WHY WE DEPARTED OUT OF THE CHURCH

Yesterday I referred to a letter we sent to family and frinds about why we departed out of the church. Today I thought I would post the letter. Beware it is long, about 7.5 pages.
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February 16, 2003

Dear Loved Ones,

Greetings! I pray this letter finds you well. With fondness and great affection we think of each of you often, and we are so thankful to be part of an extended family with each of you. We pray that God would bless each of you in all His truth.

I am writing this letter, which is long overdue, to announce to you and give our reasons for some action we sadly had to take in November 2001, regarding our involvement with the church. And indeed it is long overdue. This is due in part to a desire on my part to write this lovingly, carefully, and prayerfully. But I also must admit to an amount of procrastination on my part. Please forgive me for that.

At any rate, some of you may already know about this, others may not. The action we took is this: We ended our memberships in the church congregation we belonged to, and we renounced future involvement in any and all churches, regardless of denomination. Ron, Laurie and Heather, being of age, each took this action willingly as individuals. Laurie and/or Heather, even though they were and are under my spiritual authority, were free to remain in the church had they wished, but both felt individually called of God to leave the church, and neither had any desire to remain church members. I as the head of the household did unilaterally terminate the (non-communicant) memberships of our other eight children. However, even this was done with knowledge and full assent of the older children who have at least some understanding.

We did this with great sadness. Leaving the church brought us much sorrow, anguish, and pain. This was indeed a grievous trauma, no less sore and grievous than any of the most severe trials we have experienced in our lives. For early in our Christian lives, Laurie and I correctly came to understand it was God’s will at that time for us to be a part of a church which was reasonably faithful to the Bible as the supreme spiritual authority. And with great joy we joined and remained involved in the church, and we did so publicly, as was fitting. The years we spent involved in reasonably faithful, Bible-believing churches were happy ones. It was our sincere hope and desire to be able to spend the rest of our lives involved in some reasonably biblical congregation, even though we knew there were areas of Christian doctrine and practice where the church was not as faithful as it should have been. During those years we thought in terms of living out our lives as church members, and (the Lord willing) seeing our children grow up and be married in the church, and so on.

I know I will always be thankful for and treasure the experience of those years. But over these years, as we carefully and prayerfully studied the Bible, we have grown increasingly distressed over radically worsening divergences between what the Bible teaches and what the churches have been teaching and doing. Also over this time, we struggled increasingly with the distressing fact that reasonably good churches were getting harder and harder to find. Each time we moved to a new city or state, for example, we had a more and more difficult time finding even one church that even approximated reasonable faithfulness to the Bible. At one point we were driving 125 miles one-way to church, because that church was the only one we could find that had any reasonable faithfulness to the Bible. We continued to study the Bible and seek the wisdom of God about this puzzling and distressing situation. By June of 2001 it was becoming very clear to us from the Bible that the reason for this great and grievous spiritual dearth is that the church age had come to its predetermined end, and God has been giving the churches over to spiritual deception and increased apostasy for their sins and increasingly grievous disobedience to the Word of God.

By November of 2001, after learning much from the Bible about God’s plan for the final disposition of the churches, we understood that the world had for several years been in the period of history the Bible calls the Great Tribulation. The Great Tribulation is characterized by all churches turning away from the authority of the Bible and in turn coming under the wrath and spiritual destruction of God. We further learned that, because of this, it is God’s will for all true Christian believers to depart out of the churches or else personally experience His eternal wrath as a consequence of continuing as part of the church. Though it brought us much sorrow to leave the church, we knew that “the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God” (1 Peter 4:17) and out of the fear of the Lord and desire to obey Him we did leave. So, just as we entered the church publicly, we feel we must also announce and explain our decision to leave publicly. We also wish to advise all of you how this decision will affect our participation in future family events which might take place in whole or in part in a church setting.

I know this is a heavy announcement. Some may even be offended by it or by our reasons for it. Please be assured I do not desire to offend anyone, or to shock anyone, neither am I attempting to provoke theological debate. Nor am I trying to present myself as inherently holier or more knowledgeable than anyone, for I know that I am not. But in the life of any family, times do come when discussion of some difficult things must take place.

Please be assured that this letter, even though it does have to convey some important but difficult spiritual matters, is written in a true spirit of genuine love and true, heartfelt, deep affection and caring for each one of you. We are glad to be a part of our family. We thank God and pray for God’s richest blessings for all the family, and we love each and every one of you. I know that I have not been welcome to discuss spiritual things with some of you, in some cases for many years. However, in this letter it is necessary I do so, and I hope you will bear with me and hear me out.

Though written in love, this letter must recount some sad and negative facts from the Bible about the corporate or visible church, which is comprised of all of the various congregations and denominations found throughout the world¹. I must do so to explain the stand that we have taken and also how the state of the church affects each of us as human beings who are created by and accountable to God. Again -- I do so not to attack or antagonize or try to manipulate anyone, or anything like that. In the final analysis I share this because the Bible requires I do so.
In sharing this, I emphasize at this point that we have left the church in obedience to the Christian faith as set forth in the Bible, and not in denial of it. I say in all sincerity that I am, and will remain, by God’s grace, a follower and a witness of Jesus Christ until I draw my final breath on this earth, and will continue as one of Christ’s, also by His mercy, through all eternity. My household remains a household that follows and worships the Lord Jesus Christ in spirit and in truth, seeking to do His will as revealed in the Bible, which is the Word of God. “. . . as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” Joshua 24:15.

As followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, my family and I seek to do His will. And we understand that God communicates His will to us through the Bible. As I indicated earlier, for many years we have had some understanding (as have careful Bible students down through the centuries, to varying degrees) that the Church would someday come to an end as the divinely commissioned organization representing the kingdom of God to the world. We have understood that the end of the church age would coincide with the churches’ falling away from the Gospel of the Bible and descending into false gospels of their own inventions and traditions; and subsequently coming under the wrath of God. This Biblical doctrine is spoken of in a number of rather well-known Bible passages. 2 Timothy 4:1-4 is one of these passages:

I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

God here warns us that the time would come when the church collectively would turn away from the sound doctrine of the Gospel of the Bible, and replace it with man-pleasing traditions, ideas and fables.

¹ As opposed to the corporate, external church, the Bible also speaks of the invisible, eternal church, which is composed to all the individual true believers in Christ in Heaven or on the earth.

Similarly, in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12, we read:

Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is
called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

This passage speaks of the same event as did the 2 Timothy passage. Here it is spoken of as the church “falling away” just before the coming of Christ. In the 2 Timothy passage, the churches’ destruction was referred to as “turning away”. We read in verses 11 and 12 of 2 Thessalonians 2 that strong delusion comes upon all churches, “that they should believe a lie”. Thus, the Bible speaks of a day that would eventually come that God would be finished using the visible church to bring the Gospel to the world. Then He would give the churches over to Satanic deception. Satan would at this time be allowed by God to bring his deception in an unrestrained, worldwide attack upon all churches and congregations.

Notice also that the 2 Thessalonians passage expands upon the 2 Timothy passage by stating that the falling away or apostasy of the church occurs in connection with the unrestrained attack by Satan from within the church.

Christ further explains this in Matthew 24:11-17:

And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:

The parallels between this passage and the others are quite apparent. Jesus teaches us here of a time when false prophets would multiply, deceiving many. He also speaks of the activity of Satan, who is “the abomination of desolation”. And Jesus says, that when we “see” (understand) Satan, (the abomination of desolation, also referred to in other passages as the man of sin, wicked one, son of perdition, and Antichrist) standing in the “holy place” (the churches and congregations), each Christian believer is to leave the church he or she belongs to and flee to “the mountains” (God Himself). Having departed from the church, each true Christian believer is to serve Christ as an individual and/or as part of a family.

So how is one to know that the above Bible passages refer to the situation of today’s church? First, one can consider that it is quite evident that when we look at the church as a whole, we see that the leadership ranks of the churches of today are overrun with false prophets. These false prophets are unprecedented in number and active on an unprecedented scale, bringing spiritual deception upon the church and in turn upon the entire world. One of the most visible evidences of this is the mushrooming scandals that have taken hold in denomination after denomination. To see these sad facts directly, one can do an internet news headline search on the church or Christianity. In seconds there will be screen after screen of all manner of proven scandal from the pulpit to the pew, from the clergy to laity, in denomination after denomination, congregation after congregation. Or, simply think back on all the newspaper headlines that have appeared about major denominations over the past several years. Again, what comes to mind will be an overwhelming number of stories of proven, dreadful scandals in church after church. Just off the top of my head, here are just a few examples of open, disgraceful, and proven church scandals that have splashed all over the headlines in recent years: The Jim Bakker money fraud scandal, which was just the tip of the iceberg of many, many similar money scandals that have occurred before and since. The Jimmy Swaggart sex scandal. Oral Roberts and his “900 foot Jesus” telling him to order his followers to give him millions of dollars or poor Oral would be struck down by some lightning bolt from heaven. The pedophile priest scandal. The plagiarizing preacher scandals. The Sodomite bishop scandals.

And the situation is no better in smaller denominations and churches which do not make it to the headlines -- even supposedly very, very conservative ones.

I am very sad to have to say that even when the church tries to do right it does wrong. One can just turn on the television set, and witness for oneself all the shenanigans and perversion being done today in the name of church and evangelism. TV evangelists such as Earnest Angely spout one abject heresy after another. Then there is Robert Schuller, who promulgates man-centered, humanistic psychobabble in the name of Christianity. Then there is Billy Graham and his son Franklin, who rely on a watered-down message and clever crowd psychology to advance their agenda. Turning the channels to other religious stations will summon up all manner of prophets, priests, and preachers proclaiming all kinds of false gospels.

And that is not all. I am sad to say, when I look at the standards set forth in the Bible, I can only conclude the churches have become corrupt in their doings because they have also become corrupt in their doctrines. This has also occurred as a result of the false prophets who have overwhelmed the churches. The churches have contravened many, many fundamental laws of the Bible; laws which comprise the very core, the very foundations of the historic, Biblical Christian faith. Here are just a very few examples of Biblical laws which the church of our day has subverted. Though not all the items listed below are present in all congregations and denominations, these are so pervasive across so many congregations and denominations we know that the awful fate the Bible has prophetically predicted for the visible church has indeed come to pass.

The Bible says salvation is by grace of God alone, the churches say salvation is by works. Some parts of the church are very overt about this, saying such false things as “Christ has atoned for our sins, but *we* must atone, too”. Other parts of the church bring this heresy far more subtly, by saying such false things as “Christ has done everything He can do to save you by dying for you on the cross, Satan has done everything he can do to prevent you from being saved, and now it is up to you to decide to accept [sic] Christ in order for you to be saved”.

The Bible says Christ came to save only *His people* (the elect from before the foundation of the world) from their sins. The Bible says that Christ suffered God’s wrath only for the sins of His elect (chosen) people, and for no one else. The church denies the fundamental Biblical doctrine of the limited atonement and has concocted and promulgated the falsehood of universal atonement, saying falsely that Christ paid for the sins of every human being.

As shocking as this may sound to some, the Bible says God *does not* love everybody. Rather, as God looks at the human race he views each person as one of two kinds of people – as either a “Jacob” or an “Esau” (see Romans, chapter 9), that is, either as someone whose sins Christ has forgiven, or as someone whose sins are not forgiven. And God says in the Bible, “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated” (Romans 9:13). The churches deny this, saying, in effect, “God loves everybody and has a wonderful plan for you. All you have to do is say a ‘sinner’s prayer’, and you will experience even more of the love of God”.

The Bible says “the wicked shall be turned into Hell, and all nations that forget God” Proverbs 9:17. Jesus Christ Himself warned people over and over again about Hell and damnation as the eternal penalty for sin. Whether we like it or not, Jesus is a Hell and Damnation preacher every bit as much as He is a salvation and grace preacher. The church, on the other hand, denies Hell. Just think about it - when was the last time you heard a church message emphasizing the terrors of hell? The church denies this fundamental Biblical doctrine by explicitly denying it, or by changing Hell into something else such as “purgatory”, or by simply ignoring Hell by not emphasizing it in sermons and messages.

If I may offer a personal anecdote here: I remember about fifteen years ago being exposed to a very comprehensive church evangelism training course called “Evangelism Explosion”. The course had many thick manuals and instructional materials, and required months of classroom and hands-on training in things such as door to door evangelism. I was thinking seriously of taking the course, so I went into the church library to look carefully through all of the many thick course manuals, to see if it was faithful to the Gospel message of the Bible. I found that though the course on the surface seemed to say a lot of laudatory things about Christ and salvation, one glaring omission stood out: In all of those thick, detailed “Evangelism Explosion” course materials, I could not find one, single mention of the word “Hell” or any of its Biblical synonyms. “Evangelism Explosion” (and courses patterned after it) is used in most every “evangelical” church in existence today, yet is not faithful to the Gospel of the Bible. It is different gospel, a false gospel. Though it speaks of salvation, it omits discussion what we are to be saved from; namely; the eternal lake of fire of the wrath of God, which Christ and the prophets emphasized so much of in the Bible. “Evangelism Explosion” is thus a false gospel which leads people to Hell and not Heaven. This situation is very emblematic of the falling away of the core conservative, evangelical churches and thus all Christendom from the truth of the Bible.

The Bible teaches that, once the Bible was completed, supernatural miracles such as those performed by Christ and the apostles ceased. The Bible further warns that the only supernatural “miracles” that would ever be performed from then until the end of the world would be performed under Satanic influence. The church, once again, is teaching the opposite. The churches say that its representatives can perform miracles. Most of the time these “miracles” are just outright fakery and lies – patently ridiculous things such as statues that supposedly cry human tears, “faith healers” supposedly evening out the length of people’s legs, or other counterfeit “miracles” of phony healing. I’m reminded of a time back in college when I happened upon an open-air “faith-healer” rally. A student went up to the front wearing thick eyeglasses. He wanted the “faith healer” to heal his poor eyesight. The “faith healer” touched the man’s face near his eyes, and then pronounced him “healed”, and asked the man if his vision improved. The man removed his glasses and gazed skyward, shouting, “Glory!!! It has!!!” The next day, I saw that same student, walking to class, with his thick glasses right back on. Sometimes, though, evangelists, “faith healers” or other church representatives perform a supernatural sign they call “being slain in the spirit”, which is mysteriously causing people standing assembled before them to fall over backwards. Sometimes when these false TV evangelists do this, it really is supernatural, but the Bible teaches it is directly Satanic and has nothing to do with the true Christ. Thus the words of Christ are fulfilled: “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before.” Matthew 24:24-25


The Bible is the only source of spiritual truth. As the Word of God, the Bible is the inerrant, infallible, and final authority in faith and practice, and all other matters to which it addresses itself. It is the only mode of communication from God to Man. The churches teach the opposite. The churches falsely teach that God’s words are not limited to the Bible, but are also conveyed through church rulers and councils, manmade traditions, dreams, visions, voices, speaking in tongues, and many other extra-biblical or unbiblical things. The churches also falsely teach that the Bible is in error on such things as the six-day creation, the worldwide flood of Noah’s day, the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea, and other things.

The Bible says *God* is the pillar and ground of the truth ( 1 Timothy 3:15, 1 Corinthians 3:11, Deuteronomy 32:15; 2 Samuel 22:3,47; Psalms 18:2,46; 62:2,6-7; 89:26; 95:1; Isaiah 17:10, Ephesians 2:20). The church denies this Biblical doctrine by saying that the church, not God, is the pillar and ground of the truth.

The Bible says divorce is never ok, but rather is always a grievous sin and there are no exceptions. The Bible does not ever allow divorce for any reason, period. The churches say the opposite; namely that divorce for many reasons is permissible.

The Bible says those who are divorced can never remarry as long as their former spouse is still living. The church says the opposite; that remarriage after divorce is permissible while the affected former spouse is still living. This churches’ permissive teaching on divorce is a primary way the church has destroyed the institution of the family.

The Bible teaches that every baby conceived in the womb is a specific, willful, individual creation of God (Psalm 104:30). Birth control, therefore, is a sin based on a fundamental lack of trust in God. The church, sadly, teaches the opposite. The church says birth control is OK, thus denying the Bible’s fundamental teachings concerning conception, birth, and children. This churches’ corrupted view of God’s program of procreation is another key way the church has destroyed the family.

Sadly, these are just a very few examples. If space and time were to permit, it can be shown that the teaching of the churches is diametrically opposed to virtually every fundamental doctrine of the Biblical Christian faith. Suffice it to say that Satan’s attack upon the church has been massive. It has achieved not only unprecedented levels of success but complete and total spiritual destruction of the churches. But this is only because God has allowed it as a part of the completion of His plan for the world. We can only conclude that the Spirit of Christ has departed from the churches meaning the church is dead, just as Jesus says in Revelation 3:1, “And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; these things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.”

For several years I held out hope that there were a few exceptions. I thought there might be a few conservative congregations, a remnant that would escape the judgment of God which has begun at His house (1 Peter 4:17). But I see now this is not the case. You may ask, how do I know that?

We should recall the teaching of Jesus cited above from Matthew 24:15:

When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

Jesus here refers us back to the book of Daniel, where Daniel, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, also makes mention of the Abomination of Desolation:

And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days. Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries. And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed. And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all. But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things. Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain. Daniel 11:31-39

This is an Old Testament passage, and as such we are presented with more veiled, figurative language. But again, the parallels between this passage in Daniel and the passages cited above are unmistakable. We know Christ was referring to this passage because it is in the prophecy of Daniel, and it mentions the “abomination that maketh desolate”. Christ says “who so readeth, *let him understand*”. Christ means there would come a time when God would make such veiled passages understandable. But among other things, these passages apprised me of the truth that there would be no exceptions to the falling away of the church. This passage tells us that Satan would “pollute the *sanctuary of strength*”; that he would magnify himself above *all* (v37), and “thus he shall do in the *most strong holds*”, that is, even the most conservative, Bible-oriented churches would become subject to the falling away and come under control of the abomination of desolation, who is Satan. There are many parallel passages in the Bible which reinforce and underscore the truth that the falling away of the church is universal, that applies to every individual congregation in the world.

Jesus Christ says in Matthew 24:16 that when all this comes to pass, the true believers in Jesus Christ are to leave their church. It is abundantly clear that all this has come to pass. It is happening and has been happening for several years now. Therefore, in love and concern I urge each of you also to leave the church, to flee the judgment of God which is now coming upon the churches in the form of stronger and stronger spiritual delusion which will lead to eternal damnation in Hell. But I say this out of both the conviction that this is the truth of the Bible we must hear. I say this out of love, concern, and affection for each of you, our dear loved ones. I say this because I desire God’s very best, His highest blessings for each one of you.

Nonetheless I realize there may be some in the family who may not agree with what I have said in this letter. All I can say is I love you and of course I will not argue with you. I will not browbeat anyone about this, or even bring it up again (although I am glad to respond to sincere inquiries). I believe the Bible requires each professing Christian believer to leave the church now if he or she has any interest in true, Biblical salvation. But I know that I cannot force any of you to do anything. All I can ask is that you give the matter thoughtful, prayerful consideration with the Bible (AV) open in front of you; realizing that time is of the essence.

I can also say we still do and always will love you and treasure you as our loved ones. It is our desire to remain involved in your lives and share together as family. We hope that any who disagree with us on this matter of the end of the church age will understand that we continue desire to share in your life, and to be a part of family gatherings. We still love getting together and doing things with you. We want our children to know their extended family members. But please understand that we cannot partake of those portions of family events that take place in a church setting. If, for example, a Biblically marriageable family member were getting married to a person also qualified to be married, we would, if invited, love to come and offer the couple our love and good wishes, and to rejoice with them on their special day. We would have to absent ourselves, though, from portions of the marriage proceedings that would take place as part of any church service. Again, we would do this not to try to manipulate anyone, or to draw attention to ourselves, to press an agenda, or anything like that, we would do so simply out of a matter of conscience toward God.

For another example, in the case of a funeral, it is our desire to be with family as much as possible and offer and receive comfort in such a time. But here again, for conscience sake we would have to absent ourselves from any church proceedings. When my grandfather died last year, I was very glad to have been able to visit with family and provide and receive comfort in that time of loss. I had to absent myself from the church service, but I was glad to have been able to be as involved as I was in sharing this experience with the extended family, and to be able to pay my last respects to my beloved grandfather at the funeral home.

I know this has been a long letter, and I thank you for reading this far. I’m sorry it had to deal with a sad and controversial topic. But if I have been at least somewhat clear in explaining our position and also in bringing home to each of your hearts our unabated love, affection for, and desire for God’s very, very best for each and every one of you, I would be very thankful.

With love,

Ron for Laurie and family