This article will be continuously updated as
more information becomes available.
Readers, yes, I am aware of, and familiar with – on a variety of levels – the situation regarding G3 Ministries leadership / Prays Mill Baptist Church elders anonymously accusing Pastor Tom Buck of plagiarism in his sermons, which became public Monday, August 17.
If you have no idea what I’m talking about and have never heard of G3 Ministries or Pastor Tom Buck, you may be excused and go about your life blessedly happy and unbothered by what follows. I am primarily writing this a) for those who have attended G3 events, have used G3’s resources or are familiar with Tom, and b) because I have participated in G3 events, linked to their resources, and recommended them to you, and because Tom is a personal friend and dear brother in Christ whom I’ve mentioned here and linked to from time to time.
The Scandal
The scandal itself is quite detailed and involved. This is a very brief, very general synopsis of the situation (adapted from an upcoming episode of A Word Fitly Spoken):
On August 17, a scandal broke involving G3 Ministries and its founding church, Prays Mill Baptist Church (PMBC) of Douglasville, Georgia. In March 2026, members of G3 leadership including, it was later revealed, the four elders of PMBC, Scott Aniol, Matt Sikes, Jon Norton, and Dylan Joyner, anonymously and underhandedly sent (and/or had knowledge of the sending of) largely baseless and exaggerated accusations of sermon plagiarism to the leadership of Pastor Tom Buck’s church, First Baptist Church of Lindale, Texas.
Tom’s church fully investigated the accusations, and they and Tom resolved the situation in a biblical way. But the outcome wasn’t satisfactory for these anonymous (at the time) accusers. When the situation wasn’t handled to their liking, they sent the accusations to former G3 conference speakers and other individuals and ministries outside of First Baptist, Lindale, urging them to look into the matter and make it public, all with the goal of ruining Tom’s ministry.
After these actions were exposed, three of the four elders were required by the deacons of PMBC to resign, and one (Dylan Joyner) voluntarily resigned. The elders wrote a letter of repentance from G3 Ministries to Tom and his church and publicized it on social media. There is credible circumstantial evidence that this letter was not genuine repentance.
G3 has now shut down the operation of its church network (where you can search for a G3-endorsed church), deleted its YouTube channel, and deactivated all of its social media accounts and the G3 website, which included the information and registration page for the G3 National Conference, scheduled for May of 2027. There has been no apology or statement from G3 Ministries or the current leadership of Prays Mill Baptist Church to the public or G3’s thousands of followers and supporters.
Questions and Details
Pertaining to the Scandal Itself
If you have questions or you’d like further details related to the scandal itself, I commend the following resources to you (and I would recommend that you read or watch them in the order in which they’re listed):
Exclusive: G3 Promised “Cooperative, Not Competitive.” The Anonymous Targeting Continued at Protestia
Haman’s Gallows by Phil Johnson
About that anonymous accusation against Tom Buck by Tom Ascol
Tom Buck Accused of Serial Plagiarism by Gabe Hughes (analysis of specific plagiarism allegations)
Four ‘Pray’s Mill Baptist Church’ Pastors Resign Over G3 Plagiarism Dossier Scandal at Protestia
Walking Off the Plank in Their Own Eyes: The Dossier Comes for Aniol, Sikes, and Joyner at Protestia
Questions Pertaining to
the Fallout of the Scandal
and the Shut Down of G3 Ministries
Because neither G3 nor the current leadership of PMBC have issued any sort of statement communicating with G3’s followers and participants, many things are unclear in the wake of the scandal.
Below are some questions I’ve been asked and information I have been provided by my followers, along with some educated guesses on my part. I am not in contact with anyone at G3 or PMBC and have no “behind the scenes” knowledge of what is actually going on.
(For anyone from G3 who might be reading this and is tempted to take me or any of your other followers to task for guessing, speculating, and surmising, don’t. If you want people to know what’s actually going on, do what you should have already done and issue a public statement explaining these things. You have no one to blame for the speculation but yourselves and the way you’ve poorly and unbiblically handled this situation.)
The National Conference
It has not been made clear whether or not the National Conference has been canceled or will still take place in May 2027. Indeed, though the G3 website has been shut down, the conference site is (as of the morning of August 28) still active.
It is also unclear as to whether and how those who had already registered for the conference will receive or may request a refund. (There is a “contact” button at the event page. My suggestion would be to attempt to contact G3 about a refund that way.)
I would imagine there are questions among their followers as to why speakers like Todd Friel, Martha Peace, and others are still listed on the event page. I can’t answer that question. I would just remind you that this entire situation with G3 has happened very fast and very chaotically. I imagine that at least some of the speakers have withdrawn and, in all the chaos of dealing with larger issues, no one has gotten around to updating the event page yet. Remember, the speakers don’t have any control over the conference event page.
I would encourage you to be patient over the next week or two and then, if the event page is still up and a speaker you’re wondering about is still listed, you contact that speaker directly with your questions about his or her involvement.
Leadership Page at PMBC Still Lists Resigned Elders
As of the morning of August 28, the “Our Leaders” page of the PMBC website still lists all four elders who resigned as “Our Pastors”.
As I mentioned in the previous section, the situation with G3 has happened very fast and very chaotically, and I’m guessing that, in all the hullabaloo, someone simply hasn’t gotten the chance to update the website yet. It’s also possible that one of the elders who resigned was the webmaster and has the password, and the current PMBC leader who’s been tasked with updating the website has not yet been able to obtain the necessary information from that resigned elder to gain access to the website.
Again, I would urge patience. PMBC is understandably reeling after the blow they’ve been dealt, and in addition to the spiritual and emotional pain they’re trying to work their way through, they have to deal with the practical and mechanical aspects of employment termination paperwork for these four elders, updating the website, etc.
I would encourage you not to bother them right now, or in the near future, with questions about when the website will be updated. We know all four of the elders have resigned. That’s sufficient. They’ll get to the website when they get to it.
Living Heritage Homeschool Curriculum
A number of homeschoolers have contacted me with questions about the Living Heritage homeschool curriculum, created by Becky Aniol, wife of Scott Aniol, G3 president and now former PMBC elder.
As you might know, there was considerable overlap between G3 and Living Heritage (LH) in practice, even if not on paper. G3 promoted LH, Becky was frequently a breakout speaker on homeschooling at G3 events, I’ve been told there was some degree of overlap between LH’s digital platforms and G3’s digital platforms, etc. Due to all of this overlap, the LH community understandably wants to know if LH is also shutting down, and, if not, how the delivery of their materials will be affected by the technology overlap.
I’ve never used or even looked at the LH curriculum, so my knowledge of it and the LH digital platforms are limited to what I’ve been told by my followers in the LH community.
I have been told that neither the admins of the LH Facebook group, nor the admins of the Mighty Network app/portal have openly made any sort of statement or given any sort of explanation to their communities regarding if, or how, the overlap (technological or otherwise) between G3 and LH will affect the LH community and the access to LH curricula and materials.
I’ve been told that even questions unrelated to the scandal itself, such as how LH’s digital platforms might be affected by the shut down of the G3 website, have been removed from the Facebook group by admins (though admins did answer privately), and that admins have ignored similar questions about LH’s continued operation in the Mighty Network app.
As one LH user who contacted me pointed out, these are paying customers – some who have spent hundreds of dollars on LH curricula and materials – and, thus far, no one at LH has had the common courtesy (or even the financial motivation to keep them as customers, it would seem) to tell them what’s going on and alleviate their concerns.
Apparently, some LH users have been told privately by admins that, because the G3+ app and G3 Press are being taken over by another, as yet unnamed, person or ministry (more on this below), the delivery of LH curricula and materials will continue seamlessly.
The more common question I’ve been asked is, considering everything that’s happened, should we continue to support Scott Aniol and the vestige of G3 LH represents by continuing to use LH?
As much as I am inclined to simply tell you no, I can’t do that. Because, though heavily connected to G3, LH is a separate entity, this is an issue of Christian liberty and conscience. You must work through the decision-making process wisely, biblically, and prayerfully to arrive at the most godly decision possible for your individual family.
Here is the answer I’ve sent to followers asking if they should continue to use LH:
Hi _____,
It’s a tough spot they’ve put you in, isn’t it? Their [the elders’] sin forces you to make a difficult and confusing decision. I would take that into consideration.
I would also take into consideration…
- that they’ve not addressed this with their homeschooling community. And they should.
- You and others had questions, and the admins hid or ignored them. Is this a Christian way to handle things, or is complete transparency, openness, and a posture of repentance the Christian way to handle things?
- Make sure you read the latter part of [the article linked above] Exclusive: G3 Promised “Cooperative, Not Competitive.” The Anonymous Targeting Continued dealing with the theology of PMBC. Scott was heavily involved in shaping that theology. Becky is married to Scott, and is or was a member of PMBC. She has absorbed, and will continue to absorb that theology. Their theology will come out in any content they have created, or may decide to create for LH in the future.
- Scott just lost his job, and he and Becky may be relying on LH as a source of income.
- Will your conscience allow you to continue to support them financially?
- There are plenty of other good curricula available out there that don’t carry this kind of baggage with them.
I would take all of these things into prayerful consideration, discuss them at length with your husband, and possibly get some counsel from your pastor or a trusted, older “Titus 2” woman or couple at your church. Then, leave the decision up to your husband and submit to his leadership.
I’m sorry the ripple effects of this grievous sin have reached your shore.❤️
Another Ministry Acquiring
the G3+ App and G3 Press
The only information I have about another ministry acquiring G3 Press is:
- Per what some have been told when inquiring about the Living Heritage homeschool curriculum (see above), the same (as yet unnamed) ministry is acquiring both the G3+ app and G3 Press, the publishing arm of G3.
- Dave Jenkins and Darrell Harrison have publicly stated that they have requested that G3 return to them the rights to their works published through G3 Press. My guess is that other authors published through G3 Press have done the same.
- I surmise (see below) that books and materials heretofore published by G3 Press will remain available through the G3+ app.
On Thursday, August 27, subscribers to the G3+ app were sent this email:
Many thanks to one of my followers, who is a G3+ subscriber, for providing the above screenshot.
There’s been much speculation as to which ministry will be acquiring the G3+ app and G3 Press. Again, I have no insider information on this from G3 or any “Ministry X” which might be acquiring it. Your guess is as good as mine. All I can say is that I would be very concerned if any or all of the four elders suddenly turned themselves into a “ministry,” or used an existing ministry they already owned to acquire these two platforms. These men are disqualified and do not need to be running any sort of ministry right now.
David Morrill, author of two of the Protestia articles linked above, shared some additional concerns here (or read the screenshots below):
Will “Ministry X” purchase the app and publishing platform, completely gut them, rebrand everything, and use these platforms for its own purposes and publications? I don’t think so because of what LH users have been told and what the email above says.
LH users have been told that the acquisition of these two platforms will not change LH’s connection to them, meaning LH users will still be able to access the same LH or G3 materials through the app that they previously accessed through G3+ or the G3 website. This means that at least some LH and/or G3 books and materials will remain at the app and in publication after the acquisition.
Additionally, the wording in the email could reasonably give us pause. The softer and more ambiguous “winding down” rather than the clearer and more final sounding “ending,” “closing,” or “shutting down”. The equally ambiguous “this work continues”. What or whose work will continue? The continuing writing, speaking, and creating work of one or more of the four elders? G3’s work? The new work of the acquiring ministry? Christian ministry in general?
I don’t have the answers to these questions. We will have to wait and see.
If you’re an author with G3 Press, you may want to consider doing what Darrell and Dave did and request the rights to your publications back. I don’t know all the ins and outs and legalities of whether or not this is a good idea for any particular individual, I’m just saying it’s worth considering.
If you subscribe to the G3+ app, and you’re unsure whether or not to cancel your subscription, I think the wisest course of action would be to wait a week or two to find out if the transition has been made, who is acquiring the app, and what, if any, involvement any of the four elders will continue to have with the app. Then make your decision once you’re informed.
Where do WE go from here?
At the time I’m posting this, because no statement has been issued by G3 or the current leadership of PMBC, it is unknown what, if any, plans anyone who’s still in some sort of leadership at G3 has for the future of the ministry. But with the public outcry against their ungodly actions and the aforementioned extent to which they have already shut down, it is unlikely there is any sort of future for G3. From all appearances, they would not be able to survive this tragic implosion even if they wanted to.
Nor should they.
From all appearances, G3 would not be able to survive this tragic implosion even if they wanted to. Nor should they.
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As Phil Johnson said at the end of his article (above), “…frankly, it is time for G3 to dissolve and go away.” Permanently. Nobody from the outside needs to come in, take the helm of G3 Ministries, and try to raise and repair the Titanic. G3 does not need to lie fallow for a few years, then rebrand and make an embarrassing attempt at a comeback. G3 is dead, and no one ought to try to resurrect it.
G3 is dead, and no one ought to try to resurrect it.
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It was just a little over a year ago that the very similar Josh Buice (then president of G3 and pastor of PMBC) scandal broke. Accusations, allegations, and criticism leveled from far away, under the shadows of anonymity, against faithful, doctrinally sound pastors and theologians… It’s as if today’s third grader copied the answers on his math test from a kid who flunked last year. The PMBC elders took a page out of Josh Buice’s book in the worst way possible. What would possess any Christian to do such a thing, and how in the world did Josh or the PMBC “gang of four” ever think they would go undiscovered forever? We may never know the true reasons in either of these cases.
It’s as if today’s third grader copied the answers on his math test from a kid who flunked last year. The PMBC elders took a page out of Josh Buice’s book in the worst way possible.
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It’s been a tough couple of years in the Reformed camp…
Alistair Begg betrayed Christ, His Word, and us on the issue of “transsexual” “marriage”.
Steve Lawson committed adultery.
The Josh Buice scandal.
We lost John MacArthur and Voddie Baucham.
And now… this. It’s a lot to process.
Obviously, I’m saddened and appalled by the despicable and ungodly acts committed by G3’s leadership/PMBC’s elders, and disappointed that I can no longer recommend G3 as helpful resource to you.
I’m righteously angry that these cowardly men disrupted the peace and unity of a good church and attempted to sabotage the stellar ministry and reputation of a faithful and discerning shepherd, a courageous Christian statesman, and my beloved brother in Christ, Tom.
I’m incredulous that God gave these four men the perfect example of how not to handle disagreements with others – gift wrapped with a bow on top, and placed right in their very hands only a year prior – and for inexplicable and unfathomable reasons and motives, they went right ahead and did almost the exact same thing anyway.
I’m frustrated, exasperated, and offended that G3 has so rudely jilted all of us who loved, recommended, and supported them with our time, energy, influence, and, collectively, hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years, without so much as a “Dear John” letter. We’ve been ghosted, y’all.
I’m frustrated, exasperated, and offended that G3 has so rudely jilted all of us who loved, recommended, and supported them, without so much as a “Dear John” letter. We’ve been ghosted, y’all.
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Where do we go from here as followers of and participants in G3’s ministry events and resources?
Don’t support G3. In any way. Do not give them one more word of support, one more second of your time, one more cent of your money.
- If you’ve already registered for the 2027 national conference, cancel your reservations.
- Don’t order any more G3 books or materials.
- If it turns out that one or more of the elders are “Ministry X” that is acquiring G3+, cancel your subscription.
- Because Scott Aniol plays a major part, practically and theologically, in Living Heritage, you may wish to consider whether or not to continue using the LH curriculum.
And whatever you do, don’t feel sorry for or defend these seemingly unrepentant men. Supporting G3, or the elders responsible for this sin, in any way, is doing them a disservice. People who do not feel the pain of the consequences of sin do not repent. Paradoxically, if you want to help these men, stop supporting G3.
People who do not feel the pain of the consequences of sin do not repent. Paradoxically, if you want to help them, stop supporting G3.
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Pray. Pray that the Lord would sustain and help Tom, his family, and his church to heal from this ordeal, and to come out on the other side stronger for it. Pray that if the four elders are not genuinely repentant, that God would make them so, and that they would bear fruit in keeping with repentance. Pray for their wives, children, and families who most likely didn’t know about any of this and didn’t ask for any of this. Pray for the staff members at G3 who were not involved in this scandal. They’ve almost certainly just lost their jobs with zero notice. Pray for the deacons and members of PMBC. Can you imagine your church suddenly and immediately losing your pastor and all of your elders to a sinful situation like this? Who’s going to lead the church? Who’s going to preach? What is going on? Why were we blindsided with all of this? Who can we trust now? Pray for yourself, that the Lord would help you think and respond biblically to this situation.
Don’t lose your sense of trust. Don’t allow this scandal to be a reason or an excuse for sinfully building a wall around yourself and deciding that no one in Christian leadership – including your pastor and church leadership – can be trusted. To believe that lie is to believe the same Devil that influenced the PMBC elders to sin.
Your ultimate trust should be in Christ. No human being should receive the trust God has given you that is reserved for Him alone. But there are trustworthy – not perfect – but blameless, upright, and trustworthy people in Christian ministry and leadership in the local church and in greater evangelicalism.
You can’t live your life refusing to trust anyone. God didn’t design us to function that way.
Don’t abandon the local church. In the same way that you can’t allow this scandal to convince you not to trust people, you can’t use it as a reason or an excuse to abandon the local church altogether. That is sinful, and, furthermore, it indicates that you aren’t genuinely saved.
(Sadly, in this day and age, you will probably have to leave a particular local church at some point due to its embrace of false teachers, unrepentant sin by the leadership, or some other legitimate biblical issue. Leaving a church for biblical reasons – after doing your best to work things out – and finding a new, doctrinally sound church is not the same thing as abandoning the idea of church altogether.)
Give your heart and your loyalty primarily to your local church. God’s plan for the teaching and preaching of the Word, for fellowship, for doing the “one anothers,” for serving, giving, counseling, discipleship, and your sanctification, is the local church, not parachurch ministries (incuding mine). Don’t pour your heart out promiscuously to any and every parachurch ministry that comes along, or even to one favorite ministry. Pour your heart, your love, your service, dedication, and loyalty into the church you’re a member of, and keep your focus there. That’s God’s plan and design for Christians.
Pour your heart, your love, your service, dedication, and loyalty into the church you’re a member of, and keep your focus there. That’s God’s plan and design for Christians.
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Learn. David’s adultery. Noah’s drunkenness. Solomon’s idolatry. Judas’ betrayal. And G3’s scandal. One of the reasons God pulls back the curtain – in the Bible and today – and allows us to see people blowing their lives up with sin is to warn us of the consequences we’ll reap from our own sin, and so that we might learn not to repeat the sins of others. Take the free advice God gave the PMBC elders. They spurned it. You learn it. Or you just might be the next example God allows others to learn from.
Your sin will find you out. You might sin and get away with it or keep it a secret, but it’s unlikely. Most of us aren’t criminal masterminds when it comes to covering our tracks. You want to avoid the fallout these elders are experiencing? Don’t sin. And if you do sin, stop it immediately and repent. Forget about the earthly consequences with human beings – God knows what you did. And that should scare the living daylights out of you.
Repent rightly. As you’ve read in some of the articles above, the elders did not repent right. You must rightly understand and meditate on what Scripture says about your particular sin. Realize that your sin nailed Christ to the cross. He took the punishment you deserved for it. Stand broken, undone, and without excuse before God, confess everything without reservation, and ask Him to cleanse you. Then ask Him to give you the wisdom, courage, and love for Him and the people you’ve sinned against to thoroughly and rightly repent to them, ask their forgiveness, and make restitution, if possible. Do everything in your power to make things right with them.
As for me, I’m going to join you in doing all of the above. I’ll also be removing all G3 links from the blog. I’ve already removed the G3 Church Network from my list of church search engines at my church finder resource – the Searching for a new church? tab (in the blue menu bar at the top of this page).
If your church was listed at the G3 Church Network and would like to find a new place to list, I would be glad to consider it
for inclusion on my list of recommended churches.
If your church was listed at the G3 Church Network and would like to find a new place to list, I would be glad to consider it for inclusion on my list of recommended churches.
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Removing all the G3 links from the last 10-12 years of blogging is a daunting prospect, but it will have to be done, if for no other reason than the fact that the G3 website has been shut down and the links will only take you to a “404 error” page. I will have to remove links gradually, as I come across them, so thank you in advance for your patience. If you’re reading one of my articles and come across a link to a G3 resource (or any other problematic link, for that matter), I’d be most grateful if you’d drop me a comment, DM, or email alerting me to it so I can remove or replace it.
If the Lord permits, Amy and I will also be addressing the G3 scandal – from a biblical perspective, as always – on at least two upcoming episodes of A Word Fitly Spoken in the near future.
I’m tired, y’all. I’m powerful tired.
And I know you are, too.
But the Lord is good.
Steal away with Him and meditate on His goodness. Lose yourself in the wonder of His Word. Commune with Him in sweet hours of prayer. Throw your head back and sing to Him with all your might in worship.
And get a good night’s sleep.
Because another battle’s coming tomorrow.
Press on.
Brothers, I do not consider myself as having laid hold of it yet, but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:13-14
