Dear All
We were so sorry we were unable to join with you last Sunday to say Goodbye but we were unwilling to be associated with the statement that appeared about us in the Pastor’s Jottings 2009 . As far as we were concerned it was full of half-truths, over-statement and misquotes from our resignation statement.
I would like to put the record straight
In my resignation statement for membership:-
1) I did NOT say that “the leaders are leading the church into apostasy”.
I DID say that “a new theology/new spirituality (found in the emerging church movement) was undermining the evangelical church and was paving the way for the apostate church” (I was quoting from a book and several web articles e.g http://www.renewamerica.com/analysis/hutchison/090518)
2) I did NOT equate apostasy with “God’s people abandoning the faith” but with mystic spirituality (adding to their faith) because it risks exposure to the world of spirits.
3) I did NOT say that “God has called me to be a mouthpiece to warn the church”
I DID say that “In 1976 the Lord called me as a mouthpiece (prophet) and I have been used of God in Nepal, China and UK but leadership have never publically released me into my calling or encouraged me to move out in my gifting. This puzzles me because the pastor in two prophetic words told me I was a “warrior and mouthpiece” and told me that I was the churches “antenna”
4) I did NOT say that “the way the church operates its membership IS coercive, manipulative and controlling”.
I DID express concerns when we were asked to discuss the new membership model (in 2005) that “the membership bar had been raised too high and (in my opinion) compliance could only be maintained through coercion, manipulation and control”. I also said that people would leave
5) I did NOT say that leaders were “psychologically and emotionally UNABLE to take seriously the concerns expressed by the congregation”.
I DID say I was “unsure if the church had a deliberate policy of “neutralising” legitimate concerns or their response rests with the psycho-emotional state of the leaders”. All I do know is that, on several occasions, leadership got cross with me for raising concerns or imagined my concerns were rooted in some psycho-emotional condition rather than promptings from the Lord
6) I did NOT accuse leadership of “leading the church away from the true faith in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit” but of failing to recognize that there were some dangers in mystic spirituality.
7) It is only partially correct to suggest that I expressed my concerns about mystic spirituality (to the Oversight) because the pastor denied that we had studied any emerging church material (John Eldridge and Ray Simpson have embraced Emerging Church theology) and initially that we had read the Purpose Driven Life (we read it three times). The Oversight was much more concerned about neutralising me and defending the pastor. I was challenged about my concerns about “How to hear God Voice” by two members of the oversight. One of them could not remember Page 85 of Chapter 3 (Mystic Spirituality –aka “Being Still” Chart) and the other failed to provide any bible references for meditation predicated on a self-induced altered state of alpha consciousness or for the biofeedback techniques advocated by Mark Virkler
8) I DID mention that for most of our time at church we were very happy and very committed
I would like to close this email with the following pictures, word and scripture the Lord gave me about the dangers of mystic spirituality on 7th March 2009
Pictures
1) A large river with a tiny polluted stream joining it
2) a mill race with an open grill/trash rack*
* The head race of a water mill usually includes a sediment trap and a grill/trash rack. The latter is a structural device used to prevent debris from entering a mill race or other hydraulic structure
Word
“purity” (doctrinal)
Scripture
Galatians 5:9 “A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough”
We do hope we can reach closure on an individual basis, in the new year
Blessings