I thought I was largely done posting, but when things are posted at a high level I feel it important to respond. So here’s what’s new. 

Big news for you apologists out there, as you’ve all been unionized by Sean McDowell, Mike & Debbie Licona, Paul Copan, and William Lane Craig. Those 5 people have now declared themselves your governing committee. So despite the fact that they are not a church or organization that anyone agreed to submit to, they can now publicly deem people unfit for ministry. 

Their first mission, was do to another investigation, because really, we were due for another one anyways. I mean, if you’re not doing an investigation every couple of months are you really even living? And you’re only as relevant as the publicity of your latest investigation and judgment. They say they spent 1000 hours, which sounds like a lot until you realize that’s just over 8 days a person on the committee.

Best not to move too slowly when deciding you’re going to wipe out another person or three.

That said, I should be thankful. Because had it been 1001 hours, it’s quite likely they would have said that Dad also created Covid, tried to steal Christmas from Whoville, and was frequently seen around the office wearing a top hat and twirling his mustache while diabolically staring into the camera. 

While it’s no secret I have differed strongly with RZIM’s leadership in their opinions and handling of this situation, to claim that they intimidated people and greased the wheels for Dad these last few years is absolutely absurd. And they have collectively made so many statements and apologies. They went to great lengths to care for those who claimed they were mistreated by leadership. (Claims that are ridiculous but claims, nevertheless)

They continued to pay former employees who had publicly separated from them. Ruth was put on paid leave so she hadn’t worked there in months, but then only complained when they officially cut ties with her. She hadn’t been doing her job as mutually agreed, and was glad to accept the paycheck to not do her job, as mutually agreed. It was only once the paychecks were going to stop that she resumed her public critique of them and acted sad that she could not do the job she hadn’t been doing for months.

The only people RZIM withheld counseling and resources from, were us. If the M&M report was true (and again, I don’t believe it for good reasons)…but even if it was true, I don’t know what else these are supposed to do to that would appease this self appointed Party. There was no more earth left to scorch. No more swords left to fall on. Yet these three are now declared unfit. That is ridiculous and not within this self elected committee’s authority to do so. 

As for some of the additional “findings,” they are from the same usual suspects, and they are full of so many lies it is hard to know where to begin. While billed as a moral compulsion to investigate those who were once investigators, this one actually seems like it had a goal going in – to pit Dad against Nabeel. And that was never the dynamic between the two of them. Dad took the blame from those who disagreed with Nabeel’s departure from RZIM, but it wasn’t his doing. And it is clear The Party has continued to hold resentment over that issue. But again, it was not his doing. He was informed of the reasons by all those involved, but the reasons did not come from him. They remained close afterwards, and Mom and Dad remained close with Michelle after Nabeel’s passing. 

I’m puzzled how Dad could be so jealous that he “stranded” Nabeel, so as to send a message and make sure he couldn’t get the spotlight, but then also told Nabeel he was going to be his successor. If.you’re looking to knock someone down a peg it’s usually not advised that you tell them they are going to take over for you one day. So those would seem to be contradictory stories.

Also, conflict during Nabeel’s time there was actually escalated by none other than Ruth M, herself, who complained about his requests for her time when she was a PR person for a whole team. And if there’s one thing you know by now, Ruth doesn’t complain quietly or briefly. She started the ball rolling on what happened with Nabeel. She was a driving and major factor as to why his time ended at RZIM – a fact she has clearly hidden and written over with a new narrative. So I’ll say it again: the decision to part ways did not come from Dad, nor did the reasons. It was decided on and handled by others on the leadership team. To claim otherwise now is a lie. 

One other thing I’ll point out, is that neither Nabeel or Dad are now here to weigh into any of this. Yet the Party is making such sweeping and definitive statements without their input. That is intellectually flawed. These sources are painting this as a Dad vs Nabeel story. But from a logical level, I find it interesting that a different standard of of what can be accepted as evidence is being applied to each case. Anecdotal evidence is allowed for their part of the story that claims to be Nabeel’s, and paints Dad in a certain way. But such anecdotal evidence it is not allowed for the defense of Dad. Truth is truth, whether you like the person saying it or not. The Party likes Ruth, Carson, Amy, Daniel, etc. So their stories are taken as is. They don’t like me or anyone that challenges the narrative they are promoting, so any story countering their sources will be disregarded even though I have close knowledge of the situation. Once again, not a great look for apologists who claim to be experts at looking at all the evidence.

Which reminds me, once again, this is another investigation that did not reach out to us for any information we could provide on the matter. And we have a lot of information. 

Such people will never care what they have taken from others, and from this world, in their witch hunt. They’ve removed materials from the shelves. Speakers from stages. Broken families. And I include Judy Dabler in their list of victims, as she has continued to be wrongly trashed in every report and a victim of her own suspect investigation. Judy changed countless lives for the better. And they’ve prevented people from getting that help now. Their’s is a wake of destruction that the Lord will call into account. 

I’ll close with this. They spent over 3300 words spewing all this nonsense, and they gave one – ONLY ONE – brief sentence acknowledging the pain my sister was going through and how that impacted her, and impacts her still. And as if the brevity of it wasn’t cold enough, the academic tone of it made it as insincere as possible, saying “We acknowledge the pain (Davis) Phillips experienced…” One sentence of her pain, and they couldn’t even bring themselves to use the word trauma, which would be accurate. One mention. Which is half as many times as they mentioned their doctorates in the statement.

Adding to that, they boast about the 1000 hours devoted to this, but not one second of their time has ever been spent in all of this reaching out to my Mom to see if they can minister to her in any way.

Those two measurements tell me more about their brand of Christianity than anything else. Such behavior is not in the calling of ministry. It’s in the business of talking.

I wrote this post a while back but never came back to it. However, after some recent comments by one former executive, I thought it appropriate to come back to it now since she resorted to some of the same defenses as to why she, and others, supposedly didn’t question allegations more. As usual it tends to take the “I’m guilty but I’m really not” tactic.

The basic claim is that Dad presented his defense as one of spiritual warfare, and that the defense of Dad from those closest to him was based all on his word and not on any examination of the facts. All of that is false, as I’ll explain below.

I’ll say one thing for the vocal former RZIM people – they’ve done a remarkable job of supposedly accepting “responsibility” while simultaneously blaming anyone else in the organization for their own inability to see the “truth.” In essence, if their take is true, they are saying, “I’m so sorry I was so easily manipulated, misled and subjective in my analysis of the facts. I’m so sorry my belief in and love of the person caused me to miss the ‘truth.’”

That is unfortunate for many reasons. For one thing, it’s the scandal defense equivalent of when the hiring manager asks you for your biggest weakness and you say it’s that you care too much.

But beyond that, they talk about all the ways they were misled, gullible, and undiscerning, and then they claim to be experts at analyzing evidence and logic.

Awkward.

Also, this same individual that recently commented, helped lead a dramatic break with the US organization after the report came out. They said they didn’t want to be associated with an organization and brand that had so badly mishandled this. Then they ran off with the historic building paid for by the US organization and still use it today.

And, fun fact, though they took a public stance in breaking with the organization in February of 2020, they continued to accept their regular funding from them through the end of the fiscal year, which would have ended Sept 30, 2020. Not surprisingly, they didn’t make a public statement about that. And the UK office was almost entirely funded by the US, so that was no small amount. That means the break was on paper and in interviews about taking a stand because of their belief in alleged victims, but it wasn’t in their bank accounts. And if what we’ve been told is true, some within that group, have possibly accepted funds from RZIM since, and will continue to do so. They were “ethical” enough to publicly denounce my Dad and the US Board, but not so ethical that they couldn’t privately accept their assets, which were all raised on Dad’s name.

With that preamble said, what follows next is what I originally wrote for this post.

Below is an email written to my Dad from Abdu Murray in 2017. Abdu was closely involved in conversations with Dad and other members of leadership regarding the accusations in 2017, as well as Steve Baughman’s regular attacks against my Dad. He knew the information very well, as well as all the people involved. Abdu was with Dad when he met with Baughman, and Abdu’s analysis, both before and after that meeting, was that Baughman was “crazy.”

This email contradicts the narrative that some ex and current RZIM people are running with now, which is that their belief in Dad back in 2017 was based purely on their trust in him and not any evidence. But here you’ll see that Abdu mentions he knows the facts and considers Dad to be clearly innocent.

As a side note, when the C&MA did their first investigation, Dad was not alone in that room with their investigators. There was another leadership member in there to observe (it was not Abdu). The investigators did not hold back in their questions. That staff member heard the questions, heard Dad’s answers, and heard all the information that the investigators had on the situation. That person came out of that process still completely convinced of Dad’s innocence. There was no question in his mind. So the notion that Dad didn’t face tough questions and that leadership didn’t get extensive answers is not true.

The M&M report also painted a picture of Dad as a man who was secretive, evasive, vindictive and calculating. If true, that would show up in all kinds of ways. But in this note Abdu gives Dad high praise for the integrity with which he lived, and the way that he inspired others to act in the same manner.

Also, some have stated Dad’s belief that the attacks were spiritual warfare designed to stop him. But they’ve acted like he was the one who pushed it. You’ll see in this email that Dad was not alone in that conviction.

In short, Abdu knew the details better than most and got to observe Dad more closely than many. He considered Dad to be a man of high integrity. He is also an attorney and he clearly considered Dad innocent, and considered the accuser to be undeniably dishonest.

(And as it relates to those 2017 accusations, nothing in the report changed the understood facts of that case. RZIM just decided to accept it, despite all of their due diligence years ago that told them otherwise. As I’ve stated before, they chose the PR path. The only way to appease the mob and to protect their names was to act like everything ever mentioned or alleged was true, regardless of what the facts did or did not say).

Here is the text of the email, as well as screenshots.

Dear Ravi,

The past few days may have been trying for you with Christians seemingly eager to jump onto the side of Mr. Baugham’s misrepresentations. You’ve been in ministry much longer than I have and so saying something to you about all of this may seem obvious. But I’ve been thinking of you all day and felt compelled to write this to you.

I’ve never been one to over-spiritualized things by blaming Satan for every adversity we might face in life or even ministry in specific. But what I’ve seen in the past few months has me thoroughly convinced that spiritual forces are aligning to try to slow your effectiveness or even stifle it altogether. The reason? Because more people than ever, those with global influence and those whose influence goes no further than their immediate families, are coming to know the Lord through your ministry.

And so, strangely, maybe you can take some solace in the fact that you’re under unfair scrutiny and subject to slander because God is using you perhaps more effectively than ever in your decades-long ministry. The enemy would like nothing more than for fewer people to hear what God has to say through you and so is using critics (sadly including Christians) to limit your audiences and distract you from God’s calling. I’m privileged to be part of what God is doing through RZIM and will work with you and the team to stem these efforts to silence you. Though we shouldn’t be surprised by the attacks in light of the ministry’s success, the attacks still hurt, I’m sure.

You’ve impacted so many, including and especially people on your team who know the facts and don’t doubt your integrity. In fact, we’ve been inspired by it to act with integrity in our own ministries. Even now, I’m fully confident that your chief concerns have not been for yourself. They’ve been for Jesus’ reputation, the gospel’s advancement, your family, and your teammates. That’s the kind of character for which I left my own ministry to work with RZIM.

Countless Scriptures come to mind about facing persecution and even slander and despiteful use. I’m sure I don’t need to remind you of them. Suffice it to say that your endurance through all of this has been an example for those of us who might face similar scrutiny one day. You’ve taught us through words, but especially by example. I’m forever grateful for that.

Grateful to call you friend, Abdu

I believe that one day my Dad’s actual legacy will be restored. One piece of that – a huge piece – is his vision for humanitarian aid, and he entrusted it to my sister Naomi.

Together, they pursued the idea of showing that apologetics is not just a matter for the brain, it’s one of the heart. Apologetics is incomplete if you don’t pair it with a compassionate heart and a helping hand. We’re missing a crucial step if we say we follow Christ, but don’t help those who are hungry, hurting, and lonely.

Jesus came to fix the needs of our heart. But our physical needs also matter to Him, and He asked us to take them seriously on behalf of others.

The ministry of Wellspring gave millions to those in need over the years. People are alive today because of that vision. People have food today because of that vision. Women have been rescued and healed because of that vision.

Wellspring was shut down by RZIM, but that can’t take away the literal life giving impact it had. And they can’t take away the fact that it was a direct result of my Dad’s heart for those in need.

Though Wellspring is now gone, there is good news, because the people behind it are not.

As projects responded in shock and fear over what their future now held following Wellspring’s closure, Naomi and her team decided they couldn’t let circumstances out of their control stop the work they were doing. They decided to rebuild and do all they could to support their projects, and hopefully find additional ones, as well.

They launched Third Ladder as a result.

Their support is unknown as the potential donor based starts over from scratch. But the integrity, mission, and opportunity are strong. And there you’ll a group of people dedicated to connecting your heart with the heart of someone in need.

Right now they have a generous match grant offered to them – one donor will match every gift received by December 31st, up to a total of $60,000 USD. Your money can be doubled in the effort to support projects that bring physical healing to burn victims, to feed a family, to rescue women in trafficking, to give children a home and an education.

If you’re thinking of giving at this time of year, I would encourage you to take a look at Third Ladder. (www.thirdladder.org)

I’ve been asked by a number of people if the recent lack of posts is an indication of a change in status in our belief in my Dad’s innocence. The answer to that is a resounding no. We have not found anything, seen anything, or been offered the opportunity to see anything that supports the report.

I’ve made it clear that we have not found any evidence on the phones. I’ve shown an example of data that deliberately misrepresented, so why should I assume they didn’t do that with other data?

I’ve made it clear that this process was anything but fair, and didn’t even adhere to traditionally held legal standards for investigations of this nature.

There was no chain of custody for the devices. It didn’t maintain impartiality or objectivity. At times it takes information that is neutral, and intentionally frames it in a negative context, which proves this was not an evidence based report but a narrative.

The report biased some interviewees against Dad by telling them they already had the proof that he was guilty BEFORE they questioned the people to get their views. The effect of that caused at least one interviewee revisit their observations and reframe it in a negative light.

They intentionally wrote the report as a narrative, not a presentation of known facts. Motives that cannot be even known were declared as intentionally devious behavior.

The investigation intentionally left out those that knew him best and could actually disprove a lot of of what was being said. It didn’t pursue any investigation in the areas where they claimed to have the most evidence. And the more extreme charges had no evidence whatsoever. And to reiterate, we have not seen what little evidence they claim was so plentiful on the phones.

One woman interviewed told us the investigators did not want to accept her answer that Dad never behaved inappropriately. She said she finally said “You can keep asking me this question, but Ravi and his entire family were never anything but kind and respectful to me, there is not other story here.” Another that was interviewed told us the investigator actually broke the table in anger when she defended Dad’s character.

It was a biased process and a biased report.

As for the blog, I will add this: Mom and Naomi were in severance discussions as a result of Mom being told to resign and Naomi being terminated. In May, RZIM withdrew severance offers for them, citing anger over this blog and my Mom’s email defending my Dad. This caused me to scale back the blog, since they were leveraging the wellbeing of my Mom and sister against my right to defend my Dad.

It was a threat that ultimately held, as when they eventually revisited a severance offer months later, it came with a mandatory muzzle.

We chose not to sell our voice.

If you follow me on Instagram, this post has repeat information. But though it’s brief, I’m posting it here, as well, to make sure anyone following this has access to the info.

Several have asked of late if there is any update on what I’ve found on the phones. We have not had them forensically examined, yet. But in the meantime I have looked through them as thoroughly as I’m able to.

The initial search found no questionable photos, no questionable emails/texts, and an example of the investigators taking at least one piece of “evidence” out of its original context and giving it a context that was blatantly false. (See the previous post for that information.)

The update in this post is that I’ve gone through the 100+ videos on the phones and found none of them to be even remotely concerning or suspicious. They were all videos of our family, jokes, Hindi songs, and clips of some of his favorite classic shows like the Andy Griffith Show and The Honeymooners.

Once again, this includes the phone that allegedly had the majority of the “evidence.” Their speculative explanation for this device being a treasure trove of information was that since it was out of use by the time the allegations of 2017 were made, it was not going to be examined, so Dad must not have taken the time to clear it of any damning evidence.

But a treasure trove, it is not. Well, not for those who want to believe Dad is guilty.

For many reasons, we have only just now begun the process of looking through Dad’s phones. It is very early in the process, so there are many things we are still looking for information on. The examination is by no means complete, yet. That will take time by us and time by experts. But it has already proven very helpful.

I can tell you that so far I have not seen any questionable/concerning photos in both of the phones I have searched. I also have not found any questionable/concerning correspondence or data. This includes the device they supposedly found the most information.

But what is also of interest is what I did find. The report said Dad had a note in his phone for how to say “a little bit further” in Thai. They (Miller & Martin) presented that information in a way that alleged that his interest in, and use of, the phrase were for illicit/sexual reasons.

Well here is where I found the phrase. The context is….not what they said, to put it mildly.

Directions. That’s why he had the phrase noted. “Just a little bit further” is in a list of terms to direct a cab driver. Left. Right. Straight. Bridge. And “a little bit further.” The context could not be clearer.

What is also clear, is the dishonest intent of the people who wrote that report. There is no reasonable way you can see that list and think that phrase has an inappropriate connotation. Their misrepresentation of this detail is blatant.

So if their case was so rock solid, why did they need to lie about the context of this note?

And what other information and “evidence” did they lie about, misrepresent or manufacture?

My sister, Sarah, recently gave a video statement on the situation with my Dad. There was no new information given, and she did not say anything she has not already said in her previous statements over the past few months. It was the same talking points.

She is not speaking for the family. As has been clear, we do not share her take on this situation. A while back she chose the path of doing what she felt was best, strategically, for the organization. We disagree with her opinions and stance very strongly. And we do so for very legitimate reasons.

So I will simply close this response with this: I love my sister, but I stand by my belief in my Dad. I continue to reject the report and narrative put forth for all of the reasons I have already laid out on this blog.

In a few hours after posting this, it will have officially been a year since my family lost Dad. It still feels like it can’t be. I miss him so much every day. As I told him on one the last days he was conscious, he was my compass. He consistently pointed me to what was important and good and right in life. He never wavered in his message and advice. It was as consistent as he was over the years.

He overcame so much pain and trauma in his own youth to amazingly be a dad whose presence I knew I was always safe in, regardless of any disagreement we were in. He taught me how to be a gentleman and a gentle man. He was my Dad. One of two great parental cornerstones given to me by God. He was my example. He was my friend.

The year that has followed his loss has been a hellish experience that I never would have imagined, incurring more trauma that hasn’t even allowed for the time and space to process the impact of his absence.

I’ve said a lot on this subject the last few months. But, today, as I navigate this unwanted anniversary, I will just close with this story.

31 years ago, when we were living in England during Dad’s time studying at Cambridge, our family was out on a shopping trip on a typical rainy day. As we walked out of a store, I stayed with my mom and sisters while Dad was a few paces back. Being only 9, I wasn’t paying any attention to my surroundings and as I went to open my umbrella, I unknowingly hit someone behind me and kept walking.

The person behind me was not amused, and started to approach me in such a way that indicated he was going to shove me or kick me. What he didn’t know was that Dad was behind him. Dad saw what he was about to do, rushed up behind him and knocked the guy off stride so he couldn’t hit me. The guy backed off and left me alone. I was oblivious to all of it at the time.

My Dad loved his family. He always fought for us. He fought for us even when we were oblivious to it.

I don’t know if Dad is aware of what is happening down here. I actually hope he isn’t. But now I will fight for him, even if he’s as unaware as I was during his battles on my behalf.

One year ago, surrounded by his family, he drifted from our arms info the arms of his Savior.

One year ago, I was by his side. And I’m proudly still by his side today.

I love you Dad. I miss you. I can’t wait to see you again one day.