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Apr 1, 2015: Cross Examined: Does the Church Face a Dietrich Bonhoeffer Moment? Maybe It’s Just a Case of the Vapours.
Larry Tomczak of the “Here’s the Deal” blog is mightily concerned about this whole gay thing. In “Church Is Facing a Dietrich Bonhoeffer Moment,” he says it’s the church’s great test. Mar 2, 2015: Larry Tomczak: Barb Wire: How Do I Stand Up to Pot, Gay and Radical Islamic Propaganda?
Feb 3, 2015: Larry Tomczak: Charisma: A Word of Warning to a Gay-Approving Nashville Church and Beyond
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Larry Tomczak is a best-selling author and cultural commentator with more than 42 years of trusted ministry experience. His passion is to bring perspective, analysis and insight from a biblical worldview (see "Is Gay OK? 10 Things Everyone Needs to know," now available for viewing at LarryTomczak.com). Larry loves awakening people to today’s cultural realities and responses needed for a restored, influential church.
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Sovereign Grace Ministries, with over 70 member churches grew out of the charismatic renewal of the 1970s under the leadership of Catholic Charismatic Larry Tomczak. It has its roots in a charismatic prayer meeting in [Silver Spring, MD then Washington, DC]] called Take and Give (TAG), which grew into Covenant Life Church, the longtime flagship of Sovereign Grace. It was formally established in 1982. Tomczak cofounded the church with CJ Mahaney. Mahaney describes himself as a "former pothead." Larry Tomczak withdrew from the Charismatic Catholic scene shortly before the creation of Covenant Life Church. Tomczak and Mahaney and the movement were influenced by Bryn Jones and Terry Virgo, leaders of the British New Church Movement. Both Tomczak and Mahaney spoke at New Frontiers' Bible Weeks and Stoneleigh Conference. They were also friendly with Maranatha Campus Ministries for a period.
In "The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Modern Christian Thought" published in 1995, Alister McGrath associated PDI with the shepherding movement and described it as having "informal links with Bryn Jones," the UK house church leader. In the mid-1990s, while Tomczak was still involved in the group's leadership, religious anthropologist Dr. Karla Poewe wrote that "Vineyard is particularly attractive to the young and intellectual... People of Destiny serves a Catholic constituency" although participants at that time would not agree with this assessment. , contrasting PDI with the Vineyard Church. The theological focus gradually shifted during the mid 1990s and it was later suggested that the increasingly Calvinistic] theology of PDI was a major factor in Larry Tomczak's departure from the movement. Although reconciled with C J Mahaney in 2011, he earlier described the parting of ways with Sovereign Grace Ministries as "an unbelievable nightmare" during which his family "were threatened in various ways if [they] did not cooperate with [PDI/SGM]... A letter was circulated in an attempt to discredit me and to distort the events surrounding my departure." Other notable charismatic figures, such as Lou Engle, founder of The Call prayer concerts, and Ché Ahn, pastor of Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena, CA, also ceased to be formally associated with PDI during this period.
On July 6, 2011, Mahaney announced that he would be taking a leave of absence as a team reviews charges brought against him of "pride, unentreatability, deceit, sinful judgment, and hypocrisy." One of the purposes for this period included reconciliation with former SGM ministers. Larry Tomczak reported that Mahaney had gone out of his way to rebuild their relationship after 13 years of estrangement. On January 25, 2012, Mahaney was reinstated as president of the organization by the board after three review panels found no reason to disqualify C.J. from his role as President, or to "call into question his fitness for gospel ministry."
In "The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Modern Christian Thought" published in 1995, Alister McGrath associated PDI with the shepherding movement and described it as having "informal links with Bryn Jones," the UK house church leader. In the mid-1990s, while Tomczak was still involved in the group's leadership, religious anthropologist Dr. Karla Poewe wrote that "Vineyard is particularly attractive to the young and intellectual... People of Destiny serves a Catholic constituency" although participants at that time would not agree with this assessment. , contrasting PDI with the Vineyard Church. The theological focus gradually shifted during the mid 1990s and it was later suggested that the increasingly Calvinistic] theology of PDI was a major factor in Larry Tomczak's departure from the movement. Although reconciled with C J Mahaney in 2011, he earlier described the parting of ways with Sovereign Grace Ministries as "an unbelievable nightmare" during which his family "were threatened in various ways if [they] did not cooperate with [PDI/SGM]... A letter was circulated in an attempt to discredit me and to distort the events surrounding my departure." Other notable charismatic figures, such as Lou Engle, founder of The Call prayer concerts, and Ché Ahn, pastor of Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena, CA, also ceased to be formally associated with PDI during this period.
On July 6, 2011, Mahaney announced that he would be taking a leave of absence as a team reviews charges brought against him of "pride, unentreatability, deceit, sinful judgment, and hypocrisy." One of the purposes for this period included reconciliation with former SGM ministers. Larry Tomczak reported that Mahaney had gone out of his way to rebuild their relationship after 13 years of estrangement. On January 25, 2012, Mahaney was reinstated as president of the organization by the board after three review panels found no reason to disqualify C.J. from his role as President, or to "call into question his fitness for gospel ministry."
