Wikipedia on Calvary Chapel

A few years ago I attempted to edit the Calvary Chapel wikipedia entry and my edits were quickly removed by a CCite. I noticed that most of the points I brought forward at the time have since been reinserted albeit in most cases from sources other than mine.

If anyone doesn’t think CC acts in a cult-like manner, check the Talk page for the wikipedia entry. CCites (pastors I think) have been defending the page and boy do they make the whole “movement” look bad. Anyone considering CC would do well to see the arguments put forward on that page to defend CC.

Note the page stands as having a contested neutrality. That’s a flag itself.

Also, there are quite a few red herrings on the Wikipedia talk page for the CC entry. One is in the area of what constitutes a denomination. The only thing keeping CC from being a denomination is Chuck Smith’s unsupported claim that CC is not a denomination. If Smith woke up tomorrow and said “CC is a denomination” you’d have 1000 pastors saying that they are part of the CC denomination.

However, I think they like the franchise title even less so perhaps it would benefit them to embrace the “denomination” title. Bad arguments include my favorite one –

We are not a denomination because CCs are independent.

Bad argument since there are plenty of denominations where the local churches are independent – all Congregational and congregational churches are independent. IE, they are locally controlled.

Also, the CCites fail to define independent or if they do put it in terms of mandatory dollars sent to denominational HQ. Again, there are other denominations which do not have mandatory dollars sent to denominational HQ. What is the cash flow from local CCs to the mother ship? Nobody really knows. If CCCM lent money for the start-up then there’s cash flow back. Plus the mother ship is hardly a weak/poor church.

I propose an easy definition of denomination fitting with the internet age. If there’s a listing on some webpage of the local instances of the church, it’s a denomination.

Finally, CCs are not independent. They are bound together by Chuck Smith. He is the head of the denomination and his position cannot be questioned since it rests in his person. Their ordinations trace back to Chuck Smith. The dove flies because he says it can fly.

What keeps Smith from admitting CC is a denomination? He’s been printing that it’s not a denomination for a very long time. He may realize that CC won’t outlive him since he’s the central point of unity. Most importantly if he did admit it was a denomination he would be ultimately losing power. CCOF turned out to be a disaster since Smith can’t delegate power.

I think embracing the word “denomination” would help CCittes avoid the charge that CC is a personality cult centered around Chuck Smith. Note this personality cult problem is very old in Christianity. Paul addressed it:

1Cor 1:12-13 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?

Insert Chuck Smith in place of Cephas or Apollos and you get Paul’s point. We are not to set up churches around a person. That’s idolatry at it’s best and blasphemy.

Since I fully expect Dave Rolph will ignore the question…

Any pastor who claims that Chuck Smith is their pastor is in reality claiming that he is their bishop for their are no pastors in scripture over pastors, but rather Bishops over pastors. The main characteristic of a bishop is to rule well. Since Chuck claims to not rule and when he does rule he does it poorly, he is in fact NOT the pastor or Bishop of any CC pastor.

This brings up the question of ordination, and as it relates to this BLOG, the ordination of Bob Grenier. Was Bob ordained by Chuck Smith? If so, by what authority did he ordain Bob (and we know he ordained others such as the scoundrel Hank Hanegraaff)? The Apostles ordained and the Bishops/Overseers did as well. They did it by command of the Holy Spirit. By Chuck ordaining others, he is making either a Apostolic or Bishopric claim.

Is or is not Chuck Smith the Bishop/Overseer of Calvary Chapel?

Now if Smith is the Bishop over the churches, then BIBLICALLY he shares responsibility for their actions and failure to discipline them is his abrogation of BIBLICAL responsibility.

The only conclusion is that Smith is either a corrupt Bishop over his flock (the CC pastors) or he’s not a Bishop at all over them. CCites, pick your poison. He is not ruling well (again, the BIBLICAL standard by which a bishop/overseer is judged).

Let’s try and stick with the Biblical texts as if they are prototypes for the church of how we should behave in the house of God, rather than suggestions we can follow or reject. I suggest we work on developing a strong BIBLICAL case (as outlined above) which lays specifically out the requirements for Bishop (the only position Smith could potentially claim) and prove our case that he needs to be publicly tried on those grounds and removed from his role, or redefined as NOT THE BISHOP.

I suggest we start here with the assumption that the Scriptures are PRESCRIPTIVE of how the church should operate rather than DESCRIPTIVE and limited to the first century situation. Here’s the starting text:

1Ti 3:15 But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou ought to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

That was the purpose of 1 Timothy which is the banner passage of this page.

So, I pose this question to Chuck Smith, Dave Rolph or anyone who can answer from the CC organization.

Is or is not Chuck Smith the Bishop/Overseer of Calvary Chapel?

My opinion is that Chuck Smith is not the Bishop of Calvary Chapel. Then by what right does he ask men to associate with him? This is both sectarian (Scripturally like “some say they follow Paul, some say they follow Peter, others say they follow Jesus” and divisive because rather than being against divisions in the body as they claim (the body is already divided enough) it has become yet another division of the body. That alone is enough to declare affiliation UN-SCRIPTURAL.

I took a week off to think about all of this and do some business at the same time. I think the only right strategy is to strike at the head. Few will have the stomach to do this feeling more sympathy for an old man than for the people of the church. I think this is a misplaced loyalty and a form of favoritism (probably the main charge against CC/CS).

Chuck Smith in reality wants to control the franchise/trademark. The problem is that he can’t control whether someone names their church Calvary Chapel since there were other local churches with that name before CCCM. He can’t control the symbol (the dove) since it’s widely used before and outside of CCCM. The only thing Chuck can control is the list of affiliated churches (as seen on their website list). For potential attendees interested in the brand they can go to the official list and see if a local CC is on the list or not. Know that it is a brand name which is unprotected/unprotectable as well as one which has zero quality control over their product (hence in reality a useless branding).

In the end, all that Chuck Smith really controls is the list on a website of people who want to be listed on his website. Hence, he is not a Bishop but I think we need to keep asking the question of CCites. If Chuck is not the Bishop then by what SCRIPTURAL authority does he do any of these things?

Dave Rolph's "Investigation"

As much as I want to appreciate Dave Rolph’s “investigation” I’ve got a fundamental issue with it. If he’s given a private complaint I think it’s appropriate to investigate privately. But Alex/Paul’s complaint is not private, it’s public and the only SCRIPTURAL method is a public investigation. Dave’s investigation is therefore moot other than to establish his own PRIVATE opinion – which should have been kept private rather than made public.

Which is the Biblical definition of gossip, by the way. That’s why these things are to be PUBLIC.

The standard is two or three witnesses are enough to merit a PUBLIC investigation. There are more than three witnesses in this case. The fact that CC does not do a PUBLIC investigation shows that rather than being a People of the Book, they are a law unto themselves.

Calvary Chapel has no sanctioned way to have a public investigation of charges even against a CCCM pastor, let alone one in an auto-cephalous congregation. Rather than having one Pope (Head) with ultimate authority (as in the Roman Church) they have 1400 Popes one over each auto-cephalous church (many headed).

Sickest story yet

http://www.northcoastjournal.com/news/2010/09/16/gods-lamentation/

Convoluted Calvinist Conceptions

Misreading Romans 13

Mikey once again misreads Scripture. He concludes from reading Romans 13 that:

Barack Obama was appointed by God.

Mikey reaches this conclusion because he doesn't get the meaning of Romans 13. And he doesn't get Romans 13 because he reads the scripture through Calvinist lenses. These lenses could best be understood from the chorus of a popular Doris Day song, Que Sera, Sera:

Que Sera, Sera,
Whatever will be, will be
The future's not ours, to see
Que Sera, Sera
What will be, will be.

To the Calvinist, whatever is, is because God ordained it so. Hence, Obama is president because God ordained him to be president.

This is a total abuse of the Scriptures which tell us, among other things:

Pro 29:2 When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.

Not all rulership is from God. Anyone who reads the Old Testament Prophets should have a grasp on that fact. There were OT kings who did what was right in God's sight and those who rejected God's rule over his people. How far do you have to look in the OT to understand that?

Romans 13 is most abused in this instance. What does Romans 13 actually say?

Rom 13:1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
Rom 13:2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
Rom 13:3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
Rom 13:4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
Rom 13:5 Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
Rom 13:6 For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
Rom 13:7 Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.

The passage says:

• It is God 0rdained that there be leaders over us for our own good, ie to restrain evil. The existence of leaders is God ordained, not the particular choices of leaders.
  
• It does not say that every action of every leader is Godly.
  
• Insofar as a leader is in line with God's Word, he is to be followed.
• Leaders are to use the sword to restrain evildoers. Does that fit the current leader or is he the exact opposite?
• Taxes should be paid for civil order. What are taxes paid for today when less than a third goes to defense? Everything but...
  

PP Bleeding over...

There's a conflict that Mikey has kept the PP readers partly in the dark over. Michael refers to it as someone attempting to "SPAM" his PP BLOG. It has bled over here into the comments section of this BLOG due to Mikey's heavy handed moderating of the PP BLOG.

The central question seems to be whether or not Steve Aspinall has links to porn sites. I don't personally know whether he does, but when Aspinall shows up here threatening to sue me for not moderating out the comments, that's quite another thing altogether. I simply won't bow to Calvary Chapel demands to censor anyone here who is critical of them, Aspinall included. Aspinall has shown consistently poor character in my limited interactions with him and has not earned that respect.

My censor policy here is to censor out actual SPAM (ads for viagra and jewelry). I don't often censor people, but when I do it's usually out of control CC pastors and sycophants.

The irony for me here is that CC folks accused me of something similar in the distant past. My page had links (not controlled by me) to pages which linked to pages which were porn related. Guilt by association by association. My way of discrediting their claims was to show that there were CC pastors with similar links to sites which linked sites themselves. Case closed. Sometimes we can't control the links on our pages. Sometimes we can. Can Steve Aspinall? According to the claims he can and has altered some of them since being exposed.

True or not? You decide for yourself by examining the evidence. I've got better things to do with my time.

Another Prediction Fulfilled

Joe Marino posted this in PP:

Joe Marino says:

July 24, 2010 at 10:05 am

I need prayer today. Our son had his son dedicated on Father’s Day. We were not invited. Our former church treats us like non-believers without any cause. The pastor and associate pastor allowed this without thinking about the ramifications, leading to my wife and daughters being very hurt. These people used to be my friends. Anger keeps welling up inside me, and I have to keep praying so that I don’t just explode. Please keep me in prayer.

More Eisegesis

More bad scriptural context from "Pastor" Michael on PP. The passage is found in Heb 13 (v 13 in particular).

Michael uses the "outside the camp" passage in Scripture as if it is describing stepping outside the church. However, the context of the passage is about the relationship of Jesus to Israel. He was crucified outside the city gates of Jerusalem, and the early church needed to understand that faith in Jesus would set them at odds with Jerusalem. They would be (as Jesus had promised) persecuted from the Jews and find themselves outside of what they had long trusted (such as the promises to Abraham, etc).

Rather than the passage being about going outside the church, it stresses our responsibility to our new authorities, the leaders in the church. Odd that Michael, who claims to be a pastor, would have an interpretation of this passage so at odds with what the context of the passage represents. It's not a passage about doing your own thing (as Michael has done with his "own" church). It's a passage about being subject to the church.

I called it again! Swan Song #5

I called it. Michael Newnham's swan song is again over. The attention junkie has returned as predicted! LOL. This guy is a joke.

President of Genesis Counselling former Frisbee convert

Another interesting story about the president of Genesis Counseling (an homosexual reprogramming group) who has a background with Lonnie Frisbee. I've not see this in the catalogs of "fruits" of Frisbee's life/ministry. Frisbee is all but written out of the CC official histories.

Calvary Pastor blames site hacking on the devil

Interesting news story on a Calvary Chapel pastor blaming hacking of his website on the devil.

I guess if you identify your work with God and someone attacks it, that person must be the devil. LOL. I just have to smile.

Judge Not???

Mary Danielson of Calvary Chapel in Appleton, Wis. is quoted in The Christian Post (today), as saying about Jim Wallis of Sojourners Magazine:

Wallis claims to be an evangelical pastor, but is merely using Scripture to "justify his radicalism."

"He does not hold to the central tenets of biblical Christianity but he reads a brand of social justice into the Bible," Danielson said on Crosstalk radio.

Now, I am OK with the charge that "social justice" as understood by Wallis and such is not Biblical. I have serious problems with the social and justice in so-called social justice. The result is neither social (Biblical social policy) nor justice (in the sense of treating everyone without preference for one group over another).

I've got a problem with the first part of the charge, IE, that Wallis is just claiming to be an evangelical pastor (and really isn't). This is not the sort of charge that a person from Calvary Chapel should be making. What is her standing to judge the faith of Wallis?

Sorry Guys (and Gals)

For those of you who came here hoping I'd pick up for Michael on the scandal front, I'm not going down that road anytime soon. Apparently even being caught with a prostitute isn't enough to bring down a Calvary Chapel pastor, so what more can be said on the scandals of CC?

Now if you want to discuss what is the real scandal, IE, the bad theology of Chuck Smith and Calvary Chapel then I'm in. But I find most people don't have much of a stomach for theological issues. Smith's heretical view on the resurrection should be more than enough to disqualify him as a Biblical teacher. Add to that Smith's naming of dates for the Return of Jesus Christ in 1981 was so blatantly foul that it would make even a JW cringe.

Now before Dave Rolph or someone else gets on here and claims Smith has changed, and that's all in the past, let me put forth a challenge. If you believe Smith has repented, post the tape number and time offset into the tape. Let's listen for ourselves and see. I don't think he has, but I've got better things to do than check if Smith is still spouting heresy.

Lest you think I'm just picking on an old man, he's been an old man a very long time and a lot of people have kept silent for years. Time for a clear way forward out of the heresy of the past.

Phoenix Preacher Cry for Attention - Another Swan Song

Yet another swan song and cry for attention came today from the Phoenix Preacher BLOG (June 2007 Swan Song). I've stopped counting the number of times that Michael has "shut down" the BLOG because of some alleged "word from god".

Today there is another swan song. Not sure when he will be back but you can be sure that someone with such a thirst for attention can't stay gone long!

I missed most of the events that led to the blowup this time, but gather it had something to do with a tiff between Michael and Stephen Hopkins. Hopkins and I have had our share of interactions in the past and I found him to be of a consistently poor character one rarely finds outside of the CC pastorate. Michael was publicizing the charges by family members of one of his archenemies, George Bryson, that Bryson was a spiritually abusive father. Michael's dislike of Bryson stemmed from Bryson's debates with Michael's personal hero, aomin.com cult leader, James White. For those not in the know, among other gifts Bryson is a strident anti-Calvinist.

In large part, it was Hopkins demands that I be banned from PP along with Michael's personal dislike of me that led to my permanent banning. Ironic since Michael made his fame taking other's ideas (calls for accountability, criticism of the Moses Model, etc). In fact, I can't think of a single original contribution Michael ever made to the subject of CC. He did come a long at a time there was a vacuum and had a nose for publicizing CC scandals. In short, he majored on scandal where others had majored on doctrine and church operation. There was pretty much a CC scandal of the month for the past few years. Perhaps that will remain as Michael's sole contribution to the arguments against CC - boys behaving badly.

I can say I have seen it all and predicted it all. I did. Holly came to be rejected by her pastor-crush Skippy Heitzig and has now turned on him. Michael came to be rejected by the very CC pastors he tried to compromise with.

Holly Sikorski speaks out against CC

Some of the long term followers of all things CC, might remember Holly Sikorski. She was a rabid defender of Calvary Chapel years back and attended CC Albquerque. Holly now posts on PP as madison*bella. Not long ago, she disappointed her boyfriend (the owner of PP), by returning to Calvary Chapel. Now, it seems she has actually learned something with time. Here's a quote from a recent PP post:

I share your disappointment in Chuck Smith’s in-action. I don’t know the whole story there but I have learned over the years that my rosey-colored glasses of the whole CC movement was gravely misplaced. Not all that glitters was really gold and corruption abounds. Not all pastors in the movement, but some have done questionable things, ...

Kudos to Holly. Now what are you going to do about those you misled over the years? Or for those you slandered in your defense of CC?

Never has there been a bigger hive of scum and villanery

Apologies to Star Wars...

Rip Tide. Isn't that what drags unaware people out to sea to die?

Jimmy Kempner falling

Here's the Calvary Chapel scandal of the month.

The Story

Calvary Chapel pastor Jimmy Kempner was convicted of hiring a prostitute in 2008. Here's a link to the plea agreement. This story has broken in a number of places including OC Weekly and the Daily Pilot. From the Daily Pilot story:

Beach Cities’ pastor the Rev. Jim Kempner, who has presided over the church since 2001, was arrested as part of a special prostitution investigation conducted by the Tustin Police Department in May 2008, police said Friday.

Jimmy Kempner History

Jimmy was the primary Saturday night concern evangelist at Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa in the late 1970s. I came to Christ at CCCM in that time frame, although Jimmy wasn't the preacher on the exact night I came to Christ (ironically that was Chuck Smith who preached that night in Oct 1978.) While I have respect of Kempner's role in my own spiritual development, I don't believe that should give him a free pass for future misdeeds.

Thoughts on the Matter

It's impossible to know the inside story on what would cause a person to go outside their marriage for sexual fulfillment. Perhaps it was just that the thrill was gone. There are many pastor's marriages which are extremely stressed and dysfunctional. Unless the Kempner's open up their personal business, all that can be done is to judge by the act.

On the good side, Kempner wasn't having an affair with a woman in the church.

The question of whether this was a one-time event or a repeat offense is also unknown, although it immediately comes to mind. It is a fairly safe assumption that these things are rarely isolated events.

Defense By Calvary Chapel Pastors

Here's a mixed batch. Some CC pastors defend Kempner. Others denounce his actions and have called for him to step down. One pastor stated that this is a 1 in a 1000 situation in Calvary Chapel. Given that there are somewhere around 1400 CCs this seems like a vast underestimate.

Calvary Chapel Affiliation

Jimmy's affiliation was pulled by Calvary Chapel Outreach Fellowship. That is unqualifiedly good. There is no evidence that CC participated in any coverup or assistance to relocate Kempner to another CC.

Form of Church Government at Fault?

Kempner's board bears responsibility but not as much as the form of church governance at many CCs. In these churches, the pastor has a hand picked board and can hire/fire the board at will. That's well documented as being part of the CC Philosophy of Ministry (see the Korean pastor and his board example in Smith's booklet). There were many irregularites in this case.

The Three Consultants

Three CC pastors were brought in by the board. One of them was Dave Rolph. I've got a lot of respect for Dave, but for the three to have given anything other than a recommendation that Kempner be removed is unbelievable.

Entrapment Charge?

One man's sting operation is another man's entrapment.

From the news report this was a case where Kempner was in a hotel room alone with a prostitute. When he put a $100 on the dresser, he was busted. Whether it is legally considered entrapment is not relevant to the appearance of guilt.

Claims of Signing Paperwork to Avoid Expensive Legal Fees

One of the claims presented is that Kempner was "forced" into signing a false confession because it was the easy out is also not relevant. For this reason, a pastor must protect his legal reputation at all costs even if it means financial ruin.

Biblical Standards

One of the Biblical qualifications for being a pastor is that he be of good reputation with the world. Hard to imagine how this could not be the key issue in this situation:

1Ti 3:7 Moreover he [a pastor] must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

Interestingly, this is the reason that many Calvary Chapel pastors are Biblically unqualified to be pastors. Taking someone who is a drug dealer one day (one such example among many) and making them a pastor shortly thereafter demonstrates poor judgment by Calvary Chapel.

Other thoughts to come as the facts come out.

Calvinistic Baptistic

What a contradiction - Calvinstic and Baptistic.
Covenant anti-nomianism.
Calvinists baptize babies.
Baptists don't baptize babies.
Pre-mill (nearly dispensationalist) calvinists.
No wonder Michael spends so much time going around in circles. He doesn't know what he is.

George Bryson Dissects Michael Newnham

George Bryson takes on Calvinist webpager Michael Newnham. Here's some of the better quotes:

Michael Newnham is the pastor of a Calvinist/charismatic church in Medford, Oregon called Sovereign Grace Fellowship.

The list of unflattering things Michael has said (on his website) about Calvary Chapel in general and Chuck Smith in particular (and a few others, yours truly included) is very long indeed. Because he is a Calvinist, I would consider and classify Michael as a theistic fatalist.

I would add that Michael is clearly enamored with himself.

More Michael Newnham attacks...

Writing about Todd Bentley, Michael wrote:

"It’s over…the fat clown and the trophy whore have conquered."

“That fornicating, lying,adulterous pig is a disgrace to all that is holy and I won’t stand for his defense anymore.”

Wow. A new low even for Michael.