tornadoes are destructive things...

Please take the time and effort to get the Gospel right: your eternal destination depends on it!

Tornadoes are destructive things. Some tornadoes are puny, snake-like funnels capable of uprooting small trees, damaging homes, and could certainly cause injury or even death to animals and people. Other tornadoes are massive, wedge-shaped monsters a mile wide; these tornadoes are people killers and obliterate absolutely everything in it's path. 

Just like tornadoes, heretical, abusive, legalistic, non-gospel preaching churches are destructive entities too. They hurt people spiritually, emotionally, and physically. They bind people with moral rules and endless to-do lists. They guilt people into giving more money than they can afford. They divide families and destroy relationships, and yes, sometimes they even kill people in the name of Christ. By far the worst calamity to befall naive and unsuspecting people who are taught a false gospel is the everlasting torment of Hell! What you believe matters.  

When a tornado hits a house, a town, or a city, it leaves behind unmistakable clues that it was there. Of course there is the physical clues; toppled trees, leveled buildings,  overturned cars, downed power wires, injured and dead people.

Then there are the testimonies of people whose lives are personally and tragically affected by the destructive power of the tornado itself. "My house was smashed to bits". "A tree fell on my car". "I got a cut on my face by a piece of flying glass". "My mom and dad both died in that tornado".  It would not be difficult to conclude then, by the presence of physical clues combined with personal testimonials that real suffering and loss has happened due to a tornado.

Now let's apply these principles to false churches in general, and The Crossing Church in particular. What physical clues can be collected and studied that  validate my claim that The Crossing is a heretical, abusive, legalistic, non-gospel preaching church?

Well, we would first have to agree that we all use the same authoritative standard, otherwise there is no use having any discussion at all. Fortunately, the one authoritative standard The Crossing and I can agree on is the Bible; In the first of ten doctrinal statements, confessed on behalf of Crossing leadership it says, and I quote this exactly as it was written out on the "I Love My Church". video, "The Bible is God's Word and totally accurate. It is our final authority".

That is true. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NKJV) says this of the whole Bible, "All Scripture (the Bible) is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."  

 So The Crossing claims that the Bible is authoritative, it's totally accurate, and that the Bible is their final authority on all they preach, teach, and how to conduct their lives. So, if they believe that 2 Timothy 3:16-17 is God's Word, then they should have no problem being reproved and corrected by God's Word. Which is what I aim to do. 

To summarize, I have established an authoritative standard in the Bible. The Crossing profess that the Bible is their final authority. And, I assume that most of us who think that The Crossing is a heretical, abusive, legalistic, non-gospel preaching church, also profess the Bible as their final authority. Christians use Scripture to instruct in righteousness, teach us Truth, correct and reprove error. We believe Scripture is complete in that it contains everything we need to know without any further revelation from God. True Gospel-getting people understand and embody 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

Now that we have an objective standard of discernment established that we all agree on called "the Bible", let's return to the question: What physical clues can be collected  and studied that  validate my claim that The Crossing is a heretical, abusive, legalistic, non-gospel preaching church?

This is not too difficult a question to answer. Collect information available to the public and  then compare it all with what the Bible teaches.  Take your time and do it right. You can examine their beliefs and activities as documented in print, audio, and video media. You can go  to The Crossing website and read everything available. You can  also watch and listen to their sermon archives. You can examine both Kelly and Eric Dykstra's blog entries or utilize social networking avenues like Facebook. You can look into what kind of theological training each have, (Kelly Dykstra is also a "lead pastor" at The Crossing along with her husband Eric).

And don't just examine the available evidence, but also take note of essential Christian beliefs that should be present, but are altogether missing. For example, In the New Testament the Gospel is absolutely central to everything. Yet I have never observed any mention of the Gospel in any of The Crossing's teachings. It is suspiciously absent. My observation too is that much of their teachings are not clearly and explicitly explained, so beware of confusing language, fuzzy logic, and any proclamation's of truth that make a red flag go up telling you that something isn't right.

Use your Bible to scrutinize anything you can get your hands on. That's the principle of 2 Timothy 3:16-17 in action. Do things match up with God's Word or do they not? Do they preach the Gospel as explained and commanded in Scripture? Or are they just a pack of hungry wolves in sheep's clothing who preach a false gospel ready to devour vulnerable and biblically illiterate victims?

These are the things I will help you sort out, using the Bible as my final authority too. Just to make it fair, I invite all Crossing leadership and "partners" (apparently they don't have members, they have partners) to defend their church beliefs and activities, and also critique my assertion that  The Crossing is a heretical, abusive, legalistic, non-gospel preaching church, as long as they use Scripture to support their arguments, after all, it is The Crossing's final authority too.  Please use the comments link provided. 

Now for personal testimonies. Just like the tornado that has caused intense pain and suffering to the lives of real people, heretical, abusive, legalistic, non-gospel preaching churches like The Crossing also leave a path of personal destruction, making ruin of people's lives and destroying precious relationships.

I want to share with you  one mother's journey-losing Curtis. It is a Christian mother's personal testimony on how her son Curtis, a once respectful, responsible, and loving  family member, got involved in The Crossing Church. She testifies that under the influence of Eric Dykstra, Curtis's overall demeanor had changed in a bad way, has made some very poor choices affecting his future, and is presently causing division, pain, and sorrow in their once connected family.

In the course of seeking answers, the mother and father had met with both Kelly and Eric Dykstra relating to her son's involvement in The Crossing. The particular details of this mother's testimony are chilling. It's a long read, but worth it.

Just like the tornado victim's eyewitness account of being personally affected by the tornado,  it's Curtis's mother who declares in truth, "My son  in under the influence of a cult-like leader and an involved in an abusive church. My son is not what he used to be. My son  has been manipulated and lied to. My son has been advised by Kelly Dykstra to marry his girlfriend of two weeks. [My son refuses to listen to the wise and loving council  of his mother and father.

What if Eric Dykstra and his twisted theology influence someone you love and care for? If you live northwest  of the twin cities in a small town or in the northwest suburbs of Minneapolis, then you have reason to be concerned. The Crossing wants to invade your city! Remember the goal of  The Crossing: two hundred campuses in twenty years. That is a lot of negative influence, and it's too close to my city to be unconcerned.    

I invite others to contact me if they have a personal testimony involving The Crossing Church, whether good or bad, I would like to hear from you. If you still attend The Crossing and want to get out of there, then I would like to help you in any way possible including helping you find a Bible teaching, Gospel preaching church.

I will be rolling out a lot more material in the future, and address everything the Crossing believes and does using God's Word as the authoritative standard. In the end, I believe they won't have a biblical leg to stand on! So please come back and visit again.