Current Ministry Downgrades

Like so many other ministries, Come Over and Help is experiencing what I can only call a downgrade. There are many little things I've noticed over recent years but a couple of glaring examples has driven me to go public in my condemnation and I can no longer recommend them as a ministry to support.

First, there's the issue of Ukraine. I too have lamented the sundering of Ukraine and the troubles that have developed in that country. For many years it seemed as if COAH was trying to stay out of it and simply report on the broken congregations in the Donbass and the refugee crisis that resulted from the conflict. But then something changed and the organisation seemed to clearly be siding with the official line of the Western-backed Ukrainian state.

The history and geography of Ukraine is quite complicated as is its recent political history. Additionally this is all overshadowed by a larger geopolitical struggle between American-led NATO and Russia. Ukraine is unenviably caught in the middle. There's been plenty of sinister doings on both sides.

But then more recently COAH has shifted further and now in the latest issues we're seeing partnership and reporting coming from chaplains to the Ukrainian military. That's a step too far. While I'm no fan of Vladimir Putin and his regime, the regime in Kiev is just as corrupt and has been manipulated and used by the West in its new Cold War with Moscow. Christians should stay out of it and testify against all the political orders involved – the corrupt oligarchs and American cronies in Kiev, as well as the Russian parties and proxies in both Kiev and Eastern Ukraine. Moscow should be condemned, just as NATO and the forces in Washington DC should be condemned for their meddling and exploitation of peoples in strategic parts of the world. 

But that's not the stand COAH has chosen to take. It has thrown in with the NATO line and now openly partners with elements of the Ukrainian military and state. The Russian annexation of the Crimea and the proxy battle being fought in the Donbass did not appear out of the blue. There's a context for it and again its part of a larger struggle which involves the Balkans, Central Europe, the Caucasus, and even Central Asia. If you're going to take a stand you had better explain why. I don't want to hear repeated Western state propaganda coming from a Christian organisation.

If that wasn't enough I was disheartened to discover that Sacha Walicord is on the board of COAH. I guess I hadn't looked too closely in awhile. I'm not sure how long he's been there. I wrote about Walicord in 2018. The link can be found here:

https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-cruelty-of-theonomy-and-its.html

He is not someone I can support and I was appalled to discover that not only is he now a leader of the organisation, he's actively involved in the ministry's teaching. His lectures are being disseminated to current and aspiring pastors in Europe via COAH's programmes. Not only can I not support or endorse this, I must condemn it. As argued in the linked piece Walicord is ignorant of the Scriptures and promotes a heretical form of Christianity. I would think that some of those who endorse COAH would also be given reason to pause and reconsider. It upsets me to think that his teachings are being directly pushed into European church settings. This is all the more problematic given the current political climate in Europe and the resurgence of Right-wing political parties – it's certainly the cloth Walicord is cut from. I know what he is and what he's really about even if he's not being entirely open about it.

This was really a disheartening discovery. So many other ministries I have appreciated, such as Chapel Library seem headed down this road. Chapel Library, the printing ministry of Mt. Zion Bible Church in Pensacola, Florida was headed by LR Shelton a man who seemed to understand the ethos of Amillennialism and the Christian's place vis-à-vis the culture and the world. After his death, he was replaced by Jeff Pollard who has slowly steered the organisation in a new direction. They still primarily publish old authors from previous centuries but I've noticed a lot of contemporary authors creeping in and this is in keeping with Pollard who seems to be partnering more and more with Dominionist-minded and even Theonomist-types such as Scott Brown and the deceitful and deranged Kevin Swanson. I don't like where it's headed.

I've noticed the same with Paul Washer. He may be associated with Theonomist-types who seem to be more separatist and antithetical in their styles and followings (such as Brown and Swanson) but if he understood what these people are really about, he would see they are worldly wolves in sheep's clothing that want nothing more than to wield power and become the Establishment. Washer is destroying his testimony by sharing the stage with these people. They seem to take 'conservative' stands with regard to Christian ethics and the Scripture but they're Judaizing heretics and others are little more than the captains of big organisations (small when compared to what's out there) but big enough and certainly lucrative enough. Washer's message is going to get lost in a sea of mammon and Right-wing politics. Their antithesis is only within the political sphere.

We must remain ever-vigilant. Some ministries we can continue to endorse and utilise with caution and yet there are others that are crossing dangerous lines and it can reach a point in which we must turn away. Apostasy is something that characterises the Last Days order. While heartbreaking to be sure, it's nothing new. The aforementioned folks are not apostates but I tremble and I fear the roads they're heading down.