Without Regard: How the Master’s Seminary Ruined Mother’s Day, Took Money from Caesar and Cleared Out Their Faculty and Staff, part 3
(Thank you to those who have recently joined Medium to read my stories. I appreciate you and hope that I had better news for you. We will have to rest in the fact that all this will soon come to a necessary end…in glory. For now…Mercy, Mercy, Mercy.)
I used the image of James Coates’ diploma to illustrate a larger point. See the names, but don’t get attached. 2020 was a difficult year, but 2021 has proven to be in many ways just as chaotic; however, not brought upon a deadly “pandemic”, but by those in leadership whose aim is to set things back to another time. 2014 really. Pre-COVID. Pre-probation.
Update since the time of this Diploma A.D. 2020:
Dr. Sam Horn: Dismissed/Fired as President of the Master’s University and Seminary
Nathan Busenitz: Instrumental in that firing, as well as John MacArthur’s principal ghostwriter, and manager for the TMS campus; Elder at Grace Community Church
John MacArthur: Chancellor of the Master’s University and Seminary, Elder and Pastor-Teacher of Grace Community Church
Johnathan Rourke: Former Pastor of Grace Community Church, Currently on the dwindling, now defunct The Master’s University and Seminary Board of Directors. More on that.
Grace Christian School, like every other ministry of Grace Church, is under the direct leadership of the elders. There is a smaller committee of elders that work directly with the school in a working basis. In other words, you can’t have 50 people making decisions about something they don’t know about. You have to break it down to smaller groups. But when you have five or six godly men who are committed to that ministry, they can carry the thing. So it is under the direct control of the Board of Elders. — John MacArthur, 1982
As I had stated in my previous article, The Master’s Seminary would be put under the “direct leadership of the elders”. They would then have to:
- Divorce itself from the Master’s University since it is joined as one legal entity
- Prepare to disengage from the WASC; and partner with the Association of Theological Schools (which knowing the “politics” that TMS has embroiled itself will quickly decline the application)
- File new paperwork to create another, separate legal entity. Go unaccredited and watch the phones stop ringing as students lose scholarship and financial aid opportunities by this single move.
- And like Solomon, divide the TMUS board right down the middle where the current TMUS board directs only the University; and the Seminary falls under the direct leadership of the Grace Elders, which by Providence includes Head Elder, Pastor-Teacher John MacArthur
The Elders recently voted on and approved bringing the seminary under their leadership. Do you recall that point of inquiry in the WASC report where the TMU Board were asked if they “could” object to something that MacArthur put forth? Without hesitation they said, “yes”. The follow-up question was: “Could you tell us about a time when you had?”
Crickets.
It’s like that. The 50-member pre-COVID Elder Board has been supplanted by this current grouping of non-diverse, TMS-educated, GCC-born and raised, who not only have the qualifications of an elder (no pugnaciousness welcomed), but have demonstrated loyalty to John MacArthur. So, you can imagine when the vote came up to place the seminary under their watch, it was a non-negotiable, if not untested venture. Like buying a house in 2004 or buying Enron stock, what could go wrong?
Take the Money and Run: Promos and Payoffs
Mike Riccardi, Elder, is made the Head of the Theology Department. Putting the Hyper in Hyper Calvinism will take some doing. Thoughts and Prayers.
Two professors, non-Elders, fired/forced resignation which, if you’re a seminary student, or former seminary student, you had already heard. They fired the last of the true scholars at the Master’s Seminary, so what’s left in the roster are those who:
- hold multiple positions at GCC/TMS ($$$)
- an elder at GCC
- attend GCC; no. real. ministry. experience, but they’re going to teach you how it is done?
- Have all, or close to all, of their degrees obtained at the Master’s University and Seminary (I’ve said it before…real scholarship can only come from a variety of perspectives, opportunities and time at multiple institutions.)
Add to that, the firing of numerous support staff at TMS which begs the question: I realize that hyper-inflation is upon us, but the ink hadn’t even dried on the PPP check and they already fired half a dozen people? $4 million is “chump change” apparently.
(Let the reader recall that I made a comment that Kory Welch received a $250,000 contract from Moody Press to re-decorate the TMS lobby, he [hope it’s a troll account though] laughed and said…)
TMS Graduation Commencement 2021: Sorry Mom, Put Down the Mimosa, I Have to Go Graduate
I’m not sure who had the idea to schedule the Graduation ceremony on Mother’s Day, but it certainly did not go unnoticed by those graduates who decided not to attend their own dang graduation because of it. Under the circumstances it went well; however, not all of the Graduation service was livestreamed much to the chagrin of the viewing public.
“It was all about JC”-one attendee noted.
“JC this and JC that. It was a little obnoxious”-another graduate complained
I wish I could tell you it was about Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ, but when has it ever been about Christ in the past few years?
James “Taken in Chains” Coates. Yes. Dr. Steven Lawson stated that lest we forget.
This is how it’s spun. The man broke Canadian health violations, the RCMP came to the church service, and he turned himself in. Steve Lawson took issue once when I said that he was a liar for posting a photo of John MacArthur speaking to his class on January 11th, 2021. I do not follow James Coates’ continuing saga, but from what little I’ve seen, the TMS grads have circled the wagons in defense of a man they do not know, a country whose laws they cannot know, but who are employed, if not for life, by The Master’s Seminary.
(WARNING: The following may trigger some who are currently on a vacation from Owen Strachan, and still others have simply muted him on their timeline. Let the reader understand…this is a time for celebration. No regrets.)
Post Credit a la the MCU: Owen Strachan Refuses Offer from the Master’s Seminary, Says Yes to Arkansas’ Grace Bible University; God Blesses California with a $78 Billion Surplus
You cannot tell me that these are not linked. Blessing after Blessing. Say it with me now, “God is good. All the time”.
Last Winterim, Owen Strachan taught a class and it was something that he “had on his bingo card”. He had before then taught a Wednesday night to a Men’s meeting on “Transgenderism”. Imagine sitting on the 405 to drive to that talk.
In all fairness, I am not sure what transpired, but the recordings for this class was never made available. I cannot tell you if this class even took place. All there is to point to it is a few photos with Lawson in John’s office, this photo and a few tweets from Owen with no pictures talking about TMS is “bursting with life”. That to me seemed like a strange comment since there are no photos of students with Owen, or of the campus when he was there.
In the course information, there is only Nathan Busenitz’ name and as you can see here, no one registered. I kid on Twitter about how Owen was offered employment to increase the numbers at TMS, but that’s just not verifiable and judging from these figures, highly unlikely.
