Friday, December 29, 2017

You Can't Have it Both Ways, Part 2



When I first attended Calvary Temple, my family and I came from another church. Not one time did anyone in CT leadership or among the congregation question my reasons for leaving another church to come to Calvary Temple. No one accused me of being "out of order" or "rebelling against designated authority."

NOT ONE Calvary Temple member "marked" me for leaving my previous church, an action they take routinely when someone leaves CT. And not one person from my old church accused me of rebellion, nor did they shun me. In fact, I am still friends with members of my previous church.

But when I left Calvary Temple and began attending another church, I was rebuked for being out of order, rebelling against designated authority and was consequently "marked". (everyone who leaves Calvary Temple is marked, whether officially or unofficially. In practice, it's all the same.)

And now, let me ask the current members of Calvary Temple:

If you came from another church to attend CT, were YOU rebuked? were you told you were out of order? and a rebel to your previous "designated authority"? Were you told to go back to your pastor and ask permission to leave? Did your previous pastor label you a rebel?

Do you see a hypocritical disconnect here? Why is it fine to leave a church to attend Calvary Temple but not ok to leave Calvary Temple? Why does Star Scott say God placed you in Calvary, but he doesn't say God placed you in your previous church?
  • Tony and Lou, you left a bible believing church (was it Halpine?)  to attend CT, were you rebuked?
  • Tony and Jenny, why didn't you get sent back to your old church?
  • Carolyn, didn't you first attend a church in Round Hill?
  • Jon, why wasn't your dad sent back to the Presbyterian church in Md that he and his family attended? 
  • Kevin and Theresa, didn't you leave family members behind to attend CT?  Did Pastor Scott tell you to go back?
  • Tony and Linda, what church did you leave?
  • Candace, I think you attended a Calvary Chapel church in New York. Did a pastor accuse you of being a betrayer?
  • Gary and Becky, I seem to remember you were part of a church in Staunton. Did they label you a deserter? 
  • 2Connie, weren't you and Jeff in a church in Maryland?
  • Raymond and Rhonda, why did you leave your church? Why didn't Pastor Scott send you back?
  • Jon, Sarah, Joshua and Christina - why didn't Pastor Scott tell you and your parents to go back to NY?
  • Bea and family, were you rebuked for leaving your old church in Purcellville?
  • Steve, didn't you and your parents and siblings leave a baptist church in Sterling?   
This is just a sampling of the current members of Calvary that came from other churches. All of them would tell you they had a good reason for leaving their old church to come to Calvary Temple. 
  • Perhaps they took a job in this area
  • Maybe they moved here to be closer to family. 
  • Or heard Star Scott on the radio and thought it would be a good church to attend. 
  • Maybe they had gifts that they felt Calvary Temple was in need of.
  • Perhaps they felt called to minister in a new church.
  • Maybe it was for doctrinal reasons. 
  • Or they felt they were not being fed at their current church.
  • Maybe they came to CT because there were rumors of abuse in their old church and they didn't feel comfortable sitting under a pastor with  "history". 
  • Maybe their old church was under investigation by the state police, local police, FBI and IRS. 
Whatever the reason, it was enough to cause them to make a decision that no one questioned. Most likely not their old pastor and certainly not Star Scott. And yet leaving Calvary Temple is considered the worst kind of sin. Leaving CT earns you the label of rebel, daughter of satan, demon woman, unsaved, deserter, trouble maker, enemy, betrayer, defamer, backbiter, defiler, bitter, etc. 

The person leaving Calvary Temple is doing exactly what many current CT members did when they left their previous church. They chose to leave one church and attend another. 

Having attended CT for a number of years, I am going to anticipate Star Scott's response. One response might be something like this:

                We have always said if you attend Calvary Temple, you have the
                best chance of making it to heaven, and we are more concerned
                with your eternal state. Amen?

(and like Pavlov's dogs, the congregation will respond 'Amen!' and not give it another thought.)

Another response might be along the lines of disparaging those who have spoken out against Calvary Temple. After all, Scott is a champion of character assassination. So he might do some version of this:

                 Consider the source.

Note that neither of these will address the actual subject of this post.

So, the conclusion we must come to, according to Star Scott's "new doctrine",  is the majority of Calvary Temple members are in rebellion to their previous pastor, out of order, betrayers, dividers, enemies and deserters. If Star Scott is going to insist we are out of order for leaving CT, then he needs to rebuke and send many of his current members back to their original church. Or, if they are not these things, then neither are all of us who left Calvary Temple.

May I remind you - you can't have it both ways.


Galatians 5:18  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Isaiah 30:21 And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.
Galatians 5:25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
Romans 8:1-2 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
Acts 20:22 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there.
Acts 5:29 We ought to obey God rather than men.



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