Pastor John Lindell of James River Church has apologized for inviting pastor Mark Driscoll and Sword Swallower Alex Magala to his Stronger Men’s conference, telling his congregation that while his public rebuke of Driscoll was “both biblical and necessary,” he nonetheless was regretful that he invited them both out, on account of the “division” that it brought.
During the conference, Driscoll called out the sword-swallowing and acrobatic performance of Magala as inviting in the “Jezebel Spirit” and likened it to a strip show, causing it to trend across Christian Twitter.
In his Sunday evening broadcast, which is not presently available on their website but which we’ve saved below, Lindell explains:
“Let me just say this about the events of this past week. I want to say two things. First of all, I want to thank you for your overwhelming response on Wednesday night. What happened was both biblical and necessary, and the Lord was present and for that we’re grateful.
At the same time, I want to be clear and I want to apologize and let you know I take full responsibility for the decision that was made to invite Mark Driscoll and Alex Magala to the Stronger Men’s Conference.
I am deeply saddened by the division that our invitation has brought to the Body of Christ. That was never our intent. The Stronger Men’s Conference is about reaching men for Jesus Christ, and it will continue to be about reaching men for Jesus Christ.
It’s a terrible apology, both in substance and in content. During his now-infamous message, which Lindell claims was “biblical and necessary” yet contained lies and falsehoods, he told his congregation that Magala was a Christian, which he absolutely is not:
Let’s start with Alex Magala, the sword swallower. Alex is a born again Christian and has been for approximately 10 years. He is married, has children wow,m attends Mosaic Church in Los Angeles
California where Irwin McManus is the pastor.While Alex was here he participated in worship and when he was taken to the airport our James River Church host watched as Alex boldly shared his faith with an individual.
Alex like many Christians has a past but he has been made a new creation. He’s been made a new creation through his faith in Jesus Christ…
All made up and wishful thinking. In his own video, Magala denies being “saved” or “born again” ten years ago, saying he’s an Orthodox Christian and “I get through the ceremony of becoming a Christian as a baby, so pretty much all my family is an Orthodox Christian.”
He says he only goes to church because his friends go there and that’s where he can find good people, has denied having a child, and later insisted that there’s nothing wrong with stripping, which he calls “go-go dancing”.
He also explains that when he does his performance and climbs the pole “the minute when I drop down, that to me is when I give my life to God” and when he stops just short of the ground “that’s the moment when I get saved by God.”
