A Wartburg Watch Repost: Appalling Documentation on the Calvinist Use of Church Discipline to Control People
Wartburg Watch does a very good job of reporting on trends in the New Calvinist movement. Hence, I stroll over there from time to time. This post caught my eye because it reinforces what I have witnessed in these churches for a number of years now. Like all cults, these churches strive to gain control of people through indoctrination, fostering dependence through benevolence, and fear. When you go into these churches you can cut the aurora of fear with a knife. While still a member of Clearcreek Chapel in Springboro, Ohio members were afraid to be seen talking to me because I asked questions in Sunday school that the leaders were unable to answer. We presently know of members in some of these churches that are being held hostage through fear. Once you are invested there, they can put a social hurtin’ on you, and maybe even financial ruin. In both cases, I have the T-shirt.
I continue to insist that these church policies are in violation of most state laws. It is illegal to restrict the lawful movements of any person through threats of personal loss; specifically, loss of reputation. TANC has a very long list of future endeavors, but on that list is to contact our local congressman to see if anything can be done about this type of covert kidnapping. Sometime after the conference I will be treating law enforcement officials to lunch in order to get their input on this issue.
And as usual, I would encourage the gang at Wartburg to realize that this behavior isn’t happenstance; it flows from an ideology called “Calvinism.” Their report describes Calvin’s mentality to a “T.” Wartburg continues to associate with those who hold to the ideology without the bad behavior. That’s a bad idea.
paul
Paul's Passing Thoughts 
Reblogged this on Clearcreek Chapel Watch.
LikeLike
May I submit the wider issue is “Nicolaitinism” of which Calvinism is only one form. All organized religion through the centuries has been guilty in some way shape or form of this. I know your ministry is exposing New Calvinism/Reformed theology, and I applaud you for this. The wider problem is the conquering of the laity throughout church history. May I submit our tradition of one man ministry is completely flawed, in that it fosters such thought/ideology. Let’s face it, the majority of “evangelical” churches in this country/world go through major upheaval every time a pastor retires/resigns/leaves. The sheep wander aimlessly without a shepherd because the majority have absolutely no biblical knowledge of their own and have been indoctrinated that it is dangerous to have said biblical knowledge and are completely content to leave things as such. Our pastors must all come from accredited seminaries because heaven forbid a simple lay member could never have the truth or enough truth to be able to teach. We know this to be true, don’t we? I can see the looks of horror on the faces of our pastors when confronted with the thought.
“The system” is a system of man and has been broken for a long time.
Good grief the devil has it so easy in this country. Infect the seminaries. And they pretty much all are infected. Mission accomplished.
LikeLike