Love Letters from Schaap: "That is exactly what Christ desires for us. He wants to marry us + become eternal lovers!”

Is it really true that the church would respond to the girl in such a way that she would be afraid of continuing in the church and school? This is one of the more troubling aspects of all of these abuse cases - congregations seem to have little tolerance for victims of sexual abuse. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Big mistake on victim’s parent’s part (p 14 of PDF)

“My wife and I raised all of our children in a Baptist home. The rule of our house was that the pastor was God’s representative on earth. Always do what the pastor says. We taught our children to have implicit faith and trust in pastors.”

Big mistake on the victim’s part (but her parents taught her this) (p 15 of PDF)

“My entire life the Church has been my universe. Growing up, I watched [Defendant] in Church, listening to his sermons three times a week. I was raised by my parents and teachers to trust and obey my pastor. He was a celebrity to me, a father figure, and a man of God. I was taught to see him as one of God’s messengers.”

What the state requests: (p 20)

The government also feels that a ten year sentence, followed by a term of ten years of supervised release, in conjunction with the requirement that Defendant register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, will adequately protect the public from further crimes of Defendant

There are several lines in the document that indicate the annoyance of the government attorneys toward Schaap and his excuses. Perhaps this one sums it up best:

“The only way Defendant could have been working 100-hour weeks during the time-period investigated by the government is if he’s counting the many hours he dedicated to grooming and sexually abusing the victim.”

Despite all that, they are still sticking to the plea agreement and only asking for the mandatory minimum ten year sentence to be handed down.

By this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme — 2 Samuel 12:14

Page 4 in footnote (note …an earlier Schaap thread had discussion about the staff member who transported the victim to Michigan)

This individual is a 63 year-old married woman who had attended First Baptist Church for over 40 years. Prior to asking her to transport the victim, Defendant confided in this staff member that the victim was in an extremely vulnerable state, had been engaging in self destructive behaviors, and that Defendant needed to spend extended periods of time alone with the victim in order to “save” her – literally and spiritually. PSR, para. 29. Defendant acknowledged to the staff member that if he spent too much time alone with the victim at the church, questions would be raised. Id. So instead he asked the staff member to transport the victim to Illinois for what he called “counseling” sessions. Id. Regarding the trip to Michigan, Defendant invited the staff member to bring her own daughter along with the victim at his expense and claimed that his intention was merely to “touch base” with the victim while they were all in Michigan.

Good to know not all had “drunk the Kool-aid” (p 6)

When his staff became concerned that he was spending too much time with the victim, Defendant called a meeting at which he vehemently denied – repeatedly, and directly to their faces – engaging in any inappropriate conduct with the victim.

[Pastor Joe Roof]

Is it really true that the church would respond to the girl in such a way that she would be afraid of continuing in the church and school? This is one of the more troubling aspects of all of these abuse cases - congregations seem to have little tolerance for victims of sexual abuse. Please correct me if I am wrong.

If that church is built on the ‘man of god’ instead of Jesus…yes, it is, because she brought the ‘man of god’ (Scripture: idol) down. Which is exactly what happened.

Ten years…Schaap is very, very, very lucky or has some excellent attorneys. He could have gotten life for this.

"Our task today is to tell people — who no longer know what sin is...no longer see themselves as sinners, and no longer have room for these categories — that Christ died for sins of which they do not think they’re guilty." - David Wells

I am reminded that several years ago, Schaap released a book that sexualized communion with God. I have long believed that heretical doctrine and belief results in wicked living and morality. I disagree with the remark sometimes made that someone can be right in his doctrine but wrong in his practice. It is possible someone will mouth right doctrine, but as it has been said by many before “Ideas (beliefs) have consequences.”

The man is a disgrace. His excuses were pathetic and self-serving. I hope he enjoys his time in prison. I wonder if he will attempt to go back into ministry once he is released?!

Tyler is a pastor in Olympia, WA and works in State government.

Recently I was interviewing a man from Valparaiso, IN for a job and he mentioned that he ministered at the Porter County Jail on a regular basis. I engaged him in some conversation that led to him telling me that on a recent trip to the jail where he was preaching that day, the inmates all came in for the service. One, middle-aged, white guy with a tight haircut came up to the very front row and as the guy I was interviewing described it, “…kept ‘amening’ loudly throughout the message.” I inferred that it was somewhat distracting for him. By this time, I suspected what I was about to hear and he eventually confirmed my thoughts. He had been preaching to the former pastor of the 11th largest church in America.

I am not going to judge any of Jack’s motivations. Having known him at some level, I will say that I’m not surprised by this story in the least. The actions are typical of one who still “doesn’t get it”.

The details in the prosecution’s brief literally made me lose my breath. I am so disgusted to have ever been affiliated in any way with the mentality of that branch of fundamentalism. God forgive those well-meaning and blind people (and some who weren’t) who helped make this man the monster he became. God heal the heart of the victim and her family.

Dan Burrell Cornelius, NC Visit my Blog "Whirled Views" @ www.danburrell.com

I don’t ever want to blame the victim in this case, but what were the parents of this young girl thinking? This offers further proof to those who don’t always monitor their children or keep a close eye on their activites with other adults. We must be vigilant at all times in these types of matters, especially with young daughters, but also with our sons. Also, it should go without saying for those in positions of power to also stay vigilant. I know the parents will beat themselves up over this matter, but regardless it provides no execuse whatsoever for what Mr. Schapp did.

If Jack had made the minimal effort of keeping his door open and having another person present in the beginning when it was easier to take this action, he wouldn’t have struggled with activities that would have become increasingly hard to control.

I can tell you this, from experience of having family members who have spent a decent amount of time in prison, Mr. Schapp will suffer considerably while he is at the lowest rung of the social ladder in prison. I can tell you without a doubt that these type of people are not loved, and he will definitely have to watch his behavior and his back while in prison. It will not be an easy time for him, although the 10 years is still not nearly enough time for him.

[dgszweda] I don’t ever want to blame the victim in this case, but what were the parents of this young girl thinking? This offers further proof to those who don’t always monitor their children or keep a close eye on their activites with other adults. We must be vigilant at all times in these types of matters, especially with young daughters, but also with our sons. Also, it should go without saying for those in positions of power to also stay vigilant. I know the parents will beat themselves up over this matter, but regardless it provides no excuse whatsoever for what Mr. Schapp did.

If Jack had made the minimal effort of keeping his door open and having another person present in the beginning when it was easier to take this action, he wouldn’t have struggled with activities that would have become increasingly hard to control.

Maybe, but I don’t think so. This sounds to me like a classic sexual predator who was given a church pulpit because he had the right connections to an already corrupt church leadership. That’s why I’ve been so hard on Schaap in particular and Hammond in general.

Schaap sounds to me (especially in light of some of the other stuff that has been noted, like his sexualized book on Communion from 2005 - some seven years before this story broke) like a pervert that was actively waiting and looking for opportunities; his life is probably dominated by lust for women, and it wouldn’t shock me in the least to find out that he was into pornography. The original reports did say that the cops confiscated an iPhone, computer, and other stuff, which gives some support to my theory.

This specific case is almost textbook behavior for sexual predators. If Schaap intentionally lied to others about the purpose for his visits to Michigan to counsel the girl and was telling the staff at the Church that there was nothing going on, I doubt very much that this was an struggle - except maybe a struggle not to take advantage of her. I’m betting that he met with the parents and explained that she needed his special attention (probably under the guise of ‘teaching’ or ‘counseling’) and that they believed the ‘man of god’. It sounds to me like he deliberately structured the affair this way because he wanted to sleep with her (and I doubt that she knew that he was going to try and have sex with her, which is so unbelievably common with sex crime victims).That is why I’m so surprised that we haven’t heard about other women that he slept with - this is textbook behavior for sexual predators.

This is ultimately a story about a church that was beaten into submission that the ‘man of god’ could do no wrong, and then the ‘men of god’ used ‘god’ as an excuse to fulfill their lusts on unaware or undiscerning sheep. We need to pray for the young lady that Schaap seduced too, along with Cindy Schaap, and we need to pray that the new pastor will build that church on sound Biblical teaching. Grief that it happened will only take them so far unless discernment is developed.

"Our task today is to tell people — who no longer know what sin is...no longer see themselves as sinners, and no longer have room for these categories — that Christ died for sins of which they do not think they’re guilty." - David Wells