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The deacons revealed to us that Roger had forbidden them from questioning the contents of his sermons when they met with him. Clearly this was a manipulated and fragmented 'leadership' exemplified by the behaviour of deacon' Peter Smith. He made it clear that he objected to being called a 'Yes man' in our letter: ' I won't have it!' he declared. I apologised to him (for the hurt - not for the fact), for he was clearly emotional about the subject. He insisted that he had spoken to Roger about a lot of the matters that our letter brought up and that 'things were getting better recently' - which I questioned immediately. Peter even admitted that he agreed with our objection to 'the lewdness.' But he remained angry about the letter and angrily burst out with: 'I feel sorry for any pastor of a church you're in!' Well he is welcome to contact two genuine men of God who have known us for years, Pastor Byron Jones or Pastor Stuart Brockett, and ask them what was the most trouble they ever had from us! But I don't really believe that Peter is interested in hearing the truth - as his later reactions proved. The deacons, particularly Peter Smith, questioned us about the lack of love revealed in the letter. I told them that you will not find Paul (who wrote the 'hymn to love' - 1 Corinthians 13) talking about love in his letters when he deals with doctrinal sin and asked them to study Galatians 2:11-14 and 1 Corinthians 5-6 carefully. True love disciplines: 2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. Hebrews 12:5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; Hebrews 12:7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? Hebrews 12:8-11 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? … All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Revelation 3:19 'Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; be zealous therefore, and repent. The deacons presented no argument against this fact! To her credit, Nesta Bowen read the 1 Corinthians 5-6 passage while the meeting was going on and agreed that there was no mention of 'love' in these passages. Neil Jones asked about the "damnable heresies" mentioned in the letter. This was in the section on Benny Hinn and Ray Bevan and I stand by what was written - the Word-Faith heresies are damnable! When we closed the meeting in prayer Peter Smith being to howl uncontrollably like a baby. We had heard that he had attended a 'Toronto Experience' meeting where he had been 'roaring like a lion' to such an extent that he returned home with a ragingly sore throat and now he considered that he had 'a ministry of tears.' This is wholly un-Scriptural and involved him weeping vociferously and uncontrollably during prayer times and made it very difficult to even hear other people praying! Self control is clearly part of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and certainly did not apply to this man installed as a deacon. This meeting confirmed to us that the deaconate had been manipulated and bullied by Roger Wheelhouse and that he had created divisive factions, and therefore qualified thoroughly as a heretic (see definitions given later). The outcome of this meeting was the following letter from the deaconate sent to every member of the church: December 1998 Dear Brother / Sister, The Deacons have been engaged in prayerful discussion on the contents of the letter which has been circulated to members from David & Zoë Williams. We have considered the more serious charges made and we believe that Roger does not deliberately preach heresy and desires to serve the Lord in all things. In order for the matters contained in the letter to be considered by Members, there will be a Special Church Meeting held on Thursday 7th January 1999 commencing at 7.30pm. The Deacons have invited Rev Richard Lewis, Missioner / Secretary of the East Glamorgan English Baptist Association to chair this meeting and he has agreed to undertake this responsibility. Please continue to hold these matters within the confines of the fellowship and seek the Lord in prayer for wisdom and guidance. Yours, on behalf of the Deacons, Howard W Bowen Church Secretary 43. Beware the deceived who try and compromise the truth Following this letter, representative deacons came to our house to try and persuade us to write a conciliatory letter to the church. After much prayer my wife penned the following letter: 12th December 1998 Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus, we share a real love, great delight and reverence for the Precious Word of God. When the Word itself stresses that it should be handled correctly and accurately1 we must honour and obey. The things we consider precious in life are handled with loving care - we guard and protect them. When the precious, life-giving, Word of God is treated in a lewd or careless manner, when its beauty and glorious hope in Jesus' Victory is not carefully mentioned and His perfect truth is mishandled, we feel deeply grieved and angry2 that such dishonour should be allowed. We all need to check spoken and written words of teaching against the Scriptures to ensure their truth3 We dare not misuse God's word for one second! The fellowship at Calvary Baptist Church has been very precious to us and we have known many of you for more than 15 years. When we know that those we love and trust have been needlessly abused, verbally or emotionally, and that the leaders we trusted into authority have been undermined, we grieve and experience anger that anyone should treat the Bride of Christ in such a dishonouring and disgraceful manner. Like Elihu (Job 32-37) we could keep silent no longer. We felt we needed to contact the whole church in the manner of Paul writing to the church at Corinth (1 Corinthians 5 & 6) [Notice: the 'feeling' was based on Scripture! We did not approach this lightly, but only after much prayer did we take action]. If one man's sexual immorality (5v1) caused Paul to warn that "a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?" (5v6), how much more should a man who tramples on the Living Word of God and who treats the Body of Christ with contempt be in need of discipline? Just as Paul wrote to Corinth and Galatia (Chapter 2, concerning a hurtful and damaging example set by an apostle) we felt led to write to bring the whole situation into the Light for all to see and test so that the problem could be addressed Scripturally. It was never our intention to inflict further hurt on the fellowship, but rather to encourage us all to seek the truth - for the Truth sets us free (John 8v32) and gives us Life and Hope of the Glory to come with Our Precious Saviour. We are sorry that following this pathway was not in line with Baptist Constitution and that this caused hurt. It was our hope that others who were hurting would be encouraged to know that the letter was certain to cause discipline and bring everything out into the open. Our deep concern is to see our leaders released to serve the Body of Christ in our fellowship. We simply want to lift up the name of Jesus because only He deserves all the honour and glory for it is His blood that washes us whiter than snow and gives us life in the Unity of the Spirit.4 In His Precious Name, 1. Acts 18v25-26; 2 Timothy 2v15 2. Psa 119v9-11, 158; Isaiah 5v24; Roms 2v23-24 3. Proverbs 30v5; Acts 17v11; 2 Timothy 3v16-17; 2 Peter 1v20-21 and 3v14-18 4. Psalms 133v1; John 17v23; Ephesians 4v3,13; Col 3v14 [Post Script: Concern for the Baptist Constitution was very much secondary to Scriptural truth, since these and the church 'rules' were not always thoroughly Scriptural] Telephone conversations with various deacons followed this letter and we met again with their representatives at our house, where we emphasized again that we considered that Roger Wheelhouse needed serious help and we were willing to go with them to a recognized ministry, even one they recommended. The line of attack from the Wheelhouses and their faction was clear to us already, for we were convinced that they would claim that we were 'demonised' to make these accusations against their man [see the later evidence which proves we were correct in this summation!] I take the same attitude now; if anyone considers us to be 'demonised' we would be willing to stand before God, as Elijah challenged the 'prophets' of Baal (1 Kings 18), and see who is God and who is powerless. God calls the deceivers bluff in irrefutable ways! We also made it clear that we were not going to compromise on any part of the letter, and it must be true that either the Wheelhouse's were in serious error, or us, and the only outcome was repentance or removal from office! We had to wait some weeks for the outcome and, in the meantime, we received letters and 'phone calls of support from as far away as the South of England. It was clear that at least one person had ignored the advice of the Calvary Baptist Church deacons to 'continue to hold these matters within the confines of the fellowship', because people quoted specifically from the letter. Many of the communicators revealed that they had suffered similar abuse from pastors, 'vicars', and 'Reverends' - but had received no help from their (un-Scriptural) denominational set-up. As a result people had suffered this kind of leadership for 5-10 years, or more, without change in the behavior of the supposed Christian leader. When people contact you anonymously because of the hurt they have suffered, and fear of being identified by their church and fellow Christians, you recognize the affect of such seriously damaging cultish behaviour. 44. Beware un-Scriptural Church Meetings 7th January 1999 The opening statement was made: Richard Lewis : Can I welcome you, in the name of Christ, to this meeting. It is a meeting that will be set in a context of worship, because we are in the presence of God who has called the church into being in the first place. Those of you who are wondering who I am - my name is Richard Lewis, I'm the General Secretary of the Baptist Association in this area. I've been invited by the deacons of the church, in consultation with the Area Superintendent, and in consultation with the pastor, that I should chair this time which we have together. We're going to set it in the context of worship - you have a sort of agenda before you. And when it comes to the introduction, that will be from me. We will invite David, or Zoë, I don't want them both to do it - unless they operate on a 'double act', uh, to come and if they wish to say anything other than is written down, to say it! Right? Soon as I realise that anybody is talking about something they've put down, I will turn the microphone off! OK! Let's be quite clear - where we're going and how we're going to operate, tonight. When it comes to the open forum anybody who wishes to speak is asked to come to one of the two stand mikes. You will be given a maximum of five minutes! After three minutes I will tell you: 'You have two minutes to go!' And we'll operate the same policy - if you go on after five minutes, then I shall turn the microphone off! It's quite easy! OK? Note: all comments made retrospectively in this text (between speeches made by those present) will be in these 'square brackets', [ ] and in this Times New Roman font. [I could have really incensed the meeting from the beginning by pointing out that this very make-up was un-Scriptural! Where is Scriptural support for the presence of the 'General Secretary of the Baptist Association in this area' or the involvement of the 'Area Superintendent, Peter Manson' to be found? Are these men re-mustering as apostles? The Baptist Union of Great Britain has long gone off the rails, becoming possibly the first Baptist group in the world (in 1997) to appoint a woman as 'Area Superintendent', a position which is seen as "a pastor to pastors." They appointed Pat Took as 'superintendent' for London, who since 1985 had pastored the Cann Hall Baptist Church in Leytonstone, London. This is a sad departure from the Word of God. The Bible plainly says that a woman cannot teach nor usurp authority over men (1 Timothy 2:11-15). None of the apostles were women. As for the pastor, one of the qualifications is that he be the "husband of one wife," a qualification Pat Took definitely cannot fulfill. It is a serious 浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭浭he Apostle Paul instructed the preacher Timothy to keep the apostolic instruction in every detail: "That thou keep this commandment WITHOUT SPOT, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Timothy 6:14). Those who ignore the Word of God in simple matters will ignore it in important matters as well. King Saul thought it was an insignificant matter that he had failed in certain details of God's commandment. He was told to utterly destroy the Amalekites, men, women, and livestock. Saul did destroy the Amalekites, apart from another small oversight in leaving their King Agag alive, but he failed to destroy all of the livestock. This is what God thought of Saul's minor disobedience: "And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king" (1 Samuel 15:21-23). Is God a respecter of persons? Has He changed His mind about obedience to the details of His Word? How, then, can He overlook the open disobedience in this dispensation? The position of "area superintendent" is not a scriptural position even for a man. The churches founded by the Lord's Apostles were independent and autonomous under their one Head, Jesus Christ, and they did not have area superintendents. The establishment of such unbiblical positions in the second and third centuries was the first step toward the formation of the apostate Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox "churches." Despite all my misgivings about remaining in the Baptist Union, we had to see this matter through to the end for the sake of weaker members of the body.] Richard Lewis: I spent yesterday with your pastor - part of yesterday. He is here because I have encouraged him to be here. It is right that he is here. And, towards the end, Roger will have an opportunity to respond if he so wishes - to what has gone on here tonight and to other things. This meeting is going to start in a minute with worship. This meeting will finish at half-past nine. OK? If we haven't done it by half-past nine, it means you have to come back and do it again. But I think, by half-past nine, we will have done what we need to do and we will have enough for us to go away and reflect on what has been said, and suggested in this period. So we come into the presence of God. Words from the Old Testament: Do not forget My teaching, but keep My commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many days and bring you prosperity. Let love and faithfulness never leave you. Bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favour and a good name in the sight of God and the people. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him. And he will make your paths straight. Familiar words from the book of Proverbs [3:1-6]. Directed to a church as it meets in session this evening. And we're gong to worship Christ as Head of the Church - 474, Baptist Praise and Worship. We declare at the beginning; 'Christ is made the Sure Foundation, Christ the Head and Cornerstone'. Let's stand and worship God together . . . .(hymn then prayer time) Richard Lewis: We read from the Book of Proverbs at the beginning. It has been my custom in the pastoral ministry, to have always had the Word open before us when we have met as a church, as a fellowship of believers, in an act of worship that contains some business. So the Word is before us again, today. Calling us to trust in Him with our hearts, and allowing Him to direct our thoughts and our actions, as we meet together. I want to just - at this stage - do a brief introduction. I want to assure you that the Area Superintendent, Peter Manson, is at home this evening. He had cleared his diary. Peter is not here by his own choice because of his long-standing connections with the fellowship. It's not that he's not interested. I do not want you to get that feeling at all. But he was of a mind that, because he was close to many of you over the years, that it was not right for him to be in the chair for this meeting. He and I have been in contact a number of times over it as you would expect and we are of one mind on this. So, he may not say it the way I say it, but we speak together and he does wish it to be known that he is thinking and praying for us as we meet together. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the implications of a letter that was sent to Roger and at the same time to the whole membership of the church. I have to say at this moment that I believe that that was un-Scriptural. I believe that the way that we operate our Baptist policy is such that if someone has a grievance, they should take it first to the person with a witness, if that doesn't work they take it then to the leaders of the church who are the deacons who you - God - has appointed by His church. And that is the way that it should have been done. It hasn't been done and we have to deal with that. That's the reason for the meeting this evening. But I do not think that it's been done properly. I'll say that publicly and you're at liberty to disagree with me, but not from the microphone. It should have gone first to the church secretary and then to the deacons, and if the person or people who are not satisfied then they have the right to request, as many of you did following the letter, this extraordinary church meeting. Now I don't wish to rehearse chapter and verse but, if someone wants me to, I will do at the close of the meeting. This is a meeting to discuss and consider what is written in the letter - the deacons have responded to the church. I have not received any notification from anybody that they wish to challenge the letter that was sent by the deacons to every church member. Therefore, it is not my intention tonight to deal with any issues to do with heresy. The deacons have made a statement on that and I understand, Howard [addressing Howard Bowen, the church secretary], there has been no comeback on it. So, for me, the issues tonight are nothing to do with the heresy which is written within - the claim of heresy which is written about - but the other issues that are there. They are pastoral issues. [Having made a statement that claims that the Scriptural guidelines clearly show we should have gone to Roger privately to air our grievances, and then taken the path detailed in Matthew 18:15-17 if we received no satisfaction from that action, we should ask why the church is not following Scripture, but calling a 'Special Meeting' which over-rides Scripture?! Lewis fails to differentiate between doctrinal error and 'a grievance' yet states that 'this is the way we operate our Baptist policy.' He is also ignorant of the fact that we had taken our complaint about doctrinal aberrations to Wheelhouse directly - and he brushed them off with un-Scriptural replies as indicated elsewhere in the text- and also to representatives of the deacons the previous summer - at their invitation! So he is also ignorant of the fact that we did take it 'to the leaders of the church …(who he claims) are the deacons who you - God - has appointed by His church.' It was then in their jurisdiction, in whatever capacity they saw that to be, but they did nothing to prevent Wheelhouse from continuing in the same mode - as the evidence from Wheelhouse's own mouth and the mouths of witnesses proves (see later evidence). He is also incorrect when he states: 'And that is the way that it should have been done. It hasn't been done and we have to deal with that. That's the reason for the meeting this evening. But I do not think that it's been done properly.' We specifically asked, in our covering letter (see Page 7; Section 38) to the church members, for them to request this 'extraordinary church meeting' and that is why this meeting was held, not because it was called by others in response to our letter. Lewis also seems to be ignorant of this fact! It is also a disgrace that he reveals his bias when he admits that he 'spent yesterday with your pastor - part of yesterday.' Did he really think it was Scriptural for a man leading this meeting and clearly giving it direction, or trying to bias the meeting in a direction that he thought fit - as I emphasise in a minute, to spend even part of the previous days with one of the parties involved in what was essentially a court case? Incredibly he says of this other party, Wheelhouse: 'He is here because I have encouraged him to be here. It is right that he is here. And, towards the end, Roger will have an opportunity to respond if he so wishes - to what has gone on here tonight and to other things.' Of course it is right for him to be there - did Lewis really think that there was any other option but for Wheelhouse to be present! When Lewis gave his opinion of the letter he then stated: 'I'll say that publicly and you're at liberty to disagree with me, but not from the microphone.' Again, did he seriously think that no one was Scripturally allowed to question his interpretation of the events before they had even been examined? Did he really think he would be able |
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