Imagine you had a private conversation with ordained clergy, confessing your sins. Then imagine those clergy members secretly recorded that call and later chose to anonymously put that info online in order to punish you. That’s what Apologia church leaders did when Tim Hurd called them to confess some ill-will in his heart and apologize … Read more
FIRST, A SMALL CAVEAT I’ve written, re-written, thrown away and written again this post multiple times. I recorded a podcast with a segment on this topic, that I chose not to play (which is why Tuesday’s episode is delayed). In short, the risks are incredibly high. Virtually anything I write or say about this already-public … Read more
Editors Note: The following accounts are given to demonstrate that Apologia Church in Phoenix has repeatedly used secret recordings of church members in an abusive fashion and engaged repeatedly in ‘hard shepherding.’ All of the information to follow has come directly from those closely associated with Apologia Church who contacted Pulpit & Pen or Bible … Read more
We call Apologia Church elders (Pastor Jeff Durbin and others) to publicly repent for secretly recording church members and others for archiving and for later use in retaliation against those who would criticize them. It is horrible pastoral malfeasance. It is abusive toward everyone involved. It is a shame to one’s ordination. It is cult-like. … Read more
We have been inundated with phone calls from former Apologia members and residents in the Phoenix area and asked that Jeff Durbin answer the following questions: 1. Have church members at Apologia left over disagreements related to leadership secretly recording their confessions of sin and later using them against them? 2. Have leadership at Apologia … Read more
Many are asking when our exposé is coming out on Apologia Church and their immoral and grossly disqualifying practice of secretly recording audio of church members’ confessions of sins and later using them for retaliatory purposes. The answer is soon, but I wanted to give a quick update. As you probably already know, Jeff Durbin … Read more
As Pulpit & Pen has previously reported, Apologia Church secretly recorded clergy-penitent conversations to archive and later use for retaliatory purposes. After we reported that Apologia’s secret sin confession recordings found its way on YouTube (with both Durbin and White using it to threaten Tim Hurd), the church was silent for days while many of … Read more
Oklahoma is fast becoming the battleground between incumbent pro-life republicans who have squandered their ability to abolish abortion in the state, and abolitionists primary challengers who are determined to oust them because of it. This ideological conflict has been brewing for years. Last month we wrote about how the pro-life republican supermajority killed a bill … Read more
On Wednesday the Oklahoma State Senate tabled a motion to bring Senate Bill 13 — the Abolition of Abortion in Oklahoma Act — to the Senate floor. By a 38-4 vote, this act of cowardice shelved the bill for the rest of the legislative session and ensures that it will not be heard. SB 13 was … Read more
Phoenix apologist and elder at Apologia Church, James White, took to Twitter on Sunday morning to rebuke people for not knowing enough about Sharia before criticizing it. According to the apologist, who has engaged in a number of friendly Interfaith Dialogues with Muslim scholars as well as a number of moderated debates, people should have … Read more
The Bible doesn’t forbid drinking. We get it. But just when you think the flaunt-your-liberty movement is dying, cliche frat boy Christians go and launch another booze-and-Jesus event. They’re so…cutting edge. They’re like…2013 cutting edge. What would make hymns even better? To the folks behind Beer and Hymns, excluding people who struggle with addiction makes … Read more
Who is the worst Christian of 2019? On the surface, this seems like a foolish or even pharisaical question. The fact of the matter is that there are none worthy to stand righteous before God except his perfect son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Every believer struggles with sin every day and will continue to do … Read more
Who out there, among the professing, has had the most deleterious effect on the health of the body of Christ in the year 2019? Using a number of criteria Pulpit & Pen has identified a list of nominees from a pool of eligible individuals (obvious charlatans and the theologically heterodox* were not included for consideration). In … Read more
con·de·scend (kŏn′dĭsĕnd′) intr.v. to lower oneself… James White’s “church,” Apologia, is reeling from a controversy revolving around its secret recording of clergy-penitent conversations and their anonymous release on YouTube against their critics. James White defended Apologia’s actions in a video late last week. Since then, dozens of Apologia church members, former members, former leaders, and … Read more
Christians ought to train their powers of discernment to be ready to defend the good and denounce the evil. Paul commends those who reason carefully about what they hear—and who do not simply follow the persuasive power of a famous leader. “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word … Read more
