In late 2022, former Southern Baptist Theological Seminary professor David Sills filed suit against the SBC and 11 other high-profile personalities, including current SBC President Bart Barber, former president Ed Litton, Albert Mohler, Jennifer Lyell (the woman who accused him of sexual abuse) and others. Sills requested a trial by jury, claiming that he’d been repeatedly and unfairly maligned for years, and sought monetary damages and compensation for destroying his reputation by his denomination.
Several years ago, Lyell, then a Vice-President at Lifeway Christian Resources, admitted to being involved in a sexual relationship with David Sills for over a decade. She claimed that it resulted from him ‘grooming’ her while enrolled in a missions class at the seminary in 2004 when she was 26 years old, ending 12 years later when she was 38 and having long moved on. She says that he “sexually acted” against her but never provided details or offered what the grooming looked like throughout their relationship, particularly when they were away for months. Once their affair was revealed, however, it resulted in his swift termination and public disgrace.
A year later, she would seemingly walk back any suggestion that she was guilty of any sin for the relationship, explaining in an update that just because she was ‘compliant,’ it did not mean their relationship was ‘consensual.’ As her understanding of her role in the whole affair continued to evolve, she also appeared to dispel the notion that there was any sin on her part for which she ought to apologize, supposing that she was and remains a complete, guiltless victim in every sense of the word, sharing the same culpability of a 4-year-old being, molested by her step-father.
Everyone agreed with her. The SBC Committee ultimately defended her victimhood. The Sexual Abuse Task Force dedicated approximately 35 of its 288 pages to Lyell’s story and the circumstances surrounding it, repeatedly castigating Sills not as an “alleged abuser” but a definite, for sure, unequivocal “abuser” while framing the 12 years together as one long incident of “nonconsensual sexual abuse” between adults.
The SBC Executive Committee, in a rare move, also issued a personal apology to Lyell for failing to “adequately listen, protect and care” for her after she came forward with allegations of sexual abuse by her professor, as well as acknowledged the “unintentional harm” they caused her by not correctly reporting her case and framing what happened to her in a blameworthy and distressing manner, resulting in a confidential monetary settlement to Lyell of $1,500,000.
However.
Earlier this week, Sills refiled the lawsuit against the same personalities and entities, this time in Tennessee, alleging conspiracy, defamation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. He’s also suing Guidepost Solutions, which named him as a sexual predator in a report given to the SBC that is now being distanced from by SBC lawyers.
While Sills has admitted to having an inappropriate and sexual relationship with Lyell, he has denied abusing, grooming, or forcing himself upon her in any way. He claims that their encounters were completely consensual and did not include intercourse (she, too, has admitted the latter) and intends to make many Southern Baptists pay for any suggestion to the contrary.
As North Point Community Church and pastor Andy Stanley continue to be embroiled in a series of controversies featuring the revelation of widespread LGBTQ-affirming pastors, church leaders, and sentiment within their churches (see endnotes), Stanley claimed in yesterday’s sermon that Christians need to stop treating the rest of the Bible as inspired or as important as the gospels and to stop treating the gospels like the rest of the ‘bible stories.’
Speaking in the context of trying to determine what are the bare minimum things Christians need to believe to be saved, he says Christians can disagree on things like bible translations or the literalness of the Genesis account, but they can’t disagree on fundamental, primary beliefs like and “Jesus is God’s Son and our King” and “Jesus came to illustrate what God is like.”
Stanley argues that the rest of the Bible is insufficient for determining God’s nature and character, and so if we want to know what God is like, it can only be done through examining Jesus in the gospels.
…And the problem is not the Bible. The problem is the way the Bible is traditionally talked about when people talk about the Bible, and how the Bible is taught. And the tendency- and I understand this, because I was raised, like many of you in church, the tendency is to equalize the importance of everything in the Bible, or to equate the importance of everything in the Bible. So if it’s in the Bible, everything is equally inspired and consequently, it is equally important.
But that is not the case.
And that’s what we’re going to discover today. In fact, that’s what we’re going to discover for the rest of this series. The events, and this is so important, especially if you’re raising kids in church. The events recorded by the Gospels, we’re talking about the life of Jesus, as recorded by Matthew, the life of Jesus as recorded by Mark, the life of Jesus as recorded by Luke, the life of Jesus as recorded by John, did you ever wonder why do we four versions of the same story, we only have one version of the parting of the Red Sea, one version of David and Goliath, one version of Noah, but we get to Jesus, why do we have four versions of the same life?
Because the events recorded in the gospels are not Bible stories. But, the events recorded in the gospels are oftentimes reduced to simply Bible stories, which equates Jesus story with all the other stories in the Bible.
He continues:
But Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, are not Bible stories about Jesus. The Gospels document Jesus’ explanation of what God is like. And as obvious as that should be, it is not obvious for many of us, and it is not obvious to many in the church. …The problem is the way that pastors use and refer to the Bible, the problem is not the Bible. The problem is the way that the Bible is often positioned and taught.
Because when we equate, when we equate the importance of everything in the Bible, when we say ‘since it’s all inspired, it is all equally important,’ we unintentionally’ and I think it’s always unintentional, we always. we unintentionally negate or minimize the unique purpose of Jesus. Not the purpose of his death, the purpose of his life.
As John would say opening his gospel, that the Logos, the word, God, came and dwelled with us. He camped out with us. He pitched his tent with us. He came to live among us so that we could know. Not Bible stories, we get to know what the Father is like.
But this is some of the mistakes that we make; we equalize, we equate everything. Jesus was like, no, no, and I’ll tell you who didn’t make that mistake….And this is why we should take this seriously. The person who didn’t make this mistake is actually a Pharisee, who was absolutely 100% committed to Torah, who grew up under the Old Covenant, and then abandoned the old covenant for the new covenant that Jesus established. He lived under both covenants. The apostle Paul begs first century Christians: ‘don’t make the mistake of equating everything in our scriptures with what has just happened among us.’
…But anyway, he claimed to be not just a Pharisee, but a well trained, educated Pharisee. And he’s like, “Look, if anybody knows Torah, I know Torah. If anybody has a vision of God, as described in Torah, and through the prophets, it’s me, but I’m telling you, something new has happened. Someone new has come. God has revealed himself as he’s never revealed himself before. If we want to know what God is like, we don’t have to look back that far because he showed up among us. And everything that came before, everything that came before” he’d say, “those were, those were just shadows of the things to come.”
He concludes:
We don’t have an account of (Jesus’) life, we have four. Because the life of Jesus is by far, by far, by far the most important literature in the Bible. It’s all inspired. It’s not all equally important and everybody who lived in the first century who met Jesus understood that.
Not because what came before was innaccurate, it just wasn’t complete. You won’t know, as smart as you are and as insightful as you and as as much life experience as you’ve had, you won’t know what the Father is like until you take the time to discover what Jesus is like. And you’ll get the clearest picture of Jesus by following Jesus through the Gospels.
Louisiana-based artist Lauren Daigle keeps making the discernment news for the same reason. In 2018, the prominent Christian artist was asked by noted lesbian Ellen DeGeneres her view on homosexuality, and she answered: “You know, I can’t honestly answer on that. I have too many people that I love that are homosexuals. I don’t know.”
Then in 2020, she performed a set at Brigham Young University for their Christmas show, saying her goal was to “extend the tent pegsand reach as many people as we possibly can” and “I love the fact that Jesus spent his time in many different places. He was with lots of different types of people, and that’s the light of the gospel for me, is to see it go to so many different areas.”
At no point does she seemingly consider that Mormons are not Christians and therefore are not welcome under the Christian tent. The ‘light of the gospel’ would include preaching their need to repent of their false religion, not singing a bunch of Christmas carols for them.
While she continues to make questionable choices in her associations, (Daigle’s writing team for her new album “Thank God I Do” includes Shane McAnally, an openly gay man who is ‘married’ to another man and adopted a couple of kids) what caught our eyes is that Daigle has not gotten any better at boldly speaking out about fundamental issues of Christian morality, or knowing where the battles lie.
In a May 10, 2023 interview with The Guardian, when asked what she thinks of her state’s ban on abortion, Lauren claims ignorance and says she doesn’t even know what the laws are.
While Daigle is well practised at keeping her political opinions to herself, she admits that her perspective has shifted since Trump’s presidency. “I got wrapped up in the way the politics was being projected, and the animosity,” she says. “Now we’re on this side and I’m looking back at myself, I’m like, wow, yes, I do believe certain things, but did it actually get the best of my faith? At the end of the day, the Bible calls us to unity.”
She finds it “shocking” that Trump is still in the headlines – “it’s wild that there’s this gravitational pull to constantly talk about him” – in a way that suggests a certain naivety. The 45th president’s legacy remains encoded in the country’s current legislative agenda: what about the near-total ban on abortion that went into effect in Louisiana last year, with no exceptions even for rape or incest? “I have no idea, I’m terrible,” says Daigle. “I know that we have a Democrat governor but I don’t know where our abortion laws are in Louisiana.”
Last year, Hannah-Kate Williams filed suit against several SBC entities and personalities, including Lifeway, the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Mike Stone, Rod Martin, the SBC Executive Committee, and others, alleging that they “conspired to protect the Baptist denomination from a problem of sexual abuse of minors or other vulnerable populations” by not investigating her reports, along with painting her as a liar who has no credibility.
Williams, a troubled soul with a long history of erratic behavior, contends that her father sexually, physically, and psychologically abused her from the ages of 5-16. She says she reported that abuse at the age of 8 to SBC church staff, but they did nothing other than tell her, “I’m praying for you.”
When a recent Kentucky law extending the statute of limitations for child abuse survivors to sue their abusers, Williams took advantage by suing the SBC itself, along with a few familiar faces, including her father, Lifeway (his former employer), the SBC Executive Committee, and SEBTS.
The Southern Baptist Convention, faced with mounting pressure to address accusations that the denomination was covering up rampant sexual abuse, was guided by members of the SBC’s Executive Committee to waive attorney-client privilege. Williams played a role in this by actively encouraging the effort, championing its importance. In the process, she glommed on to several high-profile leaders and partnered with them to accomplish this, including Grant Gaines, Dean Inserra and Todd Benkert, tearfully appearing at the SBC annual conference to plead her case.
Her goal realized, she has taken to social media to crow in mockery. She now says it was stupid on their part to waive it, it was brilliant on her part to convince them to waive it, and it’s what they deserve.
Williams has spent the last few days on social media screenshotting responses to her which she plans to use to file even more lawsuits, and claims she has something big up her sleeve.
The fortieth in this year’s series showing our brothers and sisters in Christ gathering for church service as faithful believers.
While going to church does not make one a believer, refusing to faithfully attend a local church should seriously call that faith into question. This is a glimpse of what the global church is up to, and will feature images in chronological order, week to week, of the men and women being obedient to the scriptures. As always, click pictures to enlarge them.
Raymond Chang is president of the Evangeleftist organization Asian American Christian Collaborative and functions like his counterpart Jemar Tisby, president of The Witness Collective. Like Tisby, Chang regularly supports such leftist causes as the Black Lives Matter movement, the gun control movement, and racial hierarchy politics. The AACC website’s recommended resources page is chock full of links, book recommendations, and podcasts that focus almost exclusively on race-baiting and racialization of the church as if the organization’s only purpose is to promote racial and political division amongst Christians.
We wrote about Chang recently after he was a speaker at a Christian ‘Pro-Justice’ conference, where ironically, almost all the speakers present were either pro-choice or were utterly silent on the fall of Roe v. Wade, demonstrating their commitment to justice for all except the unborn.
Days ago, pastor Tom Buck posted a picture of a group of men who participated in an expository preaching conference. One man wore a shirt that read ‘My Plantation, My Choice.’ with a pair of baby feet underneath. His choice of clothing was picked up by another user and racked up over a million views, catching the attention who could not believe his eyes.
He led a charge against the man wearing it, accusing him of being a racist who supports slavery and, by necessity, the lynching of black folk.
Though many sought to explain to Chang what the shirt was conveying, he obstreperously displayed a pathological inability to comprehend of put two and two together. Tom Buck tried, but his efforts were in vain.
Seriously. Chang doubled and tripled down.
For those of us on the front lines in the abortion battle, whether engaging with strangers in street ministry or participating in social media campaigns, comparing abortion to the holocaust or slavery has long been a rhetorical argument that we’ve employed.
Unfortunately, Chang is out of the battle and so unfamiliar with anti-abortion rhetoric that he can’t even comprehend how the abortion holocaust and the dehumanization and murder of tens of millions of children are perfectly paralleled in the dehumanization of the Jews during WW2, which is perfectly paralleled in the dehumanization of black folk in the 19th century.
This is not language that only rabid abortion abolitionist employ: even The Babylon Bee did an article about this, writing “Slavery 👏 is 👏 plantation 👏 care 👏. And if anyone criticizes you for your personal decision to have slaves, just remember to clap back with these powerful words: “My plantation, my choice.”
At one point, Chang became oh-so-close to getting it, but it flew over his head.
Sadly, Chang never did get it, and he was joined by Veggie Tales creator Phil Visher. Vischer insists he’s “pro-life” and is “against abortion,” and yet he believes abortion should be legal and allowed in some circumstances, such as in cases of rape and incest. Despite his protestations, something tells us he would never accept someone saying they are “anti-slavery” and “against racism” while still wanting slave-owning to remain legal in some cases and circumstances.
That neither Chang nor Vischer understands the natural parallel and comparison between the two demonstrates an ignorance and obtuseness that is breathtaking to behold. The fact that Chang will not show a little intellectual honesty and grant that the man wasn’t seeking to broadcast his support for naked racism shows why he should be marked and avoided.
Impastor Passion Java is among the world’s wealthiest and flashiest prosperity preachers. A self-described prophet, he founded the Kingdom Embassy church in Zimbabwe, which claims over 30 locations worldwide. In 2021 he moved to the United States, where he set up shop in Beltsville, Maryland. In 2013 he founded his own Television Network, Kingdom TV, which broadcasts his sermons and other rank heresy to millions of people.
Claiming to be able to supernaturally interact with angels and having Benny Hinn as his spiritual father, his website notes, “He has been nicknamed Chariot Rider, Gaffa, and FBI Prophet because of the way he prophesies. Including the prophecy of the death of Nelson Mandela, which he stated six months before it happened. He prophesied the year, month, date, minute, second, and the place he would die.”
This devil, who insists that giving him money is the surest way to God’s favor and financial blessing, is worth between $50-80 million dollars.
Known to love a good flaunt, he makes it a habit of posting his new purchases on social media, sharing his like diamond rings, Lamborghinis, Jaguars, and a recently purchased $ 2.1 million Bugatti. He also loves Gucci, and half his Facebook photos are him posing in Gucci clothing. He argues that because he was born poor, the Lord told him to show off his wealth.
In a recent video posted to his Instagram, Java shows off his designer clothes, phone, and gold chains, flaunting his wealth and the spoils of his flock-fleecing.
Investigative Reporter Julie Roys has found herself the subject of extensive backlash after announcing one of her conference speakers has withdrawn from her upcoming event, resulting in yet another demonstration that Roys’ discernment and judgment are nearly nonexistent.
In 2022, Roys was forced to pull out of her own “Restore 2022” conference after being accused of committing gross and creepy spiritual abuse against a young teen. Unlike sexual abuse, spiritual abuse seemingly had a one-year shelf-life, as Roys announced she would be part of this year’s 2023 speaker lineup, along with notorious race-baiter Kyle J. Howard, who she has previously platformed and praised.
While Roys goes hard in the paint against MacArthur and Grace Community Church regularly, she’s been cheerleading on Howard, even though she would excoriate any leaders at GCC if they had anything near Howard’s deeply racist track record. Take a look:
Despite Howard being the worst of the worst, Roys continued to platform him and ignore calls for his removal. Roys knew about his anti-white proclivities but simply didn’t care, choosing instead to stand by him while he wailed on white women and white supremacy through his social media stream. In fact, he was so given over to his ideals that he refused to attend churches where most of the congregants were white, refusing to take communion with them or worship alongside them.
Even then, Howard remained a planned speaker, until he removed himself after finding himself in a predictable mess of his own making.
Perhaps the most significant controversy of Howard’s career, Howard was accused of lying about and engaging in online bullying and harassment over his involvement in working as an unlicensed “soul care” provider, resulting in him deleting his primary Twitter account. (He has a secondary Twitter account where only black people are allowed to follow him and see his tweets)
You can read the whole report here, but in a nutshell, Sacred Wilderness, an abuse survivor care company, hired two employees to work for them. These two became upset at the Board’s decision to bring on a white male pastor as a guest speaker at an event because the man didn’t align with their intersectional ideals.
These staffers decided they should have as much power and decision-making as the Board of Directors. They began making accusations of racism and bullying against company leaders, and so Kyle J. Howard was tapped to advocate on the staffer’s behalf. Kyle quickly launched all sorts of claims against the company’s founders, accusing them of racism and all manner of evils (the founders are white).
In response, Sacred Wilderness hired Wade Mullen of Pellucid Consulting to do a full organizational assessment, including the communications between Kyle and the org. This is the same Wade Mullen who is a speaker at her upcoming conference. The 58-page report absolved Sacred Wilderness from Howard’s vile claims and showed that he himself was the one bullying, harassing, lying, and acting completely unprofessional.
Put more succinctly:
In response to her announcement, Roys has received extensive criticism, which is well deserved. It’s evident she has great difficulty identifying what is and is not abusive behavior, which necessarily plays out in her reporting about other prominent public figures.
One of Julie Roys' most ardent fans, Dan George, former elder at Harvest Bible Church/James MacDonald, confronts JR over her statement regarding the departure of Kyle from her Restore Conf.
JR clearly lacks discretion, beginnning w/ her decision to even have Kyle as a speaker. pic.twitter.com/Jlkg9DYqzG
It should have NEVER come to this. Kyle’s public conduct and the sheer amount of overtly racist things he’s been saying for years should have disqualified him from speaking at her show the minute he was a consideration in her mind’s eye. Sadly, the much-vaunted “professional journalist” who’d write 10,000 words on John MacArthur if he even looked at someone funny, couldn’t catch a clue and had nothing to say about the real abuser until it all blew up in her face.
Christian streaming platform Pure Flix has announced that it will combine forces and merge with Bill Abbott’s Great American Family TV network, in a bid to rival the LGBTQ-affirming Hallmark Channel.
Pureflix, which has over a million subscribers paying $7.99/month, is known for its faith-based films and TV shows, some good and some wretchedly awful. It includes everything from God’s Not Dead (all of them) , The Case for Christ, Veggie Tales, Unplanned, Redeeming Love, The Chosen, Courageous, and a host of romantic dramas involving Christian women getting stranded in small towns and meeting handsome widows with precocious children.
You’ll recall that VeggieTales co-creator Phil Vischer once spent nearly 30 minutes on episode 537 of the Holy Post discussing Candace Cameron Bure’s move to the new Great American Family Network (GAF). Bure, a professing Christian, was one of the biggest stars on the Hallmark Channel, featured in over two dozen films. She left Hallmark because of their shift to feature same-sex couples and love stories, writing that she “wanted to promote faith programming and good family entertainment” and “I think that Great American Family will keep traditional marriage at the core.”
After taking a swipe at folks who don’t want to see movies with LBGTQ characters in them as people whose “comfort food is Cracker Barrel, and they just want a Christmas movie that feels like it was made in the 50s” Skye Jethani claimed it was an “overreaction” on the part of GAF to not feature LBGTQ character in central or even non-central roles, to which Vischer agreed.
Elaine Scott is a long-time North Point Community Church pastor, her involvement dating back nearly 30 years. From Membership & Baptism Coordinator to Care Ministry Coordinator, she’s now the Director of Women’s Groups at Woodstock City Church. Last year she led a 4-week study through the book of Psalms and she preaches every now and then.
Woodstock City Church (WCC) is one of the eight multisite churches North Point Community Church operates, just off Ridgewalk Pkwy in Woodstock, GA. We recently covered them after a young man from the congregation came out as a “transgender woman” on Instagram and shared that his pronouns were now ‘she/her.’
Rather than WCC leaders seeing this as a sad, tragic turn of events, they celebrated him, offering multiple means of support. In particular, nearly a dozen North Point leaders were active in the comments at the news of his coming out into gender confusion, giving him “likes” and “hearts” and saying things like “beautiful” and “Be you! Much, much love.”
Clay Scroggin is another leader at North Point Ministries. The Lead Pastor of several campuses over the years, including Buckhead and the flagship North Point, many viewed his leadership as only second to Andy Stanley. Scroggins left North Point in 2021 to found his own leadership company. We wrote about him after he invited an open and unrepentant gay man to come to give a talk at North Point and then praised the gay man’s LGBT-affirming ministry, praying, “Lord, let him create more allies for the LGBTQ community.”
In 2014, a young woman named Karly approached both Elaine and Clay. A long-time congregant, she was a lesbian who dated women, even though she eschewed the label. Her reasons for coming to them for counsel were atypical. She met and spent time with a transgendered man earlier in the year, which was an experience that shook her to her core. It made her realize that all this time, she was not a gay woman attracted to other women, but rather, she was actually a straight man attracted to other women. She explains what happened next:
After meeting a transgender man in early 2014, I was able to finally understand my life in context to my thoughts and feelings. This led me to a massive decision with both my faith and family. I had no idea what GOD would think of this, let alone my family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers.
My family struggled deeply with me dating girls, and the struggle was worse when it came to finding my place at church and in GOD’s heart. I was lucky enough to meet up with clay Scroggins and Elaine Scott of NPCC, to finally find some clarity on what my life would look life in GOD’s eyes if I went through with becoming a man. What did this have on my faith, my personal relationship, and belonging in a church? I needed answers, and peace.
After meeting with them, I left that day with the weight of the world off my shoulders and this uncontrollable feeling come across me. They helped me understand that GOD loves us all, in any shape or form, because if he didn’t, he wouldn’t have sent his son down to die for ALL of our sins. If they only knew how long I had been waiting on that comfort; and those simple words. My faith from that day on exploded with joy and persistence.
It is ironic that the one place that all LGBTQ’s fear the most to be involved with (church), was the same place that brought my transition upon me. I use to hate and fear the church including all the people in it. Now, I am involved and loved, and know I belong.
She went into her meeting with the North Point pastors with a heavy heart and emerged light, free, full of clarity, and with the” weight of the world off my shoulders.”
We reached out to Scott and Scroggins to ask how it was that Zapp left the meeting walking on clouds and feeling so affirmed. We were only able to get ahold of the latter. Scroggins declined to participate in the article and bristled at the suggestion that he affirmed Troy’s decision to transition, begrudgingly offering, “I didn’t give Troy my blessing (to transition).”
That doesn’t appear to be the takeaway she got from it. Following the meeting, spiritually invigorated, she began her transition. She took hormones and testosterone. She received top surgery within the year- cutting off healthy breasts. At this time, she began dating a woman who she would eventually ‘marry.’ At some point ‘Karly’ changer her name to ‘Troy.’
In late 2015, Troy appeared at North Point Church alongside Clay Scroggins, receiving a platform to share her story and testimony with the congregants. While this audio is no longer available (if you have it, please send it to us), it’s clear that these pastors did not see her transition as a hardening of the heart or something that needed to be repented of or set aside.
In May 2016, Troy gave her testimony and was baptized by Elaine Scott, the pastor who the confused woman came to for help and guidance over her identity less than two years ago. During her baptism testimony, where she thanked her parents and girlfriend, she reveals a bit more of that conversation:
I was lucky to meet up with Elaine Scott and Clay Scroggins of North Point Community Church in order to seek answers on how to get on God’s good side and what it took to receive a passing score into his heart….They truly knew that that’s not the answers I needed to hear that day. That God loves us no matter what, and that in proof, he sent his only son down to die for our sins. That he would truly love me no matter what.
And in that moment and on that day, I truly knew what it felt like to accept Jesus Christ into my heart. For so many years I thought we had to be this perfect Christian image in order to receive God’s love and acceptance. It’s a shame that it took me this long to figure out that God’s love was already there all along.
Pastor Elaine offered:
Troy, I think your story just says it all. I mean, there is nothing greater or more freeing than knowing that God loves us. God loves you. Right where you are, exactly as you are… and I am so honored to do your baptism today. And it is based upon your profession of faith that it’s my privilege to baptize you in the name of the father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”
Troy is not the first openly unrepentant gay person to be baptized at North Point Church under Andy Stanley’s watch. In 2021 one of their churches baptized Cortland Russell, who said Gregory Cook, an LGBTQ-affirming leader at North Point who runs the pro-LGBTQ+ advocacy group Renovus, taught him how to be a queer Christian.
Cortland would also reveal that three leaders at North Point, Gregory Cook, Pastor Debbie Causey, and Sandi Harman-Waldrop, who all serve on the board of this gay-promoting group), encouraged him to be baptized.
18 months passed.
In October 2017, Scroggins again invited Troy to speak at North Point Nights as part of the Us vs. Us series for a conversation about gender. This episode has also been purged from the playlist, though some vestiges remain.
Zapp became engaged in 2018 and married her long-term girlfriend in 2020. It is unclear if the Zapps still attend one of North Point’s churches, but given that every door was open to her at every turn, we don’t see why they wouldn’t be.
Most churches would tell a professing Christian intent on ‘transitioning’ that doing so would be a grievous sin. They’d subject her to church discipline, counseling that her insistence is against God’s created order. They would tell her that God made her female and that she must pursue this design rather than the confusion she’s been plagued with. They would not give her a platform but tell her to repent.
For Stanley and his leaders, as you can see from the stories we’ve already uncovered, that’s be completely out of the question. Truly, none of this should surprise anyone. It’s not a matter of if there are more stories like this, but rather how many.
