The Wartburg Watch offers yet another first-person account of a family destroyed by Calvary Temple.
Then we learned that Gretel was pregnant. I [Gretel’s mother] was in contact with her regularly, but our deacon requested me to have nothing to do with her. I thanked him for his concern, but reminded Waleed she was my responsibility before God, not his, and I would do as I saw fit. She asked to come home, and, of course, I said yes. The pastors rebuked me for not seeking their approval.
I believe that this incident marked the beginning of my fall from favor at Calvary.
[ … ]
Never did I think we were being systematically divided through subtle means by Pastor Scott.
Divide and conquer.
Healthy family loyalties undermine a church’s ability to totally control its membership; the church is the enemy of healthy families.
The third theological fact about the family is the continued affirmation of the family within the redeemed people of God — the church. As the Gospels make clear, loyalty to Christ exceeds that of any family commitment, even as the church becomes the family of faith, embracing within its life all who come to faith in Christ and into the life of the church.
Like practically everything else that Christianity says about itself, ‘family values’ is an empty marketing lie.