Life Line to Members of the New Apostolic Church

Dear [A Priest's Son],

Firstly, thank you for taking the time to write, and please be assured that I do not feel attacked by your inquiry.  It is my pleasure to give clarification because it is written in 1 Peter 3:15, “always be ready to give an answer to everyone asking you a reason concerning the expectation that is in you.”

When I was first ordained as a priest in the NAC, my conscience immediately started to bother me because I had never up to that point studied the Scriptures or even read the Bible from cover to cover in its entirety.  So I was expected to teach classes and conduct church-services regarding topics that were based on the Bible, but until that time I had never really studied the Bible.  Understanding this, I resolved to study it and when I did, the inconsistencies between what is written therein and the NAC teachings became obvious.  (By the way, these inconsistencies also exist for many other Christian denominations).

These inconsistencies were numerous.  For example:

1. The Scriptures teach observance of Sabbath days as recorded in Leviticus chapter 23, but the NAC (as well as virtually all Christian denominations) teaches obedience to holidays created by men. 
2. Scriptures teach that it is wrong to obey men who do not teach what is written in the Scriptures, but the NAC teaches that “apostles” should be obeyed regardless of what is written in the Scriptures. 
3. The Scriptures teach that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth (and we know that what is written in the Scriptures is truth), but the NAC teaches that the Holy Spirit is some mystical force that tells the ministers what to say from the alter thus relegating “divine services” to the ethical equivalence of fortune-tellers, which is condemned in Scriptures. 
4. The Scriptures teach that there will be a resurrection of the dead on the last day at which those who have done righteousness will rise and live and those who have done evil will rise and be condemned, but the NAC teaching regarding the “day of the first resurrection” is consistent with the teachings of John Nelson Darby who put forth the idea of a pre-tribulation rapture, which is a concept that is not supported by the whole of Scriptures.
5. And there are many more examples, which we can elaborate on with future correspondence.

Although the NAC apostles claim that they are true apostles of “Christ,” there is no evidence in their sorted history that Yahshua Messiah ever personally appointed them as such.  “Prophet Geyer” who originally “called” them later denounced what he had done. 

Regarding an experience in the NAC that may have driven me away, understand that having been raised in the NAC doctrine, I fully believed what I had been taught growing up.  I believed that obeying my “bearer of blessing” would yield good results, and I had many “experiences of faith” to support this idea in my own mind.  (But the Scriptures reveal that even our experiences can deceive us).  I had on many occasions been rebuked by higher ranking ministers for various infractions, yet I accepted and appreciated their rebuke and did not take offense to it.  But when these ministers insisted that I obey the NAC apostles instead of obeying what is plainly written in the Bible, I knew at that point that we had problems that were irreconcilable.  Once it became known that I was studying the Bible and regarding the Scriptures as more authoritative than the NAC apostles, I was labeled as a “trouble-maker” by those same NAC apostles.  People in the NAC are concerned only with obedience to their organizational hierarchy just like any other similar religious organization that claims to know the Bible better than you do.  Yahshua Messiah had the same problem with the religious authorities of His day.  Similar such organizations include the Roman Catholic Church, the Mormon Church, the Jehovah’s Witness church, the Baptist church, the Methodist church, Islam, and the list goes on and on.  Satan has many imitations, but true salvation is possible only in our obedience to our Creator as articulated and written by His prophets recorded in the Scriptures.

My prayer for you and your father is that you will both realize that true understanding of the Scriptures does not come through your NAC apostle.  True understanding of the Scriptures comes from uncovering the truth, which is what the Spirit of Truth inspires us to do.  To understand the Scriptures, we must study, dig for answers, understand the Hebrew language, understand the Hebrew culture, understand the Greek language, and understand historical contexts.  (Although there is much to learn, the salvation of even the newest believer is evidenced by his simple turning away from his sin).  In short, only the Spirit of Truth – the real Holy Spirit – can lead us to do such studies, but the imitated “Holy Spirit,” such as the spirit in the NAC, offers only tempting “shortcuts to knowledge” by simply “asking your apostle for the answer.”  Be assured that this “shortcut to knowledge” is in fact a “short-circuit” that leads only to emotion-placating ignorance and destruction.

Be assured that leaving the NAC was very difficult, but with the Scriptures as our guide, the process was made much easier.  At the time of leaving the NAC, I was so deceived that I did not know how to have my sins forgiven without hearing the “absolution” and receiving “Holy Communion.”  The question that we all must answer is, “are my beliefs and actions being determined by my fear of men or am I rather believing and acting according to the commands that our Father in Heaven have clearly communicated in the Scriptures?”  Will we obey men’s traditions or will we obey Yah’s commandments?  Obedience of Yah’s commandments as written in the Scriptures leads to eternal life.  Obedience to men leads to death. 

May the Spirit of Truth – the real Holy Spirit – guide you as you study the Scriptures and apply them with diligence and a clean conscience.

Wishing peace of the Sabbath to you and yours,