Will Voddie Baucham Answer My Questions & Call John MacArthur & Phil Johnson to Repentance for Their Audacious Lying & Bullying or Cover Up with Silence?
Voddie Baucham is currently based in Zambia but is well-known in Reformed and evangelical throughout the United States. He does several speaking tours every year. In October, he was a featured speaking at the Truth Matters conference held in honor of John MacArthur.
Baucham is like hundreds of other national leaders who refuse to call MacArthur and Johnson to account. The standards of Scripture are not applied to them like they were not apply to C.J. Mahaney. As an example, MacArthur is still listed as a main session speaker at the Ligonier National Conference in March 2020. That is so troubling! Not even top Reformed leaders and theologians care about his abject hypocrisy and abusive leadership. It is reprehensible and offends the holiness of God!
Here is my appeal to Baucham. He has not responded.
From: Brent Detwiler <abrentdetwiler@gmail.com>
Date: November 2, 2019 at 3:05:08 PM EDT
To: Voddie Baucham <voddie@voddiebaucham.org>
Subject: Email Address
Hi Voddie – this is a test email to confirm this address.
Brent
From: Voddie Baucham
Sent: Saturday, November 2, 2019 7:06 PM
To: Brent Detwiler
Subject: Re: Email Address
Got it.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Voddie B.
From: Brent Detwiler
Sent: Monday, November 4, 2019 5:45 PM
To: Voddie Baucham
Subject: John MacArthur & Phil Johnson
Importance: High
Hello Voddie,
Thanks for letting me know this is a correct email address for you. I appreciate it.
Over the years I’ve been sending you some of my blog articles to clerk@gracefamilybaptist.net and office@acu-zambia.com. I’ve asked they be forwarded. Have you received them?
In particular, I recently sent you this one about John MacArthur and Phil Johnson.
Tuesday, June 25, 2019 at 9:23PM
Here is an excerpt where I mention your participation in the Truth Matters conference last month.
What is required of Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan and Al Mohler, is required of every leader who claims John MacArthur as a friend. That includes men like John Piper,
Sinclair Ferguson, and
H.B. Charles. He must be rebuked and disciplined by local leaders and national leaders. In additional, no national leader should speak at his conferences or invite him to speak at their conferences. That includes Together for the Gospel and Ligonier Ministries.
For example, MacArthur and Johnson have been celebrating MacArthur’s 50-year pulpit ministry all year. It culminates with a “
Truth Matters conference” at Grace Community Church on October 16-19, 2019. The advertising says,
“2019 marks the fiftieth year of John MacArthur’s pulpit ministry. Grace to You’s celebration of this momentous anniversary will extend throughout the year, culminating in October with a Truth Matters conference.”
The speakers are MacArthur, Johnson, Voddie Baucham, Justin Peters, Jeff Williams, Mike Riccardi, and Todd Friel. If truth matters, Baucham, Peters, Williams, Riccardi, and Friel will pull out immediately.
The truth be told, John MacArthur and Phil Johnson should be removed from Christian ministry. They simply do not qualify. Anyone who continues to support them in ministry clearly shows their disregard for the glory of Christ and the authority of Scripture. Members at Grace Community Church should also call for the discipline of these men and leave if their elders refuse to take action. Remember, “Grace Church has to be one of the few congregations where an individual’s sin (where there has been no repentance) is addressed publicly according to the New Testament direction.” [Phil Johnson]
May I ask you a few questions? First, did you read the article above? Second, if you read it how did you justify participation in the conference? Third, are you calling John and Phil to repentance and exhorting them to step down from ministry? They clearly do not qualify. Fourth, do you plan to address this issue in public if they remain unrepentant?
John has used the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. to create a false narrative designed to promote his greatness across the nation. That is repugnant! And then he uses Phil to assail anyone who exposes him. It is pure wickedness. It must be addressed by you.
John and Phil are also guilty of many other serious sins. For example, read the March 2019 report by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. The Visiting Team of professionals wrote they have never seen a more abusive administration in all their years. It is due to John’s leadership. It doesn’t matter how many great sermons John and Phil have preached, or great books they have written; they are perjurers, hypocrites, and heavy-handed leaders. Those are the indisputable facts! I’ve seen it up close and personal with Phil! John has protected Phil, like Phil has protected John. It is insidious and that is not an overstatement.
You are friends with John. So are Al, Lig, Mark, Sinclair, et al. Therefore, tell me what you are doing to address him in keeping with Matthew 18:15-17; 1 Timothy 3:1-7; I Timothy 5:19-21; Titus 1:5-9, and 1 Peter 5:1-4. He does not qualify for ministry according to the perspicuous and authoritative teaching of the Bible. He should be exhorted to step down from ministry.
Predictably, his local elders have refused to take proper disciplinary action against him because they are corrupt, fearful, and compromised. I have dealt with them in the past regarding Phil and appealed to them in the present regarding both John and Phil. Therefore, national leaders and friends like you must step in and require adherence to Scripture without partiality or favoritism.
Voddie, it goes without saying that the pride, deceit, abuse, and hypocrisy of noted evangelical leaders like John and C.J. Mahaney have done extraordinary harm to the gospel and the church of Jesus Christ. I love sound doctrine, but I hate the hypocrisy of leaders who do not follow their own teaching; instead they follow their own sinful cravings for greatness. Anyone calling them to account is attacked and slandered.
For the sake of Christ, you need to take decisive action. This is ever so serious. Please rebuke John and Phil. If they don’t repent, “tell it to the church” and then sever relations with them and their ministries. That is what “Soli Deo Gloria!” really means in this situation!
I am praying for you and hope to hear back from you regarding my questions.
In Christ alone,
Brent
From: abrentdetwiler@gmail.com <abrentdetwiler@gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, November 6, 2019 11:13 AM
Subject: RE: John MacArthur & Phil Johnson
Hey Voddie,
Could you get back to me on my questions? I am also glad to talk by phone. (704) 497-7986. Give me a call if you prefer.
Thanks
Brent
Baucham never got back to me.
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