Why did I leave the established Church in our area?

Hebrews 10:25 is often quoted to allegedly demonstrate that Christians should not forsake meeting together as members of an established church. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. (Hebrews 10:25) Some will even use the example of a coal that is removed from a hot fire will soon lose its heat and may only regain that heat when it is placed back with the other hot coals. However, that is not what this passage is really saying. It is not to do with the gathering together for worship, but instead with who they actually are worshipping with. The synagogue (sunagoge = an assembly of people; a place of assembly) was the accepted place for Jews to gather together for worship according to the Old Testament laws. But here that term “gathering … together” (Hebrews 10:25) is episunagoge, a term used in the New Testament specifically for the gathering of Jewish Christians as opposed to the gathering of Jews at the Temple or synagogue. The context was of the persecution of Jewish Christians especially those who lived in Jerusalem. The writer to the Hebrews exhorted the Jewish Christians to not forsake their Christian worship meetings by returning to their previous Judaism gatherings for worship. In fact, in the early Church, small gatherings in people’s homes were common; often the groups were small, they had no established worship building, and persecution was minimised if groups were kept small (thus keeping a low profile).

In 2013 we decided to hold home church meetings for the extended family. The move was prompted initially by the apostasy of a local supposedly biblical church (Living Springs Baptist Church, Rockbank, Victoria) that some of the family attended. In 2012 they did not have anyone appointed as pastor, and toward the end of 2012 I was informed that they were advertising for a pastor. Interestingly, while I received a copy of the advert, it was apparently never made public. The person who was filling in for the pastor position (a deacon and a member of that church) had apparently decided to not make the vacancy widely known. As it turned out, he seems to have desired the position for himself without having to compete for it.

Living Springs, via their pastor-hopeful, was at that time coming under the influence of a nearby calvinist church, Gracewest Bible Church. It is interesting to note that so many calvinist churches like to advertise themselves as “Grace” churches (when they show so little grace) and “Bible” churches (when they show so much disregard for biblical truth). Gracewest was supplying some of the speakers for Living Springs, and they regularly used the Living Springs property for their own meetings. At that time I was just starting to gain some understanding of the immensity of the apostasy of calvinism and wanted to ensure that Living Springs was given an opportunity to make a stand against this heretical doctrine.

Therefore I applied for the position of pastor at Living Springs. At first the person (DD) making decisions (and my competition as it turned out) didn’t seem to take my application seriously. I received no reply and contacted him again to see what was happening. Perhaps he was trying to hold me off until he got his own pastoral options more settled. He then initially promised me quite a few Sunday mornings, but didn’t get back to me. Again I contacted him and he now said he only had a few Sundays left for the first half of the year, and I could take them or leave them. I took all 4 dates offered.

It was then that DD announced that he was officially applying for the position, but told me that it was only a part-time position offered, because the church was unable to provide full-time pastoral upkeep. At this time there were only 2 deacons, DD and another. I contacted the other deacon and said I’d been told it was only part-time. The other deacon then apparently queried it being announced as only part-time and brought it up with DD who promptly demanded that 2 more deacons be appointed, nominating two who were his supporters; both were appointed. The diaconate, now with numbers to support DD, then recommended to the church membership that DD be appointed (I wasn’t mentioned at all) and the church membership, with just one option from which to choose, selected DD.

I had one more Sunday preaching there after DD was selected. DD had arranged for a church trip to the snow that weekend and the church was almost bare. (I don’t think he wanted to hear any more of my preaching!) I gave the sermon and then informed them that I was not available for any further preaching there. It was soon after that I decided to commence our home church meetings.

It was clear that there had been a lot of less-than-Christian conniving going on to ensure that I was not able to get a chance at the pastor position there. But the whole story still has more to go. Two months before the church voted to appoint DD, he announced to me that he was withdrawing from the running for pastor. He told me he had a heart condition that apparently (according to him) could be dangerous, especially if he got excited or stirred up at any time. However, the following Sunday (when I turned up to preach), he then said he was back in the running. (I suspect his wife, who hadn’t appreciated him withdrawing his application, may have influenced him.)

I wasn’t too disappointed; getting the position would have meant a lot of travelling and I didn’t need the money, having already retired. But the extent of subterfuge and deception shown by DD and his two extra-appointed deacon-supporters was breathtaking in its audacity. I had considered that if God wanted me there, then I’d be available. But DD didn’t seem to consider whether or not God wanted him there; he apparently had decided that he wanted to be there regardless of whether God wanted him there or not. After all, if he were called by God to that position, why would he need to deceive others in order to obtain the position? And yet he manipulated the whole lot so much that I was basically shut out. Even the nominating and appointment of the two extra deacons (in such unholy haste!) was not done according to the requirements of their constitution.

I had thought that, having effectively run a church at Timboon (much larger than Living Springs) for many years should have been worth considering, but, as it turns out, it seems DD was to sacrifice truth for the sake of selfish convenience and desire. Such behaviour done in God’s name but instead opposed to God’s holiness does not bode well for those who take this action. God is not mocked, and it does seem that Living Springs is now not the church it used to be. How the mighty are fallen! I also wondered what became of those who used deceit to gain control of that church.

 Many years ago an ungodly woman took control of a Christian school where I was principal. I was working for greatly reduced wages and she manipulated the school board to get rid of we two teachers and appoint another whom she apparently thought she could better control. However, after they’d dismissed the two of us, they appointed another whom they declared (allegedly with 3 Bible passages to “prove” it) had been chosen by God to replace us. And yet, according to that same school board, just 2 months later, God’s “chosen” principal had been “unchosen” by God (no doubt again with verses to “prove” it); God no longer wanted her to stay and wanted her dismissed. They went through 2 more principals after that, and by the end of the year after I was dismissed, the school had lost ¾ of its enrolments. They should have supported, not dismissed, the 2 teachers who were doing a good job!

But the story doesn’t end there! When I advised our church at Melton (ODBC) that we were commencing home church for the sake of avoiding the heresy of calvinism, we were told that our “Bible studies” did not take the place of worship at church on Sundays. Of course, ODBC was reasonably calvinist itself. After one of their leaders had one day mentioned something about evangelism, I asked how he carried out the great Commission (calvinist theology is by its very nature non-evangelistic). He replied that he did it because he was commanded to do so. This is a rather standard calvinist response to the great commission. Apparently, to him, the great commission didn’t extend to making efforts to winning souls!

ODBC had appointed a pastor around the time I left to hold home church. He also made it clear to me that home church was alright for a Bible study but we should attend worship services with the rest of our church in Melton. He visited us in January 2014 primarily it seems to advise us to return to the fold at ODBC. He said we should get our son (who used to attend Living Springs) to return to Living Springs and that we should return to ODBC. (Apparently he considered DD of Living Springs to be a godly man, something I would have disputed after my interactions with him.) At one point in the conversation, I had occasion to state that I was a very logical person, having a Pure Maths degree from Melbourne University. He said that being mathematical didn’t make me logical and that I was suffering from the delusions of an over-sensitive nature (a nice way, it seems, of declaring me mad or illogical). After he left I pondered our future with ODBC. I didn’t want to rush into it, but it had felt like he was trying to use his assumed authority as our pastor to manipulate our decision-making for our family. After ten days of pondering, we decided to resign our membership at ODBC in order to remove any assumption of pastoral authority over us from someone who seemed as if he were trying to manipulate us against what we perceived to be God’s will for us.

When the vote had been taken at ODBC in 2013 whether to call the pastor, I had not been confident of his suitability. I’d had misgivings but wasn’t able to define those misgivings clearly enough at that time to vote against him. However, we did abstain from voting for him; we had decided we couldn’t vote in favour of his appointment. After his visit in January 2014 I was more assured that he was not the pastor we wished to have over us and thus we resigned on 21/01/2014.

Later on (in April 2016), I became aware (via continued contacts with attendees of ODBC) that their church was allegedly teaching Paul Tripp materials. After researching Tripp extensively, I reported my findings back to an attendee of ODBC. I concluded that Tripp was not a biblical Christian, instead teaching heresy associated with calvinism and spiritual mysticism. The ODBC person acknowledged that my assessment of Tripp could be right and that he had identified what he considered to be heresies in Tripp’s teachings.

Tripp does happen to be a major component of what is today called Biblical Counselling, a not-very biblical counselling associated alongside the new calvinism doctrine developed (from about 1970 onward) at Westminster Theological Seminary of USA. And ODBC did appear to get a “biblical counsellor” appointed no more than 2 years or so after the ODBC was allegedly teaching Paul Tripp materials. (I note that on 16/04/2018 the ODBC advertised Biblical Counselling on its website.)

It was originally the emphasis upon the unbiblical teachings of MacArthur by some of the ODBC leadership that first prompted us to consider cutting ties with ODBC. Gracewest, the church that appears to have influenced Living Springs to slide down into the apostasy of calvinism, based its doctrine largely upon the teachings of MacArthur. It was also largely those MacArthur teachings that caused me to have serious discussions (mostly by email) with a member of Living Springs (after our home church commenced). It was also that same Living Springs member who enabled me to understand the depth of heresy that MacArthur’s teachings were taking Living Springs. When I had emailed the members of Living Springs (after we left), warning them of the dangers of the MacArthur calvinism that was being inflicted upon them by Gracewest, I received no response, other than that some appeared to have been cautioned by their leadership to not have any communications with me. It was clear that the leaders of Living Springs (probably DD and his faithful deacons under the guidance of Gracewest leadership) didn’t wish for their members to know what was happening! And like the blind leading the blind, they could all end up in the ditch unless they start testing things for themselves as per 1 Thessalonians 5:21. Calvinism doesn’t like the common membership to ask too many awkward questions in case they start to actually see where they are heading!

After all, it was A W Pink (one of their revered calvinist “authorities”) who taught that, in general, church members were unqualified to oppose the “authoritative” teaching of their qualified church leaders; he said of the fall of Jericho: The priests blowing with the trumpets of rams’ horns pictured the servants of God preaching His Word. The forbidding of “the people” to open their mouths signified that the rank and file of Christians are to have no part in the oral proclamation of the truth―they are neither qualified for nor called to the ministration of the Word. Nowhere in the Epistles is there a single exhortation for the saints as such to engage in public evangelism, nor even to do “personal work” and seek to be “soul winners.” (STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES July, 1948) That is, keep quiet, don’t argue, and obey your church leaders!

Therefore we have continued to be committed to our home church rather than attend any local church group, most of which do not appear to be biblical and most of which also have loud rock bands playing music from Hillsong (which is more committed to making money than evangelism).