PEOPLE IN PRINT
July 1, 1984
The Hurt and Healing of Church Discipline
Beyond Forgiveness by Don Baker, Multnomah, $7.95
Reviewed by J. Robin Maxson, pastor, Klamath Evangelical Free Church, Klamath Falls, Oregon
"The silence of my study was interrupted by the persistent ringing of the telephone. A longtime friend from a distant city was calling. 'I'm sorry, Don, but I have some bad news for you—one of your people has been deeply involved in sin for many years. The whole sordid story is just beginning to surface here, and I thought I'd call you so you could deal with it before it comes to you second hand.'
"He described a long series of events with all the confirming evidence that was needed. It was not just one of my people—it was one of my dear friends—it was one of my staff who had fallen."
With those two paragraphs, Don Baker plunges the reader into the real world of a sinning saint and of a church whose entire ministry was jeopardized by that sin.
Twenty-six months and two weeks later, Baker, senior pastor of Hinson Memorial Baptist Church in Portland, Oregon, addressed the offender before the congregation that had shared in the ordeal of discipline. What he said was staggering: "God has possibly made you better qualified to minister today than anybody I know."
The dramatic events are narrated by Baker in a gripping book that shows how church discipline can go Beyond Forgiveness to full restoration.
The man in question had been on Hinson's staff for two years, in ministry for twenty-five. He had been married for twenty-eight years to a wonderful, supportive woman. They had three grown children, all believers. His record was blemish-free; his ministry effective. But over a period of thirteen years, "Greg" committed adultery with ten women ...
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