“If the  students  do not know the deceptions are present then they will not be harmed by them”. CMMA Director Bobby Parks response to proven deceptions in student curriculum.

 Thomas Littleton                                                                                                              8/5/2019

The Writer at Thirty Pieces of Silver has been involved in many issues that are front line and public concerns for the Church today.  In addition to this role Littleton and his wife have quietly served in pastoral and counseling roles , mentoring young people in the faith and in their professions.  Littleton is an evangelist and teacher and has been involved in medical missions in Central America  since the late 90s.

The Littleton’s met on a medical missions trip through Hunter Street Baptist Church years ago.  As a Dental student Littleton’s wife was involved in the ministry of Christian Medical Ministry of Alabama on the campus of University of Alabama at Birmingham.

In the last decade, the Littleton’s medical missions, mentoring efforts and calling have been combined in work with CMMA. They have supported CMMA with time ,money and passionate agreement with CMMAs stated mission. They have played many roles in this and other related ministries .These roles have included mentoring relationships with students and young medical care providers, planning, resourcing and leading CMMA medical missions trips with students and staff  and teaching /participating in bible studies. Littleton’s wife Karen has also served on the CMMA Board. (Of note -given the targeting Littleton’s wife has received – She has been the only woman and only minority among a dozen or so white males on the Board )

By Spring of 2013 -the Littleton’s had become of aware of 2012 plans by a “City Reaching ” ministry called Mission Birmingham to attempt to form Faith Based / Community Health Care partnership  (FBP)with the local county indigent hospital.

The Mission Birmingham plan also included efforts to open 30 plus clinics inside churches to be extensions of the county hospital. This plan and Mission Birmingham ITSELF -by this time- was originating out of the Littleton’s home church. The ministry of Mission Birmingham that had begun years ago at Briarwood PCA church as a pastoral prayer meeting. The MB effort was discovered to be seeking to lure the Littleton’s into the FBP plan in order to attract and connect its efforts with CMMA.

MANY problems -which are outlined in the article below -were both obvious from the start  and more began to surface as the “vision ” and funding unfolded. The Littletons determined to speak up and protect CMMA vision, employees ,staff, donors and students involved in the ministry from these deceptive -seductive schemes . What follows is the recounting of over 4 years of trails ending – not in any course correction for CMMA -but in the attempts to smear the reputation of and oust  Littleton’s wife from the CMMA Board.

(NOTE- This article is not an attack on Briarwood/ CMMA / Harry Reeder/ Benny and Bobby (the) Parks Brothers / or Briarwood or CMMA Staff.  WE love and pray for these men and have been very patient – even hiding for years-their actions against us .It IS a statement on the stand we took – why we took the stand _to protect a beloved ministry vision from harm _and the price we paid to and continue to take for standing against it.

Being  biblical / faithful and protecting the young lives,  faith and calling of those we entrusted to minister to IS the first and last our consideration. Let it be yours as well. )

In 2015 This writer was asked to engage in the Apologetics classes at Briarwood PCA. Over a three year period, 15-18  different hours on the full range of LGBTQ history / movement/ politics/ funding and goals were taught against a backdrop of a clear call to Biblical faithfulness and the truth on how to minister to people in- and families of LGBT. At that point VERY FEW at Briarwood  or most churches for that matter – had even heard the letters LGBT much less what they all stood for in the new world supercharged with activism.  The  voices warning against the LGBTQ education agenda driven by Planned Parenthood and the inside story on HRC and other activist groups “Faith Initiatives ” where very FEW indeed and Briarwood was getting full access to all the story.

As this writers work began to be published nationally – an article appeared in Barbwire in which he wrote about the lack of engagement of conservative Christian leaders in the hottest battles for the heart and souls of American Evangelicalism.  This writer mentioned in one paragraph- the compromise of Tim Keller and its ongoing impact in the PCA .Soon “Hell Fire” from Harry Reeder’s office ensued leading up to retribution against Littleton in issues totally unrelated to Briarwood  and enduring on to  last months targeting of Littleton’s wife . In reality they have yet to ceased.

The relationship at CMMA began to “normalize” after the Keller article reactions at the same time the LGBTQ+ agenda and much more profound Keller compromised surfaced. Following the Briarwood demands NOT to discuss the issues related to Briarwood with others -this  writer did not speak of those issues but did attempt to warn CMMA and both Parks brothers repeatedly of the unfolding concerns.

Little if any progress was made in getting past the simple fact that the truth about Tim Keller had not only created a divide but a growing hostility among the Briarwood staff and with the CMMA Director toward the Littletons and any warnings coming from him.  These warnings were being published and well received internationally by this time but increasingly -angrily rebuffed at Briarwood . Some responses bordered on hate and were ADMITTED  by one Briarwood staffer on more than one occasion to be “sinful”. Matthew 18 efforts on the part of the Littleton’s  to reconcile these issues were rebuffed and ignored and only added to the growing tensions.

Over the following years CMMAs presence at University of Alabama Birmingham medical schools came on the radar of LGBTQ campus activst.  Littleton attempted to show some of the developing narratives and  tool kit/ conversation guides to the Parks brothers.  Exposing these examples of activist tactics and approaches helped many other ministries and churches navigate these issues successfully – but not Briarwood or CMMA .They rejected all efforts to help.

The LGBT “Tool Kits” and “Conversations Guides”

Briarwood and CMMA ministry leaders rejected all efforts of help with these rapidly unfolding tactics to infiltrate and deceive the churches by activist. VERY few were aware much less warning ministries and conservative churches of  the dangers. Slick and heavily marketed groups like Rethink Apologetics were advising “inclusion in membership ” as an evangelistic approach TOTALLY  ignoring the existence of activism altogether  and the targeting of the church-even when asked about HRC and more radical groups .Briarwood Church chose to host Rethink Apologetics against many warning until Reeder decided to interview the LGBT+ speaker whose theology and the entire Rethink Approach were determined to be “unsound , troublesome and unbiblical” . Yet the the event was hosted in April 2019 for a third year. Rethink target audience are teens in conservative churches. A neighboring Southern Baptist church is scheduled to host Rethink for 2020.

The efforts of infiltration and mistaken efforts to find compromise  hit CLOSE to the CMMA home. As the Littleton’s continued to work with CMMA ministry in contact with medical students and area medical professionals- suddenly UAB- Children’s Hospital , five local County Health Departments AND most local  Faith Based Clinics ( FBPC ) funding signed onto a policy covenant drafted to force pro LGBTQ+ policy in all community development funding areas including and especially Health Care.

*Just three years prior to this developing issue a ministry began by Briarwood- Mission Birmingham . By this time MB was operated day to day by  the church (Shades Mountain Independent) where Littleton’s wife was raised, (now called Shades Mountain Community Church). Mission Birmingham had launched an effort to recruit the Littleton’s and CMMA into their Faith Based Clinics partnership vision with the local County.

The  vision was to  establish clinics actually located INSIDE  local churches that would be EXTENSIONS  of the local County Indigent Health Care Trust and the local county hospital Cooper Green.  These plans were part of that church (SMCC) efforts to follow PCA pastors Randy Pope’s / Tim Keller inspired model. Plans did not succeed nor did efforts to recruit the Littleton’s due to the insight of the deep compromise required for ministries to comply the sad but predictable reality of rampant and growing corruption. A long time partner of Mission Birmingham under SMCC and Briarwood had already been landlord to a $14 million dollar health care fraud in “Community Based Indigent Care by 2015”.Mission Birmingham closed its doors in December 2018 after three decades .

*Still warnings to CMMA / Briarwood of these issues and the local policy driven by the “Equality Act ” style planning were ignored and met with more anger by Bobby  Parks. CMMA students were openly accessed in CMMA functions and recruited by Faith Based Health Care leaders even while those leaders were being funded by the same money as the pro LGBTQ+ initiatives . Some FBP leaders were caught being dishonest wth CMMA students while speaking at CMMA meetings . These included denials about government funding and about the FBP clinics being in direct competition to area private practitioners.

Restrictions to ministry in Government funded and progressive private funded health care made the promotion of these clinics as “ministry –  fraudulent and misrepresented . They simply cannot be viable as areas for ministry with students/ interns and volunteers while taking such funding .

This was -in itself at the VERY heart of the Littleton’s stand against using CMMA as a feeder /recruiting station for the FBP clinics.

FBP s  cannot be promoted as a ministry when “explicit religious activities “such as Bible study or distribution, prayer , worship, material distribution and “proselytizing ”  are “strictly forbidden” by the funders- esp the Government agencies who cannot violate “establishment clauses.”  Christians working in medicine is a wonderful thing .Christians  in medicine is not the problem – nor are Christian run clinics the problem. Obamacare /socialized medicine and funding partnerships with the church and FBP  ARE a HUGE problem.

*Also Students being recruited into some of these programs in CMMA were of course coming to the Littleton’s who serve as mentors and expressing  major “quality of care” and medical “ethics ” issues with the care being provided in some cases. This growing problem is currently under review in an investigation that cannot be discussed as of this writing .

The tensions of the CMMA students being recruited were illustrated on the very day this article is being finalized as a former CMMA student now in general dentistry and Littleton’s wife were asked by a current  student about their thoughts for the student potentially working one of the  troubled FBP clinics as a resident .Many  CMMA former students know the problems and voice them honestly while the CMMA leadership/ Bobby Parks promotes the models .He has been unwilling to admit to the problems even when the Littletons have warned of it and the Students see them and live them daily .

*Curriculums designed to recruit students of CMMA and other Briarwood ministries to  VOLUNTEERISM  contained overt deceptions.

Littleton warned of the presence and long term goals undermining the students own ethics and hopes for future employment in these  recruiting  and priming methods.

*Bobby Parks – appearing to now be weary of rejecting such warnings declared:

“If the  students do not know the deceptions are present then they will not be harmed by them.”

Read that again .

This was the Briarwood staffer- CMMA director’s view on the deceptions outlined above. At this point the Parks brothers and Briarwood appear to have become  driven and unstoppable-  as the CMMA directors anger continue to boil . To date there has been no apology or signs of repentance for ANY for this.

*CMMA leader Bobby Parks was VERY aware of the backstory with the dishonesty ,abuse and unethical application of eldership authority in the now rapidly declining Shades Mountain Community Church (SMCC) . This included  the “new” Mission Birmingham vision after the Littleton’s had made THEMSELVES fully accountable to him as the CMMA leader YEARS BEFORE. Though knowing in detail- Parks gave no warning to a long time associate missionary from the Dominican Republic /SCORE ministry or his wife when they were looking for a church home after relocating to Birmingham.The couple began to attend SMCC. CMMA director chose not to offer warning to his long time associates. The couple joined SMCC and began to bring the deceptive and abusive elders/leadership  of their new church home into CMMA’s realm and fundraising. These are the same people who had sought to obtain access thru the Littleton’s to CMMA through the now failed Mission Birmingham and its “Community Development ” /Faith based goals.

*Again Bobby Parks, CMMAs director,appeared to show no concern for protecting others on his staff from these deadly deceptions. To this day- knowing and loving this brother – the Littletons cannot understand the reasoning behind such decisions .

*CMMA Dental ( not certain about other areas) has recently experienced some steep decline in student participation – the Littleton’s are now likely blamed by Briarwood and CMMA leadership but have never detracted from  these ministries or even sounded any open warnings until now .

*Littleton also warned the CMMA and Briarwood staff of Tim Keller’s close ties to Revoice radical LGBTQ+ Flourishing Conference  and work with the now exposed Sam Allberry , Living Out collaboration with Keller and wife Kathy on the “LGBTQ inclusion Church Audit “.

Such warnings appear to have driven the Parks brothers and Briarwood /CMMA offices to the point of severe and growing  retribution .

Fast forward through many dangers toils and snares to  2017 /2018.  In October 2017 word came to Littleton who had exposed the Revoice Conference in May 2018 -that Benny Parks Briarwood staffer was working to undermine any PCA participation in a scheduled meetings called God’s Voice Conference :A Biblical Response to Revoice . Benny Parks was reported to be making efforts to discredit Littleton “with his own writings.”

Littleton sent repeated emails to Briarwood staffer Benny  Parks urging him to cease the efforts behind his back and to meet and talk face to face. None of those efforts to contact Benny were even acknowledged .

*Benny Parks of Briarwood Pastoral Staff then consulted together during church and CMMA ministry time to search out “heretical writings” on the internet by Littleton.  The goal was to detract from God’s Voice Conference and disparage Littleton. Going to the internet the Parks proceeded to find a website which contained Littleton’s articles. That website was NOT Littleton’s Thirty Pieces of Silver . org website  but  only one of many that repost and republish Littleton’s articles. Littleton has nor seeks to assert any control over such repostings especially in the flurry of the Revoice controversy .

The Revoice story had been broken by Littleton with Brannon Howse on World View Weekend and then in ongoing detail  on Janet Mefferd Today and Janet Mefferd Live programs. Mefferd promoted and spoke at the God’s Voice Conference and interviewed Littleton many times leading up to and once following the God’s Voice Conference. Howse and others continue to expose the deep PCA/ Keller/ Revoice compromise.

The Parks  brothers complied 12 pages of, in their view, heretical writings  by Littleton and handed them to Briarwood pastor Harry Reeder for distribution to PCA guys concerned about Revoice .According to a recipient of the “dossier” -it had been distributed in order to discourage their work with Littleton and God’s Voice. Harry Reeder, Pastor of Briarwood, never spoke to Littleton- not ONCE.  Benny Parks ignored Littletons efforts to prevent further backstabbing and false witness and still Parks compiled the dossier and gave the dossier/ file to Reeder to be distributed.  A fool and his FOLLY and not easily dissuaded .

Once the fact that the Parks / Briarwood staffer file/” Dossier” was exposed to be totally FALSE – not a word of it being Littleton’s writings -NO effort of repentance was made . – Even AFTER Harry Reeder had distributed it and  Reeder even accused  Littleton of “breaking the 9th commandment” boasting he was “big on the 9th commandment .”  NO repentance or apology was EVER issued by Reeder and his underlings . The Parks Brothers maintained the work they had done on Briarwood and CMMA time was “correct even though it was wrong .”  Or in the words of Dan Rather the dossier “was false but accurate ”

Yes you read that right .

CMMA Director made no attempt to apologize or correct his role in the “dossier” while his brother Benny Parks who compiled and passed it along framed his apology as”I am sorry that what I did made you and your wife conclude that I am not trustworthy .”

On Monday Night the 22nd of July 2019, Littleton’s wife was called into a meeting of the CMMA board to continue the agenda launched against her on July 12TH.  By Wed the 24th the letter removing Littleton’s wife from the CMMA Board with zero due process or justification was drafted and mailed. It was received late on Saturday the 27th by the Littleton’s.  No record of the proceedings or the vote or support FOR her was provided- just the usual flowery words before the boot.

The letter simply ended “sincerely, CMMA Board.” No names or signatures to validate it .

NONE of the unorthodox, unethical, inappropriate and bizarre behavior demanding to meet with Littleton’s wife alone- about her husband without her husband present -or the effort to intimidate her in the line of a funeral memorial  by a Briarwood elder /CMMA board member were addressed at all. NO effort to RESOLVE that with the Littletons has been made.

The unethical proceedings being overseen by an angry and uninformed Briarwood employee  PCA elder/ Reeder operative Jim Alexander – were not examined or confronted. Alexander -a pastor who is “Reeders eyes and ears in the Board Led Ministries ” carried out the Monday meeting with no effort to understand or access  both sides of the issues or to even speak once with the Littleton’s on the issues.

 The Littleton’s have worked with Bobby Parks the CMMA director peacefully for over a decade -even for 4 years in the shadow of his growing animosity. This animosity culminated in the targeting of Littleton’s wife but neither Reeder nor Alexander -his elder operative in the CMMA Board confronted these obvious and glaring realities. Not even when these tensions were observed and questioned by the CMMA Board .

Bobby Parks’ angry and admittedly sinful actions have not been addressed and he remains -as  of this writing – in the employ of CMMA. His Brother Benny Parks remains the third in command in Reeder’s Briarwood staff.  It seems clear that Briarwood PCA church are paying these men to engage these kinds of activities about which the congregants know nothing  and the are not held accountable no matter how unjustified .

CMMA IS A BOARD LED MINISTRY ON BRIARWOOD CAMPUS

Executive Director
Bobby Parks , M.Div.

Dr. Karen & Rev. Tommy Littleton

The CMMA Board meeting held on Monday July 22nd was NOT conducted by the Board but by Harry Reeder’s recent hire from Colorado Springs Jim Alexander.  Alexander has spent years pastoring a church of 130 people but does seem to fit right in at the mega church under Reeder as his “Eyes and  Ears” and in this case as the “heavy ” or “Harry’s Hatchet Man ” as some Briarwood leaders have called it. His job in this case was  to organize a meeting with 10 MEN  to confront ONE  woman ( Littleton’s wife) and force her to incriminate herself off the CMMA Board in retaliation for her husband’s ministry .

Perhaps somewhere in the “Tim Keller school of  THE PROPHETS”  for pastoring  TGC churches they teach these guys how to bully women.  Alexander was less that professional and quiet rude on multiple occasions so he might have failed that course at TGC and need a repeat.

Jim Alexanders long time church Cheyenne Mountain PCA is a TGC affiliate Harry Reeder has made the  decision to remain in TGC even with many concerns expressed from PCA and Briarwood members . The methods to which they have continued to resort against Littleton and now his wife on multiple fronts call into serious question the motives of these men who resort to such tactics and begs the question “what has made them so paranoid- enough to resort to using such tactics?

Although The CMMA Board was given a one sided -long view of the issues with the the CMMA Director Bobby Parks including emails spanning several years- no opportunity was given to either of the Littleton’s to give context to those emails or the long standing tensions that exist. No calling to account of the Board member who is also a Briarwood elder who repeatedly acted out of bounds with Littleton’s wife were made.

The decision to oust her from the Board came under the direct leadership of Pastor Harry Reeders elder /employee Alexander who never attempted  to hear or present both sides- but simply to facilitate and oversee the inquisition and condemnation of Littleton’s wife. The job at hand was to remove her from the CMMA Board. If that is all that mattered – then “mission accomplished “

The outcome is that CMMA is still in danger and those to whom it ministers are in even greater danger by the VERY issues the Littleton’s stood their ground to warn them of. This was illustrated in the first on campus meeting at UAB School of Dentistry for 2019 as THE VERY concerns which were expressed over many years to CMMA leader Parks played out in living color as students are concerned about faith based community clinics into which they are being recruited.  CMMA – to date remains a recruiting grounds for these problematic “ministries ” to access the hearts minds , skills and callings of young medical students in it’s care.

Briarwood and  CMMA leadership and Board may be pleased with the current  outcome . Still they cannot expect that no one is going  to notice as these unsustainable models play out and implode .The willingness to compromise the Gospel and your own mission becomes blindly obvious /glaring to everyone except the perhaps to those who have refused to consider them.

Ephesians 4

25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.

Proverbs 11

3 The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.

Proverbs 12

17 An honest witness tells the truth, but a false witness tells lies.

Proverbs 21

3 To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.

James 3

17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

1st Peter 3

1st John 3

18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.