vulgar, derogatory things that get said to women. I have spoken out about these things during the course of my 31.5 years of public ministry, and I would never engage in them.

18. I have consistently, publicly and privately, boldly, passionately and courageously proclaimed God’s truths, found in the Bible, whether it was popular or not. In fact, I have suffered much because of it. My life has been defined by my loyalty and commitment to the truth. That is why through all of this ordeal, I have stood where I stand, and done what I have done, because of my passionate commitment and loyalty to truth. It breaks my heart that this ordeal has caused any division at all, but know this: I did not create any of this division, whatsoever. I did not speak out in my own defense.  I did not yell and scream at others, as I was being lynched, beaten and defamed. When all was said and done, I simply took my stand on the truth I know to be fact.

19. In what has been written and said about me, I have been accused of a certain pattern of behavior. Let me state clearly and emphatically, while I could not possibly remember every single word I have spoken over the last 32 years of my life, nor could anyone, I absolutely and perfectly remember my consistent pattern of upright behavior in my treatment of women. I treated them with kindness, respect, dignity, thoughtfulness, purity, and a caring, fatherly heart as I treated my own daughters. Always in a very honorable, Christlike way.

20. From the beginning of this investigation, a very important biblical truth was violated! Let me explain: the Bible clearly states in 1 Timothy 5:19 not to even receive an accusation against an elder, unless you have 2 or 3 witnesses. In other words, you need eyewitnesses to confirm that the allegation brought, actually happened as the accuser said it did. Yet this investigation started from an allegation brought by one person alone with absolutely no evidence at all and no eyewitness to substantiate what was being alleged. There is none.

I told the church’s attorney over the phone when he contacted me in February, “You are setting a terrible and dangerous precedent, that someone can send out a tweet, that is slanderous graffiti on the internet bathroom wall, and you turn a man’s life upside down on the basis of an unsubstantiated accusation, with no other eyewitnesses to the alleged allegation.” This was absolutely wrong, and it has caused great harm and irreparable damage to my life. Most of us watched the public torment and horrific injustice that Justice Brett Kavanaugh suffered on live television because of an unsubstantiated accusation. He was not being viewed as innocent until proven guilty. In fact, many were screaming for his destruction. I know first hand how that has felt. I was told on the phone that I would be neither innocent nor guilty, I was being put on a paid leave of absence, and that I could not be publicly defended.

In conclusion, let me share this with you:

“My love for Jesus remains fervent and strong, my passion to serve others remains, my conscience is clear, and my faith is intact.”

“The man you have known and seen with your eyes, heard with your ears, and observed with your senses, the fruits of his life over decades is the man that I am! Not someone’s mischaracterizations and innuendos of me.”

MARK DARLING

From: https://pastormarkdarling.com/in-defense-of-my-honor/?fbclid=IwAR1Gfa5kLBpa107zF9a8SE0WlcOFqRXz5ksKcpsYlHDpb4volS0yOtb8uXw
« Last Edit: October 29, 2018, 11:06:21 am by Rebel in a Good Way » Logged
Linda
Household Name (300+ Posts)
****
Offline Offline

Posts: 2520



« Reply #1 on: October 29, 2018, 09:00:44 am »

Fact number 7.

Apparently he was alone with a female singer, in a car on numerous occasions while driving to church for practice.

Didn't Jeromy say his dad was never alone with women?

This doesn't mean anything bad happened, just pointing out that when words like "never" are used, it discredits testimony.

Also, if the church was only 4.5 miles from his home, it would take about 5 minutes for a fellow band guy to drive from church to his house. Who wouldn't have done that for a friend for the sake of propriety?
« Last Edit: October 29, 2018, 09:32:52 am by Linda » Logged

Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.
Janet Easson Martin
Private Forum Access
Household Name (300+ Posts)
****
Offline Offline

Posts: 1898



« Reply #2 on: October 29, 2018, 11:19:21 am »


God sees the heart of everyone.  He knows the innocent lambs from the treacherous wolves.  May his truth below rise to the surface of these matters, especially for the truly wounded.


”No one who hopes in you
    will ever be put to shame,
but shame will come on those
    who are treacherous without cause.”

Psalm 25:3


Logged

For grace is given not because we have done good works, but in order that we may be able to do them.        - Saint Augustine
Linda
Household Name (300+ Posts)
****
Offline Offline

Posts: 2520



« Reply #3 on: October 29, 2018, 11:56:26 am »

About the attorney's statement (number 3) that both the Kavanaugh situation and this involve unsubstantiated claims in an employment setting.

I disagree.

In the Kavanaugh situation, there was no corroboration from any of the accusers and the witnesses mentioned included a good friend of Dr. Ford who she claimed was there. The friend knew nothing about the situation. That doesn't mean nothing happened, but there truly was no corroboration.

In the Darling situation, there was corroboration of him meeting alone with women. I first heard about him meeting alone in his basement in 2012. The woman said nothing had happened, just informed me that she had met alone with him in his basement after babysitting the kids. I have spoken with 3 women who met alone with him in the basement. To be clear, 2 of them did not make claims of inappropriate behavior, but nevertheless, it corroborated the testimony of meeting alone with women. I personally know 2 women who saw him on many occasions pick up Suzanne and drive off with her alone. In addition, ECC acknowledged a meeting with a counselor, Suzanne, John, Mark, Mark, and Kathy and failing to do due diligence over some inappropriate things that were apparently discussed at this meeting. In addition, there were many women who came forward with similar stories.

This is not at all like the Kavanaugh situation.

Plus, this is not merely an employment issue. This is an issue of an elder being above reproach.
« Last Edit: October 29, 2018, 12:37:03 pm by Linda » Logged

Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.
blonde
Household Name (300+ Posts)
****
Offline Offline

Posts: 350



« Reply #4 on: October 29, 2018, 08:07:10 pm »

Mark Darling did not write this statement. Impossible. I'll show and explain how. I have an email that is word-for-word from Mark Darling, and he is very much an illiterate man. He claims and brags that he got D's in high school; Mark Darling did, and his uncle (Darling's) offered to pay for an education at Moody Bible College in IL after high school. Mark Darling turned it down. Why? You'll see why soon. He would have learned how to write at Moody Bible College. Either Jeromy Darling wrote that prose or Mark's lawyer did. Most likely dear ole' son, the new handler of Mark Darling, did.

Here is the prose I received from Bill at Billy Graham, BGEA, from some years ago that I kept on file. Mark Darling cannot make one sentence grammatically correct. Here we go, and it is in it's entirety. (Mark does not even know common comma rules):

hey bill, thanks for writing back. well, first of all i think it is important to take into account what responsibilites u presently have. for example for a married man with children i think it is very difficult on a family and marriage for dad to be gone a lot whether it is in business or ministry. if u are single then i think there are a few more options available. i think his ministry is a very good one and helping bring the gospel to multitudes of people along with helping folks in very ,very difficult circumstances. i think u would find it much more fulfilling doing something like samaritians purse is about than just doing a normal job. making our lives count for eternity is really all that matters , period. living for the audience of one. a passionate pursuit of the will of god. these are the things that really matter. feel free to call anytime i may be of service. 651 686 6272. by the way are u from england? sincerely ,mark d
« Last Edit: October 29, 2018, 08:19:29 pm by blonde » Logged

We must become the change we want to see.
-Mahatma Gandhi
blonde
Household Name (300+ Posts)
****
Offline Offline

Posts: 350



« Reply #5 on: October 29, 2018, 08:17:05 pm »

Here is the audio link ex-pastor Mark Darling saying he got D's in high school, not getting F's. Short version.

https://tinyurl.com/yazfyors

Here is a longer version audio clip of the sermon bragging on how he did not need to finish high school with high grades.

https://tinyurl.com/y83vkj46
« Last Edit: October 29, 2018, 08:36:59 pm by blonde » Logged

We must become the change we want to see.
-Mahatma Gandhi
blonde
Household Name (300+ Posts)
****
Offline Offline

Posts: 350



« Reply #6 on: October 29, 2018, 08:47:34 pm »

And, if Mark Darling could not write cogent and impactful writing without the assistance of his son, Jeromy, is this a false narrative that is being propelled on the internet to promote Mark Darling? Think about that one. It is positive writing and works to advance the SEO and SEM that Jeromy Darling is doing to suppress the truth about his dad, and making Google see the words of this latest lie campaign, projected as true and factual.

-Blonde
« Last Edit: October 29, 2018, 08:49:05 pm by blonde » Logged

We must become the change we want to see.
-Mahatma Gandhi
margaret
Veteran (100-299 Posts)
***
Offline Offline

Posts: 193



« Reply #7 on: October 30, 2018, 02:21:12 am »

Blonde,
I made a similar statement to my spouse regarding the "Statement by Mark Darling;" it is certainly NOT in his own words.
Logged
Rebel in a Good Way
Private Forum Access
Household Name (300+ Posts)
****
Offline Offline

Posts: 455



« Reply #8 on: October 30, 2018, 06:40:22 am »

Some points about Mark's document, re-titled:

"4 Ways in Which I Address Actual Allegations Against Me and 16 Irrelevant Points that Mostly Just Allow Me to Brag About Myself"

1. Okay, this is saying "I haven't participated in anything sexual with other women."  I find this to be one of his few relevant points.  

2. He could be in possession of several positive letters from women but this hardly proves his innocence because emotional, sexual and spiritual abuse works this way. You don't have access to people unless they hold you in some sort of positive regard.  Why would young women write letters of praise to a pastor?  That in itself suggests an unhealthy relationship.  

3. This absolute is debatable given his own teaching when he said he counseled a woman in his basement.  Maybe his living room could be in the basement but the state of the Darling basement has already been discussed on this forum.  He also claims he had "limited counseling" with women but in other points makes a case as to how helpful he's been to women (including the letters referenced in #2). So he apparently briefly counseled some women and then allowed them to write him 19 lavish letters of praise. Or he's just SO good that he only needs to meet with someone 1-3 times and totally change their lives.  Super pastor!

4. "When my son-in-law found out who this person was..."  How did his son-in-law find this out?  And what has that woman experience as a result of the Darlings knowing her identity?  Also, same doubt as in #3 about being "alone" with women.

5.  What?  Has anyone made allegations about his behavior at conferences? Or does he just want to get that # out there (not that speaking at GCC conferences is brag-worthy to anyone outside of GCC)?  The allegations that were made were in the context of relationships and church connections, not intermittent contact at conferences.

6. Okay, he denies having dinner, coffee, or lunch alone with women.  I had not heard any allegations of the sort (doesn't mean they haven't been made, I just don't know that they've been public) But don't miss the part when he adds that he was super helpful the ONE time he made an exception.  One of those amazing life-changing single-session counseling sessions resulting in another letter of gratitude!

7. Linda already mentioned that another male musician could have picked him up. Another alternative is that more than one female singer could have ridden along.  Again, it's the "never" statements that cloud the testimony.  

8. He is denying a specific allegation.  Relevant point.

9./10. No one has accused him publicly of of sexting or sending saliciouis e-mails. Although it is interesting that he worded "No one has produced any" rather than I never wrote any.  

11. In theory, is he stating that victims should e-mail their abusers to clarify whether or not their perceptions were accurate?  So that then the abuser can gaslight them and make them question themselves and tell them that they were just interpreting things incorrectly?  If something weird happens one time a person might ask for clarification.  Victims, and I would say particularly women, understand when they are being sexualized. Do they need to send an e-mail to ask "Excuse me, could you please clarify what that wolf whistle meant?", particularly if the sexualizations happen in a pattern?  Also, since the women wrote him such letters of praise, they were victim to his grooming and abuse and not likely, at that point, to e-mail him about his behavior.  They probably just hoped it would stop but that they could continue in relationship for the other positive parts of it.  

12. "I have never asked deeply personal, salacious questions of them, or egged them on to tell me more and more details of sexual matters." Denial of a direct allegation. Relevant.

13. Denial of a direct allegation.  With the addition of one "exception" so that we are led to believe this is total transparency, because if he is being so detailed with the information offered, then he is a credible witness and we should believe all that he has to say.  

14. He is the victim.  True abusers will often make themselves look like victims.  Granted, if it wasn't found to be true that he DID engage in inappropriate sexual conduct, this would have been a terrible abuse to endure.

15. I'm not sure his point here.  That he is so principled he wouldn't take their tainted money?  Or by accepting the severance package he would be giving up his right to speak publicly about the situation or possibly pursue litigation?  

16. Bret Merkle practices personal injury law.  http://www.merklelaw.com  Also, I'm sure this guy's story is amazing but his website reminds me a little of the StrongDisciple website.  http://www.tragicblessing.org/about-tragic-blessing.html  I'm wondering how Mark Darling selected him as his legal representation?  

I'm not sure how Bret is in a position to assess the level of injustice since his legal experience is NOT with church abuse or even employment law. The methods of the investigation are not the same as how a court case works but an investigation doesn't need to be. Can you imagine if the investigator HAD turned over the names of the accusers?!?  Jeromy and his "army" would have ripped them apart. And no one would have shared their stories of abuse with the investigator, which Mark obviously would have preferred.

Linda has addressed the comparisons to Kavanaugh.  

17. I hope it is true that he publicly advocated against the maltreatment of women.  (within the confines of GCC culture)

18. " I did not yell and scream at others..."  He full well knows his son and supporters was doing so in his stead and did nothing to stop them. And this whole point is pretty self-aggrandizing.  Are we to read this and think "what a saint, what a martyr?"

19. "I only remember good things about myself"

20. Agree to disagree about this "very important biblical principle!" Mark D.  You claim to be against the abuse of women yet holding to this "biblical" principle means that every single sexual offense committed in private is to be denied since it is not substantiated with eye witness testimony.  This "principle" empowers abusers, especially in the church.
Logged
ReaperofGCM
Regular (15-99 Posts)
**
Offline Offline

Posts: 41



« Reply #9 on: October 30, 2018, 12:40:02 pm »

Mark Darlings response was way too crafted and perfect. This is all about money, otherwise he wouldn't be asking for donations on his new website.
That's why I don't understand his willingness to bring up the severance issue.
His response bares many similarities to the way his son Jeromy has defended him. On his point #10, this would only need to be said
if he was doing things like Anthony Weiner. He wasn't accused of this in the first place, so this seems a little preemptive to me.
It also says something that he is bringing up Judge Kavanaugh and siding with him.
All in all, this response only serves as fodder to his critics, and soul food for his supporters. If someone was trying to bring down
Evergreen, or GCC or GCM or whatever they want to call it, they wouldn't have just attacked Mark Darling. We would be seeing
allegations against current pastors like Brent Knox etc... Which if those men had made any sort of mistakes with women in the past,
that definitely would have been brought up now, but it hasn't.

Logged
PietWowo
Veteran (100-299 Posts)
***
Offline Offline

Posts: 287



« Reply #10 on: October 30, 2018, 08:28:02 pm »

Fact number 7.

Apparently he was alone with a female singer, in a car on numerous occasions while driving to church for practice.

Didn't Jeromy say his dad was never alone with women?

This doesn't mean anything bad happened, just pointing out that when words like "never" are used, it discredits testimony.

Also, if the church was only 4.5 miles from his home, it would take about 5 minutes for a fellow band guy to drive from church to his house. Who wouldn't have done that for a friend for the sake of propriety?

I wouldn't consider being in a car in traffic with a woman to be alone with a woman. To judge the situation for a fellow band guy whatever is just presumptuous. Did you ever drive with a person of the opposite gender in the car? The fact that he remembers it shows a high standard in this regard.
Logged
PietWowo
Veteran (100-299 Posts)
***
Offline Offline

Posts: 287



« Reply #11 on: October 30, 2018, 08:29:16 pm »


God sees the heart of everyone.  He knows the innocent lambs from the treacherous wolves.  May his truth below rise to the surface of these matters, especially for the truly wounded.


”No one who hopes in you
    will ever be put to shame,
but shame will come on those
    who are treacherous without cause.”

Psalm 25:3




I like this. And I think that the truly wounded here are Mark and his family.
Logged
PietWowo
Veteran (100-299 Posts)
***
Offline Offline

Posts: 287



« Reply #12 on: October 30, 2018, 08:33:43 pm »

Mark Darling did not write this statement. Impossible. I'll show and explain how. I have an email that is word-for-word from Mark Darling, and he is very much an illiterate man. He claims and brags that he got D's in high school; Mark Darling did, and his uncle (Darling's) offered to pay for an education at Moody Bible College in IL after high school. Mark Darling turned it down. Why? You'll see why soon. He would have learned how to write at Moody Bible College. Either Jeromy Darling wrote that prose or Mark's lawyer did. Most likely dear ole' son, the new handler of Mark Darling, did.

Here is the prose I received from Bill at Billy Graham, BGEA, from some years ago that I kept on file. Mark Darling cannot make one sentence grammatically correct. Here we go, and it is in it's entirety. (Mark does not even know common comma rules):

hey bill, thanks for writing back. well, first of all i think it is important to take into account what responsibilites u presently have. for example for a married man with children i think it is very difficult on a family and marriage for dad to be gone a lot whether it is in business or ministry. if u are single then i think there are a few more options available. i think his ministry is a very good one and helping bring the gospel to multitudes of people along with helping folks in very ,very difficult circumstances. i think u would find it much more fulfilling doing something like samaritians purse is about than just doing a normal job. making our lives count for eternity is really all that matters , period. living for the audience of one. a passionate pursuit of the will of god. these are the things that really matter. feel free to call anytime i may be of service. 651 686 6272. by the way are u from england? sincerely ,mark d

Ok, he doesn't use capitalization. Big deal!!! He helped me write my first testimony tract 38 years ago.

Besides that, most people that write formal statements will get help from someone else. I have no problem with that.
Logged
PietWowo
Veteran (100-299 Posts)
***
Offline Offline

Posts: 287



« Reply #13 on: October 30, 2018, 08:35:49 pm »

And, if Mark Darling could not write cogent and impactful writing without the assistance of his son, Jeromy, is this a false narrative that is being propelled on the internet to promote Mark Darling? Think about that one. It is positive writing and works to advance the SEO and SEM that Jeromy Darling is doing to suppress the truth about his dad, and making Google see the words of this latest lie campaign, projected as true and factual.

-Blonde

No, only a blonde would think that.
Logged
Ghost
Household Name (300+ Posts)
****
Offline Offline

Posts: 303



« Reply #14 on: October 30, 2018, 09:08:30 pm »

Hey Putt Putt whoopdedoo...you and your kind not welcome here...hope the admins. here start excommunicating little demons like you....you know hit the delete button
Logged
Linda
Household Name (300+ Posts)
****
Offline Offline

Posts: 2520



« Reply #15 on: October 31, 2018, 07:41:33 am »

Quote
I wouldn't consider being in a car in traffic with a woman to be alone with a woman.

I like how the narrative has shifted to add "in traffic". Yeah,  at 7:00 in the morning on a Sunday morning there is a lot of traffic on Old Shakopee Road!

I also like how being alone in a car is not considered being alone.

Quote
To judge the situation for a fellow band guy whatever is just presumptuous.

Not sure what you mean here.

Quote
Did you ever drive with a person of the opposite gender in the car?

Once since I've been married (almost 41.5 years, that .5 is important. Can't wait to celebrate my half birthday in February!). And it was weird. I was 23. It was a guy from a local Bible School who had been doing door to door evangelism and met a single woman with a few kids who had a troubled life and lived a half mile or so from our house. She invited him back to talk about the Lord, but he didn't want to go alone. (Which was wise.) Someone told him I lived nearby, so he asked and I said, "No," because I was uncomfortable going alone with him. Then, people involved with the school called us and basically intimidated us through spiritual means to make me do it. So I did. Never again. Also, as it turned out, the woman was not interested in hearing about the Lord.

I never would have made a habit of this because in 1978 I knew this was a bad idea. And I was a young, non pastor.

Quote
The fact that he remembers it shows a high standard in this regard.

Maybe.

Are you saying that he mentioned all the times he was alone in a car with women? If he left out a few occasions on purpose, it would be a form of misleading.

A question that comes to mind about this is: Who were the women?

Were any of these "carpooling" women any of the women who have come forward with accusations? At least one of the women who testified was a singer.


Bottom line. My advice to married people.

Don't carpool (alone) with members of the opposite sex. It's not wise. At best, it doesn't look good. At worst, affections start slowly and you might find yourself in an emotional affair you had no intention of being in. That's my advice. Take it or leave it, but don't let your pastor leave you with the idea that it is okay because he does it. Think for yourself about how you want to protect your marriage.
« Last Edit: October 31, 2018, 10:21:16 am by Linda » Logged

Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.
PietWowo
Veteran (100-299 Posts)
***
Offline Offline

Posts: 287



« Reply #16 on: October 31, 2018, 01:37:11 pm »

Quote
I wouldn't consider being in a car in traffic with a woman to be alone with a woman.

I like how the narrative has shifted to add "in traffic". Yeah,  at 7:00 in the morning on a Sunday morning there is a lot of traffic on Old Shakopee Road!

I also like how being alone in a car is not considered being alone.

Quote
To judge the situation for a fellow band guy whatever is just presumptuous.

Not sure what you mean here.

Quote
Did you ever drive with a person of the opposite gender in the car?

Once since I've been married (almost 41.5 years, that .5 is important. Can't wait to celebrate my half birthday in February!). And it was weird. I was 23. It was a guy from a local Bible School who had been doing door to door evangelism and met a single woman with a few kids who had a troubled life and lived a half mile or so from our house. She invited him back to talk about the Lord, but he didn't want to go alone. (Which was wise.) Someone told him I lived nearby, so he asked and I said, "No," because I was uncomfortable going alone with him. Then, people involved with the school called us and basically intimidated us through spiritual means to make me do it. So I did. Never again. Also, as it turned out, the woman was not interested in hearing about the Lord.

I never would have made a habit of this because in 1978 I knew this was a bad idea. And I was a young, non pastor.

Quote
The fact that he remembers it shows a high standard in this regard.

Maybe.

Are you saying that he mentioned all the times he was alone in a car with women? If he left out a few occasions on purpose, it would be a form of misleading.

A question that comes to mind about this is: Who were the women?

Were any of these "carpooling" women any of the women who have come forward with accusations? At least one of the women who testified was a singer.


Bottom line. My advice to married people.

Don't carpool (alone) with members of the opposite sex. It's not wise. At best, it doesn't look good. At worst, affections start slowly and you might find yourself in an emotional affair you had no intention of being in. That's my advice. Take it or leave it, but don't let your pastor leave you with the idea that it is okay because he does it. Think for yourself about how you want to protect your marriage.

Ok, it's probably very good counsel what you give there. Don't be alone with a person of the opposite sex. I think some of it depends on which culture you are in. Also, I think it depends where and when. For instance, If I go to the doctor in the USA, generally, I find myself to have to wait for him in some examination room and a nurse will come in and take my vitals. I'm alone with a woman in a room. But there is nothing going on. Also, at times pastors need to counsel women. When I counseled a woman, I would counsel her in a very public setting. For instance a fast food restaurant.

But I'm not trying to encourage anyone to break that rule for them. I think and respect your decision to not do that highly. Great!!!

I personally don't see a big deal in giving someone a ride in a car. There are countries in the world, where you probably couldn't go from one place to another without breaking that rule. For instance in most Latin countries, people are heavenly dependent on taxis. Taxis are cheap, like a dollar or two and most (like 98%) taxi drivers are men. It would create a huge problem for most women if they couldn't use a taxi.

But in your situation keep that rule. I think it is honorable. But don't judge Mark Darling on something like giving a ride to someone many many years ago. At best that is like a pharisee trying to obey the Talmud instead of the Torah.

On top of that from what it appears to me, Mark was very strict in that rule too.
« Last Edit: October 31, 2018, 01:39:47 pm by PietWowo » Logged
Linda
Household Name (300+ Posts)
****
Offline Offline

Posts: 2520



« Reply #17 on: October 31, 2018, 03:33:21 pm »

The relevant question here is: Were any of the carpooling women people who have come forward with allegations of inappropriate behavior?

A second relevant question is: How often and on how many occasions over what period of time did he pick up young women for any reason?

That said, my opinion is that pastors should lead by example and this carpooling habit, while efficient, was not a wise one.
Logged

Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.
Ghost
Household Name (300+ Posts)
****
Offline Offline

Posts: 303



« Reply #18 on: October 31, 2018, 03:38:05 pm »

Putt Putt Whoop de doo...whats your purpose here..just to muddy up the conversation and make everyone seem confused in your defense of the  sexual perversions of Mark Darling...yes..you just drive the stake a little deeper with each of your little snippets in his defense...guilty..guilty....eyes wide open....
Logged
Linda
Household Name (300+ Posts)
****
Offline Offline

Posts: 2520



« Reply #19 on: October 31, 2018, 03:39:31 pm »

I wanted to make one more point about the Kavanaugh comparison.

Right from the get-go Kavanaugh personally and publicly vehemently denied the accusations and never wavered.

Likewise, at no point did Kavanaugh call any of his accusers liars, nor did he have his family members publicly discredit, threaten, demean, or otherwise bully his accusers or those who believed them.

He loudly proclaimed his innocence in a manner that was respectful of those making the allegations.

Sadly, that did not happen in this case.
Logged

Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.
Pages: [1] 2   Go Up
  Print  
 
Jump to:  


Powered by SMF 1.1.11 | SMF © 2006-2009, Simple Machines LLC
SimplePortal 2.1.1