I would love to see some testimonies from people who have heard from Brent and have a good report. I have seen none. If someone knows different, please let me know. He was asked on Facebook about his sins, and he failed to reply.

That is why I went back to look at this thread. What has changed since 2009 with Brent D? Is he a changed man? If so, where are the testimonies or reports? I hear a lot about Josh Harris and his humility and brokenness, but nothing whatsoever about Detwiler. Have I missed something?

Why the privacy required for his sins when everything else he has put on his blog? Someone asked Brent to state his sins on Facebook after his latest post. No reply yet from Brent. Seems he wants to keep HIS SINS only confessed in a private format. Here is the post from FF #45 on “That’s That”

FriendlyFire says:
July 30, 2009 at 12:38 am

I just found this site a few weeks ago. Amazing! You guys should have been around 20 years ago when the “friendly fire” wounded and almost took my life. I was a senior pastor in the DC area of a church that willingly submitted to PDI (now SGM) to be an “adopted” church. We got the “short straw” and Brent became our “apostle.”

At the time I was leading the church and its building program and Brent left me alone to get our building completed (for nearly two years). Two weeks after we dedicated the building in 1989, Brent, Mickey C, and two other leaders I had discipled, met with me in my office and told me I was proud, unteachable, self-centered, contentious, and unqualified to lead the church that I had founded 14 years before.

I never denied those accusations were from time to time true in my life, but that is not who I was. I had willingly submitted myself to accountability to the brothers, and like any committed Christian was working out my faith with fear and trembling.

Nevertheless, they gave me two weeks to find a job and hit the road. (That was modified later because my father died inside the two weeks, which gave them a little time to reconsider and have “pity” on me.) Their plan for “restoration” was for me to become the church janitor and handyman at a reduced salary and submit to Mickey as my pastor and continued input from Brent.

Somehow I hung in there (in a miserable depressed, thought of suicide, state) for nearly a year. One highlight I remember, after being labeled as a “proud” man, Brent stood before my church and told them that the sin of pride was worse than the sin of adultery (I wanted to melt into the floor). Too many other details to share of all the isolation, abuse, “curses” and guilt trips Brent and Mickey laid on me during that time. Countless nightmares of church meetings with Brent and Mickey (and other SGMers) rejecting and ridiculing me; I lost count of the times I woke up screaming and crying for God’s mercy (lasted weekly for more than two years)!

At first I thought they really loved me and wanted to help me overcome the sins and weaknesses in my life. I willingly submitted to their role as “Holy Spirit” in my live. I made no waves in the local church. I rocked no boats. I willingly submitted to excommunication from a church full of people I had led to the Lord and fathered in the faith. I would soon found out I had been nearly mortally wounded by “friendly fire!”

Why? Because the apostle, Brent, knew what was best for me and my church. While I was working myself to exhaustion finishing a church building and leading the church, he was slowly and skillfully winning the hearts of Mickey (my assistant pastor at the time) and my other leaders. He adeptly convinced them I was unworthy and unqualified to lead the church and must step down. He made a pronouncement over me one day that I should have NEVER been a pastor (even though I had been ordained 17 years before and had seen the success and blessings of God on my ministry). Brent knew best though and I was thrown away.

I have too many details to bore all of you with. Suffice it to say, Brent’s exposure of abuse, legalism, and impersonating the Holy Spirit is 20 years too late in coming.

I suppose some of you think that all the other leaders in SGM were oblivious to his ungodly behavior over all these years. I suppose Mickey never saw these ungodly traits over the last 22 years of interaction. I appealed to every leader in existence 20 years ago and they ALL (except Larry T) turned deaf ears to my plight. If it had not been for Larry and Doris, my wife and I would have surely been spiritually shipwrecked.

By the way, they used the same “playbook” to get rid of Larry that they used on me. Tell a man of God that he is proud, unteachable, and contentious — then no matter what he does or says in regards to explanation or defense — he fulfills their diagnosis and proves their point. Once diagnosed you can NEVER be good enough again!

Yes, all the “apostles” including CJ, Steve, Gene, etc. have known for years who the real Brent was and is, and they obviously covered it up and turned a deaf ear to the many complaints. How could that be? Only God knows for sure, but maybe it is because they did not find anything wrong with the way Brent conducted himself. Maybe it was the way they conducted themselves, too. Maybe it was the way they believed God would have them treat people. Maybe they were sincerely trying to love and lead the church according to their interpretation of the Word. Maybe they really believed that they are God’s gift (of the Holy Spirit) to all those under their care.

I cannot judge their hearts or their motives, but I can judge what they did to me and my family, and MANY others I have known through the years, and what I read they have continued to do to so many of you who write in this blog. They have left many, many precious people dead and dying in the trenches through their misguided and misdirected “friendly fire!”

May God have mercy on them and those they have wounded! I believe the church would be better off if the whole lot would resign tomorrow and the doors of their “churches” would close for GOOD!

Yes, I still love the Lord and am walking with Him, but I do walk with a limp.

That is the end of FF’s post. What has changed with Brent D? Am I missing something here?

“It is for FREEDOM that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” -Gal. 5:1

Praise Jesus! May we all know and live this TRUTH!

Wounded, again I stand astounded– your testifying of facts in your story—how utterly horrendous that your pastors so quickly jumped on YOUR insurance monies to line THEIR pockets. (Woundeds SGM pastors– do you feel ANY sense of shame or remorse for your perverse actions? I agree with Connie, Wounded should seek legal counsel to seek return of her monies which you drained her of in her time of grief—oh wait, you did charge her with the sin of “complaining” instead of recoginizing very real grief and sorrow)
Wounded, I am so sorry for what you endured and pray you will truly experience restoration in all the “locusts’ have devoured and walk in the joy and abundant life of the Lord Jesus.

And Alemaps pastor declared a ‘word from the Lord’ that they never should have adopted an ill child?? What an arrogant man and counterfeit to the One who loves the orphan..

The control, manipulation, and perverse counsel is being UNcovered by a Holy God

OF COURSE Sovereign Grace Ministries produces such insidious corruption within its leadership ranks:

*Pastors are brainwashed that they ‘stand in the very stead of God”—the Voice of the Holy Spirit in every Believers life is wayyyyy down the ladder

*In focusing on sin sin sin and worm status, every Believer is reduced to groveling and continuous gazing at —-their SELF— and all that sin sin sin —after awhile, the force of faith is beaten down—and only the voice of the pastor/SGM doctrine is heeded

*CJ Mahaney has even given his egotistical ‘advice’ and teachings for his parishoners sex-life. Continuously trumpeting that dear Carolyn has never denied him relations, even on the eve of her hip surgery while in intense pain. Now, does Ceej sound like he is giving an illustration to husbands on how to  love his wife as Christ loved the church?  Or advice for women to be a doormat just like Carolynn?  Who who who can listen to and even begin to respect such a man??? Why????

*Because of the perverse sexual counsel CJ has given from the tippy-top of the pyramid-NO WONDER pastors throughout SGM give horrendous counsel to women-
ultimatums of a time-frame to return to their adulterous husbands bed; church discipline if not abiding by pastoral counsel to separate from an abusive husband; pastoral counsel for wives to make themselves sexually available in every way for their husband, no matter the perverse ‘sin issues’ of the husband.

*Saints, the mega-levels of perversion and corruption is saturated within SGM-
currently, CJ Mahaney is reflecting on his sin (Which includes blackmail of a fellow brother in Christ, using the Brothers son as a pawn—and other SGM leaders KNEW about this)
—and yet—he is ready to hit the upcoming Pastors Conference full of the appropriate humility and prepared to receive applause of adulation—because he is the Ceej.

Mahaney,Harvey,Shank, (Detweiler), (Tomczack),Emerson, Purswell, Jones
—-ALL THE ABOVE IS WHAT YOU HAVE BUILT—

Ironically, during the Chesapeake upheaval, when the “3 Couples” had stood together and confronted Keith Breault and Brett Campbell on the horrendous mauling counsels they had given to women in their congregation (see all of the above examples which they mandated to women), Keith issued this statement:
“God has appointed structures of leadership for the care and fruitfulness of the church, that produce safety in the way the church is goverened. Nowhere in scripture do we see
members usurping the oversight of pastors.”    !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

—————-AND  THATS  THAT——————-

Who in Gods name are you following, SGMites ?????? —run run run
to Jesus ,  Who iS The Resurrection and the Life

(Allow me to interupt myself to say, I am NOT someone who thinks that a pastor needs to be formally trained.  If that were the case then poor people in timbuktu or mongolia back a thousand years ago would have never had a pastor and I am not about to say that the people we have graduating from seminaries today are any better than the fishermen God called 2,000 years ago.  If you are an upper middle class, white American, then I can see you having this rather narrow- and what I would argue illogical and prejudiced- viewpoint, BUT, I sure as heck am SO grateful for those who have spent their lives studying and researching and I am going to learn everything I can from these learned scholars.  Certainly over a kid from the Pastor’s College.) 

Back to our regularly scheduled post:

After decades of research, Dr. David Instone-Brewer, the rabbinical scholar I mentioned above has some (I think) remarkable teachings on the biblical tithe, what it means and its purpose.  I beg all of us to go read it. 

And since you know me and my desire for everyone to be able to have the word of God in their hearts (and not just the egg heads among us), I’ve found a format that is easy peasy to read and best yet is communicated with … drum roll please…. dolls figures. *Cymbals smash*  I’m telling you, you are going to love the ridiculousness of the media and LOVE the depth of research and insight.  Please, I beg you to go see it.

It is 47 of the easiest reading slides you’ll ever see
http://www.facebook.com/photo......6536761022

Stunned

My heart goes out to both of you.

How many stories does it take for some people to realize that someting isn’t right in these churches.

I wish there was something we (as the larger body of Christ, I suppose I mean) could have done to comfort you in that time or even in this current time.  I couldn’t begin to get my head around your grief and I am guesssing you are thinking that I really wouldn’t want to.  I’m so sorry to hear of all you suffered.

All I know is that God loves you and cares for you. 

With much care and respect,
Stunned