The Abuses of Dr. Robert Morey Part 4: Email Conversations I had with a Member of FCC

[NOTE: I have removed the email conversations since I have found out that Cathrine Castaldi who questioned me in Part 3 is a lawyer here in Irvine. Until I get legal council, I will keep these email conversations private. But what follows is the intro I wrote that went before the emails].

[NOTE 2: I have now put the emails back in becaues I want people to see what I wrote. I want them to read about James, Tom, and the other godly men and women. Let the chips fall where God wants them to].

[NOTE 3: I contacted the lawyer here in Irvine who is named Cathrine Castaldi and she is not the Cathrine who asked me questions here. For the record I never said any where that Morey is suing me. But the coincidence between the two names given the current situation is quite interesting! When I write or report I want to stick to the facts and we should all shy away from speculation].

[Correction: The goodbye card that Anne Morey took away from the girls was not for Linda, it was for Patty].


Well, things sure have gotten interesting! I am grateful and encouraged by the many people commenting and speaking up about this issue. After the recent exodus of people from Faith Community Church, I emailed a friend of mine who is still a member there. I was asking for his mailing information for something unrelated to all this. In passing I asked him a couple questions about how he makes sense of the fact that there is such a high fall out rate among leaders in that church. He replied back with an answer. Then I replied back to him with a very long answer. Below here you will find those three emails now published since several people have commented in the last entry that they want me to post them. There were more emails after that, but mostly they repeat the same things and are also long, so I will spare you those. I have omitted the name of my friend who I emailed to keep him anonymous. He has chosen to stay out of this.

In one of the comments from the last entry, Cathrine Castaldi quotes something I said and then she asks me four questions:

"Multitudes of witnesses have spoken out against him..."
1. Where is the record of these witnesses? If offline, please post them here
2. How many witnesses constitutes "multitudes?"
3. Which specific sins has this multitude spoken out against (Chapter & verse please)?
4. Which Bible passages justify your "Abuses" series?

She concluded by saying:

"Please answer these four questions as best as you can and with the most detail possible. Use first and last names with contact info if possible.
Let me now briefly address these questions."

1.The record of these witnesses spans over many years, and we have good reason to believe probably spans over a couple decades. I do not recognize Cahtrine’s name so maybe she is relatively new over there and is not aware of the other large exoduses that occurred in the past. I have now witnessed three, each time with 30-50 people leaving. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is probably a hundred or more people over these years that left during these three major exoduses. I do not want to at this point start listing their full names and contact info because I have not asked their permission yet. Such will come in time. However, if any of them reading this wish to make that available, I encourage them to put their name and email address in the comments section.

2.How many witnesses constitutes “multitudes”? I think 100 people is “Warrant” to apply the word.

3.Cathrine asks “which specific sins has this multitude spoken out against (Chapter & Verse please)?” But I just wonder if she has actually read anything I have posted or anything anyone has written in the comments sections. Many of these sins are clearly explained. Do we really need a chapter and verse to know that lying, slandering, manipulating, etc. are sins? If she wants me to point in the Bible where Morey is himself in there sinning, well, he’s not in the Bible. But to satisfy her itch a little more I would suggest starting with Clark Gallagher’s Open Letter to Dr. Robert Morey (http://www.cchighland.org/robertmorey-openletter/). In that 19 page letter Clark lists 10 specific sins that he calls Morey to repent of and then he goes on to lucidly define, document, and defend his charges. So if you want concrete specifics, let’s start there.

4.Cathrine asks me, “Which Bible passages justify your "Abuses" series?” I don’t think we need Bible passages to “justify” speaking out in truth, speaking out for the church, and speaking out for the poor and needy (Pr. 31:8-9). That is, those actions are not things that we have to “justify” as though doing so were questionable. When Morey speaks out against the cults or even say, Rick Warren, the same passages that he would use to “justify” doing so would equally apply here. But let me try to satisfy this question a bit more.

First, as Christians our priority is truth. Thus we are called to repent of our own sins as well as expose sin in all other areas of life—especially in the church, and double-specially in church leadership. Of course we are to follow biblical principles for confronting elders in the church (e.g. Matt. 18; 1 Tim. 5:19), and these have been followed ad nauseam with Dr. Morey by these various waves of exoduses. Truth is not to be compromised in order to keep a position, to keep a movement alive, to keep a person protected from getting his or feelings hurt, etc. We are called to rebuke false prophets and teachers as well as crooked Christian leaders. The Bible teaches the priesthood of all believers and so we all have the authority and moral obligation to do these things. The Christian church is not the Roman Catholic hierarchical system where the common person has no voice, no authority, and no right to speak up.

Second, there are specific moral character qualifications to be an elder in the church, and these men are held to a higher standard than other believers. For one thing, elders are supposed to be held accountable by other elders in that church because there is supposed to be a plurality of elders. An elder is a public position much like a congressman, and they are held to a higher standard because they have so much influence over the lives of people. Dr. Morey is not only just a local church elder, he also heralds himself as an international scholar. He is thus open to more public scrutiny because of this.

Someone might protest here and say, “Ya but you are attacking his character and not his doctrine. That’s just an ad hominem attack, which is fallacious.” It would be a fallacy if I were in a formal debate with an agreed upon topic, but this is no formal debate. The qualifications of an elder are primarily all character qualities and not how much a man knows. And Morey’s character as an elder is exactly what is in question here. I (and many others) am not challenging or questioning his doctrine, but his character in relation to these qualifications. If he had a problem, say, lying to his wife in his marriage and was in counseling for it, I would remain silent and have respect for him. That would be his personal life and that’s one thing. But he is a public leader influencing God’s people how to think and live both inside his own church and also outside it to the larger body of Christ. Those individuals that act in such a way that brings shame, disgrace, and reasons to further unbelief should be rebuked and admonished to change.

Third, Matthew 18:15-17 gives guidelines for confronting a brother who has sinned against you. This process was followed (or at least they tried) by many people including Javier Villigran, Clark Gallagher, and others. Thus Clark’s open letter is “justified” as well as these current ones, given that he has failed to follow Matthew 18 several times, he has misused this text against these people, he has failed to meet the qualifications of an elder (if what we are saying is correct—heck, even half correct), and he has shown zero remorse over his attitudes, words, and actions. The Bible says, “tell it to the church” when he refuses to listen to these warnings. The context of the passage would assume that the other elders would be the one’s telling it to the church, but since there have never been any there and still are none over there (to my knowledge), the people of God are speaking out. At this point, we are at the public stage, though many will say we are at the tax collector stage.

Fourth, Ezekiel 33 gives us the “watchman on the wall” principle, namely, that we should be on the watch out for error, abuse, and heresy and speak up when we see it. We are called to warn God’s people of these things, and elsewhere in Ezekiel, false and bad shepherds of Israel are rebuked.

Fifth, the apostle Paul calls erring people out by name at places in the Bible. He lists their sins. Also, and maybe most relevant in this current discussion, the apostle John calls out Diotrephes by name for his sins in the church. Diotrephes was most likely an elder or leader in that local church. John says:

I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us. Therefore, if I come, I will call to mind his deeds which he does, prating against us with malicious words. And not content with that, he himself does not receive the brethren, and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church. Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but[d] he who does evil has not seen God. Demetrius has a good testimony from all, and from the truth itself. And we also bear witness, and you know that our testimony is true (3 John 9-12).

Diotrephes was an abusive leader in the church. John says that when he got there he would “call to mind his deeds which he does” but then he goes on to list some of those things. Interestingly, Diotrephes love “to have the preeminence among them”. He was a power hungry leader in the church who put people out of the church who questioned or did not go along with his program.

Finally, when Dr. Morey accuses good people of all manner of evil sins, few if any people question him, few if any demand chapter & verse from him, and few if any ask to see what evidence he basis his accusations on. When he does it, it is the work of the Lord; when other’s do it to him, it is the work of the devil trying to destroy his “front-line” ministry. On biblicalthought.com Darrin at Faith Defenders made a public offer for anyone to come to the church and see “all the evidence” against Tom and another brother. I have only chimed in once over there and all I said was, “I will come to your church and see your evidence. And if you have nothing to hide then you will not mind if I bring a tape recorder and two pastors with me.” They did not let that comment onto their blog (though I have it saved). The only reason I wanted to bring two pastors with me was not to moderate or have them debate anything, but just to serve as silent witnesses to all that was said and seen. Stephen emailed me the next day and denied me to see this “evidence.” Among other things he said the only condition I can come there is if I completely repent from all my sin. He said I am not allowed on their blog because I was publicly delivered over to Satan. Or was it that, like in all the other past scandals, they would be exposed for having no evidence and that it is all made up, all a smoke screen? I will base my reputation on the characters and reputations of Tom Maxham and another church leader. If there is damning evidence to show that they were “plotting to take over the ministry” and that “Tom had his hands in the [financial] cookie jar,” well then I will be shown to be a fool for defending them and I will repent for calling Dr. Morey a liar on this issue. But I have seen them use this “we have secrete evidence tactic” all too many times while I was there. They dupe the people and then they sweep the whole scandal under the rug, ignore it ever happened, try to move on and hope to God that no one ever raises any more questions about it. Then in time people do forget about it and it is history. Dustin Hoffman also saw this public offer to see the evidence and has called the ministry several times in order to make an appointment to see it. They have not returned his calls. For the record, I have not talked with Dustin one time since all this has gone down. They will keep us at bay to protect themselves from being exposed by saying we are now delivered over to Satan. I didn’t know that they could deliver over members of other churches to Satan posthumously. When I read that I immediately emailed the elders at my church to tell them to watch out and be on guard, for there is an apostate heretic in their fold who is delivered over to de devil. These accusations against Tom were made in a public members meeting. Where’s the evidence to prove it Dr. Morey? Let me examine it with two or three witnesses and let me tape record our meeting for all to see. I will transcribe it and post it.

If all these men (Javier, Clark, Tom, Mike, myself and others) are so unstable, untrustworthy, and corrupt, why did Dr. Morey put them all in leadership positions over the church? Why did he publicly ordain them (not as elders in his church) but as ministers of the gospel? If they are really all the things he is calling them, what does that say about his abilities as a shepherd to put godly men into leadership over the people? You see, if these men are all corrupt and unregenerate as he is now claiming, then what kind of leader would put them in leadership positions over his church? On the other hand, if Dr. Morey was correct in spotting these godly men who stood out and were effective leaders, then are we really to believe the evil things he is speaking about them now? How could he let them help lead his church for years but then so quickly and so coldly to turn on them and accuse them of heinous sins? Which is it Dr. Morey?

In later email conversations I had with this anonymous member at FCC, I said to him that you can ignore all else I have said and chose not to respond, but please answer me one question: do you really think Tom (and another leader who wishes to be unnamed now) are guilty of those awful charges? To this day he still has not answered me, probably because Morey instructed the congregation on a Sunday morning to not read any blogs or emails, not take any phone calls, and not associate with anyone who speaks out against his ministry. They censored my request to see the evidence on their blog and they censored this post by Mike Robirds yesterday:

Mario,
I have been silent on this blog up until now. As I read your writing today, I wholeheartedly agree with scripture that we need to test ourselves continually to see if we are in the Faith. As a result, one assurance we can have to see if we are in the Faith is our Love for the brethren. 1 John 3:23-24, 4:7. In the last few weeks, I have watched as certain men on this blog, have maliciously, and cruelly attacked a certain group of people, because they left a “local” church body. They have been called: False brothers, apostates, rebellious, wolves, etc…all because they deemed that it was time to move on from a local congregation. I ask you, where is the love for the brethren Mario? Eph 4:1-2 Paul exhorts us to walk with all Humility, gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another etc… Col 3:12- Put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness etc. I have not seen this from this blog site. There have been a lot of people to leave your local body, I ask you why? Are we all Apostates? Where have been the calls for reconciliation, repentance? If we are in sin, Galatians 6: 2 - tells us that those of you who are spiritual restore those who are caught in sin with a spirit of GENTLENESS. Regardless of what you say Mario, I do not consider you a false brethren, or apostate. I served in your present church for 9 years faithfully. I gave of my time, my energy, and my resources. I even shared some great fellowship time with you in prayer, and talking about life’s issues and the struggle of being a man of God in a fallen world. I ask, did you consider me a brother then? While I agree with your blog, I think you better look at 1 Cor 13. For you guys can have all knowledge, and win every argument, you can have a prophetic word, and even believe that you are Martyrs, because your the last ones left. But if you have not love for the brethren, and yes, those that left your “local” church body are regenerate believers, then you have nothing. I call on you and the rest to stop these attacks, against Godly people, and just get on about the business of serving the Lord in whatever capacity he has called you. Thanks for listening, and I welcome your comments.

This comment, like mine, was censored and not allowed on their blog. Why do you think that is? Was Mike’s post malicious and unbiblical? Or could it be that it would have exposed what he said? How could they respond to this? They could not and so they blocked it.

You know, I guess it's possible that all these people over all these years are just all liars and are just making this stuff up. It is possible that they are all, as Morey claims, being used by Satan to work against him. But is it really believable? Is it more believable that all these good and godly people are all consorting together and creating lies, or that this one man who no one ever questions is the one spinning stories? Friends, if you are honest with yourself before God, I hope you can see all this. What follows next are the initial email conversations I had with a good friend who still is a member at Faith Community Church. If you choose to comment, please do not nit pick little things and side track the real issue.

The Emails:
Wed, 19 Mar 2008 20:23:21 -0700 (PDT)
Sent to: Friend at Faith Community Church

Thanks little brother. I am curious though what you think about so many key leaders leaving the church. Do you think they are all wrong and mistaken? Why do you think leadership seems to leave in series and waves there? What say you?

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 10:52:40 -0700
Sent to: Joel Hughes

[Note as of 04-25-08: my friend at FCC who wrote this initial email to me has asked me to remove his email. Thus it is gone. However, the reason he gave as to why he thought that so many people were leaving is because they are all prideful.]

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:40:59 -0700 (PDT)
Sent to: friend at Faith Community Church

Alright young Jedi, I have thought for a while about how to respond to this. My goal is not to try to pry you out of there. But I would like to give you some things to think about.

I will be a bit blunt in some of this but do not take it personally. I have great respect for you and your abilities. I have plans for a future apologetics/education ministry to take over the world and you are one of the few I entertain in mind to have as a partner—that is, if you will have me. But from what I remember, you were never very tied into the ministry, never really knew too many people or leadership. That might have changed by now. But I must say that you are very naïve, not in your outlook on life, but as to what you know about Dr. Bob and the ministry. When I was there (for almost 5 years) I got really involved and I got to know most of the leadership very well. I saw many things that I thought were bad or even sinful. These things I wrote in detail to Dr. Bob in my 10 page letter to him, of which I heard from several people, that he never read. But instead of reading it and taking it seriously, he has since accused me of gossip, slander, and pride to several people, including my current pastor. When my pastor asked him about what I did and what slander and gossip I did, Dr. Morey back tracked and changed the subject. He is master of doing that. But he warned my pastor about me and told him that I was dangerous and unstable. Thankfully, my pastor saw through it. I have only showed my letter to Dr. Bob, Tom M, and my pastor. I have not gossiped or slandered in any way, but all I wanted to do was get out silently and move on. But he follows those who try to do that and calls their pastors and poisons the well. Here is another case in point.

As you remember, Javier and Lisa Villigran were “ex-communicated” from the church several years ago. I was on the inside when all that was going down. I talked with both sides and the leadership as well. That family was virtually ruined for a couple years. Javier wept on the phone to me and could not believe what Dr. Bob was doing to them, the tactics he was using. Javier and Lisa were with Dr. Bob for many years, before I got there. We were good friends with them outside the church. They are a godly family and got along well with everyone in the church. That family served him so faithfully and Javier helped me lead the kid’s ministry. He was in charge of half of it. Javier had the audacity to question some of the things he saw going on in the ministry with the finances. He got the run around and Dr. Bob evaded him and his questions. He was then formally delivered over to Satan for gossip. When this was happening I was in one of the morning staff “prayer” meetings and I was just listening to Cindy spew vitriolic poison about Javier and Lisa. It made me sick. I got a little angry and asked her some point blank questions; I essentially challenged the “evidence” she had. She had no answer, but more of a blind devotion to Dr. Bob and the ministry. Dorothy Kusch was so sickened by Cindy’s answers and bitterness that she just got up and left. I am getting to my other “case in point” soon. Last week I had lunch with the Villigrans and we reconciled. I learned many other interesting and scary things about Dr. Bob. But my case in point is that when they left the church, they started going to a reformed Baptist church. I visited that church last week and the pastor, Pastor Elliot, gave an amazing sermon on the resurrection. The Villigrans started going to this church. Pastor Elliot tried to contact Dr. Bob to talk to him about them. Dr. Bob would not take his calls. He tried to set up an appointment at the ministry but they would not let him. But interestingly there was a pastor’s conference in some other state and pastor Elliot was there. Someone pointed out to him that that’s Dr. Morey over there. So pastor Elliot went over and introduced himself and asked about the Villigrans. Dr. Bob said he had never heard of them. He said this several times until finally Elliot asked enough questions that Dr. Bob flipped again and said, “Oh yes, now I remember them.” He lied my friend. He outright lied. There is no way he could have forgotten who they were. Javier tried many times to meet with Dr. Bob and reconcile, but Dr. Bob would not have it unless Javier submitted to his ridiculous rules. Javier and his new pastor tried to reach Dr. Bob to again seek reconciliation, but he would not do so. I guess my case in point is not exactly the same, but oh well.

May I also remind you that Clark was publicly open in his letters and in his private emails that I have seen that he wanted and was willing to reconcile with Dr. Bob. Dr. Bob would not do it. He closed the books and said in his email (which I have) that he no longer ever wanted to talk to Clark. Is that biblical? Is that godly? Is that practicing what he teaches? If you don’t believe me you can read the long letter I wrote him where I document it from the emails with time and dates. Again, Clark was one who was so devoted to Dr. Bob it almost at times made me sick. Clark got axed from Dr. Bob blindly and in public. It is all documented. Dr. Bob was sinfully unbiblical. Clark has documented all this also in his open letter to Dr. Morey which you can read online.

My friend, do you realize how many people have left that church and how many families and people have been hurt and broken by that man? All of these people served him and the ministry so faithfully for years (of course they were serving God in doing so or at least should have been). We did so much for that man from teaching Sunday mornings, Mondays, Sunday Seminary, ran the church to helping him clean his garage or taking him to dinner. And that’s just the start. All these people who were leaders in the church who have left are mostly all still in contact and we are working on putting together some sort of FCC reunion, and the number of these people would outnumber the current population of the church right now.

May I also reiterate that the whole Clark thing was ridiculous? Again, I was listening carefully to both sides when that went down. Dr. Bob straight out lied to me about Clark and things that Clark allegedly said to me. He said that Clark told TJ some outlandish things, but when we asked TJ he said (and I have it on email) that Clark never said any such thing to him. I didn’t believe it when Dr. Bob told me these things there sitting in his minivan; I didn’t believe it because they were so outlandish and unbelievable. He did not do what Dr. Bob said he did or said. Again, there were slanderous lies.

I ask you, does any church you know of have such a high fall out rate among its leadership? I want you to think of a few people in particular. Aside from the Villigrans, I want you to think about Tom and Patty Maxham. If there was ever a couple more dedicated to the cause and the ministry it was them. Tom read over 100 books recommended to him by Dr. Bob and read dozens of books on counseling and went to many seminars. He and Dorothy Kusch counseled dozens and dozens of people and families at the church. Tom put in countless hours late into the night counseling people at the church, all for free. He was still working full time at the fire station. Dr. Bob completely trusted both his ability and his doctrine. He spoke highly of Tom many times about his gifts in this way. On top of all that, Tom took an early retirement from his job as chief of the fire station so he could devote himself full time to the ministry—again without any pay. In taking this early retirement he took a large hit financially on what he could get in his retirement, but he did this for Christ and the church. Is it really “pride” that caused Tom the counselor to leave in disgust? He said on the phone that leaving there was the healthiest thing he could do for his family. What do you think he meant by that? He was on the inside, he saw and he knew too much. One more thing, he has meet with the Villigrans to reconcile and apologize for how things went down with them. He knew that it was done all wrong and that lies were told about them to demonize them. I think if Tom had any fault it was that he just needed to stand up earlier to the abuses and lies and schemes. When I left the church, Tom pleaded several times with me to stay. He said he would talk to Dr. Bob and they would work on many of the problems I had brought up and confronted in my letter. Even then he was staunchly devoted to Dr. Bob and the church. No longer. They have now stood up. The only people I ever gave my Dr. Bob letter to were Dr. Bob, Tom, and my pastor. Tom read it then and re-read it recently and he said that I was right on in everything and that I saw many of the problems early or sooner than many others. But what I mention in it is all for the most part public knowledge and public things.

I would have you consider Mike Robirds who was with Dr. Bob from the very beginning when he arrived in California. Mike served Dr. Bob and his family for so long and in so many ways. Remember also that Dr. Bob put Mike in charge over the men’s discipleship. When I left the church, Mike also tried hard to keep me to stay. I remember the last time we talked (other than just recently) was at my job at Calvary Chapel. He came by to pick something up. When I brought up all the problems of Dr. Bob he said that we just need to put our heads down and keep moving forward. I immediately thought of an ostrich who buries his head in the sand. Mike was mad at me and so blindly devoted to Dr. Bob, he completely trivialized all the problems. I did recently get a chance to meet and speak with Mike and we have reconciled. He is so amazed that he could be deceived for so long. He could tell you much more. When the ladies in the women’s discipleship class passed a card around to say goodbye to Patty (Tom's wife), Annie Morey came over and ripped it out of a ladies hand and said in complete anger and said that they are not allowed to talk to her. You see friend, they have a cultish mentality in controlling who you can associate with. They black list people and then instruct them that they are not allowed to talk with them. Nicki and I were blacklisted. We heard from a girl in the women’s discipleship that in one of their meetings Cindy instructed (commanded) them that they were not to talk to Nicki and Joel Hughes because Nicki’s husband is deceived by Satan right now and that they need to pray for Nicki. OK. But not only were we blacklisted Dr. Bob slandered me later on to several people for no reason.

I would have you consider [name omitted until I have permission to use it] who also helped run the church and worked there for either no pay or for the most meager pay. But she also served the church in so many ways for no pay like helping run the kids ministry, doing secretarial work...omitted for now...She is one of the old saints that every church needs. She finally could stand it no longer either. She got too close and learned too much. During her last time there she was in a member’s meeting and she dared to ask or challenge with some questions in public about some things. She said that Cindy got angry and pointed her finger at her and said something to the effect that we will discuss that in private, not here. She has left and since reconciled with us and many others who were ejected or blacklisted.

Oh and there are so many others. I could mention Jim the financial guy the ministry had who taught the Crown Financial seminars and courses to the church. Jim worked for the church for a while doing all the financial stuff. When he finally found out how they deal with finances and all the schemes for money, he left. Dr. Bob slandered him and hounded him afterward. When he found out how insanely high the interest rate on the building loan was, he was horrified that Dr. Bob would be so biblically irresponsible and place such a burden on the people.

[I have omitted several names at this place from the original email since I need their permission]

I could go on and mention so many more people just like these who served for years and formed and lead the church.

Think about how much money Dr. Bob raises and gets. Do you know how many fund raising tactics he has done and how many hundreds of thousands of dollars if not millions of dollars he has raised? Think of one example, the Crusader’s Club. That is purely a money making scheme. People from the inside have said this. It is such a joke and one reason I never got involved in it because I saw right through it from the start. Pay hundreds of dollars and you get a coffee mug, a sticker, and access to Dr. Bob’s email address to ask him questions. Please. But the men in the men’s discipleship group were forced to pay into it each month. You can bet I fought that one and almost dropped out of the group over that.

The whole initial deacon process was also a fraud and unbiblical. It didn’t even make sense. Read my letter for details on that one. The leadership of the church is really just Dr. Bob and some odd “Board” of yes men and yes women. Things are really just run by Dr. Bob and his vice president, Cindy. She controlled the selection of deacons more than Dr. Bob did. Please do not mistake all this as me being bitter. I am absolutely not. I am long over it. I am concerned about you though. When Dr. Bob wanted to go on the radio the whole staff and whole board was against it. They were already overworked and the church could not afford it since they were in the red every month with bills. Did he listen? No he forced it through and plunged the church into huge financial debt (ca. $40,000). Read my letter for more on that. His priorities are not the church and the people, but his projects and visions (CBUS and Radio and his (n)ever coming book).

And may I say that after 6 or so years there still are no elders in the church! What does that tell you? Do you know how many good and qualified men have come through there who wanted to be elders? One by one, they all get ejected or leave in disgust. Clark, Tom, Mike, and myself were all in Dr. Bob’s eldership discussion group. We read books together on eldership and meet once a month to discuss the book. Dr. Bob came in the beginning but eventually just stopped showing up and gave it over to Tom to run. The unspoken goal was that some of us there would eventually become elders. Nothing ever came of it because Dr. Bob did nothing with it and just forgot about it (and us). He runs the whole show on his own and it will NEVER be any different. There is always talk of elders, but it never happens and years go by. My friend, if you have hopes of becoming an elder there some day, I can assure you, you never will. He will never do it. He will give you all sorts of hopes and promises, he will give you assignments and books to read, but he will never do anything else. If you ever do become an elder there please print this email (just one page) and I will literally eat it and stand on my head. He will not tolerate sharing the power with anyone. It is Bob Morey Live and Solo, or it is nothing at all.

The man made so many promises to me. Countless times he would tell me that he wanted to bring me on staff full time but they just didn’t have the money to do so. I waited patiently and honestly expected nothing. I had hopes, but I expected nothing. My wife will attest to that. But then when they had no money to bring me on staff, guess what? But I didn’t think much of it and waited patiently. I watched the staff grow and grow. Hmmmm. Then I get promises again that he wants to bring me on staff or even eldership. But again, there was no money. But then he launches the radio show. Ok. It was one thing after another, like there was no money to pay the good intelligent men who could lead, but there was money to pay his daughter a salary and his son also for being the on staff “proof reader”? If there were ever a conjured job, it was that one. And there were still tons of errors in the proof read works!

Those who get too close to him or get too much power or question his ways, they get cut. He will make up stories and accusations and lies. This is well documented with all the cases mentioned above. This is why people leave (or one big reason), the man is a continual liar. He slanders like crazy.

Have you ever heard a pastor or Christian leader boast about himself and his abilities any where as close as you have him? Could you imagine some of your other heroes talking about themselves as he does? He creates and promotes a culture that praises him to high heaven as the smartest and greatest scholar since Jonathan Edwards or Calvin. This is part of the deception that keeps people there. And let’s be honest friend, his scholarship is not even all that—at least compared to so many others out there right now. His “doxological” apologetics is for the most part a joke. I have also heard of plagiarism in his work. His 40 plus books consist of at least half little pamphlets, and the bound books he has are small and basic little intros to stuff. He does have a few impressive works. But also, do you really believe he reads every work in the library of congress when doing a research project? Please, no one could do that. There is just no way you could read thousands of volumes in a weekend trip. It would take a day just to read through all the titles. This is another lie to magnify himself and create that kind of culture. You get used to and inoculated to it over time. But most who first show up are shocked at his self-promotion and either never come back or get inoculated also.

But all this aside even, there are real and serious other problems going on. These are serious enough to leave. But I would rather have you hear it from others who recently left. If this response has stirred any concern in you, I would encourage you to contact some of those men and talk to them. They will tell you. What I have said here is just the tip of the ice berg, of what is out in public view.

I do trust that you will come to see the truth that I speak of eventually. Either you will see it and say “enough is enough” or you will get screwed by Dr. Bob somehow. I warn you, he fights very dirty. He did so with the Villigrans, he did so with Clark, he did so with me, and he is now doing so with many who have left and many others in the past. He does stuff that you would simply not believe. I would also challenge you to let your girlfriend read this (if you guys are still together) because often the women are more sensitive to these things than we are and they see them earlier. If you choose to keep this response from her and keep your head in the sand like an ostrich that will tell a lot. Let her read this and see what she says.

Why did I leave the church? I left the church because I lost all respect for Dr. Bob as a man and to a large part as a scholar.

Peace
Joel