Agape Meals not Communion

[Faith Hopegood]

I heard through the grapevine that there is a "new" revelation in Fellowship Town. Due to his superior connections to the almighty, the latest revelation that Supreme Beloved Leader Vic Hall has changed communion. Of course we all know that Vic receives "special revelations from God" which apparently the rest of the Christian Church misses out on because Vic is special. Not even the 2nd tier leaders or plebs at Swampford have such a clear connection to the Creator.

Apparently the people at Swampford no longer have communion in the church service. I am told that after the church service, the participate in Agape Meals where they fellowship together and discuss the preach word etc etc. Apparently the Swamp Dwellers were told this is the way communion was "supposed to be" and represents a return to true doctrine as happened in the early Christian church. Of course this is all 2nd or 3rd hand information and I may well be wrong.

However it would not surprise me. This is part of Vicious Hall's repertoire of tools of how to keep people believing that he indeed is a great leader, star messenger and on the same level as the Apostle Paul. this is also part of Vic's modus operandi in keeping everyone under his control and not allowing them to think (or even perhaps read the bible independently). The doctrine and practice of the Christian Fellowship is a combination of Gnostic beliefs and Roman Catholic beliefs where all the word comes through the leader (priest or pope), there is no certain assurance of salvation and you have to keep working your way towards heaven. The Gnostic portion is the indisputable fact that people in the Christian Fellowship believe they are superior to the rest of Christianity, they have a better revealed word that no one else has. (this has been preached for decades both from the pulpit, in home fellowship groups and in private counselling sessions).

In summary, the Christian Fellowship is a cultish sect at best with extreme unhealthy group control practices and preaching various forms of twisted scriptures touching at times on heresy. They have certainly completely missed the primary message of the Gospel, that Jesus Christ came to be a sacrifice for us and redeem us from Sin so that we could have complete forgiveness from sins and have a personal loving relationship with God, our Creator and lover of our souls. If they truly only realised the completeness of what a wonderful miracle happened two thousand years ago and be thankful for that miracle, then the CF would have to keep inventing new and exciting words like baubles to distract the plebs from God's real purpose.

I will leave you with a definition of Gnosticism from the trusty Wikipedia

Gnostics considered the principal element of salvation to be direct knowledge of the supreme divinity in the form of mystical or esoteric insight. Many Gnostic texts deal not in concepts of sin and repentance, but with illusion and enlightenment.[3]

[Paul Kovaks]

Yes, I can confirm this new teaching (from 2nd-hand interactions with insiders).
You're totally right, FH, MCF/BCF is just a nutcase cult more than ever but many of the congregation is lapping it up and are still preaching it to their non-XCF families and ex-XCFers as if it's something that could draw us back in (!!!!!).

We've also reliably heard that MCF is
* down to no elders
* Gary Worth & Bob Stevens retired
* Vic's trying to gain control down there and establish BCFers or re-invent MCF
* Nobody in Melbourne wants to run MCF fulltime

It's just incredible that MCF, after all these years - and so many enthusiastic, gifted Christians went thru there - has essentially come to NOTHING.
They trampled us for so many years that NOBODY there wants to put their hand up.
Everyone who had a love of the Word and of people was utterly crushed there.
And we all watched the elders kids hugely favoured for every possible non-menial task.
MCF totally deserves this of course.
Remember, my father's vision of the elders chained to a cart, wearing millstones heading down into a dark abyss.
The congregation is there either because of family or they still stupidly think Vic is an apostle.

[Faith Hopegood]

Thanks for the update from Melbourne Paul. It certainly is strange there are no elders in Melbourne as it goes against everything that the Christian Fellowship stood for for decades - it was eldership that was the centrepiece. How times have changed. Can you confirm that it is now only Vic Hall who is leading the fellowship in Melbourne? Also, how many people are in the Melbourne congregation? It would appear that numbers have continued to fall. It would also be realistic to consider that Covid19 lockdowns have had a bad effect on the fellowship numbers in Victoria. It could be that people have used the opportunity of lockdowns to look for greener pastures elsewhere. It is a very sad indictment on the fellowship that they have completely abandoned the eldership model as it was foundational to everything they stood for. It also speaks to the complete lack of training and succession planning. It is self-evident that the christian fellowship is now just a pyramid church with a narcissist self deluded leader at the top and minions and underlings beneath. It is just a resource extraction exercise. Vic is desperately trying to maintain his position as self appointed star messenger by coming up with new changeable doctrine to impress and control the masses - the Agape Meals is just the latest example of this deluded model of heretical false teachings.

[Paul Kovaks]

It's not that they have abandoned eldership.
It's rather, that they're assessing the current shortlist and there are no obvious appointments OR willing young full-timers.
And we do hear that Vic is heavily involved.

Who knows for sure? Almost no one talks to me.
We pray positively for their repentance and restoration (or else their dissolving to nothing).

[Watcher]

We have just had a second hand confirmation that this agape feast is being done in many xCF's across the country. The false profit is the gift that just keeps giving.

Leaving the xCF is like a good day at the beach: a bit cold when you hop in but all of that is soon forgotten.
All the best Watcher

[Faith Hopegood]

Watcher, I really like your analogy about leaving the Christian Fellowship being like a swim at the beach and is so true. Particularly when the temperature you are coming from is like the poor frog being in the water pot being slowly heated to a boil and the poor from doesn't even know he is being boiled alive. It certainly would be pretty cold if the frog happens to jump out of the constantly heating water into the cool temperature of freedom in the sea for a swim of freedom.

[Faith Hopegood]

Just a quick comment on the importance of communion to Christians throughout the globe.

Depending on which denomination you adhere too, there may be few or may be a lot of traditions. Certainly this is a common comment and accusation used by the CF Elders against all mainstream christian churches as they use it as a method to control their congregation. This is also used to appeal to spirits of pride and the "non-religious" religious spirit that flourish within all CF's. It reinforces the feeling within each elder and congregation member that "we are special", "we have something special", "we have special revelation" and "we are a cut above all other christian churches".

However consider this. For christians there is really only one "tradition" that Jesus asks us to keep and that is the tradition of communion.

The tradition (or instruction by Jesus to keep doing this act) of communion is established in Luke 22:19 where Jesus is sitting in the upper room in Jerusalem and says to the disciples "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me". This is one of the few or only times in the New Testament (and thus the soon to be new christian church) where there is a divine instruction to keep doing an act or tradition. This is in comparison to the Old Testament where it is full of instructions for traditions. So of all the variations within all the christian denomination, this is the one common act or remembrance or tradition that we are instructed to keep. Thus it has been a part of christian worship for the last 2000 years that when we meet together, it is appropriate to have communion together as we reverently worship our Lord.

Not knowing the exact details of Vic Halls latest special word of the "agape meal", it is hard to comment with certainty. However I have heard a couple of anecdotes from people who attend the Christian Fellowship that communion is not longer part of the CF worship service but that it is done after the service as people meet together and have an agape meal. I am not sure if this is a huge CF corporate feast hosted at the church site put on by the CF elders or if it is done in peoples private homes as part of an after church midday meal with a few friends or home group followers. If this "agape meal" is not done corporately but done in the home then it says a lot about the corporate CF worship. It also hearkens back to the traditional Jewish passover that is done in the homes of the Jews even today. Of course this fits nicely with Vic's love of inserting Jewish traditions into us gentiles!

However, there are two observations to make.
1. This whole agape meal thing is something straight out of Vic Halls playbook on how to maintain control over the subservient masses by making them believe that Vic and the elders have received new intelligence from on high or a "special revelation". This allows Vic to maintain his lofty guru status and get people to worship and obey him. The head guru has to keep coming up with new revelations and changing things in order to maintain his position of power and control.

2. Removing communion from the mainstream worship services is really walking on dangerous ground and speaks volumes as to how much the CF wants to follow Jesus instructions.

The other area the good folk of the Christian Fellowship need to be wary of, is making the "Agape Meal" a new tradition and worshipping the act. Effectively creating a new tradition that makes the CF no better than any other denomination that functions on salvation by nominal attendance at various CF events as required by the elders.

Not to mention the folly of possibly falling foul of the 1 Corinthian 11: 17-34 scriptures about communion really going astray in particular v20-25. I know first hand of quite a few CF gatherings and celebrations that have been turned into drunken affairs and have had quite a few people comment to me privately in disgust at how many empty grog bottles were lying around after a nights fellowship for one reason or another. The CF people certainly love their wine, of that there is no dispute. Much like the Exclusive Brethren have a great love for hard liquor.

Finally I acknowledge that different Christian denominations have different beliefs as to exactly what happens during the communion service. For example:
1. the Roman Catholics believe that the wine and bread elements are actually trans-substantiated into the Christ himself and they essentially crucify Christ again during the mass.
2. Lutherans dial this down a bit to believe that something powerful and spirituals happens when they partake of the elements but the elements are not actually Christ himself. This is not unexpected since the Lutheran church was formed directly out of the catholic church during the reformation.
3. Most other protestant (non-lutheran) denominations believe that partaking of communion is done as true remembrance acts (pretty much reading the bible scripture straight).

Anyway, this whole agape meal thing is just another degree the rudder of the good-ship Christian Fellowship has gone off course and is not steering straight any more. They are heading for stormy waters and possible shipwreck upon the reef of dodgy teachings and unfortunately many souls are lost in the ongoing shipwreck.

Anyway hope you are all well. I keep praying for all those trapped in the CF. Blessings to you all.
Faith Hopegood.

[Paul Kovaks]

Can't agree more FH.
Yes, it's all about new revelations.
Something to make them distinct.

[Hope4]

AGAPE MEALS NOT COMMUNION

I had missed this topic so I am posting my concerns (no, dismay or disbelief) here as the above information needs to be aired by those of us who missed these posts.

Thank you to those diligent members who have given us insight into the latest heresy by Victor Hall.

How far will this man go to harm, rob or destroy so many lives?

[Hope4]

The Danger of Deception

Cleverly disguised as those who are offering truth, deceivers attempt to lead people away from the truth of Christ-and they've been doing so for over two thousand years.

Using warnings from the apostle John, Alistair Begg reminds us that deceivers can be identified by their view of Christ and the diversion of their teaching from Christ.

When we are firmly grounded in the truth of God's Word, we will not so easily be led away.

• 2 John 1:7-13

FOR THOSE WHO ARE AS DEEPLY DISTRESSED AS I AM, please search for ‘Truth For Life’ and listen or watch this program.

June 15, 2008

ID: 2639 • Sermon