An interesting and significant church event occurred a couple of weeks ago. The Associate Pastor of St. Peter’s Church, RC Sproul Jr., friend, theological partner, and “soul brother†in church abuse to Doug Phillips, was defrocked by the Westminster Presbytery for some of the same things Doug Phillips, President of Vision Forum and non-ordained “Elder†of Boerne Christian Assembly does on a regular basis: 1. Abuse of Authority 2. Disregard for Ecclesiastical Authority 3. Violation of the Westminister Confession of Faith, which are evidenced by Doug’s lording it over church members by failing to (1) conduct church business with a plurality of “ordained†Elders, (2) by claiming church members took a vow (signed a covenant) and, therefore, cannot leave Boerne Christian Assembly without “permission†of the “Elders†(even though a plurality does not exist), and (3) conducting theological “lynchings†by excommunicating members without a trial, without a plurality of Elders voting, without any evidence other than the frivolous charge of “contumacy,†and claiming the supreme authority to order a Deacon to publicly humiliate a church member for pre-conversion behavior, as well as ordering church members to publicly shun the illegally excommunicated members.
HEATHENS IN HELL
Despite an order to treat the excommunicated family at Boerne “Christian†Assembly as “heathens and publicans,†the real heathen in this case is an unrestrained, unaccountable, and un-ordained “Elder†by the name of Doug Phillips. His actions were self-serving, protected his misogynist behavior in the case in question, and reflect a man suffering with the character defect of pride. If anyone is in danger of Hell fire, then it is Doug Phillips, President of Vision Forum and un-ordained “Elder†of Boerne “Christian†Assembly – not the excommunicated family. Besides his pal RC Sproul Jr. (or as one website refers to him, “RC ‘Let’s get liquored up’ Sproul Jr.â€), Doug is walking the same road – “shepherding†an abusive church.
YESHUA
If Doug Phillips had even an inkling of Christian character he would fall on his face before God Almighty and beg forgiveness through God’s Son, Christ Jesus. He would also publicly apologize to the victims of his abuse – the excommunicated family and those that have left Boerne Christian Assembly for other “reasons.†Reasons that were different then those publicly articulated via the controlled “announcements†of Doug Phillips.
PROPHET – BUT NOT ORDAINED
Though he portrays himself as the “messiah†of the “family,†Doug Phillips is anything but family friendly. Since leaving the home church environment and moving his fellowship to a former Baptist Church building, it is rare to see Doug on any given Sunday. Yet, it is interesting to note how his friend Little Bear Wheeler is still able to shepherd his flock regardless of how busy Little Bear’s speaking schedule becomes. In fact, there is a stark contrast between the “shepherd†Little Bear and the prideful “evangelist†Doug Phillips. One cares about his flock while the other abuses his “flock.â€
ORACLE OF DOUG AND SOME DEACONS
During the development of the case against the excommunicated family, it seems Doug Phillips and his cohorts in illegal church behavior (the Deacons) relied on the testimony of an employee of Vision Forum. The employee has a long history of shunning those he and his family do not care for and, in this particular case, the employee was serving as a confidential “informant†to Doug Phillips while simultaneously portraying himself as a concerned accountability partner to the excommunicated husband! Given Doug’s recent propensity for Christian filmmaking, one has to wonder if the “oracle†Doug relied on (the employee’s testimony) wasn’t really some very crafty “acting†on the part of said employee.
CONTUMACY
A charge of contumacy seems to be the latest rage in abusive church discipline. In the case of Doug Phillips and his Vision Forum partners in duplicity, any questioning of Doug Phillips as “Elder†is an excommunicable offense. For an interesting view on this charge, follow the external link at the bottom of this post.
RC SPROUL JR.
Although an entire website is dedicated to RC Jr’s notorious drinking (some satire and some not so satirical), little is being said about Doug Phillips and alcohol (see the “E†in HYPOCRITE below). It is a known fact that alcohol consumption alters thinking, and RC Jr. and his fellow Elders were certainly engaging in some altered thinking when they excommunicated the Austin family from St. Peters. As noted in the prefatory remarks, RC Jr. was slam dunked by the presbytery. Although he is currently whining about the lack of a trial, his sniveling is without merit. It is interesting to note how those who do not even care to enter into church discipline with regard to ecclesiastical procedure suddenly begin crying about a trial for themselves! It is even more interesting, however, when one considers that Doug Phillips is (1) not ordained and (2) conducted an excommunication without a trial and as the sole “Elder.†Reasonable men must conclude Doug Phillips acted with unmitigated gall and a lack of authority, except for the abusive authority and abuse of authority already noted.
INDECENT PROPOSAL
As noted in another posting, Doug selected his wife Beall Phillips to act as the excommunicated wife’s “counselor,†even though Beall had not spoken with the woman in nearly two years! Besides serving as evidence of more abusive behavior on Doug’s behalf, one has to wonder why the “Elder’s†wife was unable to speak with the excommunicated wife for the two years that preceded “official†church abuse (discipline). Is Beall herself as arrogant as her husband? Why did Doug think he could even float such an indecent proposal by the Deacons of his church? Is it because Doug surrounds himself with men who have the same wishbone-like (read “gelatinousâ€) spines as President Jimmy Carter did (and still does) during his four pathetic years as this country’s president? Does anyone else remember the Iran hostage crisis? Doug Phillips should learn from history – weak men always beget problems for others.
THEONOMY 101
One of the theological principles Doug Phillips subscribes to is government under God (theonomy). Doug attended and spoke at the funeral of America’s leading Christian Reconstructionist, R.J. Rushdoony, and Doug is linked to Gary North (of the Tyler, Texas debacle), as well as Ken Gentry and a number of other men who subscribe to theonomic principles. Despite his training as a lawyer and time spent practicing Constitutional Law, Doug Phillips apparently does not grasp the nuances of the law contained in the Bible. Doug insists the Ceremonial Law no longer applies to contemporary Christian life (even though God’s Word repeatedly states certain aspects of the Ceremonial Law are ordinances “foreverâ€), while insisting the Civil Law and Moral Law are still applicable. One must wonder if his views on the law include stoning rebellious teenagers, homosexuals, and adulterers to death. Does Doug sincerely think all of the Ceremonial Law is vox nihili while those laws he likes are vox Dei?
ETHANOL (ETOH)
Though this writer has no evidence of immoral sexual behavior associated with consuming alcoholic beverages, it has come to the writer’s attention there is a plausible basis for wondering aloud whether Doug Phillips consumes alcoholic beverages or consumed them in the not too distant past. If Doug is indeed drinking or drank in the past, then it would tend to explain a lot of his erratic and immoral church behavior, which includes using his wife (who obviously had an axe to grind) as a “counselor,†using an employee to “spy†upon a family member and to use confidential church communication (between the employee and the accused) without benefit of a trial, and excommunicating a family without said trial, while serving as the sole “Elder.†Not only is this erratic, immoral, and irresponsible behavior, it may be prima facie evidence that mind-altering substances played a role in Doug’s conduct as the “Elder†of Boerne Christian Assembly, much like it apparently did in RC Sproul Jr.’s conduct at St. Peters. The difference being this: RC Jr. was ultimately accountable to godly men – Doug is not.
As a final thought, one must note the Vision Forum website and RC Sproul Jr.’s Highland Study Center’s website still contain the information concerning the May 2006 conference in which Doug Phillips and RC Jr. will speak on the issue of honor. Frankly, knowing what this writer knows of Doug and his actions, he is a man devoid of honor and has no business speaking on the subject. Speaking of honor, here is what one woman has to say about Doug Phillips and the subject of honor:
“Doug’s also produced materials on honoring women (â€women and children firstâ€) and he’s spoken on that theme often.â€
I would take issue with this statement.
Mr. Phillips has a very stifling view of women and is quite the hypocrite in my book. He would declare women such as Phyllis Schaftly to be “monstrous†and turn around and talk about the award from Ms. Schafly that was given to his own mother. If you do not fit into Mr. Phillips’ paradigm for women, you are, indeed, monstrous and without honor.
Karen “Prairie Girl†Campbell (Click here for original posting location.)
One can link to both external sites regarding the conference below.
Vision Forum
Highlands Study Center
The Moderator
For the external link to the article concerning CONTUMACY, click here.
For the external link to the website concerning itself with RC Sproul Jr.’s DRINKING ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES, click here.
For an external link to a website focusing on ABUSIVE CHURCHES, click here.
