Letter to Calvary Temple Readers (October 15, 2015)
Dear Calvary Temple Readers,
I wonder if any of you had heard of The Wartburg Watch prior to March of 2015. We had not. In fact, upon being contacted with a request to put our story on their site, we had to ask a pastor friend to research them. (We were attending the imminent arrival of our 4th grandchild in Kansas when the stories broke on TWW). Since then, we have been regular readers and are stunned at the amount of abuse and disingenuous behavior they are highlighting among churches.
When Calvary Temple destroyed our family, I thought we were alone. Quite Pollyanna-ish regarding cloaked evil in the ministry. Goofy things abound, yes – but evil?
The commentators on TWW put me to shame. With their boldness and clarity of thought, they express what I ache to say sometimes. It used to be fear that stopped me, now weariness. But they plug away. And I like them all for it. Thank you TWW and the brave men and women who defend the abused with kindness and actions. Below you will find a recent comment, which we are reprinting with permission. (This comment is taken from The Wartburg Watch, Mon Oct 12, 2015 article, "Calvary Temple Update: Should A Church Member, Who Is A Law Officer, Use His Badge To Intimidate Lawful Church Protesters?")
"This is the drum I’ve been beating for years. There are some within the church body who do the following:
-They lust for power and control, in utter disregard for what Jesus said about leadership.
-They are sadistic and take pleasure in disciplining.
-They assume they have some special insight or power or calling that makes them superior to others in the church body (even though Paul veritably screamed the opposite).
-They assume control, they take titles for themselves (even though Jesus specifically said not to do that).
-They seek the choice seats in the conferences, they hob nob with the influential and congratulate one another on their greatness (even though Jesus said those were the hallmarks of pharisees).
-They assume for a tiny group of leaders the exclusive power to discipline when Jesus specifically and irrefutably gave that power to the church body in the whole.
-They slander and scheme in private meetings to consolidate their power (while simultaneously accusing anyone who points out what they are doing of slandering and scheming).
-They lie to protect their interests and institutions.
-They use their ministries to become wealthy and influential.
-To continue a millionaire’s lifestyle in ministry (or in their attempts to achieve that lifestyle), they threaten people struggling to pay the bills with demonic curses if they refuse to tithe.
-I believe that a great number of these people, including some of their loyal followers and sycophants, are not only not Christians but are the very sort of false prophets and end times antichrists that the Lord warned us about, projecting themselves as angels of light. They’re haters of Christians, they’ve infiltrated the church, they take over seminaries and denominations, they have grabbed positions of power or positions of support for that power because they can more efficiently abuse Christians and destroy true fellowship that way.
-They invariably make Him less and less as they make themselves more and more, they take the spotlight that is meant for Jesus alone. They use the word and phrases like “gospel” or “the local church” 10 times for ever once they say “Jesus”. They hate Jesus.
When are Christians going to stand up and call this stuff out? Why is this work left to a handful of bloggers and a small minority in churches who are quickly marginalized or thrown out? What has happened to Christendom?" ~ The Law Prof
I wonder if any of you had heard of The Wartburg Watch prior to March of 2015. We had not. In fact, upon being contacted with a request to put our story on their site, we had to ask a pastor friend to research them. (We were attending the imminent arrival of our 4th grandchild in Kansas when the stories broke on TWW). Since then, we have been regular readers and are stunned at the amount of abuse and disingenuous behavior they are highlighting among churches.
When Calvary Temple destroyed our family, I thought we were alone. Quite Pollyanna-ish regarding cloaked evil in the ministry. Goofy things abound, yes – but evil?
The commentators on TWW put me to shame. With their boldness and clarity of thought, they express what I ache to say sometimes. It used to be fear that stopped me, now weariness. But they plug away. And I like them all for it. Thank you TWW and the brave men and women who defend the abused with kindness and actions. Below you will find a recent comment, which we are reprinting with permission. (This comment is taken from The Wartburg Watch, Mon Oct 12, 2015 article, "Calvary Temple Update: Should A Church Member, Who Is A Law Officer, Use His Badge To Intimidate Lawful Church Protesters?")
"This is the drum I’ve been beating for years. There are some within the church body who do the following:
-They lust for power and control, in utter disregard for what Jesus said about leadership.
-They are sadistic and take pleasure in disciplining.
-They assume they have some special insight or power or calling that makes them superior to others in the church body (even though Paul veritably screamed the opposite).
-They assume control, they take titles for themselves (even though Jesus specifically said not to do that).
-They seek the choice seats in the conferences, they hob nob with the influential and congratulate one another on their greatness (even though Jesus said those were the hallmarks of pharisees).
-They assume for a tiny group of leaders the exclusive power to discipline when Jesus specifically and irrefutably gave that power to the church body in the whole.
-They slander and scheme in private meetings to consolidate their power (while simultaneously accusing anyone who points out what they are doing of slandering and scheming).
-They lie to protect their interests and institutions.
-They use their ministries to become wealthy and influential.
-To continue a millionaire’s lifestyle in ministry (or in their attempts to achieve that lifestyle), they threaten people struggling to pay the bills with demonic curses if they refuse to tithe.
-I believe that a great number of these people, including some of their loyal followers and sycophants, are not only not Christians but are the very sort of false prophets and end times antichrists that the Lord warned us about, projecting themselves as angels of light. They’re haters of Christians, they’ve infiltrated the church, they take over seminaries and denominations, they have grabbed positions of power or positions of support for that power because they can more efficiently abuse Christians and destroy true fellowship that way.
-They invariably make Him less and less as they make themselves more and more, they take the spotlight that is meant for Jesus alone. They use the word and phrases like “gospel” or “the local church” 10 times for ever once they say “Jesus”. They hate Jesus.
When are Christians going to stand up and call this stuff out? Why is this work left to a handful of bloggers and a small minority in churches who are quickly marginalized or thrown out? What has happened to Christendom?" ~ The Law Prof
