September 20, 2013
Below you will find a detailed reply by Pastor Ralph Ovadal to a letter written by a well known American minister. We have chosen, at least for now, to leave out that brother's name, although there are some ministers, and a few other brethren, who necessarily know his identity. May the Lord bring him to repentance in this matter. Should it become necessary at some point to insert the minister’s name into this posted letter, then we will do so knowing it would be no violation of the Scriptures in such a case as this. Thus far, Pastor Ovadal has received no reply from the minister in question. We are posting the letter in such a public manner simply because it very much reflects the deceitful strategy and unfounded charges which have been employed in response to the heartfelt warnings which Rev. Ivan Foster and Pastor Ralph Ovadal have sounded concerning the deep compromises in the ministry of the very gifted and influential Dr. Joel Beeke. Those warnings--that is, articles and Heart of the Matter programs, which are mentioned in this letter--can also be found at these links:
Below you will find a detailed reply by Pastor Ralph Ovadal to a letter written by a well known American minister. We have chosen, at least for now, to leave out that brother's name, although there are some ministers, and a few other brethren, who necessarily know his identity. May the Lord bring him to repentance in this matter. Should it become necessary at some point to insert the minister’s name into this posted letter, then we will do so knowing it would be no violation of the Scriptures in such a case as this. Thus far, Pastor Ovadal has received no reply from the minister in question. We are posting the letter in such a public manner simply because it very much reflects the deceitful strategy and unfounded charges which have been employed in response to the heartfelt warnings which Rev. Ivan Foster and Pastor Ralph Ovadal have sounded concerning the deep compromises in the ministry of the very gifted and influential Dr. Joel Beeke. Those warnings--that is, articles and Heart of the Matter programs, which are mentioned in this letter--can also be found at these links:
April 21, 2014
It has now been over seven months since we posted the explanation above, and the letter below. The minister to whom Pastor Ovadal responded in the letter below has not to this date replied one word to that letter. He has likewise made no attempt whatsoever to retract the disgraceful, patently dishonest information and charges which he spread and which Pastor Ovadal addressed in the letter below. Therefore, we feel it is proper that we make public the man’s name and church name, including to end speculation as to which FPC minister was the author of the ungodly deception detailed below. The minister Pastor Ovadal addresses in the following letter is Rev. John Wagner, pastor of Covenant Free Presbyterian Church, Lexington, South Carolina.
It has now been over seven months since we posted the explanation above, and the letter below. The minister to whom Pastor Ovadal responded in the letter below has not to this date replied one word to that letter. He has likewise made no attempt whatsoever to retract the disgraceful, patently dishonest information and charges which he spread and which Pastor Ovadal addressed in the letter below. Therefore, we feel it is proper that we make public the man’s name and church name, including to end speculation as to which FPC minister was the author of the ungodly deception detailed below. The minister Pastor Ovadal addresses in the following letter is Rev. John Wagner, pastor of Covenant Free Presbyterian Church, Lexington, South Carolina.
Rev. _____ ________
[church name and address]
September 13, 2013
“Complicity with error will take from the best of men the power to enter any successful protest against it.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon, 1888
Dear Rev. ________,
I am writing to respond to a letter you wrote and sent the first week of this month to a Christian sister, not of your congregation, who expressed her concerns over the deep compromises apparent and ongoing in the ministry labors and ministries of Dr. Joel Beeke. This sister had become concerned after listening to a Heart of the Matter documentary on Refo500 titled “A Popish Octopus with a Very Long Reach.” That program features me as the main speaker and then a closing commentary by Rev. Ivan Foster, whom I am sure you know well as he is FPC of Ulster, ret. That program did not have as its main topic Dr. Joel Beeke, but it did contain documented information of Dr. Beeke’s involvement in Refo500 right from the organization’s North American launch on June 21-22, 2010 and through this past July 11-19 when Dr. Beeke, along with Dr. Jason Van Vliet, led an official Refo500 tour in Europe.
In light of the patently false information you shared in the letter I have already mentioned and then also the extremely serious charges you made against me in it, I felt a duty, and right, to respond to you. As you know, last week, I wrote you two separate e-mails in which I asked you to correct the misinformation you stated in and spread by that letter as well as to then withdraw the very serious charges you have made against me. Those two e-mails were each sent to your personal e-mail and your church’s e-mail to ensure you would get them. Since you have chosen not to reply a word to me, I am now responding in full to your letter. A copy of that letter, which did not come to me by you and obviously has been seen by others, is also typical of the defense strategy that has been mounted to justify Dr. Beeke’s deep spiritual compromise; and so I will be making both your letter and my rebuttal to some extent public.
Before I answer a number of statements you made in your letter, I will just say that its contents represent a low view of Scripture and an unscriptural “respect of persons” (James 2:1). I do not at all presume to say this is otherwise true of you; but in this matter of Dr. Joel Beeke, it certainly appears to be true of you and a number of other Beeke apologists.
Also, before I address the text of your letter, a little historical review may be beneficial as the chronology of this controversy is vital to its context. As I am sure you know, Rev. Foster and I collaborated on an article titled “Of Ducks and New Calvinists” (www.pccmonroe.org/2012/06.25.htm) which was published on June 25, 2012. This article warned of and documented Dr. Beeke’s involvement in Refo500, though at that time we did not realize that involvement was deeper and began earlier than we thought. The article also documented some of the various New Calvinist conferences Dr. Beeke has spoken at and was at that time scheduled to speak at. Lastly, it documented the deeply corrupted state of Reformation Heritage Books, Dr. Joel Beeke, editorial director. When I say deeply corrupted, I am referring to the reality that RHB was then selling, and still is selling, books from many authors who are obviously unfaithful to the word of God in their teaching and/or practice. When I speak of documentation, that includes also the many links we provided in that article.
Then, on January 4, 2013, Rev. Foster and I produced and aired on SermonAudio an update on the Beeke situation. That program titled “What a Difference Six Months Does Not Make!” and also a companion article of the same title which I published at the same time with Rev. Foster’s endorsement, again complete with many links to document the facts presented, dealt with Dr. Beeke’s continuing involvement in Refo500; updated the RHB situation; and also provided documentation concerning Dr. Beeke’s involvement in the Evangelical Theological Society along with certain Roman Catholics—including at least one Roman Catholic priest—an Orthodox priest, and a number of clearly apostate Protestants. (By the way, as things stand right now, Dr. Beeke is still involved with ETS, and RHB is still in the same corrupted state.) Unfortunately, after it had aired for a few days, the management of SermonAudio opted to remove the program, although not for any inaccuracies in the content. We do have a letter from SermonAudio about why the program was pulled, and there is no mention whatsoever about inaccuracies in the program content. That program can still be heard at www.pccmonroe.org/newcalvinism.htm or www.ivanfoster.net/?p=1863. The companion article, dated January 3, 2013 and titled “What a Difference Six Months Does Not Make!” can be read at www.pccmonroe.org/2013/01.03.htm.
Next, on May 23, 2013, we posted on SermonAudio the program titled “A Popish Octopus with a Very Long Reach” (www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=523132214375). And last, but certainly not least, on July 8, 2013, I published the transcript from that program (www.pccmonroe.org/2013/07.08.htm).
Now, I want to briefly answer some of your statements in that letter I have already mentioned, that is your letter to a Christian sister in response to some concerns she expressed to you about Dr. Joel Beeke. You begin by stating: “The story regarding Joel Beeke and Refo500 is long and involved, but let me see if I can give you the salient facts on the whole matter.”
Rev. ________, the “story regarding Joel Beeke and Refo500” certainly is long, considering that Dr. Beeke was deeply involved with Refo500, right from its launch in North America (see “A Popish Octopus with a Very Long Reach”); but it is certainly not complicated in any way, although some individuals who appear desperate to defend Dr. Beeke’s gross compromise in the matter of Refo500 have striven mightily to make it so. As for your “salient facts,” what you share are anything but facts!
Yet let us proceed to your defense of the scripturally indefensible—that is, Dr. Joel Beeke’s three-year-plus involvement with Refo500. It bears stating here and now that Refo500 events have been a number of times promoted on Dr. Beeke’s personal blog and his Facebook page as well as on the web sites of his home church, his seminary, his denomination and in that denomination’s magazine. When I say promoted, I mean Refo500 events publicized in advance (normally along with links) and also reported on after taking place. This was the case right through the latest Refo500 event Dr. Beeke took part in this past July. In fact, in his postings, Dr. Beeke has made personal appeals for the Lord’s people to join him in his disobedience to the Lord, specifically to take part in certain Refo500 events in which he has been involved. Should you want documentation of the facts I just stated, please do not hesitate to let me know, and you shall have it.
Much sophistry has been employed to justify and excuse Dr. Beeke’s example of public, ongoing, and dangerous disobedience in this matter. The arguments you make in the letter I am responding to are typical of what have been employed, more than once, since Rev. Foster and I in June of 2012 published that first article which I mentioned earlier. No doubt, when left unanswered, such—shall we say “creative”—explanations have led more than one unsuspecting brother or sister to still their own consciences and assume they simply did not understand the plain facts and do not have the ability to discern properly the very clear passages of Scripture which forthrightly forbid what Beeke apologists are striving mightily to justify. Necessary to that strategy has been to wrest the facts of the case and impugn the character of those ministers who have, out of love for Christ Jesus and His church, sounded a warning on the deep and dangerous compromises of Dr. Joel Beeke. But, as the inspired writer of the Proverbs declares, “He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him” (Pr. 18:17).
You next go on to state:
[church name and address]
September 13, 2013
“Complicity with error will take from the best of men the power to enter any successful protest against it.” ~ C.H. Spurgeon, 1888
Dear Rev. ________,
I am writing to respond to a letter you wrote and sent the first week of this month to a Christian sister, not of your congregation, who expressed her concerns over the deep compromises apparent and ongoing in the ministry labors and ministries of Dr. Joel Beeke. This sister had become concerned after listening to a Heart of the Matter documentary on Refo500 titled “A Popish Octopus with a Very Long Reach.” That program features me as the main speaker and then a closing commentary by Rev. Ivan Foster, whom I am sure you know well as he is FPC of Ulster, ret. That program did not have as its main topic Dr. Joel Beeke, but it did contain documented information of Dr. Beeke’s involvement in Refo500 right from the organization’s North American launch on June 21-22, 2010 and through this past July 11-19 when Dr. Beeke, along with Dr. Jason Van Vliet, led an official Refo500 tour in Europe.
In light of the patently false information you shared in the letter I have already mentioned and then also the extremely serious charges you made against me in it, I felt a duty, and right, to respond to you. As you know, last week, I wrote you two separate e-mails in which I asked you to correct the misinformation you stated in and spread by that letter as well as to then withdraw the very serious charges you have made against me. Those two e-mails were each sent to your personal e-mail and your church’s e-mail to ensure you would get them. Since you have chosen not to reply a word to me, I am now responding in full to your letter. A copy of that letter, which did not come to me by you and obviously has been seen by others, is also typical of the defense strategy that has been mounted to justify Dr. Beeke’s deep spiritual compromise; and so I will be making both your letter and my rebuttal to some extent public.
Before I answer a number of statements you made in your letter, I will just say that its contents represent a low view of Scripture and an unscriptural “respect of persons” (James 2:1). I do not at all presume to say this is otherwise true of you; but in this matter of Dr. Joel Beeke, it certainly appears to be true of you and a number of other Beeke apologists.
Also, before I address the text of your letter, a little historical review may be beneficial as the chronology of this controversy is vital to its context. As I am sure you know, Rev. Foster and I collaborated on an article titled “Of Ducks and New Calvinists” (www.pccmonroe.org/2012/06.25.htm) which was published on June 25, 2012. This article warned of and documented Dr. Beeke’s involvement in Refo500, though at that time we did not realize that involvement was deeper and began earlier than we thought. The article also documented some of the various New Calvinist conferences Dr. Beeke has spoken at and was at that time scheduled to speak at. Lastly, it documented the deeply corrupted state of Reformation Heritage Books, Dr. Joel Beeke, editorial director. When I say deeply corrupted, I am referring to the reality that RHB was then selling, and still is selling, books from many authors who are obviously unfaithful to the word of God in their teaching and/or practice. When I speak of documentation, that includes also the many links we provided in that article.
Then, on January 4, 2013, Rev. Foster and I produced and aired on SermonAudio an update on the Beeke situation. That program titled “What a Difference Six Months Does Not Make!” and also a companion article of the same title which I published at the same time with Rev. Foster’s endorsement, again complete with many links to document the facts presented, dealt with Dr. Beeke’s continuing involvement in Refo500; updated the RHB situation; and also provided documentation concerning Dr. Beeke’s involvement in the Evangelical Theological Society along with certain Roman Catholics—including at least one Roman Catholic priest—an Orthodox priest, and a number of clearly apostate Protestants. (By the way, as things stand right now, Dr. Beeke is still involved with ETS, and RHB is still in the same corrupted state.) Unfortunately, after it had aired for a few days, the management of SermonAudio opted to remove the program, although not for any inaccuracies in the content. We do have a letter from SermonAudio about why the program was pulled, and there is no mention whatsoever about inaccuracies in the program content. That program can still be heard at www.pccmonroe.org/newcalvinism.htm or www.ivanfoster.net/?p=1863. The companion article, dated January 3, 2013 and titled “What a Difference Six Months Does Not Make!” can be read at www.pccmonroe.org/2013/01.03.htm.
Next, on May 23, 2013, we posted on SermonAudio the program titled “A Popish Octopus with a Very Long Reach” (www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=523132214375). And last, but certainly not least, on July 8, 2013, I published the transcript from that program (www.pccmonroe.org/2013/07.08.htm).
Now, I want to briefly answer some of your statements in that letter I have already mentioned, that is your letter to a Christian sister in response to some concerns she expressed to you about Dr. Joel Beeke. You begin by stating: “The story regarding Joel Beeke and Refo500 is long and involved, but let me see if I can give you the salient facts on the whole matter.”
Rev. ________, the “story regarding Joel Beeke and Refo500” certainly is long, considering that Dr. Beeke was deeply involved with Refo500, right from its launch in North America (see “A Popish Octopus with a Very Long Reach”); but it is certainly not complicated in any way, although some individuals who appear desperate to defend Dr. Beeke’s gross compromise in the matter of Refo500 have striven mightily to make it so. As for your “salient facts,” what you share are anything but facts!
Yet let us proceed to your defense of the scripturally indefensible—that is, Dr. Joel Beeke’s three-year-plus involvement with Refo500. It bears stating here and now that Refo500 events have been a number of times promoted on Dr. Beeke’s personal blog and his Facebook page as well as on the web sites of his home church, his seminary, his denomination and in that denomination’s magazine. When I say promoted, I mean Refo500 events publicized in advance (normally along with links) and also reported on after taking place. This was the case right through the latest Refo500 event Dr. Beeke took part in this past July. In fact, in his postings, Dr. Beeke has made personal appeals for the Lord’s people to join him in his disobedience to the Lord, specifically to take part in certain Refo500 events in which he has been involved. Should you want documentation of the facts I just stated, please do not hesitate to let me know, and you shall have it.
Much sophistry has been employed to justify and excuse Dr. Beeke’s example of public, ongoing, and dangerous disobedience in this matter. The arguments you make in the letter I am responding to are typical of what have been employed, more than once, since Rev. Foster and I in June of 2012 published that first article which I mentioned earlier. No doubt, when left unanswered, such—shall we say “creative”—explanations have led more than one unsuspecting brother or sister to still their own consciences and assume they simply did not understand the plain facts and do not have the ability to discern properly the very clear passages of Scripture which forthrightly forbid what Beeke apologists are striving mightily to justify. Necessary to that strategy has been to wrest the facts of the case and impugn the character of those ministers who have, out of love for Christ Jesus and His church, sounded a warning on the deep and dangerous compromises of Dr. Joel Beeke. But, as the inspired writer of the Proverbs declares, “He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him” (Pr. 18:17).
You next go on to state:
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Here, I would just point out that, first, Refo500 did not take an “ecumenical drift,” and you must know that full well. Refo500 was openly, drastically, obviously ecumenical, swarming with Roman Catholic individuals and organizations right from the start, as well as apostate Protestants. It is also at best an insult to human intelligence to propagate this claim which you and certain other Beeke defenders have been propagating, that Dr. Joel Beeke did not realize the nature of Refo500 when he became involved in June of 2010 and did not come to realize it until July of 2012, coincidently after the publishing of the first article by Mr. Foster and me. The claim is doubly preposterous when one considers the theological background and experience of Dr. Beeke.
You also resort to the much used claim that Dr. Beeke severed all ties which his seminary and book publishing company had with Refo500 upon having that great epiphany about Refo500 in July of 2012. However, the story line goes, Refo500 supposedly refused to remove RHB and PRTS from their list of sponsors and partners. In fact, from July of 2012 until at least July 12, 2013, when we last checked the Refo500 web site, Refo500 officials apparently refused to do so and resisted all demands on Dr. Beeke’s part to have his ministries’ names taken off all the lists of Refo500 sponsors and partners! This seems strange, to say the least, especially considering what close working ties Dr. Beeke has had with Dr. Herman Selderhuis, director of Refo500 and president of the Refo500 Reformation Research Consortium.
It was our first article, published June 25, 2012, which initially documented not only Dr. Beeke’s personal involvement with Refo500 but also the partnership between Refo500 and PRTS as well as RHB. Then, in our January program and article, we pointed out that, in spite of all claims to the contrary by Beeke apologists, PRTS and RHB were still on that list. Finally, during our May 23, 2013 Heart of the Matter program on Refo500, I shared what we had verified at that time, that PRTS and RHB were still listed as sponsors on the Refo500 web site. The same information was included, of course, in the written release of that program’s transcript. Each of those articles and the transcript mentioned were widely circulated, and each program well listened to as well. Each caused a great deal of conversation; each generated a backlash against Rev. Foster and me; each resulted in a renewed defense of Dr. Beeke; and we know for a fact that the June, 2012 article and the January, 2013 article and program resulted in certain ministers with associations to Dr. Beeke meeting with him to express their deep concerns over the documented warnings which Rev. Foster and I had made. It is obvious that Dr. Beeke knew right along through this controversy that his ministries were still listed on the Refo500 web site.
Finally, but only some time after our program which aired on May 23, 2013, PRTS and RHB were removed from the partners and sponsors list on the Refo500 web site. We stand ready to verify these facts I have just stated with the documentation downloaded from the Refo500 web site, not to mention that many people verified the facts themselves by going to the Refo500 web site at the time the various shows were aired and the articles were published. But to sum the matter up, the claim that for over one entire year (July, 2012—July, 2013), Refo500 officials ignored and resisted Dr. Beeke’s instruction to them to remove PRTS and RHB from the Refo500 partners and sponsors list would seem to defy reason. Perhaps at some point, Refo500 officials should be given a chance to defend themselves against that sort of charge.
This next statement you make in your letter is absolutely, provably untrue:
You also resort to the much used claim that Dr. Beeke severed all ties which his seminary and book publishing company had with Refo500 upon having that great epiphany about Refo500 in July of 2012. However, the story line goes, Refo500 supposedly refused to remove RHB and PRTS from their list of sponsors and partners. In fact, from July of 2012 until at least July 12, 2013, when we last checked the Refo500 web site, Refo500 officials apparently refused to do so and resisted all demands on Dr. Beeke’s part to have his ministries’ names taken off all the lists of Refo500 sponsors and partners! This seems strange, to say the least, especially considering what close working ties Dr. Beeke has had with Dr. Herman Selderhuis, director of Refo500 and president of the Refo500 Reformation Research Consortium.
It was our first article, published June 25, 2012, which initially documented not only Dr. Beeke’s personal involvement with Refo500 but also the partnership between Refo500 and PRTS as well as RHB. Then, in our January program and article, we pointed out that, in spite of all claims to the contrary by Beeke apologists, PRTS and RHB were still on that list. Finally, during our May 23, 2013 Heart of the Matter program on Refo500, I shared what we had verified at that time, that PRTS and RHB were still listed as sponsors on the Refo500 web site. The same information was included, of course, in the written release of that program’s transcript. Each of those articles and the transcript mentioned were widely circulated, and each program well listened to as well. Each caused a great deal of conversation; each generated a backlash against Rev. Foster and me; each resulted in a renewed defense of Dr. Beeke; and we know for a fact that the June, 2012 article and the January, 2013 article and program resulted in certain ministers with associations to Dr. Beeke meeting with him to express their deep concerns over the documented warnings which Rev. Foster and I had made. It is obvious that Dr. Beeke knew right along through this controversy that his ministries were still listed on the Refo500 web site.
Finally, but only some time after our program which aired on May 23, 2013, PRTS and RHB were removed from the partners and sponsors list on the Refo500 web site. We stand ready to verify these facts I have just stated with the documentation downloaded from the Refo500 web site, not to mention that many people verified the facts themselves by going to the Refo500 web site at the time the various shows were aired and the articles were published. But to sum the matter up, the claim that for over one entire year (July, 2012—July, 2013), Refo500 officials ignored and resisted Dr. Beeke’s instruction to them to remove PRTS and RHB from the Refo500 partners and sponsors list would seem to defy reason. Perhaps at some point, Refo500 officials should be given a chance to defend themselves against that sort of charge.
This next statement you make in your letter is absolutely, provably untrue:
“The events that Dr. Beeke has been involved with that Ralph Ovadal is claiming to be Refo500 events are not Refo500 events at all. The tour this past summer was a tour organized by Dr. Beeke and another seminary professor. It was not organized by Refo500. It is true that the brochure has the Refo500 label on it, but these were already printed before Dr. Beeke withdrew from the organization. There was nothing that could be done about that.”
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Now, it pains me to say that this convoluted statement is patently false, and it is hard for me to comprehend how you would ever dare to make it! The documented reality is that those Refo500 events Dr. Beeke took part in, and which Mr. Foster and I documented, including this past summer’s Legacy of the Reformation Tour in Europe which you mention, which was led by Dr. Beeke and Dr. Jason Van Vliet, were indeed just that—official Refo500 events. You are the one who has made false claims in this regard, not I as you insist, and for that matter, not Rev. Foster. In the articles I mentioned earlier, we provided links to document exactly what we stated concerning the various Refo500 events Dr. Beeke was involved with, two of which you mention in this letter as “not Refo500 events at all.” If any of those links are at this time no longer accessible, please let me know, and I will send you the information those links led to, the information which we downloaded in the event some of the links were taken off, but we had a need to defend our honesty and integrity in this matter.
You specifically mention the tour Dr. Beeke led this summer. That absolutely was an official Refo500 tour. You disingenuously claim that it was not, but by some quirk the brochure promoting it had a Refo500 label on it! Then you go on to state that the brochure was printed before Dr. Beeke supposedly withdrew from Refo500, and so he could do nothing about the wrong impression created by the rogue label. What nonsense you expect us to believe! What an insult to simple intelligence! In a previous short letter to you, which you declined to answer, I provided a link which goes right to an official Refo500 promotional brochure for that event. On page two of that brochure is this statement: “This tour is sponsored by Refo500, a multi-year international project that seeks to demonstrate the continuing relevance of the Reformation. For more information, visit the Refo500 website at www.refo500.com.”
By the way, Dr. Beeke promoted this past July’s Refo500 tour in Europe a number of times on his personal blog, making use of that Refo500 brochure just quoted. Allow me to share three specific examples. On November 9, 2012, Dr. Beeke posted on his blog a direct link right to the Refo500 website, specifically to that very Refo500 brochure which I just quoted from; and he left that link in place right up to and through the tour. Earlier, in a blog dated August 30, 2012, Dr. Beeke had already promoted the same tour, closing with this exhortation: “Check out this summary, and a 10-page, detailed brochure. I’d love to have you along, God willing. Send in your reservation today!” In that blog posting, Dr. Beeke provided a link, in this case, to a Witte Travel agency web page which provided a direct link to that same official Refo500 promotional brochure, the one I quoted above. Then on April 29, 2013, Dr. Beeke again promoted this past July’s Refo500 tour using the same link again. Dr. Beeke gave this warm invitation: “By the way, Dr. Jason VanVliet and I can still take on a dozen more travelers for our European tour this summer, July 9–19—we’d love to have you join us.”
In total, this one Refo500 event was promoted in advance, with links, at least fifteen times through Internet postings by Dr. Beeke as well as his seminary, home church, denomination and in the denomination’s publication. In most of these cases, the promotions stayed up right through the tour; and afterward, Dr. Beeke posted glowing reports of it, though neglecting to mention that it was an official Refo500 tour! All that I have just stated can be easily substantiated by us.
Rev. ________, if you are an honest man, you will have to admit that the tour that Dr. Beeke led this past summer was indeed an official Refo500 tour. As for the fantastic claim (and you are not the only one making it) that Dr. Beeke had withdrawn from Refo500 well before he led that official Refo500 tour, such a claim defies simple logic and stretches credibility in this matter beyond the breaking point! By the way, Dr. Selderhuis, the director of Refo500 and president of the Refo500 Reformation Research Consortium, also preached during that tour Dr. Beeke led this past July.
Now, next in your letter comes this astounding justification concerning one of the Refo500 conferences at which Dr. Beeke spoke, a conference which you have first described this way: “The events that Dr. Beeke has been involved with that Ralph Ovadal is claiming to be Refo500 events are not Refo500 events at all.”
You specifically mention the tour Dr. Beeke led this summer. That absolutely was an official Refo500 tour. You disingenuously claim that it was not, but by some quirk the brochure promoting it had a Refo500 label on it! Then you go on to state that the brochure was printed before Dr. Beeke supposedly withdrew from Refo500, and so he could do nothing about the wrong impression created by the rogue label. What nonsense you expect us to believe! What an insult to simple intelligence! In a previous short letter to you, which you declined to answer, I provided a link which goes right to an official Refo500 promotional brochure for that event. On page two of that brochure is this statement: “This tour is sponsored by Refo500, a multi-year international project that seeks to demonstrate the continuing relevance of the Reformation. For more information, visit the Refo500 website at www.refo500.com.”
By the way, Dr. Beeke promoted this past July’s Refo500 tour in Europe a number of times on his personal blog, making use of that Refo500 brochure just quoted. Allow me to share three specific examples. On November 9, 2012, Dr. Beeke posted on his blog a direct link right to the Refo500 website, specifically to that very Refo500 brochure which I just quoted from; and he left that link in place right up to and through the tour. Earlier, in a blog dated August 30, 2012, Dr. Beeke had already promoted the same tour, closing with this exhortation: “Check out this summary, and a 10-page, detailed brochure. I’d love to have you along, God willing. Send in your reservation today!” In that blog posting, Dr. Beeke provided a link, in this case, to a Witte Travel agency web page which provided a direct link to that same official Refo500 promotional brochure, the one I quoted above. Then on April 29, 2013, Dr. Beeke again promoted this past July’s Refo500 tour using the same link again. Dr. Beeke gave this warm invitation: “By the way, Dr. Jason VanVliet and I can still take on a dozen more travelers for our European tour this summer, July 9–19—we’d love to have you join us.”
In total, this one Refo500 event was promoted in advance, with links, at least fifteen times through Internet postings by Dr. Beeke as well as his seminary, home church, denomination and in the denomination’s publication. In most of these cases, the promotions stayed up right through the tour; and afterward, Dr. Beeke posted glowing reports of it, though neglecting to mention that it was an official Refo500 tour! All that I have just stated can be easily substantiated by us.
Rev. ________, if you are an honest man, you will have to admit that the tour that Dr. Beeke led this past summer was indeed an official Refo500 tour. As for the fantastic claim (and you are not the only one making it) that Dr. Beeke had withdrawn from Refo500 well before he led that official Refo500 tour, such a claim defies simple logic and stretches credibility in this matter beyond the breaking point! By the way, Dr. Selderhuis, the director of Refo500 and president of the Refo500 Reformation Research Consortium, also preached during that tour Dr. Beeke led this past July.
Now, next in your letter comes this astounding justification concerning one of the Refo500 conferences at which Dr. Beeke spoke, a conference which you have first described this way: “The events that Dr. Beeke has been involved with that Ralph Ovadal is claiming to be Refo500 events are not Refo500 events at all.”
“His appearance at a conference in S. Korea that had the Refo500 label on it was part of an itinerary that involved approximately 11 speaking engagements organized by one of the most conservative pastors in that country. Only one of his eleven speaking events carried the Refo500 label. The key fact is that his preaching itinerary had been set up at least two years ago and his flight to S. Korea had already been paid for long before he withdrew from Refo500.”
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Pastor ________, you once again resort to the “Refo500 label” device. First, it was a “Refo500 label” that mysteriously showed up on a brochure for a tour Dr. Beeke led, an official Refo500 event which you categorized as one of those “events that Dr. Beeke has been involved with that Ralph Ovadal is claiming to be Refo500 events are not Refo500 events at all.” Next, it is a conference which just “had the Refo500 label on it.” Is your statement meant to somehow create the impression that the Refo500 conference in South Korea which Dr. Beeke took part in was not an official Refo500 conference but only had “the Refo500 label on it,” whatever that is supposed to mean? Of course, you have already stated that this is also one of the events I claimed was a Refo500 event, but which you brazenly declare was most certainly not. So, what is the point of your “Refo500 label”? Are you simply trying to sow confusion and obscure the plain truth?
And what difference does it make how many other places Dr. Beeke spoke at while he was in South Korea? Is this the new exegesis: “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing,” unless the event in question is part of a larger speaking tour?
As for your strange statement about his airline fare, are you saying Dr. Beeke is willing to speak, feels he must speak for an ungodly organization at one of their events because his airfare to it was paid? Is it now “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness,” unless there is free airfare in it? Dr. Beeke knew from the start that the event he committed to speak at in South Korea was an official Refo500 event; but for the sake of argument, let’s just pretend for a moment Dr. Beeke was, I guess, tricked by Refo500. Would not a faithful minister, having found out he had been duped in such a way, be willing to refund that airfare himself rather than to disobey the word of God, dishonor Christ, and mislead the body of Christ by speaking at a conference sponsored by a spiritually, religiously corrupt organization such as Refo500? Such are the pathetic, diversionary, confusing tactics which have been and are being resorted to in order to justify the unjustifiable.
But the plain, provable fact is Dr. Beeke had obviously not withdrawn from Refo500 when he spoke at that event in South Korea in May of 2012 any more than he had already withdrawn from it when he led and spoke during the Refo500 tour in Europe this past July. You mention the South Korean event had been set up two years prior to when Dr. Beeke spoke. So, what is the lesson you, and others who are employing such excuses on behalf of Dr. Beeke, want the Lord’s flock to learn from this? Are you trying to teach us that Christians who make commitments to openly disobey the word of God should be sure to follow through, thus abandoning their commitment to honor Christ and obey His commands? As you point out, Dr. Beeke had “at least two years” to cancel his Refo500 speaking engagement in South Korea, but that he did not do.
You almost make it sound as if Dr. Beeke was somehow forced against Scripture, will, and conscience to speak at that Refo500 conference in South Korea, May 25-26, 2012, which you previously stated was not a Refo500 event at all but only had the “Refo500 label.” You speak of the itinerary being set up before Dr. Beeke withdrew from Refo500 and his airline fare already being paid; but if the event was not a Refo500 event, why do you labor so hard to justify Dr. Beeke being a part of it? And if it was not a Refo500 event, why do you state that it was planned before Dr. Beeke supposedly “withdrew from Refo500”?
Well, the event in question was most definitely a Refo500 event. We have documented that, including by downloading the documentation. By the way, on August 10, 2012, Dr. Beeke posted a July pastoral letter which included a report from his wife Mary on the Refo500 Asia conference which included this statement: “The afternoon event was a theological gathering at Chongshin University surrounding the commemoration of the five-hundredth anniversary of the Reformation, under the organization Refo500” (http://www.joelbeeke.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/paslet134-final.pdf).
Rev. ________, in your letter, you only mention two of the Refo500 events Dr. Beeke has taken part in over the past three years. You did not mention that he was present at the official North American launch of Refo500. In fact, an official Refo500 press release includes a photo of Dr. Beeke posing with Refo500 officials.
You did not mention that Dr. Beeke spoke at the very first Refo500 event in North America along with Manhattan Declaration signer Dr. Albert Mohler; Dr. Selderhuis; the apostate Timothy George, an author of the Manhattan Declaration; and Clifton Kirkpatrick, whose message was aptly titled “An Ecumenical Celebration? How to Work Together with Fruit and without Frustration.” In fact, Dr. Beeke also joined George for a book signing during the event.
You said nothing about Dr. Beeke speaking along with Karla Apperloo-Boersma, the project leader for Refo500, and other individuals during a Refo500 segment of the Sixteenth Century Society and Conference event, which was essentially a religious horror show, even featuring a Roman Catholic mass. Yes, I know, Dr. Beeke did not attend the mass, as if that justifies fellowship with such unrighteousness and communion with such darkness (2 Cor. 6:14-18).
Then, there was also the conference this past January 18-19 held by Canadian Reformed Theological Seminary in Hamilton, Ontario, a Refo500 partner, at which Dr. Beeke spoke, joining with, among others, the ubiquitous Dr. Herman Selderhuis, director of Refo500 and president of the Refo500 Reformation Research Consortium.
Rev. Foster and I have well documented these events. You have positioned yourself as one in command of the “salient facts” concerning this controversy over the compromises of Dr. Beeke and have undertaken to prove that the various warnings Mr. Foster and I have sounded on Dr. Beeke are actually unprincipled, inaccurate, and dishonest. So, it certainly sounds as if you must have read our various articles and the transcript of the HOM program “A Popish Octopus with a Very Long Reach.” That being the case, you are without excuse for your false statements and spreading of false information.
In response to a comment on the part of the Christian sister you are addressing in the letter which I am responding to here, you next mention that Dr. Beeke did not sign the Manhattan Declaration. Of course, just for the record, I have never, anywhere, to anyone said he did.
Next in chronological order in the letter in question is this statement by you:
And what difference does it make how many other places Dr. Beeke spoke at while he was in South Korea? Is this the new exegesis: “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing,” unless the event in question is part of a larger speaking tour?
As for your strange statement about his airline fare, are you saying Dr. Beeke is willing to speak, feels he must speak for an ungodly organization at one of their events because his airfare to it was paid? Is it now “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness,” unless there is free airfare in it? Dr. Beeke knew from the start that the event he committed to speak at in South Korea was an official Refo500 event; but for the sake of argument, let’s just pretend for a moment Dr. Beeke was, I guess, tricked by Refo500. Would not a faithful minister, having found out he had been duped in such a way, be willing to refund that airfare himself rather than to disobey the word of God, dishonor Christ, and mislead the body of Christ by speaking at a conference sponsored by a spiritually, religiously corrupt organization such as Refo500? Such are the pathetic, diversionary, confusing tactics which have been and are being resorted to in order to justify the unjustifiable.
But the plain, provable fact is Dr. Beeke had obviously not withdrawn from Refo500 when he spoke at that event in South Korea in May of 2012 any more than he had already withdrawn from it when he led and spoke during the Refo500 tour in Europe this past July. You mention the South Korean event had been set up two years prior to when Dr. Beeke spoke. So, what is the lesson you, and others who are employing such excuses on behalf of Dr. Beeke, want the Lord’s flock to learn from this? Are you trying to teach us that Christians who make commitments to openly disobey the word of God should be sure to follow through, thus abandoning their commitment to honor Christ and obey His commands? As you point out, Dr. Beeke had “at least two years” to cancel his Refo500 speaking engagement in South Korea, but that he did not do.
You almost make it sound as if Dr. Beeke was somehow forced against Scripture, will, and conscience to speak at that Refo500 conference in South Korea, May 25-26, 2012, which you previously stated was not a Refo500 event at all but only had the “Refo500 label.” You speak of the itinerary being set up before Dr. Beeke withdrew from Refo500 and his airline fare already being paid; but if the event was not a Refo500 event, why do you labor so hard to justify Dr. Beeke being a part of it? And if it was not a Refo500 event, why do you state that it was planned before Dr. Beeke supposedly “withdrew from Refo500”?
Well, the event in question was most definitely a Refo500 event. We have documented that, including by downloading the documentation. By the way, on August 10, 2012, Dr. Beeke posted a July pastoral letter which included a report from his wife Mary on the Refo500 Asia conference which included this statement: “The afternoon event was a theological gathering at Chongshin University surrounding the commemoration of the five-hundredth anniversary of the Reformation, under the organization Refo500” (http://www.joelbeeke.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/paslet134-final.pdf).
Rev. ________, in your letter, you only mention two of the Refo500 events Dr. Beeke has taken part in over the past three years. You did not mention that he was present at the official North American launch of Refo500. In fact, an official Refo500 press release includes a photo of Dr. Beeke posing with Refo500 officials.
You did not mention that Dr. Beeke spoke at the very first Refo500 event in North America along with Manhattan Declaration signer Dr. Albert Mohler; Dr. Selderhuis; the apostate Timothy George, an author of the Manhattan Declaration; and Clifton Kirkpatrick, whose message was aptly titled “An Ecumenical Celebration? How to Work Together with Fruit and without Frustration.” In fact, Dr. Beeke also joined George for a book signing during the event.
You said nothing about Dr. Beeke speaking along with Karla Apperloo-Boersma, the project leader for Refo500, and other individuals during a Refo500 segment of the Sixteenth Century Society and Conference event, which was essentially a religious horror show, even featuring a Roman Catholic mass. Yes, I know, Dr. Beeke did not attend the mass, as if that justifies fellowship with such unrighteousness and communion with such darkness (2 Cor. 6:14-18).
Then, there was also the conference this past January 18-19 held by Canadian Reformed Theological Seminary in Hamilton, Ontario, a Refo500 partner, at which Dr. Beeke spoke, joining with, among others, the ubiquitous Dr. Herman Selderhuis, director of Refo500 and president of the Refo500 Reformation Research Consortium.
Rev. Foster and I have well documented these events. You have positioned yourself as one in command of the “salient facts” concerning this controversy over the compromises of Dr. Beeke and have undertaken to prove that the various warnings Mr. Foster and I have sounded on Dr. Beeke are actually unprincipled, inaccurate, and dishonest. So, it certainly sounds as if you must have read our various articles and the transcript of the HOM program “A Popish Octopus with a Very Long Reach.” That being the case, you are without excuse for your false statements and spreading of false information.
In response to a comment on the part of the Christian sister you are addressing in the letter which I am responding to here, you next mention that Dr. Beeke did not sign the Manhattan Declaration. Of course, just for the record, I have never, anywhere, to anyone said he did.
Next in chronological order in the letter in question is this statement by you:
“Those are the facts, ____. You seem to have made the assumption that Ovadal is speaking nothing but the truth and that he is correct in all of his attempts to ‘connect the dots’. That would be a wrong assumption. I personally have no respect for someone who, under the guise of defending the cause of Christ, actually does great damage to that cause, and this is what Ovadal has done. There are many people just like you, no doubt, who have accepted his statements as factual. I will be the first to admit that they give the appearance at first glance of being credulous, but when you know the truth…truth that he could have found out for himself by simply picking up the phone and calling Dr. Beeke…you are grieved at the sin and folly of it all.”
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First, as I have already addressed, those were obviously, provably not facts you stated in your letter. Secondly, are we to treat Dr. Beeke as if he is our Protestant pope? The facts in question are by no means complicated or in any way hidden. Dr. Beeke was very public in his ongoing relationship with Refo500—an ungodly consortium of Romanists and apostate Protestants—and his promotion of the Refo500 events in which he was involved. But, apparently, we are to ignore both the plain, clear, unambiguous facts and the Scriptures which address the situation in question; set aside our right of private judgment; and call Dr. Beeke . . . so he can do what? Tell us the stark, documented facts are not facts and interpret the Scriptures in such a way as to justify what they forbid and condemn? And this is the way to find out the truth? By the way, are the skewed “facts” you have spread with your letter the result of a conversation with Dr. Beeke? I am not making that assertion, but you have made it sound that way. After all, you did insist that I too could have obtained those same “facts,” which you call “truth,” by “simply picking up the phone and calling Dr. Beeke.” In other words, would you have us to understand that what you are sharing came from Dr. Beeke?
I must say, though it is by far not the most important part of this controversy, I do not appreciate the despicable way you also smear my character in your letter as being dishonest and my actions in warning of the deep compromises of Dr. Beeke as being damaging to the cause of Christ and constituting “sin and folly.” I assume then that you are also accusing Rev. Foster of the same. I will not presume to speak for my brother; I am by choice the sole author of this letter since I am the one whose motives, credibility, and reputation you have specifically labored to destroy in order to defend the indefensible and deny the undeniable. But the unfounded, contrived charges which you have wrongly leveled against fellow ministers are most serious, and you most certainly are compelled and constrained by the word of God and simple honor itself to withdraw them in light of the clear evidence that they most certainly are unfounded and contrived. You might also consider that Rev. Foster and I have never used the sort of acerbic language in speaking of Dr. Beeke that some of his defenders, including you, have used when attacking us for sounding a heartfelt, urgent warning about Dr. Beeke’s dangerous compromises.
As for the next two paragraphs of your letter, I will only point out that it seems to me to be presumptuous at best that you take it upon yourself to speak for the entire FPC of North America when you state, “Ralph Ovadal is not a man I (and dare I say that most if not all of our ministers) would have speak in my/their church.” The reality is that I am aware of more than one FPC minister in North America, not to mention the UK, who are just as concerned as I am about the influence and effect of Joel Beeke’s compromises on the blood-bought flock of Christ Jesus. I am also very humbled and honored to count as friends more than one FPC minister.
You close your letter with this statement:
I must say, though it is by far not the most important part of this controversy, I do not appreciate the despicable way you also smear my character in your letter as being dishonest and my actions in warning of the deep compromises of Dr. Beeke as being damaging to the cause of Christ and constituting “sin and folly.” I assume then that you are also accusing Rev. Foster of the same. I will not presume to speak for my brother; I am by choice the sole author of this letter since I am the one whose motives, credibility, and reputation you have specifically labored to destroy in order to defend the indefensible and deny the undeniable. But the unfounded, contrived charges which you have wrongly leveled against fellow ministers are most serious, and you most certainly are compelled and constrained by the word of God and simple honor itself to withdraw them in light of the clear evidence that they most certainly are unfounded and contrived. You might also consider that Rev. Foster and I have never used the sort of acerbic language in speaking of Dr. Beeke that some of his defenders, including you, have used when attacking us for sounding a heartfelt, urgent warning about Dr. Beeke’s dangerous compromises.
As for the next two paragraphs of your letter, I will only point out that it seems to me to be presumptuous at best that you take it upon yourself to speak for the entire FPC of North America when you state, “Ralph Ovadal is not a man I (and dare I say that most if not all of our ministers) would have speak in my/their church.” The reality is that I am aware of more than one FPC minister in North America, not to mention the UK, who are just as concerned as I am about the influence and effect of Joel Beeke’s compromises on the blood-bought flock of Christ Jesus. I am also very humbled and honored to count as friends more than one FPC minister.
You close your letter with this statement:
“But thank you ____ for allowing me the opportunity to set the record straight. I would far rather people write me to let me know of their concerns than just talk to other people about it. If you have any more questions, please don’t hesitate to write. I’ll try my best to answer them.”
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The simple, undeniable truth is that you have not “set the record straight” concerning the Beeke controversy, Rev. ________—far from it. You declare that you desire people to write to you, to let you know their concerns, promising to do your best to answer them. I wish you would have answered me when I wrote to you last week in hopes that you would make right the misinformation you spread concerning the heartfelt warning Rev. Foster and I felt compelled, as ministers of Christ, to issue with regard to the very influential Dr. Beeke’s public and deep ministry compromises. By the way, that is all we have ever dealt with in those programs or articles. That alone has been our concern and focus. We have not issued our warnings out of any personal ill will for Dr. Beeke, nor have we countenanced for one minute those who would have us listen to rumors or anything of a personal nature whatsoever. In fact, during our January program, I included this warning:
“Here I want to also add a warning. The warning is to those bitter men and women who have personal vendettas against Dr. Beeke. There is not a minister alive, if he has been a minister for long, which does not have such enemies. It may perchance be a man, or woman, who was rightly disciplined or rebuked by the minister and, rather than repent, was filled up with bitterness and vengeance. Or, it may be one of those rebels who drifts about seeking controversy and has a personal axe to grind with the minister for some reason. To such individuals, I say, don’t even bother contacting me. I am not interested in being your accomplice in wickedness. I do not want to hear you vent your spleen and spew your hatred and bitterness.”
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Rev. ________, for two years, Dr. Joel Beeke went boldly along, involved with the prestigious, worldwide, religiously and spiritually corrupt organization Refo500. Then, beginning after the publishing of our first warning article in June of 2012, Dr. Beeke began to come under pressure from at least a few other faithful ministers, as well as some members of the body of Christ, to sever his ties and his ministries’ ties with Refo500. This we know for a fact. The record shows Dr. Beeke continued his relationship with Refo500, while coming under increased pressure as time went on, at least through July of this year. Perhaps he has now finally and truly separated from Refo500. Time will tell. Even now, RHB—Joel Beeke, editorial director—continues to sell an official Refo500 book edited by Karla Apperloo-Boersma, project leader of Refo500, and Herman Selderhuis, the director of Refo500 and president of the Refo500 Reformation Research Consortium. The title page of that book which, by the way, was just published in 2013 states, “edited on behalf of Refo500”; the back cover has the Refo500 logo and again states that it is edited “on behalf of Refo500.”
But, if Dr. Beeke has finally done the right thing and left Refo500, why has he not made clear to the multitudes he influences that he should never have been in Refo500 in the first place, and why has he not warned them to also steer well clear of that organization and all of a similar nature? Over the three-plus years Dr. Beeke has been so deeply involved with Refo500, personally and through his ministries, he certainly has many times urged the body of Christ to join him in his grievous error.
Dr. Beeke clearly ought to humble himself, play the man and the faithful minister in this. As a minister, he has failed to teach the Lord’s people “the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean” (Ez. 44:23). In truth, by his example, the very influential Dr. Beeke has taught the Lord’s people just the opposite. And what then of our Lord’s warning, “Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!” (Mt. 18:7)?
As things stand, Dr. Beeke most certainly cannot testify with the Apostle Paul, “Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men” (Acts 20:26).
Rev. ________, by your letter, you have sown false information, spread confusion, and, to top it off, wrongly impugned the honesty and integrity of a fellow minister—in truth, by logical extension, two fellow ministers. Consequently, I call upon you before the Lord and the Lord’s people to correct in full the misinformation and withdraw the slanderous accusations you have made—accusations which appear to be an attempt to kill the messengers in order to discredit the message.
I will await your reply. You have received this letter by e-mail, but I will also send a copy of it by regular postal service.
In closing, I will leave you with the statement with which Mr. Foster and I closed our first article, “Of Ducks and New Calvinists”: “We are not interested in ‘smearing’ in any way Dr. Beeke. Our prayer is that he will repent and return to ‘the old paths, where is the good way.’ Our great concern is for the glory and honor of Christ Jesus and His blood-bought church. It is that heartfelt concern and heartfelt conviction that prompted us to write this warning.”
Sincerely,
Ralph Ovadal
Pilgrims Covenant Church
But, if Dr. Beeke has finally done the right thing and left Refo500, why has he not made clear to the multitudes he influences that he should never have been in Refo500 in the first place, and why has he not warned them to also steer well clear of that organization and all of a similar nature? Over the three-plus years Dr. Beeke has been so deeply involved with Refo500, personally and through his ministries, he certainly has many times urged the body of Christ to join him in his grievous error.
Dr. Beeke clearly ought to humble himself, play the man and the faithful minister in this. As a minister, he has failed to teach the Lord’s people “the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean” (Ez. 44:23). In truth, by his example, the very influential Dr. Beeke has taught the Lord’s people just the opposite. And what then of our Lord’s warning, “Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!” (Mt. 18:7)?
As things stand, Dr. Beeke most certainly cannot testify with the Apostle Paul, “Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men” (Acts 20:26).
Rev. ________, by your letter, you have sown false information, spread confusion, and, to top it off, wrongly impugned the honesty and integrity of a fellow minister—in truth, by logical extension, two fellow ministers. Consequently, I call upon you before the Lord and the Lord’s people to correct in full the misinformation and withdraw the slanderous accusations you have made—accusations which appear to be an attempt to kill the messengers in order to discredit the message.
I will await your reply. You have received this letter by e-mail, but I will also send a copy of it by regular postal service.
In closing, I will leave you with the statement with which Mr. Foster and I closed our first article, “Of Ducks and New Calvinists”: “We are not interested in ‘smearing’ in any way Dr. Beeke. Our prayer is that he will repent and return to ‘the old paths, where is the good way.’ Our great concern is for the glory and honor of Christ Jesus and His blood-bought church. It is that heartfelt concern and heartfelt conviction that prompted us to write this warning.”
Sincerely,
Ralph Ovadal
Pilgrims Covenant Church
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