The Big Lie At General Assembly, And Why It Matters

Dan Boone committed a BIG lie at the Nazarene General Assembly in Indianapolis, and it matters because he lied to hundreds of voting delegates with the purpose of affecting an election of a General Superintendent. Dan Boone’s preferred candidate, who was leading after about 22 ballots, started losing votes and was trailing another candidate for at least the next five ballots. Dan Boone made a decision to step in and try to make sure that his guy, Scott Daniels, won. And it apparently worked. It could very well be the most despicable lie every perpetrated at a Nazarene General Assembly.

Dan Boone interpreted what were legitimate concerns about Scott Daniels to be the same as spreading lies and disinformation. He made it seem as if there was a conspipracy by a Nazarene group to spread misinformation to voting delegates. He smeared and insulted thousands of Nazarenes who are opposed to LGBTQ acceptance and many other serious issues in the church. He has opened up a can of worms which may backfire on him and the leadership. To influence an election with false information is a highly unethical thing to do, and Dan Boone ought to be held accountable. He should resign from any official Nazarene positions and duties.

This post is not hate speech, as Mr. Boone will undoubtedly say. It is a refutation of the Big Lie. Scripture commands us to expose the false, and to call out those who promote false teachings or who cause damage within the church. That is what Dan Boone is doing. He is trying to create a boogeyman, and then later he can connect this boogeyman to anyone or any group that dares to question the leadership of the church. He will have you believe that a certain group is bad, and then anyone who has the same concerns will then be as bad as that group that he has vilified.

Mr. Boone committed a very serious deception at the General Assembly, with perhaps some assistance from others. It would be interesting to know if anyone else played a part in this lie. This lie, this deception, must be exposed, because it is a believer’s responsibility to shine light on those who lie publicly, especially when they lie to voting delegates at a General Assembly.

The Big Lie

Here is the full text of Dan Boone’s Big Lie

“I’m in possession of emails that are coming into our assembly from outside the assembly and inside the assembly from an organization that introduces themselves as Reformed Nazarenes. My personal experience with this group across the past twelve years is that they are minimally, if even connected, to the Church of the Nazarene. They have been very divisive in the lives of many of our leaders. They are purporting with half truths and innuendo has destroyed many young pastors as well as older pastors. I’ve been the personal object of their attacks along with many of my friends. As we are receiving that, I feel like I have a moral obligation to our delegates who are coming into the United States that have no twelve year history with this particular group, to say to them this is an organization which deals in half-truths and attack and is significantly divisive. My question is what should I do about that?”

Lie #1: “an organization that introduces themselves as Reformed Nazarenes.” From anyone else, this lie could have been an innocent mistake, but not coming from Dan Boone, who knows better. There is no such thing as a group called Reformed Nazarenes (although my ‘Former Nazarene’ blog used to be called that). But I don’t believe he was mistaken. I believe he used “this name”Reformed Nazarenes” intentionally, so as to not use Concerned Nazarenes.  If he did, Mr. Boone would clearly be accusing a group of over 2,500 members of being liars and deceivers.  He would then be accusing not only many Nazarenes, but many of them are also pastors who have sincere and serious concerns about the church and where it is heading.

Lie #2: “they are minimally, if even connected, to the Church of the Nazarene.” Another big lie.  The vast majority of the 2,500 plus members of Concerned Nazarenes are mostly current, with also former Nazarenes who had no choice but to leave their church because of false teaching. Mr. Boone lied to the delegates deliberately to downplay the seriousness of the problems in the church, and to make it seem as if perhaps a small number of “kooks” were unimportant. Mr. Boone has never liked views that oppose his own agenda, and his usual responses are ironically opposite of his own stated ideal of having “a charitable discourse.”

Lie #3: “Their purporting with half-truths and innuendo.”  “this is an organization which deals in half-truths and attack.”
More unsubstantiated lies from Dr. Boone. If Mr. Boone, who claims he is in possession of emails that indicate these “half-truths and innuendo”, let him produce these emails.  Why didn’t he read some of these emails for the delegates to hear? Because he wanted them to take his word for it, that it was all lies.  But the liar is Dr. Boone, who has his agenda to fulfill. Mr. Boone is never specific about his accusations, so why do so many take him at his word? Is he God?

Possible Lie #4: Dan Boone also said “I’m in possession of emails that are coming into our assembly from outside the assembly and inside the assembly.”  Show us the emails, Mr. Boone. Show us the proof of these lies you are talking about. And show us how even if one particular individual did send an email with a lie, show us how you came to understand that a specific group is behind anything.

Why Does It Matter?

Dan Boone lied to protect Scott Daniels, and to help his friend win the General Superintendency.

It matters because it’s an attempt to shut Nazarenes up and squash legitimate debate.

It matters because this could happen again.

It matters because Scott Daniels has a lot of questions to answer.

It matters because a new General Superintendent who is close to Tom Oord and has praised his work, has questions to answer.

It matters because another candidate was robbed of an opportunity to serve.

It matters because it is a sin to be deceptive and lead people astray. It matters a lot.

Dan Boone had to stop the bleeding of votes before someone was elected, so he resorted to playing a card he often plays: smearing others.  It’s not the first time. He may have won this battle, but I believe he made a big mistake. (Many more Nazarenes are waking up to the truth, and in the last two weeks, we have had over 200 new members join the group).

Reasonable people, whether liberal or conservative, believe in accountability for all people. Many a time in history have there been examples of trusted leaders turning out to be caught in a lie. And then, the harm is done, and it’s too late to correct the harm. Often, the liar gets away with it, because those on his “side” will overlook the lie that benefited them. Being well known or well respected does not mean that person should automatically be believed.

Dan Boone has a history of accusing Bible-believing Christians of all sorts of evil.  He has been known to compare these believers to jihadists. He uses the word “fundamentalist” as a pejorative. The use of this term is for the purpose of attacking and discrediting Bible believing Christians who believe the entire Bible.  Dr. Boone does NOT believe all of the Bible, because he is an evolutionist. This is fact, not innuendo, yet Mr. Boone calls out anyone for reporting facts that expose his agenda or his false beliefs.

I call on Mr. Boone to repent. I mean no evil towards him. None of the thousands of concerned Nazarenes mean any evil towards him.  But truth and integrity is at stake, and we are commanded in scripture to call out the false teachers and “reprove them.”

The General Superintendents

I call on the General Superintendents, once again, to do something about the evil forces that are corrupting the church.

Speak out against the LGBTQ agenda.
Rescind the ordination credentials of Thomas Oord, and any other pastor who dares to give the slightest support to same sex marriage or acceptance of homosexuality.
Bring real discipline to the Holland Nazarene District which blesses same sex unions, and report to the people what is happening there.
Start preaching on what matters: salvation, sin…instead of lukewarm topics that are distant from real biblical truths.
Do your job which is mainly to protect the doctrines of the church! It’s not enough to state doctrine, you need to uphold it!

Shine the light on evil, do not let it slide for the sake of keeping memberships, or for fear of losing more money than you are losing already. You have a heavy responsibility, and you know very well what God demands of those in such positions as you are in.

And finally, do not let wolves like Dan Boone take the denomination straight down the road to hell. You will be held accountable if you do nothing.

(This article is from a former Nazarene, and ever since I was forced to leave the denomination, you have lost thousands of members, and you are in real trouble unless you let God guide you to do the right thing, including throwing out the heretics, not those who truly love God and want to obey God).

Relevant Articles Mentioning Dan Boone:

https://reformednazarene.wordpress.com/?s=dan+boone

The Holland Nazarene District Scandal:

Sodom And Gomorrah, And The Church of the Nazarene in Holland: Is There Any Difference?