11/20/2020
This is an OPEN PUBLIC INVITATION to the pastors of SOUTH CREEK CHURCH in Springfield, Missouri, JUSTIN RAY NELSON and BRANDON G. TAYLOR:
I have made this very sincere offer more than once to these pastors and their surrogates, but it always goes ignored and they never respond. They have done this repeatedly even though I have personally known JUSTIN RAY NELSON since 1992 and oversaw his ordination to the Gospel ministry in 2005, and even though I have personally known BRANDON G. TAYLOR since 2007 and oversaw his ordination to the Gospel ministry in 2017. I am now making this offer yet once again, this time publicly so that thousands of individuals in the Christian community who see my websites and social media accounts weekly can know without a doubt I have made every attempt to resolve this conflict and biblically remedy this division which exists. Why someone would reject this offer if they are genuinely biblically correct makes no sense at all, unless, of course, they are not being truthful, are afraid of losing control or being found guilty, or are not wanting to forfeit a lucrative job.
I am publicly calling upon JUSTIN RAY NELSON and BRANDON G. TAYLOR to be mutually accountable and prove their salvation, their humility, their desire to be biblical, their honesty, their desire for biblical reconciliation, and their submission to the authority of Scripture, by fully following and obeying the instructions found in the Bible in 1 Corinthians 6:1-8 regarding the resolution of seemingly irreconcilable situations within the Body Christ via the practice of Christian mediation and arbitration. I am more than willing to obey this passage of Scripture and be reconciled, are you? You have claimed you are obedient to Scripture, now be obedient to this passage of God’s Word as well. Your obedience to 1 Corinthians 6:1-8 or lack thereof is completely verifiable.
The extremely serious accusations of spiritual, emotional, and relational abuse; pastoral disqualification, clergy malpractice, misusing pastoral authority, misapplying church discipline, mishandling Scripture to justify their sins, slandering others, misrepresenting facts, and being intentionally dishonest (such as on the church’s website, just to mention one of several examples), which I have repeatedly stated in public against JUSTIN RAY NELSON and BRANDON G. TAYLOR are either true or false. If they are false, I need to be held accountable for lying, publicly repent, and make it right as much as is humanly possible. If, on the other hand, my accusations are true, JUSTIN RAY NELSON and BRANDON G. TAYLOR, need to be held accountable, publicly repent (not just to me and their congregation, but also in a statewide denominational news journal since they have made disparaging remarks about me to others outside of their congregation), and forced to resign immediately from their pastorates since they are not above reproach and not biblically qualified to be pastors at this time, which would be consistent with the fruit of true repentance in this case.
Further, it would be extremely hypocritical for SOUTH CREEK CHURCH to not attempt to hold JUSTIN RAY NELSON and BRANDON G. TAYLOR to the same strict, rigid, and zero-tolerant standard these pastors have selectively held others to. At the same time, it will be extremely difficult for this congregation to do so since these two lone pastors are (literally) not accountable to anyone in the organization beyond themselves according to their official Constitution and Bylaws, which can be found on their church’s website. Remember, there are no deacons, no committees, and no congregational voting within this church. These two pastors alone make 100% of the decisions, including whether they are hired or terminated. This type of set-up works in a church only when you have pastors who, because they are genuinely regenerated, are willing to expose their own sins and resign on their own initiative when they have done something significantly wrong. But, sadly, JUSTIN RAY NELSON and BRANDON G. TAYLOR do not possess that kind of character and integrity, most likely because they do not possess that kind of salvation. Truly converted people do not deny and cover up their sins when they have been caught and confronted as these two pastors do. This makes SOUTH CREEK CHURCH an extremely dangerous congregation for any person to be a part of. Unfortunately, this church at the present has a severe lack of objectivity, and most of the members and attendees there have been deceived into being sycophants of the pastors. In other words, this congregation has become complicit in the sins of its leaders by way of supporting, enabling, protecting, and funding them because they have been manipulated and lied to. Sadly, this group which had a great start has become very cult-like, to say the least. Though they profess Christian orthodoxy, they lack Christian orthopraxy in significant ways, not the least of which is a lack of biblical love and grace.
In the past, I have proven empirically that I am willing of my own initiative (without being caught) to publicly repent and deal with my sins no matter what the cost. This I have successfully done. Since I am genuinely converted, I am also more than willing to do it again in this situation if proven biblically necessary. Consequently, I am calling upon JUSTIN RAY NELSON and BRANDON G. TAYLOR to demonstrate this same obedience since they profess to be Christians. I expect nothing out of them that I have not been willing to do myself in the past, nor that I am not willing to do in the present and future.
One suggested way to accomplish this would be as follows: Since there are 3 of us, we could enlist 3 utterly unbiased, emotionally uninvolved, biblically astute, and godly individuals that we agree upon together to hear all of the evidence on both sides. This obviously will take several meetings and would include emails, letters, recordings, and witnesses, etc., to establish all the facts and detail the chronology of events. As you should know, the timeline is important in this situation for numerous reasons. All 3 parties would make a detailed list of issues to address and discuss together in a godly manner from Scripture with the mediators/arbitrators present since both a correct interpretation and application of the Bible are essential and the ultimate issue here. No truly saved individual should have any problem with this suggestion. I am eager and glad to submit to the authority of Scripture in this matter and have been from the beginning and have repeatedly indicated so.
From my perspective, some of the most major issues that need to be addressed and discussed are as follows: (1) What is the definition of spiritual abuse? (2) What are the limits and expectations of biblical accountability? (3) Is biblical accountability strict, rigid, authoritarian control where people are interrogated and must get permission from leaders before making personal decisions, or is it a loving, gentle, prayerful, encouraging friendship where people are helped to get up, stay up, and walk with God? (4) Is biblical accountability law-oriented or grace-oriented; is it perfectionistic and zero-tolerant or encouraging and caring and concerned with direction and progress? (5) What are the biblical limits of pastoral authority? (6) Does pastoral authority extend to extra-biblical advice and counsel? (7) Does pastoral authority exceed biblical authority in the form of precepts, principles, and patterns? (8) Does biblically correct church discipline extend to extra-biblical issues, secondary doctrinal matters, or tertiary matters of conscience? (9) What is the biblical definition of division? (10) Who decides what division is, the pastors, or the Bible? (11) Does having a difference of opinion with a leader or member regarding a secondary or tertiary matter automatically constitute division? (12) Does disagreeing with a pastor and/or expressing that disagreement in confidence to someone for prayer over dinner or lunch automatically constitutes division? (13) Does obeying the Bible by avoiding temptation in the form of limiting interaction with another person who wants to repeatedly confront someone else and argue over secondary or tertiary matters constitute division? (14) Does standing up for oneself against others who are sinning against them emotionally automatically constitute division? (15) Is someone guilty of sin simply because a plurality of two pastors decide they are by pastoral fiat or is there more to it than that? (16) Does having a plurality of two pastors guarantee infallibility or inerrancy in decision making by those leaders? (17) Is it alright for pastors to lie on a church’s website about the founding of the church or to dishonestly spin facts about situations that make the pastors look disqualified, incompetent, or inept? (18) Is it dishonest for pastors to present their interpretation of facts as if they are the facts themselves for personal benefit? (19) Are covetousness, lack of self-control, lying, pride, defiance, lack of loving cooperation, being unwilling to be mutually accountable, failing to be above reproach, lack of prudence, lack of gentleness, lack of humility, lack of patience, lack of grace, lack of sound judgment, lack of justice, being selectively unapproachable, being self-willed, failing to treat others as one would want to be treated, attempting to shut down communication and silence people, being domineering, and lording one’s pastoral authority over another, all disqualifying sins? (20) Is excommunicating someone the week after their severance pay ends evidence of malicious intent and planning to get someone out of the church? (21) Is it ever biblically acceptable to use church discipline in the following selfish ways: (a) To get rid of people from the church simply because the leaders do not want them there any longer but do not know how else to get rid of them; (b) When the leaders view someone as a potential problem because of their past issues or present struggles; (c) To exact retaliation against a church member; (d) To make an example out of someone to cause others to fear the authority of the pastors; (e) To punish and penalize someone who has disappointed the pastors or church even though they have publicly repented; (f) To bolster or gin-up a pastor’s image; (g) To strengthen or extend a pastor’s control over the congregation or to punish someone who resisted a pastor’s excessive or extra-biblical control; (h) To secure a pastor’s power base and protect his job? (22) Is it biblical to evaluate someone else’s repentance of say “Sin A” by whether or not they struggle with “Sin B,” and that is assuming, of course, that “Sin B” is genuinely a sin according to Scripture? (23) Does the Bible require believers to submit to 100% of the extra-biblical requirements of their pastors as proof of genuine repentance? (24) Should pastors who have misapplied church discipline in any manner, misused pastoral authority to any extent, misrepresented church members in any way, or engaged in other types of pastoral malpractice be considered above reproach and qualified for ministry? (25) Are pastors by their position of authority exempt from obeying the Bible when it says to “treat others the same way you want them to treat you,” or “if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering,” or “is it so that there is not among you one wise man who will be able to decide between his brethren” when there is a dispute or division? (26) Is biblical pastoral authority like parental authority where one does not have to be accountable to the ones under their authority? (27) Is it loving, compassionate, biblical, and Christ-like for pastors to intentionally and maliciously cause foreseeable and severe emotional duress, distress, and damage to someone in the form of misapplied church discipline and shunning while premeditatedly and deliberately ignoring the fact that the person in question is in an extremely vulnerable spiritual condition, in a severely wounded emotional state, and is experiencing a physician-supervised debilitating clinical depression along with excruciating anxiety and complicated grief, which the entire congregation publicly knew about? (28) Is it alright for people to leave a church with physician-certified PTSD symptoms that they did not have while they were there because of how they were mistreated by the pastors? (29) Is it alright for pastors to mishandle a serious situation because the end justified the means? (30) Is it biblical for a pastor to “test” people to see how submissive they will be to him? (31) Is it biblical for pastors to dominate and excessively control the broken, wounded, struggling, hurting, weak, and suffering? (32) Do the sins, imperfections, weaknesses, and struggles of a person justify the pastors sinning against them or spiritually abusing that person?
Again, JUSTIN RAY NELSON and BRANDON G. TAYLOR, these are some of the issues we must discuss and work through so that we can each be obedient to Scripture and get this matter resolved as soon as possible. It matters to God that we do not avoid it, attempt to evade it or sweep it under the rug simply because we do not want to take time to deal with it or because of the potential consequences for anyone. We are all responsible for our actions and for how we responded to situations. I also welcome any issues or grievances you wish to discuss with me as well. Let us all get together, fully obey the Bible, and resolve these matters for the unity of the Body of Christ and the glory of God. I am more than willing to forgive ANYONE for Christ’s sake. I am also willing to seek forgiveness from others if biblically appropriate and accurate. Let us have real biblical reconciliation according to the authority and sufficiency of Scripture and let us all bear the fruit of real repentance.
Lastly, to SOUTH CREEK CHURCH, I would add these closing thoughts: Let me completely assure you these matters are not going to go away without everyone’s repentance. No amount of praying will make them go away because God knows they are true, and God has told everyone involved how to resolve this situation. God is waiting for obedience from everyone. Only obeying God’s Word totally will make these issues go away. These matters will not go away for a pastor, a church, a denomination, a denominational leader, a law enforcement officer, a lawyer, nor even for an earthly judge. I have Constitutional Rights and I plan to use every single one of them to the nth degree so that I can do what is right in this situation. Also, and most importantly, the Bible tells me as a Christian how to deal with unrepentant abusers. In 2 Timothy 4:14-15, the Apostle Paul illustrates by his example how Christians are to deal with someone who is unrepentantly abusive in any way, especially when that person cannot be dealt with by the standard, correctly applied church discipline means. In those verses, Paul publicly exposes an abuser named “Alexander.” Here is what Paul says: “Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Be on guard against him yourself, for he vigorously opposed our teaching.” (2 Timothy 4:14-15, NASB95) The word “harm” (v. 14; Greek term: “kakos”) means to be “abusive, injurious, damaging, destructive, or evil” to another person. It is the idea of doing something to someone which causes major negative lasting effects or long-term impairments to them in some way. While the specific abuse Paul experienced is not stated, it is clear what motivated Alexander to do it: He could not control what Paul was doing and saying. Like all narcissistic abusers, Alexander became frustrated when he could not control Paul, and thus, he attempted to use abuse to silence him. This is the same case with spiritually abusive pastors. They use spiritual, emotional, and relational abuse to attempt to punish, penalize, control, and silence their victims. They do this to people even over secondary doctrinal matters, tertiary matters of conscience, and for rejecting their extra-biblical pastoral advice and excessive control. When the Apostle Paul was unrepentantly abused, he took four steps: (1) He openly stated he had been abused; (2) He publicly named the abuser; (3) He faithfully expressed his trust in God to bring about retribution on his abuser in the future; and (4) He lovingly warned others of this abuser's potentially destructive ways so they could avoid being abused themselves.
SOUTH CREEK CHURCH, you need to clearly understand that in principle in my conscience this is a biblical issue for me. The most loving thing I can do at this time is to warn others that SOUTH CREEK CHURCH is absolutely NOT a safe place for them to be humble, broken, and transparent about their sins, weaknesses, imperfections, struggles, and mistakes. Because, if they are, they could likely be punished, penalized, excessively controlled by the pastors in strict, rigid, legalistic, and extra-biblical ways in the name of accountability, and be expected to tolerate repeated unloving confrontation from others in the church over secondary and tertiary matters. And, if they are not willing to endure that they will be sinfully disciplined by the pastors who want to bolster their image, prove they are in control, and lord their authority over the flock of God. Your church is NOT a safe place for people struggling with marriage problems, or for those suffering from depression, anxiety, or grief, because the pastors are unrepentantly spiritually abusive, incompetent, inept, and do not know how to deal correctly with serious matters, though they arrogantly think they do. Your pastors need to remember their sins will find them out, and not only will God let them reap what they have sown, but they will also reap more than they have sown. As a congregation, SOUTH CREEK CHURCH, you need to repent of your facilitation and complicity in the sins of your pastors. God’s Word to you and them is this: “He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion.” (Proverbs 28:13, NASB95)
www.SouthCreekChurchExposed.com
www.JustinNelsonExposed.com
www.BrandonTaylorExposed.com
www.SouthCreekChurch.net
