While the temporal power of the institutionalized church system has greatly diminished from the heyday of the Inquisition, they still try to leverage spiritual threats of the direst consequences imaginable should you not remain aligned with their purposes. Here is the brief account of one man’s excommunication leading to communication with his Lord and Savior, Who is outside of all men’s religions.
Martin Van Popta was brought up in the deceptions of Calvin and Reform Church doctrine. Here he describes what happened as he began to separate himself from the Reform Church, the Lord drawing him out in order to raise him up from the dead, in His time.
On May 15, 2005 I did my “profession of faith” at the Canadian Reformed Church in Hamilton, Ontario. I said “I do” to the following:
Since you have now come here to make this profession before God and His holy church, and hereby to receive admission to the holy supper, we ask you to answer sincerely to the following questions:
First, do you wholeheartedly believe the doctrine of the Word of God, summarized in the confessions and taught here in this Christian church? Do you promise by the grace of God steadfastly to continue in this doctrine in life and death, rejecting all heresies and errors conflicting with God’s Word?
Second, do you acknowledge God’s covenant promises, which have been signified and sealed to you in your baptism? Do you truly detest and humble yourself before God because of your sins and seek your life outside of yourself in Jesus Christ?
Third, do you declare that you love the Lord God and that it is your heartfelt desire to serve Him according to His Word, to forsake the world, and to crucify your old nature?
Fourth, do you firmly resolve to commit your whole life to the Lord’s service as a living member of His church? Do you promise to submit willingly to the admonition and discipline of the church, if it should happen, and may God graciously prevent it, that you become delinquent either in doctrine or in conduct?
Martin VanPopta, what is your answer?
Here is my answer now:
Before doing my “profession of faith,” I had notified the leaders of my church that I would be moving to Alberta in the fall, and wouldn’t continue attending a Canadian Reformed Church. They asked why I was doing the profession of faith, and I replied by asking if I was joining an organisation or just professing my faith publicly. They assured me it was the latter.
I moved to Alberta in November 2005. In November 2006, I received an email from one of the church elders in Hamilton. He wanted me to prove that I was attending a church that maintained the same doctrine that they taught in his church. I was attending the Evangelical Free Church of Lethbridge and they didn’t teach infant baptism, so I couldn’t provide him with any proof.
One month later, on December 17, 2006, the Canadian Reformed Church excommunicated me from the “Body of Christ,” and stated publicly that I needed to repent from my “sinful” action. (Click here to see the excommunication letter.)
If I’m no longer part of the Body of Christ or the Communion of Saints, as stated in this document, then I’m not saved. And Calvin, whose word is considered the “Word of God” by the Reformed Church, says that if I’m not saved, I’ll be roasted alive for over a billion years. If I don’t attend their church and maintain Calvin’s doctrine, then I have sinned and will surely suffer excruciating pain infinitely. This is pure hatred, as Calvin purely hated those who disagreed with him, being “swift to shed blood.”
After the Lord showed Himself to me at the end of 2011, Jeannie (my wife) and I came to believe. Only then did the Lord begin showing me that although He had separated me from the Reformed Church’s buildings, my heart was still bound by Calvin’s spirit and doctrine.
In the spring of 2014, Jeannie and I received the Holy Spirit and the Lord has continued His work in us, correcting, chastening, and blessing us.
I love the Lord and follow His ways as He has revealed them to His prophets, saints, and servants. And because I love Him I hate:
The Reformed churches preach and profess with their creeds that without believing, accepting, and implementing the Trinity, the sacraments, and eternal hellfire, you’re destined for infinite torture with no chance of restitution.
He has shown me by His Spirit and understanding that John Calvin was a devil and his fruits are murder and hatred. Of course, his followers appear righteous and upstanding, but as the Lord says in Romans 3:13-18:
Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit.
The Reformed Churches preach a false Christian Love. They feign a generous inclusive atmosphere and distance themselves from their own doctrine of infinite suffering. But at the foundation of it all, anyone who does not submit and profess their wicked doctrine burns in Hell.
The poison of vipers is on their lips.
Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.
When I grew up in the Reformed Churches, there was constant rumour-spreading and gossip. There was betrayal and anger and hatred. Even now, the spiteful condemnation of the Lord and His Way continues.
Their feet are swift to shed blood;
ruin and misery mark their ways,
and the way of peace they do not know.
Calvin himself had Servetus burned to death slowly with green wood for differing with the Trinitarian doctrine.
There is no fear of God before their eyes.
When I grew up, you were only wrong if you were caught. There was no regard for the Wrath of God. God was going to send other people to Hell, but not me. I could entertain any lust that came my way, because after all, I was saved.
Of course, I wasn’t thinking these actual thoughts, but my actions testified to the contents of my heart. The church was filled with pornography, pedophilia, incest, and every unclean thing, and I was a part of it. We surely did not fear God or we would have been terrified.
The Lord gave me a conscience that I did not have. He gave me repentance I did not know. And He has given me a Peace I could never have believed.
I am so thankful for all that the Lord has done for my family. He has lifted us out of the grave and given us a new life to live for Him. Praise His Name!
Martin Van Popta
Listen to the following important message for all Dutch Reformed Churches: