God’s Command to Pursue Righteousness, by Jerry D. Kaifetz, Ph.D.

There are a few places in the Bible where we find a concise summary of God’s laws or requirements. Jesus’ two great commandments to love God and man in Matthew 22 is a prime example of such a place. Another famous example comes to us from the Old Testament, Micah 6:8: “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.”
Unfortunately, the majority of Bible translations do not get this verse right in a key sense. They translate the most important verb, “do” (Hebrew “asah”) as “act.” This translation badly misses the mark and dramatically alters the meaning of his verse. The injunction from God is not directed toward a general action or the conduct of one’s overall life. It is there to impose an obligation upon believers to proactively seek justice and to aggressively speak out against unrighteousness in the pursuit of justice. This was the spirit of the Old Testament prophets, over twenty percent of our Bible.
In fact, the Hebrew word “asah” means “to accomplish, to advance” and even to embody something to the point of becoming that very thing. It means “to act with effect.” God is seemingly not just concerned here with us taking a position, but with a person prevailing in that position in the interest of what is righteous. We find that very thought coming rom the mind of God in the Doctrine of the Pursuit of Righteousness. God tells us that those who actively engage in this pursuit please Him: “He loveth him that followeth after righteousness.” (Proverbs 15:9) This is the Hebrew verb “radaph,” a primitive root whose meaning meaning is “to run after,” “to pursue with vigor,” and “to attend closely.”

The New Testament is not silent on this concept. In 2 Timothy 2:22 Paul instructs the younger Timothy to “follow righteousness.” The verb “follow” is the Greek word “di ko” which is a prolonged and causative form of a primary verb meaning “to pursue, to press forward, to run swiftly after, to seek after eagerly, to persecute.” We can see that the intent there is for Christians to not just express a belief concerning righteousness, but to personally do whatever is necessary and within their power to bring it to bear, and not to take a pass by deferring judgment to God as a default response.

Many Christians today believe that what goes on within a church is the business of the church and to be critical of other Christians is to “hurt the cause of Christ.” This is an absurd, foolish and damnable belief. A pastor is to be “beyond reproach” (1 Timothy 3:2). That is HIS responsibility, not the responsibility of others to remain silent about glaring and damaging flaws they may have themselves observed in his character, conduct or governance in order to “protect his reputation.” Of course there will always be those in the church or in the faith whose loyalties are not to principles but to institutions and individuals are not the least bit reluctant to level charges of “gossip” at those who have poked their sacred cow. (More often than not, I have found that there will be in these instances paychecks, careers, and other benefits involved, not to even mention more often than not a Systematic Theology consisting of a worn out stack of bumper stickers.)

As Christians, we are commanded by God to “PURSUE RIGHTEOUSNESS.” That does not mean checking a box, or nodding the head to convey assent. It means to be merciless, impartial, and doggedly determined in shining the light of truth, cleansing and purity in the dark places where evil and hypocrisy fester. Like Eleazar whose sword stuck to his hand after having courageously done God’s work with it among God’s enemies, we should never let the whining of those supporting corrupt leadership in America’s churches ever slow us down is bringing to bear the noble and magnificent spirit of the Old Testament prophets. Swing the sword like Eleazar. Swing the jawbone like Samson, and pursue righteousness until the stars fall.

Posted in Abuses of Church Authority, Bumper Sticker Christianity, Church, Fundamentalism And Church Cults, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Shunnings and Refusal to Reconcile of Victory Baptist Church and Pastor Charles Wetherbee of Weatherford, Texas

I feel led of God to continue to tell the truth about Victory Baptist Church of Weatherford, Texas, and its pastor, Charles Wetherbee. In a recent study I did on Deuteronomy 16:20 in the Hebrew Torah, I was motivated strongly in this direction. That verse reads, “Justice, justice you shall pursue.” As a general rule, the Bible speaks to us about the observing of a commandment. This verse, however, suggests in its Hebrew language that God’s people display a particular energy and make the pursuit of justice a quest.

In ancient Bible times, justice was so important that cases were adjudicated by either three, twenty-three, or seventy-one judges. In ancient Israel, these justice fulfilled the role that we have given today to judges, juries and lawyers. Unanimity was not a requirement. The Torah was straightforward about requiring courage to pursue justice: “You shall not tremble before any man.” (Deuteronomy 1:17) Moreover, the command to PURSUE justice did not rest only in the judiciary. That responsibility was extended to all Israelites. Amos reinforced that call to pursue justice in Amos 5:24. This is especially interesting and relevant to me because of the historical context we encounter here. The priests at the Bethel Temple had succeeded in enlarging their stature, prominence and influence; so much so that they had corrupted the Jewish religion by encouraging sacrifices and offerings that over the years, enriched them greatly. (Shalom Spiegel, a contemporary Jewish Scholar of renown explained how the priests came to teach that giving to the Temple was actually more important than helping the poor with charitable giving, a tenet that was completely at odds with Jewish teaching, Law and tradition and a mainstay of the First century Christian church that never mentioned pastoral salaries.) This is a perfect parallel to Charles Wetherbee’s “Stewardship Campaign” and large banquet every Fall.

Amos was eventually expelled from the temple and deported to his native Tekoah by the High Priest after he pointed out their violation of biblical law. Nobody took Amos’ side. Amos, however was relentless and undeterred in his belief that the pursuit of justice was every Jew’s obligation. Predictably, the principal obstacles in that pursuit would be those who had positioned themselves to profit the most from their influential and well paid positions within organized religion. Charles Wetherbee, with a total compensation package in excess of $100,000, is, I believe, living and executing that corrupt tradition today.

The spirit of Amos is the fire in my belly. Charles Wetherbee, from my perspective of 17 years, exhibits the posture and the motivations of the high priests of the Bethel temple. He guards his influence with vigor and determination. In so doing, he is generally safe from accountability because of the good nature and superficial biblical understanding of his people who do not see past his perfected “golly gee whiz” persona. Christians today tend to live by Grandma’s old adage: “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” Unfortunately their lives are often wholly directed by this adage that we find nowhere in the pages of Scripture, yet has risen to prominence in Evangelical Christianity. That is why in almost 100% of church conflicts, the church’s primary and immediate impulse is always to rapidly choose up sides. The brother or sister whose view is at odds with the pastor’s is immediately marginalized and most often excommunicated, disfellowshipped and shunned for life. This is always done through the undercurrent of a gossip-fueled dynamic. Never, but never are the biblical protocols of Matthew 18 followed. Sadly, this is just fine with the church. To the church, those who would oppose the pastor can be neither right, nor moral. The motivation has to be something evil: hate, vengeance, pride, jealousy, hurt, you name it. It could never be that a critic of one’s church is a sincere, honest Christian with a sound testimony who just disagrees with the pastor and has been unfairly treated in the aftermath. One of the reasons for the shunning policy of so many churches (a regular and common practice of Victory Baptist Church for many years) is that they have no desire to “pursue justice” and adjudicate any matter for fear of casting the slightest shadow on their pastor or church. This is in fact a very Catholic position to take, a fact that I pointed out once to one of Wetherbee’s longstanding supporters. His answer to me was, “Well I guess I am Catholic then!” (Wetherbee knew that this man regularly violated some of the major prohibitions and tenets of the church, but the fact that he gave well into five figures to the church yearly seemed, in my opinion, to moderate Wetherbee’s enforcement of church disciple in this situation. In a disagreement that this man once had with another church member, Wetherbee too the big giver’s side, telling the other man that he was to “respect his elders.” The age difference between the two men was about five years.)

So there you have it, people of Victory Baptist Church. You are free to listen to all manner of undercurrents of gossip about me. (I have found in my 30 years of associating with preachers that they can often be the biggest gossips of all.) The truth is that God is blessing my ministry as never before in the last thirty years. We are reaching 10,000 people a month for Jesus Christ, (I can prove that to anyone who questions it). I am currently in the midst of an ongoing and full-blown revival such as churches dream about and pray about—the kind where the Holy Spirit of God comes through a church like a freight train; weeping and repentance are everywhere, rededications abound, and nobody cares when they get home). We support missionaries, a Christian orphanage in Haiti, we are in nursing homes every Sunday, and my books are selling well nationwide and even worldwide. Not bad for “a church destroying demon,” what one pastor called me once for exposing the adultery and drunkenness on his church staff. Of course, not ONE person from Victory Baptist Church has ever come to me to get my side of the story, to ask why we left the church after a seventeen year association, or to say they are praying for me and my wife. That, for us, casts this church, its people, and its leadership in the role of the Priest and the Levite in the Good Samaritan story. These two figures, of course, represent organized religion. I have made numerous efforts to let Wetherbee know how much we had been hurt by his actions toward us and especially the women of Victory Baptist Church cutting all ties with my wife (who never said a word about the church or pastor) and the shunning of my wife. We are far, far from being alone in this. Over 100 people have left the church in recent times, and many of their experiences parallel ours, including former staff. I have heard many of these stories first hand.

Charles Wetherbee has ignored every one of my overtures seeking reconciliation for almost two years now, in spite of the fact that he drives past our house multiple times a day. It is on this foundation that I will once again structure my case for biblical accountability for Charles Wetherbee and Victory Baptist Church. I am “Accepted in the Beloved,” (Ephesians 1:6) and that is in fact all that I need to be whole and have peace. Regardless of what you have and will continue to hear, my actions are not fueled primarily by anger. My desire beyond that point is only the cause of righteousness and accountability. My mandate is a biblical principle: “ JUSTICE, JUSTICE SHALL YOU PURSUE.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anyone in the orbit of Victory Baptist Church knows that the pastor has chosen to dismiss me rather than to follow the biblical protocols for reconciliation, or to respond to my biblical challenge of his behavior. One highly relevant verse that comes to mind is Galatians 6:1 –“Ye who are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness and humility.” Another is Matthew 5:24 – “Leave there your gift before the altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” (Other relevant verses are listed at the end of this article.)

Instead of engaging me face to face, Charles Wetherbee has sought to simply dismiss me as a person and as a Christian, using his influence as pastor to resort to gossip about a former church member. I cannot count the times when in our close association of many years, this man has done the same thing in my presence with respect to present and former members of Victory Baptist Church. This is how the man operates. He is highly skilled in forming the alliances in the church using that tactic to maintain the total control that he desires. All the while the man maintains and projects his “golly gee whiz” persona. Do not be fooled, Christian brothers and sisters.

I have known any number of pastors who can manipulate their congregation with ease in getting them to dismiss the honest observations and sincere intent of other church members. Often, you will hear phrases like these, some times even from the pulpit:

● Pray for brother so-and-so. I wish him only the best and I have prayed for him often. (The implication is simple: “He wishes me ill, but I am such a better Christian that I pray for him and want you to as well.)
● Brother so-and-so has had problems in other churches, and he had some difficulties here. We tried to work with him, blah, blah, blah . . . . (Never mind that the “problems” may have been refusing to sweep scandals like adultery and child molestation under the rug.)
● I love brother so-and-so. I will always love him. I pray that he understands some day that there is no perfect church, and that is what heaven is for. (The implication here is that since we can never achieve perfection, then lets do away with all form of critique and criticism. This is a hallmark of all cults)
● Brother so-and-so needs your prayer. Pray that God helps him with his anger. (The implication is that everything he has said about us is because he is a hot-head and easily loses control. Of course, anger is never attributed to God in the Bible . . . is it . . . ?)
● we are commanded to “Pray for those who curse you and despitefully use you.” (While ignoring God’s command to be reconciled with them. This also is meant to convey that anyone who disagrees with your pastor has “despitefully used you.”)

We visited Victory Baptist Church on our many visits to Texas for about 15 years from approximately 1998 to 2012. During that time, we thought that we had found a wonderful church. We moved to Weatherford Texas from Indiana in August of 2010. We joined the church on the first Sunday after our arrival. I remember coming forward and telling  Jonathan Stewart of our desire to join. I was overwhelmed and even perhaps overcome by what I knew to be the power of God’s Spirit confirming His will in my life. I was soaked with perspiration, weeping and barely able to speak. It was a moment I will never forget.  God had great plans for us at Victory.  Charles Wetherbee cared far more about preserving his totalitarian control and keeping anyone there from shining for God any brighter than he did.  I am as sure of that as I am my own name.

I was told on a very regular and consistent basis after my wife and I joined, “Oh Brother Jerry, are we ever going to use you in the church!” This refrain was constant, coming mostly from the church staff. Brother Stewart would tell me repeatedly that Pastor Wetherbee only wanted to wait until we were settled in a new home. Still, a month after we arrived, Pastor Wetherbee asked me to speak at the church’s biggest night of the year, the Stewardship Banquet (a shakedown event found nowhere in the pages of Scripture to put every bit of imaginable pressure to leverage written financial commitments out of the membership.)

We eventually bought a house just a few houses down from the Wetherbee’s mansion and the preacher and I became very close. I am semi-retired and he is home for hours a day, so we had many opportunities to ride our motorcycles together each week. He is also singularly inept when it comes to any kind of mechanical skill, so I was at his home quite often fixing an building things for him. He became my best friend, a fellow preacher and neighbor. We had almost daily conversations about theology, doctrine, preaching, and the church. He shared with me a very personal view of his pastorate, such as the church members he liked, and the ones he did not. I was astounded at how much this man’s staff did for him, marveling at the small number of church responsibilities that remained his. My principal desire was to influence him to adopt an expository (verse by verse) style of preaching. He was a devotional preacher – the kind that reads the verse to establish a theme and then expounds on his personal religious philosophy throughout the sermon without the need to ever crack a commentary or an expository dictionary in his “study.” (Several church members had expressed a desire for more expository preaching in the church. They wanted more Bible and made that plain to me.)

I never let him pay any time we went out to eat, which was often several times a week. It was only later that I would learn that his compensation package was a six figure sum, that being after I had spent several hundred dollars on a Christmas gift for him: a large page from the First Edition King James Bible featuring his life’s verse, Romans 8:28, professionally framed with museum quality glass.

Not long after that, I began to sense that something was wrong. My testimony had been produced as a radio drama and heard by four million people in thirty-seven countries and yet was never played for the church. I had written twelve Christian books, some published by major publishers, but after a year, they had yet to find their way into any ministry of the church or the church bookstore. (They put some of them in the church bookstore just before we left, then removed them after out departure.) After a year had gone by and I had barely been used in the church to do what I do best, preach and teach, I began to sense that something was wrong. (I have an earned Ph.D. in Philosophy in Religion, and a B.S. and a Master’s degree in Pastoral Theology.)

When the problem could no longer be ignored, I spoke to Jonathan Stewart and told him of my disappointment. This was his reaction: “Brother Kaifetz, you’re a race horse. We can’t hook a race horse up to a plow!” How that was supposed to explain not having the status of even a substitute Sunday School teacher as I had asked for often, I could not understand. Even then, I was unwilling to accept what was becoming more and more obvious: the church I had moved 1,000 miles to join (leaving $100,000 on the table when we sold our house and property in Indiana) and that had embraced me and my wife on the church member level, and a pastor who had no use for me in any meaningful ministry role in the church.

I have recounted in a previous post the afternoon when Pastor Wetherbee came to my house and finally came out and told me that we should find another church, blaming the people: “Our people will never accept you, Jerry.” This was but days after the man wrote me a glowing letter of recommendation to preach in other churches that I have published with my article, “Why I left Victory Baptist Church.”

That was when I began to see who Charles Wetherbee really was:

● A man who lied to his own church about his son’s (Jason Wetherbee) adultery. (I was able to prove that with three different sources, including a later sermon in which Jason confessed to a life wrecking act and then blamed God repeatedly; I only wish I were kidding about this.)
● A man who takes $100,000 a year from the pockets of hard working Christians to live a most lavish and pampered lifestyle, working at best 20 hours a week.
● A man whom I have seen take paid vacations every six weeks often double dipping and being paid to preach while on the road.
● A man whom I have seen push many people under the bus over the years when he perceived that they were not fully manageable as church members and less than 100% willing to be compliant to his personal wishes and style within the church.
● A man whom a staff member personally told me had been verbally abusive in a shocking episode with his wife.
● A man who was unwilling to take the slightest step toward reconciliation with another Christian with whom he was at odds, this despite the numerous Scriptures and protocols for resolving conflict among Christians.
● A man who was willing to betray a close, personal and valued friendship (on my part at least) when that person was perceived as an individual who may not lend themselves to control and to every whim of the pastor.
● A man who looked me in the eye and said, “The men in my pulpit have to reflect me.”
● A man who has no regard for traffic laws and who regularly drives through the stop sign by my house at 30 miles an hour without so much as slowing down. (I have the surveillance video evidence recorded daily.)
● A man who would rather dismiss me with slanderous gossip than to engage on Biblical issues that I have presented to him.
● A man who has no intention of ever following the Matthew 18 protocols on church disciple, and has personally told me that the “take it to the church” part will never be an option at Victory Baptist Church.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bible Verses on Reconciliation

Ephesians 4:32
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

2 Corinthians 5:18
All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;

Matthew 18:15-17
If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

Romans 5:10
For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

2 Corinthians 5:18-21
All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Matthew 5:23-26
So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

Colossians 1:20
And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Hebrews 12:14
Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

Colossians 1:20-22
And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,

Ephesians 1:3-10
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, …

Luke 23:34
And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.

Luke 17:3
Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him,

Ephesians 2:15-18
By abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

2 Corinthians 5:20
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

Isaiah 61:1-4
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.

1 Peter 4:8
Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

Genesis 33:4
But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.

1 Corinthians 4:5
Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.

Colossians 3:13
Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Luke 6:27-42
But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. …

Romans 3:23
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Matthew 5:24
Leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

Acts 3:19
Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out,

John 3:16-17
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

1 Corinthians 7:15
But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace.

1 John 4:4
Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

2 Timothy 2:1-26
You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. …

1 Corinthians 15:58
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

Romans 5:1
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Luke 15:1-32
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. …

Matthew 18:33
And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?

Luke 13:10-17
Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, “There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” …

Romans 11:15
For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?

Psalm 34:8
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

Romans 12:14-21
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. …

1 John 3:3
And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

Hebrews 9:14
How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

1 Corinthians 7:10-11
To the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband (but if she does, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and the husband should not divorce his wife.

Philippians 2:1-13
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, …

Matthew 28:19-20
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

2 Corinthians 2:7-11
So you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.

1 Corinthians 10:1-33
For I want you to know, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. …

Acts 10:38
How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Daniel 9:24
Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.

Genesis 32:1-24
Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. And when Jacob saw them he said, “This is God’s camp!” So he called the name of that place Mahanaim. And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom, instructing them, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, ‘I have sojourned with Laban and stayed until now. I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, in order that I may find favor in your sight.’” …

1 John 4:13
By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.

James 2:19
You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!

John 3:36
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

John 1:12
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

Luke 15:11-32
And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. …

Matthew 5:1-48
Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. …

Philemon 1:1-25
Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved fellow worker and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, …

2 Corinthians 6:1-7
Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; …

Romans 4:25
Who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Ephesians 4:1-6:24
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, …

Acts 26:17
Delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you

Acts 2:38
And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 16:15-16
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Nehemiah 2:1-8
In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. And the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart.” Then I was very much afraid. I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it.” .

1 Samuel 24:5-22
And afterward David’s heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the Lord’s anointed.” So David persuaded his men with these words and did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way. Afterward David also arose and went out of the cave, and called after Saul, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth and paid homage. And David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Behold, David seeks your harm’? …

Genesis 45:4-8
So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

Isaiah 25:6-8
On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.

Leviticus 8:15
And he killed it, and Moses took the blood, and with his finger put it on the horns of the altar around it and purified the altar and poured out the blood at the base of the altar and consecrated it to make atonement for it.

Mark 12:43
And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box.

Psalm 119:89
Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.

2 Corinthians 5:7
For we walk by faith, not by sight.

Luke 17:4
And if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

Romans 13:8
Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

Matthew 6:12-14
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,

Romans 12:1-2
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Posted in Abuses of Church Authority, Bumper Sticker Christianity, Church, Fundamentalism And Church Cults | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 22 Comments

The Observations and Indictments of the Prophet Amos — Still Relevant to Today’s Church 2,765 Years Later

The French have a saying, “Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose.” The more things change, the more they remain the same. As I was recently studying the prophet Amos, I realized how much his comments on the Temple had in common with mine on the church in general, and the Independent Fundamental Baptist Movement in particular.

Amos came from Tekoah near Jerusalem and preached around 775 to 750 B.C.. It is significant that he lived during a very affluent period in Jewish history. Israel was extending its borders, retaking captured cities (II Kings 13) and taking control of important trade routes. A wealthy class soon emerged (Amos 3:15). Amos gives a sense of the affluence and decadence that developed, yet there was also an impoverished class in their midst living the life of serfs. This was the first time in Israel’s history that there was this kind of economic class division. What made Amos particularly angry was that this wealthy class of Jews was claiming that their wealth was a sign of God’s blessings upon them, and conversely, the poverty of the region was a sign of the absence of divine favor. My question is, how does this differ from today’s “Health and Wealth Gospel?”

This is where things get interesting. The priests at the Bethel Temple were tempted and attracted by the wealth surrounding them and began to be very proactive in leveraging more and more generous giving from temple goers (Amos 4:4). Amos decries the morning sacrifices, the tithes, the free-will offerings and the thanks offerings. He saw these as vehicles for the transfer of wealth to the priestly class of professional clergy of the temple. The Jewish scholar Shalom Spiegel writes of how the temple priests even came to openly preach that giving these offerings to the temple was literally more important than helping the poor, thus going against the core fiber of Jewish economic religious practice and longstanding belief: charity and benevolence.

At the Bethel Temple, Amos accuses the priests of neglecting the poor among them, and even oppressing them: “…you who devour the needy.” (Amos 8:4) He also mentions the accompanying sexual decadence (2:7). Amos also gives us an indication of the prevailing mentality of the temple officials which seemed to express an immunity from judgement because they were “God’s chosen people.” (2:6-8) How many of America’s churches today reach into the pockets of poor people to build lavish buildings at the expense of those living in rented homes?

The result of Amos’ preaching was swift and predictable. After all, this was on a practical and economic level the very same dynamic that wound up bringing a death sentence upon Jesus Christ 800 years later on the basis of his indictment of the Jerusalem temple and its corrupt officials. The High priest announced that Amos was to be expelled. History records the consequences of that decision: Amaziah, King of Judah would die in exile, his family would be destroyed, and the ten Tribes of Israel would be taken from their land (7:17).

The parallels to the modern church in America are striking and powerful. The church has been corrupted by wealth, has ignored the poor among them, and has run off and shuns those among them who have brought back to life the message and observations of Amos. Come, Lord Jesus.

Posted in Church, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Pastor Phil Owens of Santee, CA Destroys His Own Parents

Pastor Phil Owens — Prospect Avenue Baptist Church, Santee, CA is a good example of an Independent Fundamental Baptist preacher who will crush anyone who gets in the way of his church agenda, position, or pastoral career. Here is an account of two elderly people whose lives have been destroyed by that ambition: his own mother and father. (His father, retired pastor Dorman Owens pictured here founded the church, worked for years with no salary, and pastored it for 38 years with growth to 450; the church under Phil Owens averages around 65 in attendance.)
*************************************
PASTOR PHIL OWENS BETRAYS A CONFIDENCE
by Pastor Dorman Owens (retired) January, 2015

In 1987 a man in our church attempted to burn down an abortion clinic. Because I visited him in jail I was charged with, “withholding evidence” from the government and “interfering with a government investigation”. They sent me to prison for fourteen months. When I was released I was told that I could not longer own or possess a gun. It was legal for my wife but, not for me. Jean kept a gun for her protection in case of an invasion of our home.

In 2007 Jean developed Parkinson’s disease and suffered from severe depression and anxiety. As a result she threatened suicide often. Because of this danger I hid Jean’s gun from her. One day, while confiding with my son, Phil in his office;, I shared about her suffering and how I had to get rid of the gun because of the danger for her and that I would go to prison for two year if it was found in my possession.

In July, 2008, Phil expelled me from the church. In the process of getting a restraining order against me, he told them that I had an illegal gun in my possession.

A few days before this happened I went to his house to seek peace. He drove me away and called the Sheriff to evict me. Jean called Phil and told him to talk to me and make peace.

Phil said to her, “Momma, you don’t understand. Daddy is going to jail.” He had purposely made plans to put me in prison for two more years for having a gun I told him I was trying to get rid of. Do you think he gave a thought as to who would take care of his sick mother or the suffering we would both endure? Evidently, he did not care.

It has been 6 1/2 years since he expelled me and hew has never visited or called to check on us. He is “without natural affection”. (11 Timothy 3:03)

How can a “Man of God” so abuse the Command to “Honor your father and mother”? Exodus 20:12, Deuteronomy 27:16 says “Cursed is the man who treats his father and mother with contempt! Is it possible for a saved man to commit such a crime? How can anyone support a pastor who would betray his Godly parents like this?

What Phil does not know is that we got rid of the gun many months before. The police and judge ask me for the gun three times, but it was gone.

How sad that any son would even think about trying to put his father in prison for 2 years. Only a wicked mind could do what Phil did. Remember that the next time you hear him preach the word of God. He is a blatant hypocrite. Ask his mother. She has suffered much because of his carnal life.

He loves his kids, but not his mom and Daddy. He loves his dog better than us.

Sorrowfully,

Pastor Dorman Owens

Posted in Abuses of Church Authority, Church, Fundamentalism And Church Cults | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

The Modern Day Nicolaitans, by Kenneth Reamy

This article was written at my request by my friend Kenneth Reamy and is a timely, relevant and a powerful warning that illustrates that many church leaders have been self-serving for the last 2,000 years, and these types are alive and well in our churches today. jk
*******************************************************************
Modern Day Nicolaitans

One of the key challenges for any Bible preacher or teacher is to present the word of God in its proper context, rightly divided. This is inclusive of highlighting the historical context of a passage, as well as demonstrating the Bible’s relevance in today’s world for contemporary believers.
One of the criticisms many in our generation have of Bible teaching is that it’s boring, antiquated, and lacks relevance for our modern times. The same goes for those who preach and teach it.
I share some of this criticism. It seems that some commentators and Bible scholars are vying for the mantle of “Sleep-Inducer Extraordinaire.” I have cured many a bout of insomnia while reading dull, dry, parched, drought-plagued Bible commentaries laden with irrelevant minutia, written by humorless scholars whose predictable lifelessness permeates their cumbersome writings. And religious broadcasts often achieve the same outcome when brainy, monotone teachers engage in excruciating textual hair-splitting and historical nit-picking while Christians slumber and the world goes to hell.
Systematic theology, biblical lectures, and scholarly Bible presentations notwithstanding, it’s vital for preachers and teachers to be historically accurate while still being capable of demonstrating that the word of God for today is lively, powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword! When this is achieved, listeners’ interest in the word can be resuscitated, and new life breathed into believers’ appetite for the bread of life.
Such is the case with the topic of the “Nicolaitans.” While only mentioned twice in scripture, (Revelation 2:6 and vs. 15), I will demonstrate that this sect and its deeds not only existed during the first Century when John wrote the revelation, but in our day as well, chiefly in an operational sense.
Here is what Jesus had to say about these Nicolaitans: To the church at Ephesus He says, “But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” Jesus hates their deeds. And to the church at Pergamos, He linked the “doctrine” of the Nicolaitans with Balaam’s prophecy-for-hire, (ministry for money), idolatry, and fornication. He says, “So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.” The word “doctrine” implies a teaching process.
The word “Nicolaitans” is a Greet compound word noted variously in Bible dictionaries as Nikao, Nike, and Nikos. Depending upon context, it means “conquer, overcome, prevail, victorious, victory.” The other Greek word is “laos,” which means “people.” We get the English word “laity” from this word. The full word, “Nicolaitans” literally means “conquer the people,” or as Strong’s Concordance notes, “Victory over the people.”
Some of the Bible dictionaries limit the application of this word to Nicolas, supposedly a deacon of the church of Jerusalem. Webster’s 1828 dictionary also attributes the origin of this word to this same deacon. Nicolas’ followers were sexually permissive, and apparently believed that all married women in the church should be available sexually to the male members of the church to prevent jealousy. Religions that allow people to remain in their sin, then and now, are very popular and experience growth!
But this explanation doesn’t fully recognize the dynamic of the compound word, which means, “victorious over the people,” specifically in deeds and doctrines. This sect and mindset, which had infiltrated the early church, divided the church into two groups: The clergy, and the laity. These Nicolaitans believed that the clergy should be distinct and elevated above the common people (laity) in the church, and as such, were entitled to privileges commensurate with their unique and elite calling and office. Unfortunately, (then and now) the operational manifestation of this philosophy results in two sets of rules: Those for the laity, and those for the clergy (the elite ones who have conquered the laity).
Jesus makes no secret of His hate for the deeds and the doctrines of these Nicolaitans!
So are there modern manifestations of this Nicolaitan mindset? Is there a contemporary representation of the Nicolaitan perspective in our churches today? Are there problems noted in the First Century churches that plague us today?
The answer to all the above is “yes.”
You don’t hear the word Nicolaitan much these days, but you can sure identify them by their actions and means of operation, and the obvious sense of entitlement among the modern “professional clergy.”
The Apostle Peter wrote, “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you…” (II Peter 2:1). Here, Peter equates false teachers with false prophets. In addition to the false doctrines and teachings, Peter reveals their motives in vs. 3: “And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you…” The words “covetousness” and “merchandise” speak specifically of money. The Nicolaitans are after your money, and they utilize false doctrines and teachings to get it. One of these false teachings is that they are entitled to it from the flock which they have taught to support them with tithes and offerings.
In Paul’s first letter to Timothy (an apostle to a preacher), he noted that covetousness could be cloaked as “godliness.” It’s a clever trick when it can be done, and it works best when the audience believes the same way. Paul wrote, “Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.” Rather than link all of God’s blessings strictly in monetary terms, Paul instructed Timothy, “From such withdraw thyself.” (I Tim. 6:5) He said that the threshold for contentment is godliness (vs. 6), and food and clothing, (vs 8).
Paul further warned Preacher Timothy, “But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” (vs. 9-10). Only a foolish preacher is self-deceived into thinking these admonitions apply only to the pew and not to the pulpit. God does not have two sets of rules: One for the laity, and another for the clergy. The same rule book (Bible) applies to all of us! Since Paul’s letters to Timothy are ministerial in context, the first and primary application of all the material is to the preachers!
In Second Thessalonians, Paul reminded his readers of his own behavior while with them. “For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you; Neither did we eat any man’s bread for nought; but wrought (worked) with labor and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you.” (II Thess. 3:7-8). A few verses later Paul, having already reminded them he worked both the night and day shifts and didn’t eat anyone else’s bread, instructed them that “with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.” (vs. 12).
Since this context is also ministerial (Paul reminding them of how he, as a minister, behaved), these instructions can also be applied to the preacher!
Yet there is a presumption among many modern preachers that these instructions don’t apply to them, and that they are somehow exempt from following these rules. And this presumption has given rise to the monolithic monstrosity we see today (some call it a church) wherein all God’s blessings are reduced to their lowest common denominator, i.e. cash, offerings, budget, etc., while some in the pews are hurting financially. Add to this the pressure from the pulpit to give more, tithe more, “meet the need…stand with us…be part of the team…sow generously…don’t be God-robbers,” and you have a highly charged atmosphere of pressure imposed on God’s people to fork over their simoleons in order to be blessed of God.
It’s ironic that modern fundraising is conducted by preachers who translate all God’s blessings into dollars and cents when it’s in their possession, but who teach that in order for God’s people to receive the same blessings, they must hand the money over to the preachers!
Without a doubt, it takes money to be in this world. And our world is much obsessed with money. But the church of the living God ought to be different and should not be defined by this obsession. When a church can respond to the things needful for the body in its local community, it more closely reflects the Lord of the church. When huge resources are eaten up with salaries, benefits, vacations, mortgages, debts, and “outgo” designated for the professional clergy, the elitism of the clergy is most glaringly obvious because once they’re needs are met there’s nothing left for anyone else!
God’s heritage is not an enemy to be conquered by the ruling elite—it is a flock of believers who are to be taught and led by love. And giving by the flock should always be done through love and sincerity; not because some preacher browbeat them with guilt and urgency to meet a need or satisfy a debt, or inoculate the preacher from the harsh economic realities everyone else faces. Kenneth Reamy

Posted in Abuses of Church Authority, Church, Fundamentalism And Church Cults | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Sixty Little Known Historical Facts About the Atlantic Slave Trade From 1440 to 1890

Sixty Little Known Historical Facts About the Atlantic Slave Trade
From 1440 to 1890
Jerry D. Kaifetz, Ph.D.

It has been my experience that the basis of many of the sentiments toward Whites that have come out of the Black community in my lifetime have their origin in the colloquial and anecdotal presentation of slavery in America. With that in mind, I have sought to study the available historical data on the slave trade across the Atlantic from the 15th to the 19th century. What I found was not at all what one would logically use to support the anti-White sentiment and the virulent racism of some in the African-American community in the 21st century in the United States.

The participation by African monarchies willing to sell their neighbors into slavery was beyond widespread in Africa going back to the fifteenth century and even well before that time. In fact, the historians who have chronicled those eras tell us in unmistakable terms that African participation and profiteering from the Atlantic slave trade was in fact universal on the continent of Africa going back to perhaps Egyptian dynasties.

This should bring the issue of Reparations and perhaps Affirmative Action into an entirely different perspective for the rational and honest individual, as will the fact that the United States was far down the list of nations participating in the slave trade. Along with Great Britain, the United States was first to champion the cause of abolition to the point of fighting a civil war over it resulting in 490, 309 deaths by the Union forces seeking to end slavery.

There is no purpose to this research and the presentation of its results other than to give an honest historical perspective on the Atlantic Slave Trade. Jerry D. Kaifetz

*************************

1. The “Royal Families” of Africa in countries like Benin, the kings of Ashanti, Congo and Dahomey and the Viti rulers of Longo sold a great many slaves over many generations.

2. Even the African rulers who at first declined to participate in the Atlantic Slave trade eventually succumbed and played the same role as all the other African rulers.

3. Participation in the Atlantic Slave Trade by African rulers was nearly 100%.

4. The Azanaghi were one of the most important clans of the African Tuaregs, a tribe that had been conducting slave raids for countless generations on such cities as Timbuktu and other settlements on the Niger River. They adopted Islam as a result of their contacts through “The Sea of Sand,” the Sahara Desert. This was long before the arrival of the Portugese.

5. Islam came to Africa and promised an end to fighting and tribal fragmentation through barbarity, violence, and brought with it a moral condoning of slavery through the Almoravid Movement.

6. The seizure of slaves was a common practice in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. This was called the “Razzia.” This was practiced by Muslims and Christians. There was no major culture that was not engaged in slavery.

7. It was both a Christian and Muslim belief that the descendants of Ham had been turned black. According to the historian Zurara, who himself was influenced by the historian Egidio Colonna. Colonna taught that if a population did not live peaceably under formalized laws, they were no better than animals and thus could be legally enslaved. This influence prevailed in the 15th century.

8. Slavery was a major institution in antiquity. Prehistoric graves in Lower Egypt suggest that Lybian people many centuries before Christ made slaves of African bushmen and the Negrito tribe.
9. At the peak of Hellenist glory, Greece had about 60,000 slaves.

10. Romans made great use of slaves, with up to four hundred to be found in a single household.
The slave population in the Italian peninsula may have been as high as two million.

11. Aristotle reflected the world’s view of slavery in his first book, “Politics:” “Humanity is divided into two: the masters and the slaves.”

12. Cicero believed that the enslaving of conquered peoples was moral if those poeple were unable to govern themselves.

13. There were many slaves in Visigoth Spain who had deliberately sold themselves into slavery to achieve a better life. The historian Gregory of Tours wrote of this practice in the sixth century.

14. In 651 A.D. Egypt made a contract with Nubia by which the Nubians would deliver 360 slaves a year to Egypt.

15. The trans-Sahara slave trade began around 1,000 B.C..

16. African kings in West Africa collected and sold slaves long before the arrival of Islam.

17. At Bornu, just beyond the Songhai Empire in Africa, the historian Leo writes in the 16th century that slaves were regularly exchanged for horses at the rate of fifteen slaves for one horse. The slaves came by Africans raiding their African neighbors to the south.

18. In what is now western Nigeria, the Oyo kingdom of the Yorubas procured thousands of slaves to work in agriculture.

19. In the 1450’s the Venetian Alvise Ca’da found that kings on the Senegal River tributaries, and before them the mali had a well established slave population.

20. In West Africa, slaves were the only recognized form of private property or expression of wealth.

21. The individual most responsible for European participation was probably the portugese monarch,
Henry the Navigator

22. The Catholic Church also participated in the African slave trade. In 1446 the Bishop of the Algarve fitted out a caravel for the purpose of slaving the West African region. The church of Rome expressed great interest in acquiring slaves.

23. Ca’da Mosto recorded that the king of the African Wolofs supported himself mainly by slave raids on his African neighbors, and then selling his captives to Moorish and Azanaghi slave merchants.

24. The Portugese slave traders did not introduce slavery to West Africa. It had been well established there going back to antiquity. The Tuaregs, for example, had been raiding their southern neighbors for centuries up to the nineteenth century.

25. There was no sense of kinship between African tribes. Many hated each other. The slaves captured were looked upon as the lowest form of people. Historians such as Ca’da Mosto described the reigning monarchs and castes as despots.

26. There was some salve raiding by Europeans, but in 1458 Prince Henry sent Diogo Gomes with three ships to negotiate treaties with African rulers that established the purchase or barter of slaves from which the African leaders derived a steady stream of wealth. One African king, Nomimsana even became a Christian in the process.

27. The African tribal leaders were most content to receive European good such as knives, hatchets, swords, iron bars, Conch shells, candles, striped woolen shawls called lambens from Tunisia, such wines as Malmsey wine, rum, and especially copper rods.

28. Some slaves were destined for African ports. Slaves from the “Slave Rivers” and estuaries were often taken to Elmina where they were traded for gold. The African gold merchants paid higher prices for slaves than could be fetched in Lisbon.

29. The African people known as the Ijo and the Itsekiri in the Guld of Benin bought their slaves at inland slave auctions for sale to save traders in coastal ports.

30. Many slaves were purchased by Antoniotto Uso di mare from Genoa in his dealings with African slave traders on the River Gambia in the 15th century.

31. The first cargo of slaves to cross the Atlantic were sent by Chritopher Columbus in a west to east direction. He sent a group of Taino Indians from Santo Domingo in Hispaniola to his friend Juanotto Berardi. The Taino were cannibals. (The word Caribbean derives from “cannibal.”)

32. The beginning of the slave trade to the Americas was the gold of Hispaniola.

33. Spain was the licensing agent for the slave ships destined for the Americas. By Americas, Brazil and the Caribbean is what is meant the majority of the time.

34. The overwhelming majority of educated Europeans believed that the rampant starvation and constant tribal warfare in Africa meant that a slave was most fortunate to be taken from Africa to European colonies. The punishment for disobedient slaves was often a return to Africa.

35. Many families sold their children to the slave captains, believing that any life would be preferable to starvation and conquest bu warring African tribes. Many African walked great distances to offer themselves to the slave ship captains.

36. By 1535 “great caravans of blacks” would find their way to African slaving ports at the hands of their African captors.

37. The African Pangu and Lungu tribes in the River Congo area were raiders of tribes to their south to capture slaves. King Alfonso complained in 1526 that these raids had a genocidal effect on his country’s population. He testified that the raiders were Congolese, not Portugese.

38. The Emperor of African Songhai on the Middle Niger offered a gift of 1,700 slaves to Cherif Ahmed Es-Segli.

39. The Christian King of Congo, Diogo I contracted with Portugese slave traders (Fernando Jimenez, Emanuel Rodruigues and Manuel Caldiera) to purchase around 10,000 slaves a year. There were more slaves than there was room on the ships leading to overloading and some slave revolts.
In 1567, the new King of Congo, Alvare, continued the slave contract with the Europeans.

40. The slave trade became the mainstay of not just the economy of the Congo, but also Angola under the African leaders there. Most of these slaves went to Brazil.

41. In 1567 Frei Garcia Simoes wrote, “ Here [West African Angola] one finds all the slaves that one might want and they cost practically nothing. . . almost all the natives here are either born into slavery or reduced to that condition without the least pretext . . . After their victories, the [African] kings give over entire villages . . . with the right to kill or sell all the inhabitants. One could by three slaves for the tail of an elephant. ” Between 1575 and 1592 over 50,000 slaves were taken from Angola.

42. The Manioc plant did much to diminish starvation in Africa, as did the maize brought from the Americas. One of the results was to produce even more slaves for sale by African leaders to the slave traders.

43. In a 1790 British inquiry, Sir George Young testified, “Purchasing slaves was much the cheapest method of keeping up their numbers; … for the mother of a bred slave was taken from the field of labour for three years, which labour was of more value than the cost of a prime slave or new negro.”

44. A similar British inquiry found that, “to cultivate 100 acres of cane requires 150 Negroes at least in the field. It is plain to demonstration that hot countries cannot be cultivated without Negroes.”

45. In the first quarter of the 17th century, the total number of African slaves was close to 200,000. Half went to Brazil, over 75,000 to Spanish America, 12,500 to Sao Tome, and just a few hundred to Europe.

46. Many fishing villages on the coast of West Africa in the estuaries of the Niger River developed economies that were almost entirely based on the slave trade. These cities developed as strong African monarchies.

47. The Dominican Friar Thomas de Mercado wrote in his Suma de Tratos y Contratos in 1569 that prisoner captured in African wars throughout history had been enslaved or killed and were undoubtedly better off in America. He also pointed out that the African monarchs continually raided each other’s lands to take slaves to sell to the Europeans.

48. Ethiopia was the country where slaving first began in antiquity.

49. Throughout modern history, blacks were especially sought after as eunuchs in the Muslim world for use as civil servants and the management of harems as illustrated by the famous painting by Levni around 1732.

50. The large labor force that was an important part of American agriculture in the mid 1800’s would not have been there had it not been for the participation of African noblemen and leaders. In 1842 the sultan of Morocco wrote, “the traffic in slaves is a matter on which all sects and nations have agreed from the time of the sons of Adam.”

51. “Most slaves carried from Africa between 1440 and 1870 were procured as a result of Africans’ interest in selling their neighbors.” Hugh Thomas, “The Slave Trade – The Story of the African Slave Trade 1440 to 1870″)

52. Voltaire made the comment, that while it was difficult to defend the conduct of the Europeans in the slave trade, that of Africans bartering each other was even more reprehensible and deserves to be better remembered.

53. The introduction of maize and manioc compensated for much of the population lost through slavery by substantially increasing the birth rate through the ability of Africans to now feed their populations. Rice and yams also played an important role in the burgeoning African agriculture.

54. The slave trade encouraged African monarchies to capture more prisoners in their constant tribal wars and to kill far less of them so as to be able to profit from the slave trade themselves.

55. The slave trade vastly increased employment in West Africa due to the great numbers of men needed in the entrepots as porters, canoemen, and guards.

56. The greatest opposition to the slave trade from any religious came from the Quakers, who had once participated in the slave trade themselves.

57. Nelson Mandela in a visit to Britain paid tribute to the Englishman Charles Wilberforce (1759-1833) as the greatest force in opposition to slavery. Benezet and Moses brown were his American counterparts.

58. Prior to the Amrican revolution, the British wre responsible for transporting large numbers of slaves to the American Colonies. Between 1721 and 1730, they brought well over 100,000 slaves. Only about 10,000 came to the mainland colonies such as South Carolina. The rest went to Jamaica, Cuba, Barbados and elsewhere in the Caribbean.

59. The participation in the slave trade by order of slave voyages and numbers of slaves by country:
COUNTRY VOYAGES SLAVES TRANSPORTED
Portugal 30,000 4,650,000
Britain 12,000 2,600,000
Spain / Cuba 4,000 1,600,000
France / W. Indies 4,200 1,250,000
Holland 2,000 500,000
N. America / U.S. 1,500 300,000
Denmark 250 50,000
Other 250 50,000

60. Origins of Slaves:
Senegambia (Arguin) / Sierra Leone 2,000,000
Windward Coast 250,000
Ivory Coast 250,000
Gold Coast (Ashanti) 1,500,000
Slave Coast (Dahomey, Adra, Oyo) 2,000,000
Benin to Calabar 2,000,000
Cameroons, Gabon 250,000
Loango 750,000
Congo / Angola 3,000,000
Mozambique / Madagascar 1,000,000
TOTAL FROM AFRICAN PORTS 13,000,000

The principal source for the material published in this report was the book, “The Slave Trade – The Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade 1440 – 1870″ by Hugh Thomas

Posted in Slavery & Racism | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Pastor Charles Wetherbee of Victory Baptist Church of Weatherford, Texas — The Betrayal of a Christian Friendship

The Betrayal of a Close Christian Friendship

When we moved from Indiana to Weatherford, Texas in 2010, one of the principal reasons was Victory Baptist Church and pastor Charles Wetherbee. We had been visiting this church on our family visits to the area for fifteen years.

We felt that it was enormously providential that after looking at houses for three months, the one with the greatest appeal to us happened to be just few doors from the Wetherbee’s home on the very same street. We did not know this when we bought the house.

It was not long before I began spending a lot of time with Pastor Wetherbee. There were several reasons for this. I had pastored two churches, and so being a fellow pastor, there is always a unique bond that can quickly develop between preachers. Secondly, with an earned Ph.D. in theology (Philosophy in Religion) and two other degrees in Pastoral Theology (B.S., Th.M.), Wetherbee welcomed spending time with someone with whom he could engage on doctrinal and church issues. Additionally, this man did not know one end of a wrench from the other and was incapable of even the slightest repairs. I was always more than willing to come to his house with a trunkfull of tools and constantly help him with repair projects, building projects, and a host of other tasks which his mechanical ineptitude kept him from tackling. This was a weekly occurrence for the fourteen months we spent at Victory. (He once called me over because his riding mower would not move, only to find out that the gear lever was in neutral.)

We also both owned Harley Davidson Motorcycles and often rode together. On these rides we would always stop for lunch and engage in lengthy conversations on church matters, church people, and the many church problems that he brought up that seem to have been bottled up in the man for some time. It was in the course of these conversations that I was able over time to detail for him the unimaginable levels of abuse that we had endured in churches. These were church experiences in which we had dared to point out the failures of leadership to hold accountable those member who had preyed on the innocent, particularly children. He was shocked and horrified as I recounted story after story that had concluded with guilty jury verdicts and long prison sentences for church leaders, and my role as member-whistle blower. (These experiences resulted in three books, two TV documentaries, and dozens of newspaper articles from major media outlets nationwide.)

It was only as these stories unfolded one by one in our time together that he began to understand the damage that this had all done over the years to my wife and I, and the extant miracle in our lives that we were in fact inexplicably ready to place our trust in yet another church. I remember one statement that I made to Wetherbee that he later told me finally helped him to understand the level of distress that had been inflicted upon our Christian lives: “Once you have been in a train wreck, there are no completely enjoyable train rides.” That statement, by his own admission to me, helped him to finally understand what an extraordinary thing it was for us to be in any church given the record of our past experiences in churches stretching over twenty-five years. My wife became very close friends with Wetherbee’s wife, Shelley, and shared with her many of the same stories about our past church experiences. What she did not share was that her faith in their church and in her husband pastor was not anywhere close to the level of faith that I had forged with this man and his institution through our personal friendship. Call it a woman’s intuition, call it innate suspicion, call it a matter of a lesser level of ecclesiastical idealism, or anything else that you may choose to call it, my wife was 100% correct and I was as wrong as I have ever been in my life about any church. Please do trust me when I say that, that in fact this is really saying something for me. I have more former pastors, Bible professors, and deacons that have gone to prison for their crimes in churches than I can count on both hands.

Without a doubt, the most untenable insensitive, callous and difficult demand that Pastor Charles Wetherbee made of me and my wife in our fourteen months at Victory had to do with an evangelist and church member who occasionally preached at Victory Baptist Church. This man displayed what I have come to call the “Fundamentalist Swagger.” I saw in him an inordinate expression of self, a boastful spirit, and a complete lack of humility. All these things were a monumental flashback for me to my days at the heart of the Independent Fundamental Baptist movement under my former pastor and once mentor, Jack Hyles. The first time I heard the evangelist preach in one of Wetherbee’s frequent absences, I almost walked out. I will just say that the spirit in me did not testify to the spirit in him.  Moreover, his preaching was ever so shallow.   I was inexpressibly grateful that my wife was in the nursery that night, as exposure to this boastful, prideful man would have set her spiritual healing back months, and perhaps years. It could even have marked her last foray into the church world.

I did the best I could to carefully explain all of this to Wetherbee. He would hear none of it. He told me that I was by virtue of my position or role in “HIS” church   fully expected  to attend all of the services, including the times when this offensive evangelist preached. That said, Wetherbee added in passing, “I have never personally cared for the guy’s preaching myself.” I could certainly understand that. This was one of these old-school evangelists whose Systematic Theology (a term he had probably never heard) was what I have called, “a mile wide and an inch deep.” I have also used another terms to describe it: “Bumper Sticker Theology.” In the end, nothing mattered to my pastor except Charles Wetherbee imposing his will upon us regarding our lack of Christian liberty that I strongly believed was our biblical prerogative in matters such as these. I did not budge, and thus began to see the handwriting on the wall. I was not willing to sacrifice my wife’s fragile spiritual health to any man’s arrogance or blather, or to any pastor’s compulsion to crush my freedom under a juggernaut of dictatorial demands on a church member that a pastor was not entitled to make. The irresistible force had met the immovable object. There was no question in my mind as to what would be the outcome.

So the unmistakable fact in all of this for us is that Pastor Charles Wetherbee fully knew in almost every detail that the faith that I had placed in him and in his church was a very fragile entity with a weak pulse and on a complex regimen of life support. The man KNEW. He knew that my faith in the institution of the church was hanging by a cobweb. He also knew that I had written twelve Christian books, and that my testimony had been made into a radio drama and heard by four million people in thirty-seven countries and was a compelling and riveting account of one man’s journey to faith. He also knew full well that by the grace of God Almighty I had the ability to bring the kinds of results from the pulpit that churches pray for. In the end, NONE OF THIS MATTERED. What mattered was that I did not have the level of compliance and malleability as a church or staff member that Charles Wetherbee required in his church as the price to be paid for the privilege of serving under him. In fact once while sitting on my back patio and trying to iron out our differences, he was even so bold as to put it in plain and unmistakable terms for me: he looked me in the eye through dark aviator sunglasses and in a stunning expression of unbridled human pride, with his hands folded over his expansive stomach said these words to me: “JERRY, THE MEN IN MY PULPIT HAVE TO REFLECT ME.” After having heard those words, I understood fully that I could not serve with a man like that under any circumstances. I did not immediately tell him so, but I did seal my fate at Victory Baptist Church of Weatherford Texas by responding with these words: “Well, preacher, you and I are going to have to disagree on that one. You see, I have this crazy notion that when I step into a pulpit and open my Bible before God’s people, that I am supposed to reflect the Lord Jesus Christ.” What Wetherbee was in fact telling me in shockingly plain terms was that the sentiment of the church was not, “Sirs, we would see Jesus,” but in fact, “Sirs, we would see Charles Wetherbee.” It is my belief that any Christian who participates or lends themselves in any way to that kind of usurpation of God’s glory is dishonoring the Lord Jesus Christ in ways that are close to being quite simply blasphemous.

After we left, we were of course shunned by the entire church in typical Baptist fashion. All the folks that had hugged me and pumped my hand every week for fourteen months and told me how much they loved me and how God had blessed them the few times that I had taught or preached there now disappeared from the radar of our lives. I could have been face down in a skid row bar for all they cared, or in intensive care, or rehab. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that I was no longer a part of their religious social club, and they had heard that I had disagreed with their pastor. Those were the qualifications for Christian fellowship in their minds and in their church. My own belief is that having Jesus Christ in common was what is required for Christian Fellowship. That is not the case at Victory Baptist Church regardless of their words to the contrary.  We judge by actions.

What followed were subtle comments about Jerry Kaifetz not being a “team player.” Strangely, I have never found that term in the Bible. I suppose its expression may have been the province of the Pharisees in Jesus’ day, as it was certainly how they thought and governed. I derive great satisfaction that this accusation of Wetherbee’s accusation was, at least in spirit, applied to every one of the Old Testament Prophets.

Now, several years after all of this, one thing stands out for me: THE BETRAYAL OF A CLOSE CHRISTIAN FRIENDSHIP. Wetherbee knew that we had many wounds inflicted upon our family in the battles for righteousness that had characterized my ministry and our Christian lives, and in advocating and caring for many, many victims of sexual abuse , in churches.and that these wounds had not all fully healed. He knew that we came to him and to Victory Baptist Church in a fragile condition, especially my wife. In the end, NONE OF THOSE THINGS MATTERED AT ALL. All that mattered was that he had seen me as a man who was unwilling to pledge complete loyalty to a pastor on the level that he demanded. Then, ultimately , rather than walk down into the ditch as did the Samaritan with bandages and expressions of compassion, he came with his sword. It mattered far more to Charles Wetherbee that I had expressed an inability or an unwillingness to be molded into the form of another one of his staff “Yes Men,” and that I thus posed some kind of existential threat to his most lucrative pastoral career ($100,000 a year salary & luxurious mansion, luxury cars, frequent vacations) than it did that I had been given by God the ability to be instrumental in a significant way regarding something that they prayed for every week: REVIVAL. (It has not happened at Victory Baptist Church, and I do not see how it ever could.  I am not alone in that belief.  A man on staff came to that conclusion before I did and gave me his reasons.)

In the end, it was the willingness to betray a friendship that I, at one time, considered one of the greatest spiritual assets of my life, humanly speaking, that impacted me the most. Of course God always can and in my case has unquestionably compensated for that human betrayal in ways that only God could. As I look back now, however, and see those days and that person for what and whom they were, the realization of what in fact took place is actually quite stark and powerful for me. Then when I think that this dagger into our lives was deliberately wielded in a highly calculated and precise manner by a “man of God,” a , a Pastor, a shepherd of God’s people and one whom 300 people call “Preacher,” the hurt gives way to first revulsion and then sheer amazement, and then a desire to expose this charlatan for who he is regardless of how many good people he has managed to dupe.

God has since surely blessed us. I am reaching more people for the Lord Jesus Christ than at most any time in any church ministry (over 10,000 a month). I am talking about seeing lives transformed by the power and mercy of God on a weekly basis. I have seen reinforced what I have heard since childhood: God is good, and it matters not how poorly, inadequately or despicably He is misrepresented by religious careerists and ecclesiastical professionals and impostors. He is fully capable of making it all right, of compensating for the damage done in His name in compelling and often completely unexpected ways. God is regularly wrapping His arms around those who are hurting in ways that give full evidence that there is healing love in the divine hugs that He has in great abundance for those who will open their arms and extend them upward toward Him. It is only in that embrace that the wounds heal.  That is where I live today.  I have managed by the grace of God to lead many others to that embrace from some of the darkest places and tortured lives that a person could live.  I am now blessed in my ministry in ways that I will not even try to describe.

Posted in Abuses of Church Authority, Church | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

My Experience with Westwood Christian Fellowship of Weatherford, Texas

My Experience With Westwood Christian Fellowship of Weatherford Texas
and Pastor Curtis Tucker

I am writing my account of an experience with Westwood Christian Fellowship of Weatherford, Texas and its pastor, Curtis Tucker because I that this is a story that should be told. On a scale of one to ten, how much this has to do with personal offense on my part is very close to zero. (Please read this account before you make a judgement in that area.)
There was a group of men in the Old Testament we call the prophets. Theirs was a ministry of judgement. Yes, we are told not to judge (in my opinion, THE most misunderstood verse in all the Bible), but theirs was a ministry and lives dedicated to not their personal judgment, but to applying God’s judgment. That is how I have tried to live as a Christian for over thirty years. My life is an open book; in fact, about twelve of them. If you want to know who I am, just Google my name: Jerry Kaifetz. I have nothing to hide.

You will hear from some of my detractors that, “Jerry Kaifetz has never gotten along with any church.” First of all, that is not truthful. Secondly, I have doggedly gone after pedophile pastors, adulterous pastors, immoral men in Christian leadership, and a host of other men in churches guilty of incest, rape, torture, kidnaping, heresy, and on and on that sordid list goes. The most recent of these men, a once close friend and pastor of a church of 20,000, now languishes in a federal prison for twelve years for raping a sixteen year old girl in his church. (Google Jack Schaap) The Christian world abounds with pastors who believe I should have kept my mouth shut. I disagree. I believe that God does as well.

I have given this church and its pastor, Curtis Tucker, every chance to reconcile with me. I have apparently said something online that has offended them. What that is, I do not know to this day, as they have steadfastly refused to tell me. While this may not seem like something that rises to the level of this investment of anyone’s time to pursue, I believe that in fact it does. What all this reveals is a church that thinks nothing of treating someone whose only “sin” is disagreeing with them in a manner wholly opposite to the way in which all Christians are seen by the Lord Jesus Christ: “Accepted in the Beloved.” (Ephesians 1:6)

A church like this, as I will address farther along, poses a genuine danger to well-meaning, trusting Christians who may join only to find that the church’s acceptance is highly conditional. The ensuing experiences, revelations and realizations can leave good people devastated, confused, and often tear at the fabric of their faith. My ONLY purpose (nobody knows my heart but me and God) is to warn good Christian people before they make themselves vulnerable to this kind of experience at the hands of a church that is not, in my opinion, what it presents itself to be.

Surely there will be support for the church, and that is fine. The edges of a bowl of soup may in fact be tasty, delectable, sweet and even nutritious. But when I see glob of spit on the other edge, I believe that it is incumbent upon me before God to caution people about drinking deeply, or even at all. This pastoral counsel is about a church that I believe is demonstrably inclined to disrespecting the rights and liberties given by God to Christians that they might protect the institution of the church at any costs. Here is the narrative of my experience with Westwood Christian fellowship, 1010 S. Bowie Drive, Weatherford, Texas, and their pastor, Pastor Curtis Tucker.

******************************

In the summer of 2014 I began to develop a relationship with Westwood Christian Fellowship through their motorcycle club, Iron Faith Riders. This group is a part of Honor Bound Motorcycle Ministry (MM) , the national motorcycle ministry of the Church of God. My involvement with them consisted of attending one event at Westwood Christian Fellowship in April of 2014, where I was recruited to become a member. I knew far too little about this group or about the church, and I was not a Christian who was much inclined in the direction of the beliefs and doctrine of the Church of God, but I did join their Facebook Group and received regular posts from them.

Like I did a couple of times a week or more, one day I went to their homepage on Facebook. I found that it was no longer accessible to me. I knew what that meant: I had been removed from the group. I have my own Facebook group (Profaned Pulpit, named after one of my books), and I am not unaccustomed to occasionally finding it necessary to remove someone from the group. That sometimes occurs when their postings are such that I deem them an offense to the group and not compatible with our stated purpose. Something I had said was obviously deemed to have been of that nature and I was summarily kicked out of the Iron Faith Riders Facebook Group. This left me with very bad feeling, primarily because I had no idea why.

I found a business card from the group. It had no name on it, but it had an e-mail address: WESTWOODMM@YAHOO.COM, so I sent off this e-mail to them:

Hey brother, just wondering why you kicked me off your Facebook group. I have always thought fellowship was supposed to be based on Jesus Christ, so this is a little puzzling to me, not to mention hurtful.

Can you please be specific? I would sure appreciate it. Please try to not be too general, as this will help me to understand what I may have done wrong, or what specifically I may have said that would cause another Christian to break fellowship with me.

Again, I would ask you to please be specific.

Thanks!
Jerry K.”

There was no reply. It was clear to me that I had not only been disfellowshipped, but now I was being shunned. I knew that somehow I had posted something that was not compatible with the group’s beliefs, but I had no idea what. Moreover, as a Christian of 31 years, I really did want to know, as I had no desire to be crossways with a Christian group with whom I had riding motorcycles in common. I sent off another memo to the anonymous group leader who had handed me their business card. It was absent any name, but he had written the group’s e-mail address on the back. Again, there was no response. I decided to forget about it.

Then about five months later, this situation began to trouble me, so I began to pray and to seek God’s will in this matter. There were Christian principles, protocols, and biblical principles involved that though at first seeming not to be terribly significant, I began slowly to conclude otherwise. I continued to pray. I e-mailed the mystery group leader once again and wrote that I believed that he and the group were in violation of one of the biblical protocols for dealing with a Christian brother with whom one had a disagreement (never mind that they had steadfastly refused to so much as even tell me what that disagreement was). Here is the verse I quoted him:

“And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man,
and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. 15
Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.”
(2 Thes. 3:15)

Again there was no response and the shunning continued. That was when I decided to see if the pastor, Curtis Tucker, would try to make this rift right between brothers in Christ in the biblically prescribed Christian manner, or if he would justify the shunning, or perhaps even participate in it. My worst fears were soon confirmed. I politely asked pastor Tucker if he knew what I had done, and if he could help to find a reconciliation. Here was his reply: .

******************
Jerry,
I am responding to the email you sent concerning our Honorbound Motorcycle Ministry. My response is sent as a courtesy to you and to explain my thoughts about this wonderful ministry. Our honorbound ministry is made up of some of the most loving, committed, and servant-oriented people that I have ever had the opportunity to pastor. Since forming this ministry about 3 years ago, this group has raised thousands of dollars for missions’ endeavors, they have done multiple toy runs at Christmas for underprivileged children, they have helped families who were struggling financially, they have gone into inner city neighborhoods of Fort Worth and Dallas helping with special projects and outreaches in those areas, and, most recently, they have adopted the family of Toby and Holly Turner, who have taken several children whose families could not care for them, and our group is providing clothes, food, and financial support.
These men and women are also wonderful evangelists. When they are out on “rides” or participating in special events they almost always find people to pray with, witness to, and influence toward Christ. And, the people who make up Westwood’s HonorBound ministry are not just motorcycle riders. They serve in several leadership roles in our church: some of them are part of our prayer ministry; some are part of our worship team; some serve in our children’s ministry. They are ushers, nursery workers, and greeters…in other words they are everything the church should be. They continually work at presenting a positive Christian example to the community they live in and the motorcycle culture that they enjoy fellowship with. One way they do this is through social media where they give an opportunity for their group and others to be encouraged by a devotional thought, an uplifting scripture passage, or just some encouraging words to lift up those who may be struggling.
Words cannot adequately express how much I love, respect, and admire these folks. Their commitment to Christ, His Church, and the world in which they live can be seen in all that they do. I always appreciate the opportunity to share my feelings about these wonderful people and this very worthwhile ministry.
In Christ Service,
Curtis
******************************

Now on Pastor Tucker’s bio on the church’s website, there is no mention of a formal biblical education or any pastoral degree, but still, I expected better than a response like this. Here is what I find wrong with it.

1.) There is the clear assumption that the good deeds done by the motorcylcle group place them beyond the reach of any legitimate criticism.
2.) The clear and deliberate circumvention of my stated points and direct questions, and biblical verses.
3.) The fact that a brother in Christ had been offended by their actions did not rise to the level of a direct and focused response.
4.) The old, worn out tactic of defending the church institutions rather than taking the documented grievances, and hurt of another Christian seriously.
5.) Responding to legitimate, documented criticism on the basis of institutional and personal loyalties rather than biblical principles.
6.) The immediate removal from the group of anyone who expresses dissent or criticism, (although I am only assuming that was the case in the absence of their desire to directly tell my “sin.”)

The above five things that I have enumerated are what will eventually make any church a place that is dangerous to personal Christian liberties. While one person being kicked out of an online church group may not seem terribly significant, I believe strongly that it has provided a window into the inner workings of this, like many other churches. It is a clear and distinct harbinger of what any person should expect should they align themselves with Westwood Christian Fellowship and then find themselves in a position of disagreement on any issue, no matter how small. This church and its pastor, Curtis Tucker adhere rigidly to a longstanding rule of policy common to many churches: “DON’T STAND UP IN THE CANOE!”

Another reason why Westwood Christian Fellowship is a potentially dangerous church has to do with a word they use to describe themselves, as many churches do: “Family.” (Their website is even WCFFAMILY.COM) All churches portend to offer, among other things, refuge and solace from the world. The message is, “You are safe here.” “You are loved here.” “You are understood here.” In fact, that perhaps somewhat true in a lot of churches . . . up to the time when you disagree with the leadership. Then you will find, as I did at Westwood Christian Fellowship, that the way they deal with a member of the body that seems to them not in harmony with the rest of the body is very simple: they cut it off! That is how churches operate.

I pointed out to Pastor Curtis that Christians are given by God, “the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:17-19). I pointed out to him that two Christians at odds with one another should seek restoration “in the spirit of meekness” (Galatians 6:1). I pointed out to him that God takes rifts between His children so seriously that He says for us to “Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come an offer thy gift” (Matthew 5:24). God makes it plain that He does not care to even hear from the Christian who is content with an ongoing breach in fellowship with a fellow believer. Would it not be offensive to God for such a brother to not only ignore this injunction from God by themselves praying, but to themselves lead a church full of believers in prayer? But no one need take my word for it. Read that last Scripture again, and ask God for yourself. I think you will find that He has not changed His mind.

So fellow-Christian, or non-Christian seeking God, ask yourself if you want to be a part of a church characterized by what I believe I have experienced as highly conditional acceptance –- a church that will look you in the eye and tell you, “We are here for you.” Their actions, at least to me, have said something quite different: “You are there for us. And when we detect the slightest hint to the contrary, we will show you the door in very short order. Then we will break all ties with you and pretend that you do not exist. We don’t care if you are face down in a bar in the middle of the night, we will not reach out to you. We will be the priest who walks by you as you lay in the ditch, not the Samaritan.” This is the way of the church, at least as I have experienced it often and witnessed it again and again in my three decades as a Christian. (You can join the 3 million people who have been blessed by a radio drama of my testimony heard in 27 countries on 2,600 radio stations: YouTube.com + KAIFETZ UNSHACKLED).

Surely this church will respond, if they respond at all, by attacking me personally. That is what churches to. (An adulterous pastor once stood before his congregation of 5,000 and lambasted me for forty minutes when I joined the cadre of principled Christian men who exposed him.) I believe in light. Light illumines. Light reveals. Light evidences danger. Light cleanses. Light warns. Light heals. Light soothes. The only people who fear light and attack the source are those who have something to hide. Unfortunately, that often includes churches and pastors. (You can see my list of the ones in my Christian life below)

I have told the truth here. I am producing the documents below. Beyond that, everyone is free to make their own decision and establish their own judgments regarding Westwood Christian Fellowship and pastor Curtis Tucker. I am sure that in many ways Curtis is a good man. I am sure that he has the calling of God upon his ministry. Sadly, that is neither pleasing nor honoring to God. To “offend one of my little ones” carries severe consequences in the Bible. Pastor Curtis Tucker has come to the place where he is willing to do anything to protect the corporate institution of the church. I am sure that many will have good things to say, and legitimately so. No church is all bad, or all good. All that being said, I have recognized a disturbing and dark pattern of institutional loyalty in this church that always eventually leads to good people being hurt, marginalized, abused and offended. Often the very faith that churches work so hard to build up is destroyed.

All that I would ask of anyone is that you make your efforts to balance these two perceptions an effort involving honesty and prayer. If anyone from Westwood would like to sit down with me with an open Bible between us, as I have indicated is always God’s prescribed preference for His people, I will be there. (My condition for such a meeting is that I be allowed to record it.)

“I have believed, and I have spoken.”

**************************************
E-MAILS

My Experience With Westwood Christian Fellowship of Weatherford Texas
and Pastor Curtis Tucker

I am writing my account of an experience with Westwood Christian Fellowship of Weatherford, Texas and its pastor, Curtis Tucker, believe I believe it should be told. On a scale of one to ten, how much this has to do with personal offense on my part is very close to zero. Please read this account before you make a judgement in that area. There was a group of men in the Old Testament we call the prophets. Theirs was a ministry of judgement. Yes, we are told not to judge (in my opinion, THE most misunderstood verse in all the Bible), but their was a ministry and lives dedicated to not their personal judgment, but to applying God’s judgment. That is how I have tried to live as a Christian fro over thirty years. My life is an open book; in fact, about twelve of them. If you want to know who I am, just Google my name: Jerry Kaifetz. I have nothing to hide.

You will hear from some of my detractors that, “Jerry kaifetz has never gotten along with any church.” First of all, that is not truthful. Secondly, I have doggedly gone after pedophile pastors, adulterous pastors, immoral men in Christian leadership, and a host of other men in churches guilty of incest, rape, torture, kidnaping, heresy, and on and on that sordid list goes. The most recent of these men, a once close friend and pastor of a church of 20,000 now languishes in a federal prison for twelve years for raping a sixteen year old church. (Google Jack Schaap) The Christian world abounds with pastors who believe I should have kept my mouth shut. I disagree. I believe that God does as well.

I have given this church and its pastor, Curtis Tucker, every chance to reconcile with me. I have apparently said something online that has offended them. What that is, I do not know to this day, as they have steadfastly refused to tell me. While this may not seem like something that rises to the level of this investment of anyone’s time to pursue, I believe that in fact it does. What all this reveals is a church that thinks nothing treating someone whose only “sin” is disagreeing with them in a manner wholly opposite to the way in which all Christians are seen by the Lord Jesus Christ: “Accepted in the Beloved.” (Ephesians 1:6)

A church like this, as I will address farther along, poses a genuine danger to well-meaning Christians who join only to find that this acceptance is highly conditional. The ensuing experiences, revelations and realizations can leave good people devastated, confused, and often tear at the fabric of their faith. My ONLY purpose (nobody knows my heart but me and God) is to warn people before they make themselves vulnerable to this kind of experience at the hands of a church that is not, in my opinion, what it pretends to be.

Surely there will be support for the church, and that is fine. The edges of a bowl of soup may in fact be tasty, delectable, sweet and even nutritious. But when I see glob of spit on the other edge, I believe that it is incumbent upon me before God to caution people about a church that I believe is demonstrably inclined to disrespecting the rights and liberties given by God to Christians that they might protect the institution of the church at any costs. Here is the narrative of my experience with Westwood Christian fellowship, 1010 S. Bowie Drive, Weatherford, Texas, and their pastor, Pastor Curtis Tucker.

******************************

In the summer of 2014 I began to develop a relationship with Westwood Christian fellowship through their motorcycle club, Iron Faith Riders, a part of Honor Bound Motorcycle , the national motorcycle ministry of the Church of God. My involvement with them consisted of attending one even at Westwood where I was recruited to become a member. I knew far too little about this group or about the church, and I was not a Christian who was much inclined in the direction of the beliefs and doctrine of the Church of God, but I did join their Facebook Group and received regular posts from them.

Like I did a couple of times a week or more, one day I went to their homepage on Facebook. I found that it was no longer accessible to me. I knew what that meant: I had been removed from the group. I have my own Facebook group (Profaned Pulpit, named after one of my books), and I am not unaccustomed to occasionally finding it necessary to remove someone from the group. That is always when their postings are such that I deem them an offense of some kind to the group and not compatible with our stated purpose. Something I had said was obviously deemed to have been of that nature and I was summarily kicked out of the Iron Faith Riders Facebook Group. This left me with very bad feeling, primarily because I had no idea why.

I found a business card from the group. It had no name on it, but it had an e-mail address: WESTWOODMM@YAHOO.COM, so I sent off this e-mail to them:

Hey brother, just wondering why you kicked me off your Facebook group. I have always thought fellowship was supposed to be based on Jesus Christ, so this is a little puzzling to me, not to mention hurtful.

Can you please be specific? I would sure appreciate it. Please try to not be too general, as this will help me to understand what I may have done wrong, or what specifically I may have said that would cause another Christian to break fellowship with me.

Again, I would ask you to please be specific.

Thanks!
Jerry K.

There was no reply. It was clear to me that I had not only been disfellowshipped, but now I was being shunned. I knew that somehow I had posted something that was not compatible with the group’s beliefs, but I had no idea what. Moreover, as a Christian of 31 years, I really did want to know, as I had no desire to be crossways with a Christian group with whom I had riding motorcycles in common. I sent off another memo to the anonymous group leader who had handed me their business card. It was absent any name, but he had written the group’s e-mail address on the back. Again, there was no response. I decided to forget about it.

Then about five months later, this situation began to trouble me. There were Christian principles, protocols, and biblical principles involved that though at first seeming not to be terribly significant, I began slowly to feel otherwise. I e-mailed the mystery group leader once again and wrote that I believed that he and the group were in violation of one of the biblical protocols for dealing with a Christian brother with whom they had a disagreement (never mind that they had steadfastly refused to so much as even tell me what that disagreement was). Here is the verse I quoted him:

“And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man,
and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. 15
Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.” (2 Thes. 3:15)

Again there was no response and the shunning continued. That was when I decided to see if the pastor, Curtis Tucker, would try to make this right between brothers in Christ in the biblically prescribed Christian manner, or if he would justify the shunning, or perhaps even participate in it. My worst fears were soon confirmed. Here is my e-mail to Pastor Tucker and his response.

******************
Jerry,
I am responding to the email you sent concerning our Honorbound Motorcycle Ministry. My response is sent as a courtesy to you and to explain my thoughts about this wonderful ministry. Our honorbound ministry is made up of some of the most loving, committed, and servant-oriented people that I have ever had the opportunity to pastor. Since forming this ministry about 3 years ago, this group has raised thousands of dollars for missions’ endeavors, they have done multiple toy runs at Christmas for underprivileged children, they have helped families who were struggling financially, they have gone into inner city neighborhoods of Fort Worth and Dallas helping with special projects and outreaches in those areas, and, most recently, they have adopted the family of Toby and Holly Turner, who have taken several children whose families could not care for them, and our group is providing clothes, food, and financial support.
These men and women are also wonderful evangelists. When they are out on “rides” or participating in special events they almost always find people to pray with, witness to, and influence toward Christ. And, the people who make up Westwood’s HonorBound ministry are not just motorcycle riders. They serve in several leadership roles in our church: some of them are part of our prayer ministry; some are part of our worship team; some serve in our children’s ministry. They are ushers, nursery workers, and greeters…in other words they are everything the church should be. They continually work at presenting a positive Christian example to the community they live in and the motorcycle culture that they enjoy fellowship with. One way they do this is through social media where they give an opportunity for their group and others to be encouraged by a devotional thought, an uplifting scripture passage, or just some encouraging words to lift up those who may be struggling.
Words cannot adequately express how much I love, respect, and admire these folks. Their commitment to Christ, His Church, and the world in which they live can be seen in all that they do. I always appreciate the opportunity to share my feelings about these wonderful people and this very worthwhile ministry.
In Christ Service,
Curtis
******************************
Now on Pastor Tucker’s bio on the church’s website, there is no mention of a former biblical education or any pastor degree, but still, I expected better than a response like this. Here is what I find wrong with it.

1.) The clear assumption that the good deeds done by the motorcycle group place them beyond the reach of any legitimate criticism.
2.) The clear and deliberate circumvention of my stated points.
3.) The fact that a brother in Christ had been offended by their actions did not rise to the level of a direct and focused response.
4.) The old, worn out tactic of defending the church institutions rather than taking the documented grievances of another Christian seriously.
5.) Responding to legitimate, documented criticism on the basis of institutional and personal loyalties rather than biblical principles.
6.) The immediate removal from the group of anyone who brings dissent or criticism.

The above five things that I have enumerated are what will eventually make any church a place that is dangerous to personal Christian liberties. While one person being kicked out of an online church group may not seem terribly significant, I believe strongly that it has provided a window into the inner workings of this church. It is a clear and distinct harbinger of what any person should expect should they align themselves with Westwood Christian Fellowship and then find themselves in a position of disagreement on any issue, no matter how small. This church and its pastor, Curtis Tucker adhere rigidly to a longstanding rule of policy common to many churches: “DON’T STAND UP IN THE CANOE!”

Another reason why Westwood Christian Fellowship is a dangerous church has to do with a word they use to describe themselves, as many churches do: “Family.” All churches portend to offer, among other things, refuge and solace from the world. The message is, “You are safe here.” You are loved here. You are understood here.” In fact, that is true in a lot of churches . . . up to the time when you disagree with the leadership. Then you will find, as I did at Westwood Christian Fellowship, that the way they deal with an member of the body that seems to them not in harmony with the rest of the body is very simple: they cut it off. That is how churches operate.

I pointed out to Pastor Curtis that Christians are given by God, “the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:17-19). I pointed out to him that two Christians at odds with one another should seek restoration “in the spirit of meekness” (Galatians 6:1). I pointed out to him that God takes rifts between His children so seriously that he says for us to “Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come an offer thy gift” (Matthew 5:24). God makes it plain that he does not care to even hear from the Christian who is content with an ongoing breach in fellowship with a fellow believer. Would it not be offensive to God for such a brother to not only ignore this injunction from God by themselves praying, but to themselves lead a church full of believers in prayer? But no one need take my word for it. Read that last Scripture again, and ask God.

So fellow-Christian, or non-Christian perhaps seeking God, ask yourself if you want to be a part of a church characterized by what I believe I have experienced as highly conditional acceptance – a church that will look you in the eye and tell you, “We are here for you.” Their actions, at least to me have said something quite different: “You are there for us. And when we detect the slightest hint to the contrary, we will show you the door in very short order. Then we will break all ties with you and pretend that you do not exist.” This is the way of the church, at least as I have experienced it often and witnessed it again and again in my three decades as a Christian. (You can join the 3 million people who have been blessed by a radio drama of my testimony heard in 27 countries on 2,600 radio stations: YouTube.Com + UNSHACKLED).

Surely this church will respond, if they respond at all, by attacking me personally. That is what churches to. (An adulterous pastor once stood before his congregation of 5,00 and lambasted me for forty minutes when I joined the cadre of principled Christian men who exposed him.) I believe in light. Light illumines. Light reveals. Light evidences danger. Light cleanses. Light warns. Light heals. Light soothes. The only people who fear light and those who have something to hide. Unfortunately, that often includes churches and pastors.

I have told the truth here. I am producing the documents below. Beyond that, everyone is free to make their own decision and establish their own judgments regarding Westwood Christian fellowship. I am sure that many will have good things to say, and legitimately so. No church is all bad, or all good. All that being said, I have recognized a disturbing and dark pattern of institutional loyalty in this church that always leads to good people being hurt, marginalized, abused and offended. All that I would ask of anyone is that you make your efforts to balance these two perceptions an honest effort. If anyone from Westwood would like to sit down with me with an open Bible between us, as I have indicated is always God’s prescribed preference for His people, I will be there. (My condition for such a meeting is that I be allowed to record it.)

“I have believed, and I have spoken.” Jerry D. Kaifetz, Ph.D.

**************************************
E-MAILS

*************************************

*****************************
Some of my Other Church Experiences

1. A pastor of a large church I attended (5,000) had an affair for years with his secretary. Books were written about him (“Fundamental Seduction,” & “The Wizard of God,”) and a television documentary was produced: “Preying From the Pulpit.”

2. A deacon from that church (A.V. ballenger) was arrested, tried, convicted and imprisoned for molesting an 11 year old girl in a Sunday School Class.

3. A former pastor of mine, William Beith, was arrested for soliciting a male undercover policeman for oral sex in a public park.

4. A pastor of mine’s son and himself also a pastor was caught in his Texas church with a briefcase full of nude photos of over 20 women from his church with whom he had sex.

5. The premier Bible professor at my old seminary, Joe Combs, is in prison for life along with his wife for incest and torture of their adopted daughter.

6. The son os a former pastor mine was the prime suspect in the murder trial of a child and, at his father’s advice (Jack Hyles) took the 5th Amendment when questioned. He remains the prime suspect today. His name is Dave Hyles.

7. The principal of a Christian High School in a church we attended was arrested, tried and sent to prison for kidnaping and repeatedly raping an 11 year old female student from the church’s Christian school.

8. The son of the pastor of the Baptist church we moved to Weatherford Texas to join lost his wife over an affair he allegedly had while himself a pastor, which he later confessed in a sermon. His father lied to our church about it.

9. A former pastor of ours embezzled $200,000 from a church insurance settlement, threw me out when I asked about it, and then left the state.

10. A deacon whom I knew from a former Baptist church was recently sentenced to 25 years in prison for operating a Ponzi Scheme and with the support of many pastors bilking dozens of elderly Christian couples out of millions of dollars in life savings.

11. Another pastor of a large church we attended made a good sum of money publishing books on marriage that sold exceedingly well. His wife divorced him this year for having an affair.

Of course, those with a vested interest (financial & otherwise) in maintaining the status of the corporate institution of the church (There are two churches in my town whose combine published weekly take is around $100,000) will read the above and of course conclude that I am “bitter,” angry”, and desirous only of revenge for past wrongs. That is convenient, but simply not the case. I have found Jesus right where he said he would be found: “OUTSIDE THE CAMP” (Hebrews 13:12). I am blessed Christian; in fact so much so that I have long ago stopped trying to describe those blessings to people. Our family is a source of joy, our business has prospered and grows beyond expectation, and my ministry has reached more people independently of churches than I ever reached in any church, and that despite having taught my evangelism program to 3,000 pastors through the church.

You see, the church hierarchists and professional clergy cannot accept that I have been as critical of the sins of their institutions and also been blessed of God. The facts and truths of this matter will just have to continue to confound and frustrate them. They are not going away, and neither am I. I will always be an advocate of the abuse, the disenfranchised, the marginalized, and those who have been tossed aside after their usefulness to the church has been depleted. If you are one of those “little people,” God is on your side. Jesus had NOTHING good to say about organized religion. He spent much of His ministry detailing and exposing their corruption. Jesus never said to tithe to any church. That is nowhere in the New or Old Testament. (See the book, “Sunday Morning Stickup” by David Lee, and “The Tithing Hoax” by R. Renee). He was finally executed by organized religion in league with big government.

**************************
For a broader, biblically based view of my writings on Ecclesiology (the doctrine of the church), see my other blog posts on this subject, or my many videos on this and other Christian and political topics: YouTube.com + JERRY KAIFETZ

Posted in Abuses of Church Authority, Church | Tagged , , , , , , | 14 Comments

The Unworthy Vessels That Stay Afloat

Occasionally I hear someone say that I have unfairly slandered all IFB churches and painted them all with the broad brush of criticism. When I hear that, I know that they have probably not read “Profaned Pulpit,” for there I make it clear that this is not my view. However, it is in all honesty probably not that far from what I personally believe. Here is why:

All I.F.B. are structurally flawed. They are based upon an unbiblical and corrupt understanding of pastoral authority. You can see my video on this subject on YouTube (link below) and the corresponding article on my blog, JERRYKAIFETZ.COM.

There have been in the history of shipbuilding and maritime engineering flawed models of shipbuilding. Many of these ships before the advent of steel hulls went to the bottom because they ignored the principle of torsional flexing. The larger the wooden ship, the more it would twist and bow, and the more water it would take on, eventually overcoming the ability of the ship to remain afloat.

It would be possible, I suppose, to build a ship that violated the rules of torsional movement and install in that ship some massive pumps that could pump out most any volume of water. One should not, however, point to such a ship on the water as an example of a viable craft structured under sound principles of maritime engineering and architecture.

Today’s IFB churches remain afloat very often because of the apathy, ignorance, and misguided biblical expectations of their parishioners. They twist, creak, buckle and bend, taking on constant water, but they have the capacity to pump that water out and so stay afloat. I have often put this another way: the church is front and center on the altar, not Jesus Christ and His impeccable standards for morality, personal holiness, and proper pastoral authority built on trust and respecting the Priesthood of the Believer. In these churches, scandal after scandal is swept under the rug. So much so in fact that I have often quipped, those auditoriums would make great skateboard parks.

It is the IFB M-O-D-EL that is flawed and corrupt. The proof that it is not can never be found in the number of buses the church runs, the number of baptisms the previous year, the number of missionaries the church supports, and certainly not the old unspoken adage of this fraternity: “If You Say It Loud Enough, It Must Be So.”
Video:
Pastoral Authority

Posted in Church, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Church Seatbelt Checkers

The Seatbelt Checkers

I once joked about a fictitious church announcement: “The same rules for the church camping trip will apply to everyone in church: DON’T STAND UP IN THE CANOE!”

We all have a lot of acquaintances, friends and relatives in quite a variety of professions. Most of them work hard and have a boss over them. Often those at the top who do not have a boss are those who work the hardest. This has been my observation everywhere for a number of decades. Well . . . . . not quite everywhere. I have never seen it work that way in church.

Let me tell you about my last pastor. That church in Weatherford, Texas ran about 300-350 in attendance most Sundays. The church offerings were in the range of $25,000 a week. The pastor’s salary was in the $100,000 range, not counting a number of perks such as a yearly clothing allowance of several thousand dollars, a new luxury car (he went through three in the fourteen months I was there), paid vacations every 6-8 weeks, and extraordinarily generous offerings for any conceivable occasion: birthdays, Christmas, anniversary, anniversary of his arrival, and some other occasions I can’t think of. He had a staff whose salaries averaged $75,000 a year who did most of his actual work as he came and went as he pleased and had no official office hours. His sermons were devotional fluff—usually some variation of his weekly (or “weakly”) central theme: “Give Your heart to Jesus.”

It is hard for me to contemplate this man, my former pastor and a good number of others like him who have stood before me every Sunday in their pulpit and not think of the dire warnings against pastors sounded by the prophet Ezekiel: “ And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock. The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them. And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them.”
“ Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord; As I live, saith the Lord God, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock; therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord; Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.”

Now all that being said, something should become rather apparent to the average person contemplating such a professional church man: anyone you and I know would go to extraordinary means to keep that gig going, would they not? The “Don’t-Stand-Up-In-The-Canoe” rule becomes the unofficial yet inviolable mantra of the church, as well as the principal foundation of church polity. Biblical rules and protocols for dealing with dissenters in churches like these went out the window so long ago that few remember them. But it is worse than even this . . . . much worse.

These pastors have developed a great skill. Their church “canoes” have a distinguishing feature that we never see in a canoe: SEAT BELTS! Yes, seat belts! And make no mistake about it, THEY ARE REQUIRED TO BE KEPT FASTENED AT ALL TIMES! Individualism, critical thinking, a Berean attitude toward the Scriptures, divergent and doctrinal views are NOT welcome. In other words, keep that seatbelt on and just enjoy the ride down the lazy river of devotional preaching, platitudes, and the expression of what I call “Bumper Sticker Theology.” But it is even worse than this.

These career church men whom I see far more as “Church C.E.O.’s” and not the kinds of shepherds Jesus spoke of, or Paul exhorted Timothy to be have honed yet another skill. They can spot an “unbuckled seat belt” a mile away. I remember my last pastor actually saying to me once, “The men in my pulpit have to reflect me.” I must have failed to suitably disguise my astonished and disturbed look at hearing that statement, for my reaction seemed to precipitate the decline of my status in that church. You see, I had always thought that a man in a Christian pulpit ought to reflect Jesus Christ. Silly me.

They make T-shirts with the image of a seatbelt imprinted upon them for those foolishly inclined to avoid wearing them while driving. Maybe I’ll try to remember where I saw them advertised. I think one may come in handy the next time I visit a Baptist church.

We have a pattern for the church found throughout the New testament. This prototypical institution does not include a number of things that we take for common in our assemblies today: church buildings, and pastoral salaries are two that come to mind. Tithes that were directed toward supporting the well-being of the LOCAL community are another. While not a pastor, the Apostle Paul made it clear: “I would not be chargeable to any of you.” He managed to write most of the New Testament, take numerous missionary journeys, and curiously to LISTEN to those in the Corinthian and other churches who “stood up in the canoe. The Corinthian Epistles, in fact, were written on the pure basis of many Baptists would today call “gossip:” “things reported commonly among you.”

Paul, John the Baptist, pretty much every one of the Old Testament prophets, and ah yes . . . Jesus Himself regularly did something that is entirely anathema in our churches today: THEY NAMED NAMES! Imagine the nerve. Do I hear the sizzle of sacred cows? I’ll get the barbeque sauce . . . .while others run for their fire extinguishers.

Posted in Church | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments