Spanky Sproul 4: Wicked, Wicked Deeds

[DomWackTroll]

On 9/10/2019 at 1:40 PM, Howl said:

Does Spanky have the moral edge over Tullian, because Spanky only registered for Ashley Madison and didn't - and I can't emphasize this enough -- actually inhale, wink, wink. 

I'd love to hear them get into an argument over who was the "best" sinner.

"May I remind you that I have a sex and an alcohol problem, Tullian?"

"Yes, my dear Spanx, but technically I've inserted my penis into at least one-- some say two!-- women who were not my then-wife. See? Then-wife. Divorce." 

(Under his breath) "Dude, I'm working on it." 

"What?" 

"Nothing!" 

[older than allosaurs]

1 hour ago, DomWackTroll said:

I'd love to hear them get into an argument over who was the "best" sinner.

"May I remind you that I have a sex and an alcohol problem, Tullian?"

"Yes, my dear Spanx, but technically I've inserted my penis into at least one-- some say two!-- women who were not my then-wife. See? Then-wife. Divorce." 

(Under his breath) "Dude, I'm working on it."

Can Tullian match RC for financial shenanigans and overall spiritual abuse, though? They might fight to a draw.

[MamaJunebug]

5 hours ago, older than allosaurs said:

Can Tullian match RC for financial shenanigans and overall spiritual abuse, though? They might fight to a draw.

Sparky wins in the category of “sullying your ancestor’s good name,” though. He’s immediately recognizable as a Sproul, where Tulle-ian is under the radar as the grandson of Billy Graham. 

(Sometimes, the apples do fall far from the trees!)

[stylites]

On 9/1/2019 at 5:09 AM, DomWackTroll said:

The more I think about this, the more... just no. Yeah, I had heard that they played golf together, but legend? It ain't exactly George Washington chopping down the cherry tree or the disappearance of Virginia Dare. Honestly, Spanx, the way you go on... 

Also from a standpoint of correctness they played one round, once, purely by chance - at least that’s what his father said. So “playing golf together” is doing a lot of work. 

[Banyan]

On 9/11/2019 at 7:10 PM, older than allosaurs said:

Can Tullian match RC for financial shenanigans and overall spiritual abuse, though? They might fight to a draw.

I think you're correct that Tullian lags far behind RC Jr in overall yuckiness. They're both disgraced and defrocked Presbyterians. So it makes a lot of sense they're each others #1 fans. Their respective wives are both psycho so it makes sense they're also best buddies. I don't think Tullian actually likes or admires RC Jr the way RC Jr likes and admires Tullian. It's not like Tullian is ever going to ask the likes of an RC Jr to write the forward for his next book. He's too smart for that. Tullian is just glad to have Junior around for comparison sake. Having RC Jr around makes Tullian look a little less horrifying than he really is.

Tullian broke up 3 marriages that we know of, starting with his own, by all his philandering. We'll never know the full extent of his philandering though. My guess is there are other women who are too embarrassed and afraid to come forward. If they came forward it only result in instant divorce, so they're keeping quiet. What we do know is Tullian groomed at least two married women in "pastoral counseling" sessions and convinced them that his dick has magical marriage-saving properties. Tullian is a disgusting lecher. So what does that make his new wife? Much like Lisa, Stacie is an egocentric fool to think she can change the heart of her husband with sex.

Yes, Tullian is a lecher. But he's just your basic one-trick pony (the kind that can't keep his dick in his pants) Sproul's list of crimes and offenses significantly outpaces Tullian. Sproul takes the prize for debauchery and crookedness:

• Drunk and stoned on opioids driving (with children in the car no less!)
• Carrying concealed guns to "pastoral counseling" meetings for "conflict resolution" purposes
• Setting up an online sex affair accounts (at least one that we know of) to hook up with married women
• Throwing keggers at church
• Spiking the kiddies' punch bowl with Everclear
• Stealing money from the church coffers
• Ripping off other churches and ministries by double billing them for travel expenses (including Ligonier)
• Stealing the tax ID number of another church
• Bullying and spiritually abusing his church members
• Creating the Hotel California of churches ("You can check in anytime you want but you can never leave")
• Excommunicating over a dozen families for petty offenses (like trying to leave without his permission)
• Ordering his church members to shun the "excommunicants" or face the same "discipline"

Sproul is the classic gun toting sociopathic cult leader, which makes him scarier and more dangerous than Tullian. I genuinely fear for anyone who naively joins his "Fellowship."

[bea]

Not to change the topic, but Wikipedia has Spanky listed as a Calvinist and I can’t figure out why. He’s not one. He literally switched teams, didn’t he?

[Banyan]

4 hours ago, bea said:

Not to change the topic, but Wikipedia has Spanky listed as a Calvinist and I can’t figure out why. He’s not one. He literally switched teams, didn’t he?

Good catch. Someone should probably change that. No sincere Reformed Calvinist would be a member of an Arminian Anabaptist church.

Quote

On March 27, 2019 Sproul announced, "I am a member in good standing at Pine Hills Church here in Fort Wayne. It is a part of the Federation of Evangelical Churches."^[15] The FEC is an Anabaptist denomination of Amish Mennonite origin.

 

[older than allosaurs]

Tour de Sproul

Good heavens but he is busy. Daily podcast. Near daily blog posts. Weekly lesson on "Discovering Jesus" at his church. Lots of Twittering. Periodic "Ask RC" column on his blog. He and Lisa have an ongoing feature on Life in a Blender, about managing blended families. Since most of their family is not on board with their god-breathed blendedness, it's hard to come up with specific examples, so they spend it talking about things like their daily marital prayer sessions.

Once again, would people please stop expecting him to be sorry about the harm he's caused?

Quote

Jesus came to save sinners, of which I am the chief. Now I can respond to this truth in one of two ways. I can zero in on the conclusion in such a way as to deny the beginning. I am a sinner, the very chief of sinners. But that makes me the very object of Christ’s saving work. My joy is not that I am a sinner, but that I am forgiven. To require that I carry with me a hangdog expression, that I walk through my days like a dejected Charlie Brown is to deny that Jesus saved me, that He has covered my sins, even the ones others, including the devil, love to throw up in my face.

• I also learned that we need to be biblical about offering help to the poor. If you are poor because a hurricane hit you, you deserve help, though probably not government help. If you are poor because you're oppressed -- his examples were cab drivers being driven out by Uber and Lyft, and people who aren't allowed to cut hair without a license -- then aid is warranted. But if you are sinful and lazy, you need to be left to God and not assisted otherwise so you have the chance to repent.
• Puritans were joyful, fun-loving people, unlike modern liberals who are full of gloom and judgment and want him to stop using plastic straws.
• People are leaving mainline churches in droves because, because....  I've forgotten why but it has something to do with forgetting about things like head-covering for women. Oh yeah, mainline churches have fallen into the error of thinking that biblical commands should be viewed in cultural context and ignored if we find them inconvenient now. Evangelical churches, on the other hand, are doing great. [Is this true? I thought they were hemorrhaging members?]

Now I'm a teacher myself, and I like to pontificate and sound authoritative. But this guy -- does he ever come down from his throne and maybe caulk a leak or put some clothes in the dryer?

 

 

[thoughtful]

4 hours ago, older than allosaurs said:

If you are poor because you're oppressed -- his examples were cab drivers being driven out by Uber and Lyft, and people who aren't allowed to cut hair without a license -- then aid is warranted

Interesting interpretation of oppression, there, Spanky.

 

[Banyan]

14 hours ago, older than allosaurs said:

I also learned that we need to be biblical about offering help to the poor. If you are poor because a hurricane hit you, you deserve help, though probably not government help. If you are poor because you're oppressed -- his examples were cab drivers being driven out by Uber and Lyft, and people who aren't allowed to cut hair without a license -- then aid is warranted. But if you are sinful and lazy, you need to be left to God and not assisted otherwise so you have the chance to repent.

Sounds like nothing's changed.

One of the reasons Sproul was defrocked was over spiritual abuse. He delights in guilt-tripping people who don't conform to his values, including his anti-government stance. Sproul is a control freak, so he hates it when someone or something stands in the way of that control. If anyone in his church cult is in any way dependent on the government, rather than on him, he'll bully that person into relinquishing control to him. He especially hates it when people receive any form of welfare. Getting drunk, even drunk driving, was never an issue with him. Get drunk all you want, hit on young ladies (even minors), but just don't take government welfare.  In one case Sproul bullied a disabled young man with a mental illness. Dennis' illness prevented his being able to maintain a steady job. It didn't matter to Sproul that Dennis had been been in therapy for many years. It didn't matter to Sproul that Dennis had been professionally diagnosed with a serious disability or that Dennis' therapists prescribed medications for his condition. Dennis naively disclosed his condition to Sproul and Sproul immediately condemned Dennis as a lazy freeloader and insisted that Dennis discontinue his medications, quit his therapy sessions, discontinue his welfare, and seek employment. That wasn't the first or the last time Sproul would do that either. Sproul had also given the same exact "advice" to a married woman that he'd "counseled" previous to Dennis.

The world is extremely lucky no one ever suicided because of Sproul's reckless and irresponsible advice. He is the last person in the world anyone should ever go to for advice. Unfortunately his being in any form of ministry makes it likely that people will go to him for advice. Lord have mercy!

[Howl]

22 hours ago, older than allosaurs said:

But if you are sinful and lazy, you need to be left to God and not assisted otherwise so you have the chance to repent.

Rufus Reindeer, but this chafes my chaps.  Junior  has lived most of his life on the largesse of the Sproul family fortune.  He even got a paycheck when he was on leave before his terminal scandal.  It pisses me off, and I mean REALLY PISSES ME OFF when people with family money shit on the poor.   

@Banyan, I'd be curious to know if anyone has alerted his current church to his past history.  A lot of times, though, if *cough* someone has a sufficient line of bullshit and charisma, all past "sins" are forgiven. 

Edited September 22, 2019 by Howl

[older than allosaurs]

7 minutes ago, Howl said:

Rufus Reindeer, but this chafes my chaps.  Junior  has lived most of his life on the largesse of the Sproul family fortune.  He even got a paycheck when he was on leave before his terminal scandal.  It pisses me off, and I mean REALLY PISSES ME OFF when people with family money shit on the poor.    

@Banyan,

I wonder if RCJR ever asks himself how it would have worked out for him if his family had practiced what he preaches way back when he was first defrocked in -- I think -- 2006. But maybe family enabling is A-OK as long as you're on the receiving end. I don't see him going the extra mile to support his own kids.

 

[hoipolloi]

21 minutes ago, older than allosaurs said:

I don't see him going the extra mile to support his own kids.

He won't, certainly not as long as Queen Lisa rules the roost at chez Spanky.

What an insufferable prick RC Jr is. 

[Banyan]

6 minutes ago, Howl said:

Rufus Reindeer, but this chafes my chaps.  Junior  has lived most of his life on the largesse of the Sproul family fortune.  He even got a paycheck when he was on leave before his terminal scandal.  It pisses me off, and I mean REALLY PISSES ME OFF when people with family money shit on the poor.   

But @Howl you've got it all wrong! Sproul isn't just your typical welfare queen. He's special. He deserves largesse. It's good largesse though because rather than coming from the bad old government it comes from God's people and their tax deductible donations. That makes it holy largesse. His family confirmed that he's Precious from childhood and throughout his employment(s) at Ligonier. He got very used to his six figure Ligonier salary and only having to make an occasional appearance at the Ligonier office. So when he moved to Virginia in 1996 to start St. Peter Presbyterian Church and his tax deductible brewery disguised as a "ministry" the Highlands Study Center he demanded his minions pay him an $85,000 salary plus $4,000/mo housing allowance plus any creative "expenses" he could fabricate. Even though St. Peter was and is a relatively small church, and even though paying him such an enormous salary put a huge financial burden on them, he helped everyone understand that he really did deserve it. But by 2010 he'd excommunicated so many families that there wasn't enough offerings coming in anymore to pay his huge salary.

Becoming bi-vocational and getting a part-time day job to take some of the financial burden off his church was never an option in Sproul's way of thinking. After all he deserves a six figure salary, and if the church can't afford it then that's their problem. So he abandoned the church he started and moved back to Orlando to resume his life on easy street at Ligonier.

Sproul's Ashley Madison scandal resulted in a year's suspension. But the largesse didn't end for that year. Being special he continued receiving his enormous Ligonier salary. Nepotism is a beautiful thing -- made all the more beautiful when the money comes from donors who think you're being punished for causing a scandal but, in reality, you're getting a year's paid vacation at their expense!

Sproul's subsequent drunk driving arrest and felony conviction resulted in his having to resign from Ligonier. However, reinforcing yet once again that Precious is special, the board of directors (headed up by mommy Sproul) voted to give him a huge severance package. No one knows how much it is because Ligonier refuses to tell, which means it's got to be pretty big.

It seems that Dumanis Fellowship is a repeat of 1996. There's some major differences though, differences that Sproul will find difficult if not impossible to overcome, the biggest being his scandalous reputation. He can't just ride on dad's coattails anymore. The family name doesn't buy him anything because everyone in the Reformed world knows about his scandals and wouldn't cross the street to piss on him if he were on fire. So he's left the Reformed world and become an Anabaptist because they know nothing about Reformed scandals. He's working hard to repackage/reimage himself. I'm doubtful it'll work though. One thing's for certain though -- he'll continue as long as possible being a leech. It's good leeching though because it comes from Christians, not the bad government. Oh, and he deserves it too, and all the more so now that he's being oppressed by bad people saying mean things about him.

[dripcurl]

Sorry if this has been mentioned before, but I am just now deciding to fall down the Tczvzjichnnnasdfghk rabbit hole. From the looks of it, Stacie had an affair with Tulian during her first marriage?

 

https://www.tullian.net/articles/confessions-of-an-unfaithful-spouse

 

Correction: Sorry, it was a different guy. Funny though, she was patting her self on the back for not cheating on that guy she cheated on her first husband with, and was lamenting the fact that he ended up cheating on her.  I am not sure if that guy was married when they began their affair, but it reminds me of what my Texan Grandma would say: “if he’ll do it for you, he’ll do it to you”. 

Edited September 22, 2019 by dripcurl

[MamaJunebug]

@Banyan, many thanks for the info. 

Dennis’ story is breaking my heart. Did he get back his life after Spanky was no longer involved? 

[dripcurl]

Umm, wow. Apparently Tullian really hates his brother.

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.christianpost.com/amp/tullian-tchividjian-allegedly-tried-reconciling-with-ex-wife-before-new-marriage-asked-woman-to-pray-for-brothers-death.html?source=images

 

 

[Banyan]

12 hours ago, MamaJunebug said:

@Banyan, many thanks for the info. 

Dennis’ story is breaking my heart. Did he get back his life after Spanky was no longer involved? 

Sproul disfellowshiped/excommunicated Dennis and ordered his St. Peter cult members to shun him. Most of the cult complied and some even went out of their way to be quite nasty toward Dennis. But as they say, "What goes around comes around." Some of those who treated Dennis badly later found themselves also being excommunicated and shunned by RC Jr, usually over really petty things.

As for Dennis, he was relieved and happy to get out of the St. Peter cult. Dennis is very personable guy, so he had no trouble quickly making new friends.  A Presbyterian church in the area reached out to him and welcomed him in. They treated him like Jesus said to treat the hurting. It seemed to help a lot in his recovery from having been in a cult.

[Banyan]

10 hours ago, dripcurl said:

Umm, wow. Apparently Tullian really hates his brother.

No wonder he and Spanky get on so well. They've got so much in common -- family hate. Tchsktvykrugian hates his brother. Sproul hates his children. Their wives agree with their husbands that the hate is warranted and that their husbands' detractors need to die (smiley face). But it's all because we love Jesus, dontcha know.

[Howl]

From the Christian Post article linked above: 

Quote

asked one of the women identified as a trainer to acquire illegal anabolic steroids for him and when she was unable to do that acquired the substance through another trainer

When all of the Tchaviarrgghlhpblt adultery shit was hitting the fan back when, there were some pictures posted online of him in a form fitting body conscious way tight T shirt.  He was tatted up and seriously buff -- big guns, as they say. 

So besides hitting on, emotionally manipulating and screwing numerous women, lying constantly, trying to blame the breakup of his marriage on his ex-wife's infidelity, lying to his then wife about his current girlfriend when he was ostensibly trying to reconcile with her,  abusing steroids -- this is some seriously messy shit.  

He seems to have married wife #2 because he doesn't know how to be alone.   

Now that he's been called out and defrocked, not sure how he's making money, cause ya need that shit rolling in. 

 

[hoipolloi]

Was Tullian's mother the Graham daughter who was married at 16 or 17? I remember reading something about that in Franky Schaeffer's memoir, Crazy for God

[MamaJunebug]

1 hour ago, hoipolloi said:

Was Tullian's mother the Graham daughter who was married at 16 or 17? I remember reading something about that in Franky Schaeffer's memoir, Crazy for God

She’s the one. The great managawd Billy (he should RIP) pulled her out of college to marry the son of a business ... ministry ... associate. 

Just struck me: Victoria Botkin has a bitter riff about little girls wanting to be princesses, in which Vic  talks about all the indignities and lack of agency of actual princesses in history. 

Young Miss Graham might have been considered a princess. Her marriage sure didn’t seem to be her idea.  Oh — and they eventually divorced. And IIRC, she remarried. 

But God hates divorce. Hm. Some are just more equal than others

[Howl]

1 hour ago, MamaJunebug said:

Just struck me: Victoria Botkin has a bitter riff about little girls wanting to be princesses, in which Vic  talks about all the indignities and lack of agency of actual princesses in history. 

Hmmmm, Botkin "princesses" and lack of agency.  My irony meter just pegged at 11, because that's one more than 10. 

[refugee]

On 9/22/2019 at 2:45 PM, older than allosaurs said:

I wonder if RCJR ever asks himself how it would have worked out for him if his family had practiced what he preaches way back when he was first defrocked in -- I think -- 2006. But maybe family enabling is A-OK as long as you're on the receiving end. I don't see him going the extra mile to support his own kids.

 

He'd have to have some kind of self-awareness for that to happen.

[dripcurl]

Disgusting post up on RC’s blog in which he plays off him bullying gay kids and wearing blackface as trivial as him eating meat and liking a football team. He really does not know when to stop.