Inside Calvary Temple

The Wartburg Watch has yet another piece written by a Calvary Temple survivor.

Of major concern and huge red flag was the breaking up of families. I watched parents lose their children (they were put out of the house if they were “not serving God”), children lose their parents (children were told to have nothing to do with a parent who might want to leave CT or was considered unsaved), husbands and wives divorce (because one wanted to leave CT), and friends be cut off from lifelong relationships. Some children left their homes and went to live with other people in the congregation at the insistence of the pastors. Some of my closest friends have not seen their children and grandchildren for many years. This is the motivating force for my stand against Calvary Temple – the destruction of families.

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Marriages in Calvary Temple are strictly controlled. A member can only marry another CT member, the marriages are sometimes directly arranged and always subject to the approval of leadership, and engagements are restricted to 2-3 weeks (to keep the couple from succumbing to their “fleshly desires”.). Consequently, though the couple has probably known each other most of their lives, they are not allowed to date or even get to know each other in a romantic way prior to marriage. Everything is done in a group setting to be sure there is no “giving in to the flesh”. I believe many marriages would not take place if the young people were allowed to spend time together and find out they may not be compatible.

Marriages in CT are for the purpose of “serving in the ministry”.

I say again: The difference between Calvary Temple and the little white church near your home is a difference of only degree; all of them teach that good, decent, godly people are always ready to betray their family and friends on command — like Abraham. Here is a well-known Southern Baptist pastor:

Permit me to start with the obvious – a biblical foundation. It is not just a requirement of ministry, but of discipleship itself, that Jesus take a place of priority over anything in your life. Jesus said these words.

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”

Obviously, Jesus was not talking about visceral, emotional hate here. He is talking about priority. When God says “Jacob I loved and Esau I hated” it doesn’t mean that God despised Esau it meant he chose the younger over the elder. Jesus was demanding that he be the first choice in our lives always. Pleasing and obeying him must be my highest priority, more than pleasing my wife or children or anyone else. Jesus comes first.

Christianity is not a family-friendly religion, and all the yak-yak-yak about family values is an empty marketing lie. The natural loyalties of healthy families threaten the total control that pastors want, and so Christian teachings strive to undermine them. When you meet a man who celebrates Abraham’s near-sacrifice of Isaac, you should run for your life.

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