1st John 3:18, "My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth."
I moved from the island of Guam to Pensacola in July of 2021. I chose to attend PCC's Campus Church. My first day at the church was at their 4th of July picnic in 2021. At the picnic I met their senior pastor. I told him that my plane had landed from Guam just 36 hours earlier and I was sleeping homeless in Walmart's parking lot (because the hotel where I had made my 30-day confirmed reservation cancelled my stay when my plane was delayed, which led to a 17-hour layover in Hawaii. I contacted the hotel in advance of my arrival in Pensacola, to tell them that they could bill me for the entire 30-days upfront, including the missed day, but they just cancelled everything in their greed, since it was the 4th of July weekend).
I kindly explained to the Campus Church pastor that I was homeless. He looked startled, like he didn't know what to say, and to my dismay just cold-heartedly walked away. That made a really bad first impression on me about their Pensacola Christian College (PCC) pastor. In the months to follow at Campus Church, my suspicions were confirmed that he was a shallow man with no love or compassion for individual people. Not once in our numerous personal and email interactions did he ever pray with me, nor tell me that God loves me, nor let me know that I am welcome at Campus Church. He was cold and businesslike, as a lawyer without any genuine concern or love for a hurting Christian brother.
In the weeks to follow in July and August of 2021, I had kindly mentioned to the senior pastor at PCC that my beloved wife divorced me 15 years earlier in 2006, and I had struggled through depression from loneliness and an old neck injury (stenosis and radiculitis). I was not one of their students, but at the time a 54-year-old man, and a father of 4 adult children and a thankful grandpa of 7 children. When I first contacted the pastor at PCC, I shared my heart, saying that I want to be a blessing to the PCC family, but from the very start their pastor made me feel unwelcomed, unwanted and unloved.
The pastor actually scolded me for mentioning that I hoped to find a wife at Campus Church. He rebuked me for coming to church to find a wife; but I never said that was my reason for coming to church, he said that. I had only known this man for 2 weeks. I have always believed that honesty is the best policy. So in an email I humbly told the pastor that he made me "feel like garbage" as a newcomer to PCC. He totally ignored me for 10-days.
So I kindly approached him to shake his hand after a Sunday morning service, as his lovely wife stood next to him. I kindly ask him when he would respond to my email. I had simply asked him in the email if as a divorce man who intends on getting remarried someday, if I am welcome as Campus Church. I sincerely wanted to know if he cared about me as an individual hurting human being. He embarrassed me in front of his wife, by saying: "If you find a woman to remarry I would never perform the wedding." But I never asked him to perform a wedding. I didn't even have a girlfriend. I simply asked him if I am welcome as a divorced person at Campus Church at PCC. Evidently I am not.
I read the following true statements from the preceding article:
"Discourage individualism, encourage group-think
Any disagreement in a school assignment with the college’s position would result in a lower grade and opened yourself to criticism of your position by those in authority over you."
That is exactly correct about PCC, the place is a prisonhouse of religion! Sadly, there are no second chances at PCC. There is no forgiveness once you've offended them. There is an ongoing cultish abusive authoritarian culture at PCC. The system always comes first at PCC, but individual people do not matter. They mistreated me as a 54-year-old man; the same horrible way that they mistreat their students, enforcing upon them a system of rules, restrictions and standards without love or compassion. PCC leaders mistreat their church members the same way, demanding mob-like loyalty or you will be removed, shunned and ostracized permanently.
I had attended their Single Adults Sunday school class. I couldn't believe what I heard from the Sunday school teacher, a younger fella about 30 years old. He told the class that if you have "people in your life that don't vibe with you," just kick them out. I knew that what I was hearing is totally unbiblical. The Holy Bible commands us to love people, even the unloving and unlikable among us. People just want to be loved. PCC still hasn't learned that great truth, or more likely they don't care.
By the fall of 2021, I left Campus Church in disgust and frustration, seeing how phony and shallow their institution really is. I didn't feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in the few months that I attended their so-called "church." Campus Church is really a chapel for their mind-controlled students; not a genuine biblical New Testament church. PCC are academic types, not church builders, so they woefully lack compassion for people.
As a divorced person (who suffers from constant neck pain, burning nerves and radiating pain down my arms and legs), I live a reclusive life. Surviving day by day in chronic bodily pain for the past 19 years since 2004 has ruined my social life. I take prescription pain medications. I was very lonely in 2022. So in the summer of 2022, I humbled myself and mailed a letter to the senior pastor of Campus Church. I told him I was sorry for lashing out against them on social media. I pleaded for him to please allow me to come back to Campus Church. I told him that missed the few friends I had made at PCC, and mentioned their names. I promised that if they would forgive and allow me to come back to Campus Church, I would remove all my criticism and never criticize them again.
I wasn't surprised that after 4 weeks I still hadn't heard a word from him. I had provided in my letter me mobile phone number, email (which he already had) and my mailing address (which the church already had on file, because they mailed me a letter when I joined Campus Church in July of 2021). So, I mailed a second letter, this time to all the pastor of Campus Church. I also mailed a copy of the same letter to PCC. After 6 weeks nobody replied. I was saddened that all my criticism against the PCC cult on social media were now confirmed. They just don't care about individual people.
Money is all that matters to PCC. As publicly reported in their annual financial, Campus Church took in $3,5000,000 in the fiscal 2021-2022 year. The church finished the year with $1,200,000 left in the bank. I was sitting in the pew at Campus Church and felt sick, when their senior pastor announced an upcoming church class to learn how to more effectively witness to people, and there was a $10 charge to attend. All that money in the bank and they're charging church members $10 to learn how to better share the Gospel. That speaks 1,000 words about the dire spiritual condition at PCC.
As I mentioned, when I mailed three letters in the summer of 2022 to the PCC camp, they completely ignored me. So after six weeks of being dissed and ignored by PCC leaders, I started criticizing them again on social media (and they deserve all the negative press they get). Only then did their senior pastor horribly email me, to say that I am permanently banned from attending Campus Church. His lame ungodly excuse was that my "remarks were consequential." Still today in 2023, I am banned from attending PCC's Campus Church. Only a religious cult selectively decides who can or cannot attend church. At PCC only "Some Lives Matter," but in true Christianity "All Lives Matter."
In hindsight, I never should have even bothered to try to go back. I had just missed my friends. I made close friends with a PCC graduate crippled in a wheelchair, about my age. I miss her Mom and Dad. Sadly, the pastors of Campus Church only care about money, and people mean nothing to them, except those who pander to them. Jesus warned in Matthew 5:46, "For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?" Jesus tells the story of the shepherd who left the 99 sheep who were safe in the fold, to go find and help that 1 lost lamb. That show the great heart of our benevolent God, who cares about the nobody, the leper, the broken sinner and the outcasts of society. Sadly, at PCC they have their 9,999 people, so they couldn't care less about hurting lonely people like me and countless others who are in the 1% group.
Another Bible verse that stands out when I think about PCC is from 1st John 3:18, "My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth." Their official slogan at Campus Church is: "Loving God! Loving People!" Unfortunately, those are mere empty words at PCC, they in fact don't love people in deed nor in truth. PCC are just playing church, throwing anybody under the bus who dares to question or oppose them about anything. There is no love or compassion at PCC. I humbly offered to do whatever PCC leaders require to reconcile with them, but they still cold-heartedly refuse. That speaks volumes about their shameful lack of walking with God at PCC. People just want to be loved.
As a parent and grandparent myself, I am sincerely warning parents not to send their children to PCC, unless you want them to become shallow, superficial, snobbish, lacking compassion and academic type Christians; instead of soul-conscious, people-loving, caring, humble servants for the Kingdom of Heaven's sake. PCC is shallow at best, and partaker of evildoers at worst. PCC wickedly bids Godspeed to false teachers like Ken Ham, and the cult at Bob Jones University.
All across America today shallow pastors and churches do not contend for the Christian faith anymore as they ought (Jude 1:3; Titus 1:13-14). The reason why is because today's wimpy incompetent pastors have been trained at dead Bible colleges like Pensacola Christian College, who don't even believe that the King James Bible is inspired. God shouldn't and won't bless this mess! PCC is thriving today in the secular world, as did the corrupt church of Laodicea; but Jesus called them poor, blind, naked, wretched and miserable (Revelation 3:15-17). PCC is the equivalent today of the church of Laodicea. I say that to their utter shame.
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