I didn’t need The Hunger Games to explain Calvary Temple to me.
I had lived it.
My family had been destroyed long before there was a Tactics blog—and long before I ever watched a single Hunger Games movie.
Years later, while I was living in South Carolina from 2016 to 2020, I finally watched all of the Hunger Games movies. And I remember thinking, I understand why Tactics used this comparison.
The movies didn’t reveal anything to me about Calvary Temple that I didn’t already know.
What they did was give me a picture—a way of seeing the comparison Tactics had made years earlier.
And it was disturbingly accurate.
Tactics opened this post with a quote from The Hunger Games: The Official Illustrated Movie Companion:
“The way you get to control people is to make them participate, not just subjugate them.”
That is the heart of this entire post.
Control isn’t always about forcing someone to do something.
Sometimes the more effective method is to convince people to participate in the system themselves.
And when that system is a religious one, the consequences can be devastating.
Because what happens when loyalty to the system—or loyalty to its leader—is presented as loyalty to God?
What happens when people are taught that standing against the leadership means standing against God?
What happens when proving your loyalty requires you to turn against people you love?
That’s where the “games” begin.
Tactics wrote:
“Find one young adult or child who will swear fealty to our Annointed Pastor, then ‘kill’ his parents, siblings, spouse, friends.”
Those are extraordinarily strong words.
But they are also words I understand.
Because I know what happens when a religious system places loyalty to its leadership above the relationships God Himself established.
I experienced it.
I watched it happen to my own family.
And I know what it cost.
So when Tactics names names in this post, I don’t need to speculate about what they experienced. I won’t pretend to know every detail of every person’s story.
I know mine.
And my own story is enough to understand the warning Tactics was making.
The goal of spiritual control isn’t always simply to make people obey.
It can be to make them participate.
To make them defend the system.
To make them reject those who question it.
To make them believe that hurting or abandoning people they love is somehow an act of faithfulness.
And once a person begins participating in that system, something changes.
They aren’t merely being controlled anymore.
They are helping the system do the controlling.
That’s what makes this so destructive.
Because these aren’t fictional characters.
These are real people.
Real parents.
Real children.
Real marriages.
Real friendships.
Real families.
And the damage doesn’t stay inside a church building.
It comes home.
It gets into marriages.
It gets between parents and children.
It destroys friendships.
It fractures families.
And sometimes the people caught in it don’t even realize what has happened until years later.
That’s why the title of this post—The Calvary Temple Games—isn’t something I see as clever or sensational.
I see it as a warning.
And here’s something that must be said clearly:
Calvary Temple still exists.
This isn’t simply a story about something that happened years ago.
The people may change.
The circumstances may change.
But the tactics of manipulation, separation, and control can continue.
And when those tactics are used against families, the consequences are still very real.
That is why I would strongly caution anyone considering attending Calvary Temple—or sending their children there—to do your homework first.
Don’t simply listen to what the church tells you about itself.
Don’t rely on a polished website, a friendly first visit, or the testimony of someone who is currently inside the system.
Research it.
Do a simple Google search.
Read what former members have written.
Read the accounts of people who have left.
And take the time to look through the material collected on my VIP LINKS and VIP DOCS pages here on MCTTBC.
I have spent years gathering information because I don’t want another person or another family to walk into something without knowing what they are walking into.
You don’t have to take my word for it.
Investigate.
And if you are looking for a church where you can hear biblical teaching and grow in your relationship with Jesus Christ, I have recommended Cornerstone Chapel in Leesburg, Virginia before, and I will recommend it again.
I’m not telling anyone where they must worship.
I’m telling you to do your research before you entrust a church with your family.
That matters.
Because these aren’t fictional characters.
These are real people.
Real parents.
Real children.
Real marriages.
Real friendships.
Real families.
And when spiritual authority is abused, the damage doesn’t stay inside a church building.
It comes home.
It gets into marriages.
It gets between parents and children.
It destroys friendships.
It fractures families.
That’s why the ending of this Tactics post matters so much:
“Tell The Truth. Repent for our lies. Let God’s people Go.”
Yes.
Tell the truth.
Bring what happened into the light.
Repent where repentance is needed.
And let God’s people go.
Because Jesus didn’t come to create another system of spiritual bondage.
He came to set people free.
Jesus said:
“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” — John 8:32
And Scripture says:
“For every one that doeth evil hateth the light… But he that doeth truth cometh to the light…” — John 3:20–21
The truth doesn’t need to hide.
The truth doesn’t need to manipulate.
The truth doesn’t need to threaten.
The truth can come into the light.
And that is why I continue to write.
Not because I need to relive the past.
Not because I want revenge.
But because what happened to real people matters.
What happened to real families matters.
And what is still happening to people matters.
I lived this long before Tactics put words to it.
Tactics simply gave the system a name.
The Calvary Temple Games.
And now, years later, I can see even more clearly why that name fits.
The faces may change.
The tactics do not.
THE ORIGINAL TACTICS POST — JULY 21, 2015
The following is the complete text of the Tactics post, “The Calvary Temple Games,” as originally published on July 21, 2015.
“The way you get to control people is to make them participate, not just subjugate them. If there’s one survivor, one victor, we get them participating in our system” (The Hunger Games: The Official Illustrated Movie Companion; p. 154). A movie of manipulating minions. A sinister strategy of success, at the expense of the manipulated. The Calvary Temple Games. We know it works. Find one young adult or child who will swear fealty to our Annointed Pastor, then “kill” his parents, siblings, spouse, friends. They become doubly damned, participants in a system that enslaves them. Sooner or later it will do unto them as they have done to those they loved. Just ask Pastor Jon, Adele, Emily, Mike, Sarah(s), Brian, Jonathan, Joe, Carly, Kristi, Megan, Tony, Danielle, Josh(s) etc. *retch* Or better yet! Ask the Zarous, Brights, Lawrences, Konszals, Burrels, Raggios, Gardners, Mathurs, Martindales, Schwartzs, plus old singles etc., (ibid., above) for the adult version of survival of the fittest. Only one hope and one escape route. Tell The Truth. Repent for our lies. Let God’s people Go.
But God says, “And thou shalt say unto him, The Lord God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness: and, behold, hitherto thou wouldest not hear” (Exodus 7:16). “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). “For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God” (John 3:20-21). “The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire:there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:41-42).
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