Pastor John Lindell claims Mark Driscoll tried to divide his church and family, urges him to repent
James River Church Pastor John Lindell accused Pastor Mark Driscoll of attempting to overthrow him as the leader of his church and dividing his family and congregation by unfairly attacking as demonic a performance by a professional sword swallower and admitted male stripper at the Stronger Men’s Conference in Missouri.
In an address to his congregation in Springfield on Wednesday night, Lindell laid out in detail how even though he is aware that Magala is a born-again Christian, Driscoll accused him of being under the influence of a Jezebel spirit. Lindell also alleged that Driscoll accused his son, Brandon, of “a list of dark sins;” urged another son, David, to take control of the church and separate himself from his father and brother. Lindell said Driscoll also refused to publicly apologize even when he was told that his narrative about Magala was dangerous. He noted that the staff of both James River Church as well as those at the Assemblies of God headquarters — the base of the Pentecostal denomination to which Lindell’s church is attached — had received threats to the point where they had to start sending calls to voicemail.
“Let me say this, I get absolutely no joy or delight out of doing this to someone that I've called a friend. Mark, if you are listening to this message, we love you, and it's with a heavy heart that we are calling you to repent. Jimmy Evans has called you to repent. The presence of God and of Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His kingdom, Mark, we call on you to publicly repent,” Lindell pleaded.
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“We are calling you to publicly repent for refusing to stop the spread of lies regarding Alex Magala, a Christian brother. Mark, we are calling you to publicly repent for sowing disunity in the Body of Christ. Mark, we are calling you to publicly repent for covertly trying to divide brothers and making false and slanderous accusations against Brandon Lindell. Mark, we are calling you to publicly repent for trying to create division in the Lindell family all the while saying you love us.
“Mark, we are calling you to publicly repent for trying to destroy James River Church through attacking its leadership. To those who follow Mark Driscoll Ministries in light of what has been presented, you should reconsider your relationship and support of Mark Driscoll Ministries,” Lindell declared.
“To those who have passed on information from social media and other sources that tonight has been shown to be false, you, too, need to repent. And not just before God, that is certainly where it starts, but repent by going to those with whom you have shared false information and set the record straight,” he insisted. “Doing it through the same Manner and with the same platforms as you spread the false information.”
Lindell said that Magala has been a born-again Christian for approximately 10 years and is married with children. Magala is also a member of Mosaic Church in Los Angeles, California, led by Erwin McManus.
“While Alex was here, he participated in worship, and when he was taken to the airport, our James River Church host watched as Alex boldly shared his faith with an individual. Yes, Alex, like many Christians, has a past, but he has been made a new creation. He's been made a new creation through his faith in Jesus Christ.”
In 2016, while Magala’s star was rising as a family-friendly sword swallower on "Britain's Got Talent," a Daily Mail report revealed that Magala had also worked as a pole-dancing striptease artist in Los Angeles and Las Vegas for women and gay men.
“My life is like a movie,” Magala told the publication. “Perhaps you've seen in films when a killer gets a text about his next victim. I have the same story. I receive the address of the club, the time, and the color of underwear. I arrive at the place: lights, music, fire.”
Magala did not respond when asked by The Christian Post if he had been involved in any of those activities recently, but he did explain in a statement published Wednesday on Instagram that Driscoll is criticizing his actions as a desperate 21-year-old immigrant from Moldova.
“After my performance at James River Church conference a 53 year old pastor was judging a 21 year old me. Well, to put it in a perspective I wanted to offer Pastor @markdriscoll to move into a country on another side of the planet, like China, or Russia that he never been before, that he has almost zero knowledge of the language, zero friends, zero family, and $60 in his pocket. And see how he is gonna make it,” Magala said.
“Believe me, I tried. I couldn’t find any job. So I spent $35 (out of $60) on the sword and was performing on streets Hollywood blvd. The rest of money I spent on milk and oatmeal. In my first performance I got a tip of $4.50. And I would’ve continued, but the injuries from sword swallowing wouldn’t allow me to perform often. … I just ran out of oatmeal. ... Also I wanted to add, [e]veryone finds God in his own time,” he noted.
In his critique of Magala’s performance at the Stronger Men’s Conference, which ran from April 11-12, at the Great Southern Bank Arena in Springfield Driscoll objected to the performance, arguing that it invoked the Jezebel spirit over the conference.
“Before the word of God was open, there was a platform. It was a high place. On it was a pole, an Asherah. The same thing that's used in a strip club for women who have the Jezebel spirit to seduce men. In front of that was a man who ripped his shirt off, like a woman does in front of a pole at a strip club,” he explained in open rebuke of the church before he was interrupted by Lindell, who said he was “out of line” for what he did.
Not everyone at the conference was happy with Driscoll’s removal from the stage and video shared by Protestia on X show that Driscoll was eventually brought back and he admitted he did not handle the situation well.
Driscoll referred to Lindell as a “good pastor and spiritual father” who had been there for him and his family during the toughest seasons of his life.
Lindell admitted that as Driscoll was calling out the Jezebel spirit, he told his sons that he was like John the Baptist.
“Mark’s a prophetic voice to our generation,” Lindell said. “Nothing about what was said changes that. And Mark and I talked. We went outside where we could be alone so we could talk, and we reaffirmed our friendship. And Mark, I want you to know, you’re a gift to the Kingdom. You’re a gift to James River.”
Lindell said on stage at the conference that if Driscoll had concerns, he should have handled it in a biblical manner as described in Matthew 18.
The pastor added that even though Driscoll acknowledged to him that he mishandled the situation, he has never apologized and has continued to allow his claims against Magala to harm James River Church, so he decided to apply the Matthew 18 response to the conflict.
“Jesus said if your brother sins against you, go, and show him his fault just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over but if he will not listen take one or two others along so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them tell it to the church and if he refuses to listen even to the church treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector,” Lindell said.
“In those verses, Jesus gives us a three-step process for resolving conflicts not just conflicts between believers, but a plan for confronting sinful behavior. Step one, you go to the person and point out their fault just between the two of you. Step two, if the person does not repent, you involve one to two other people. Step three, if they refuse, you tell it to the church. It's with great sadness that I let you know we are at step three.”
Lindell noted that Magala was mentored by Dan Meyer, the leader of Sword Swallowers Association International who is a multiple Guinness world record holder in sword swallowing. Meyer is also a member of Driscoll's congregation issued a statement on Magala’s performance at the conference.
“It wasn't a raunchy male pole dance or stripper performance. Alex is the top of his field as a master in the classical 12th century martial arts acrobatic discipline called Chinese pole acrobatics, which he performed at the Olympics. This is way different than a male stripper. It's like comparing classical ballet with strip tease, no comparison,” Meyer said as part of a statement that Lindell shared with the church.
Lindell also noted Driscoll was the only person who complained to him about Magala’s performance, and argued that the Arizona preacher manufactured the controversy as a publicity stunt.
“Mark could have easily contacted one of his own congregants to find out more about Alex or even contacted Alex's manager, but it seems that Mark is more interested in the controversy that will sell books, gain clicks, and increase donations to his ministry,” Lindell said.
He then explained what happened after he stopped Driscoll’s message at the conference last Friday night.
“After I stopped Mark's message and calmed the crowd, I ran backstage to find Mark and was told that he had left for the airport. I ran into the parking area and Mark got out of the car and as he came up to me, he said, ‘Well, that didn't go very well.’ To which I responded, ‘Mark, you were out of line.’ And he said, ‘No, I don't think so.’
“I said, ‘Mark, Matthew 18 is really clear on this. If you were offended by last night's performance you should have talked to me about it first, because in Matthew 18, it says if your brother sins against you go and show him his fault just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.’ To which Mark responded, ‘Well, I couldn't help it. The Spirit of God came upon me. My response was, ‘Mark, that's not true,’” Lindell continued.
“The Bible says the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets, so don't say you couldn't help it because that is not what the Bible says, and the Holy Spirit is never going to encourage you to do something that contradicts His word. Mark, you should have talked to me first,” the Missouri megachurch pastor recalled.
Lindell said Driscoll’s spiritual advisor, Jimmy Evans, also confronted him about his behavior and they made efforts to smooth things over before he left the conference. A part of that effort included them taking a picture together, but Driscoll insisted that he should be the one to post the photo to his social media first.
“At that point, I was thinking that things were settled. When Mark returned to Scottsdale, Arizona, he sent me the following text at 5:10 p.m. ‘Pastor John it's Mark here. I just landed back in Phoenix. I feel like I'm watching a strange Netflix show I happen to be in. Thank you for 16 years of deep deposits and friendship. I love, appreciate, and respect you very much ... ”
Lindell explained that the story took a strange turn on Saturday night when Driscoll started sending his son, David, a series of texts regarding Magala and said that his team had created a file that reflects behavior that’s “completely demonic.”
“In total, Mark sent eight texts to David Lindell that stopped at 12:30 a.m. on Sunday morning. On Sunday after church, I texted Mark the following text at 1:48 p.m. ‘Mark I wanted to respond to your text for additional context. Alex Magala is a believer and participated in worship at every opportunity. He is a Christian regardless of the sin of his past. His shirtless performance was similar to the Ramadhani Brothers,” Lindell said.
“As for the pole, it is a Chinese acrobat pole. The Chinese pole dates back to at least the 12th century, around 900 years ago. By contrast, women's erotic pole dancing is less than 100 years old. To suggest that a professional acrobat using a device that's been around for a thousand years is in the same category as an erotic dancer is at best misinformed or uninformed,” he noted. “We Stand by the decision because Alex is a believer. I will defend him in the same way I have repeatedly stood by you and defended you,” Lindell said to applause from his congregation.
He said he told Driscoll that if he kept pressing the issue he would seek mediation.
“Within minutes after sending that text, the post with our picture together was removed from Mark's account,” Lindell said.
“On Sunday evening at 7:43 Mark texted, ‘Pastor John, thank you for your response. I love you and your family as well. My plan is to be saying and doing nothing but praying. I texted back less than an hour later at 8:36 p.m. Mark, thank you. That's great, I love you.
“Do you see the deception,” Lindell then asked his congregants. “Mark expressed love on the one hand but took the picture down. He knew that Alex was a Christian, but it would seem that storyline would ruin his ability to generate clicks and sales. Instantly on Monday, the word spread like wildfire about Alex. One can only wonder how that happened.”
Lindell said Driscoll also called his son, David, and left him a voicemail at 11:37 p.m. on Saturday night and shared his concern about Magala. He also called him on Monday but did not leave a message. He said shortly after noon on Monday he told David to return Driscoll’s call.
On the call, Lindell said Driscoll told David that “there is something wrong at James River Church.” Among other things, Driscoll raised concern about “a mixture of the sinful and the sacred.” Driscoll urged David Lindell to separate himself from his father and brother, Brandon, who he allegedly described as “a broken man.”
“He went on to accuse Brandon of a list of dark sins,” Lindell said.
Driscoll also allegedly encouraged David Lindell to “differentiate and become the leader of James River Church.”
“What kind of person says those things? Let me say this, Brandon is a man of God in every sense of the word. In fact, I will take it a step further, David is a man of God in every sense of the word,” Lindell said to applause.
Lindell said even though he tried to get Driscoll’s spiritual advisor to mediate the conflict nothing has worked.
“Dr. Jimmy Evans informed Mark that what he was doing and not stopping these things regarding Alex's past and James River Church was resulting in death threats and horrible abuse to our James River Church receptionists, so much so that for the first time ever we shut down our switchboard and put all calls to voicemail,” Lindell said.
“Our receptionists were frightened and were in tears yesterday. I was preaching in Arizona where the Assemblies of God General Superintendent, Doug Clay, was also preaching. Following our preaching he asked to visit with me and said that the national headquarters of the Assemblies of God had also received violent threats and such disturbing interaction with callers that they, too, shut down their reception to this point,” he added.
“Jimmy encouraged Mark to say something to calm things down. To this point Mark has done nothing to calm down the vigilante acts of his followers, which brings us tonight to the third step in Matthew Chapter 18. Matthew 18:17 says if he refuses to listen to them tell it to the church, and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector. That means if he doesn't listen to the rebuke of tonight, any believer should not have anything to do with Mark Driscoll.”
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