I am pleased to welcome back Pastor Bob Cotton of Maitland City Church. Pastor Bob has genuine zeal for the Gospel and earnestly contends for the faith. (Jude 1:3). This monkey despairs of almost never hearing the TRUE TRUTH (cf: Francis Schaeffer – Objective Reality: Unlike relative or subjective truth) spoken, particularly in relation to God’s chosen people, Israel, the “Apple of God’s Eye”. It is also distressing to witness the King of England apparently supporting islam rather than the King Jesus Christ He swore to uphold in His Coronation oath. Thank you Pastor Bob for standing boldly for God’s Word.

Gibber! Gibber!

Chugley

Maitland Christian Church

Dear Church and friends,

As we have just observed Easter week, Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, hopefully we have been encouraged to think of the true reason behind this time of reflection and celebration.

Outside of Christ we are lost sinners with no hope of saving ourselves and only the wrath and judgement of God at the end of the day. In God’s grace and mercy, He sent His Son Jesus Christ “in the likeness of sinful flesh” (Rom 8:3) to suffer and die in our place that our sins would be forgiven, should we believe in Him. Further, not only did He die for our sins but he was raised from the dead for our justification (Rom 4:25). As it says in Eph 1:7 “In him we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins”.

This is the message of salvation that has been given to us and it is the message that should clearly resound from every pulpit, every week so that the lost may hear and that those who believe might not become negligent, distracted or compromised by the world. It is up to the servant leaders of the church, the shepherds of God’s flock, to discharge this holy duty.

Sadly, so many leaders have failed us and have betrayed Christ in doing so and it should not surprise us with what the Bible teaches relative to the state of the world in the last days and end times – but more on that later.

BAD LEADERSHIP – THE ROT AT THE TOP

I remember, as a boy, listening to the wise words of a returned serviceman, an officer who fought in New Guinea and the islands during WW2. One of the things he regularly shared was his opinion regarding bad leadership. He would often make the comment “you cannot blame the men, it is always the rot at the top”.

Whether it be within the chain of command in the military, a prime minister of a nation, a teacher in a classroom, or a pastor in a church – it makes no difference – bad leaders effects everyone under their influence.

The “rot at the top” is a thought that has stayed with me for a lifetime and rings so true now more than ever when I look at the state of our nation and most sadly, the church.

OLD PROBLEMS MANIFESTED AGAIN IN THE MODERN WORLD.

In the prophet Ezekiel’s day, God Almighty rightly expected the priests, the shepherds of Israel, to teach the people the difference between the holy and the common and to show them how to distinguish between the clean and the unclean (Eze 44:23).

This was in essence the basics of living right before God and under the good hand of his blessing. However, in their failure, the “rot at the top” are recorded as having taught the people that there was NO DIFFERENCE between the clean and the unclean. (Eze 22:26). When spiritual leadership fails the fruit of it manifests in the conduct of the people (Hos 4:9) and even in the generations that follow. (Hos 4:6).

As uncomfortable as it is to admit, for the most part, today’s church in the western world is sickly and lukewarm. It has become compromised and has allowed all manner of evil to go unchecked. I blame the rot at the top for the most part.

CORRUPTION AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS

No better example could possibly exist than the example of King Charles, the Head of the Church of England. Not only was he adulterous in his relationship with Diana, he continues in spiritual adultery to this day. Without a skerrick of repentance he kowtows to the islamic anti faith as he has done for decades. Last year, he even held iftar meals at Windsor Castle during ramadan and now to add insult to injury, this year he gives a ramadan speech but declined to give an Easter Message.

King Charles is the “rot at the top” pin up poster boy for spiritual harlotry while posing as the head of a Christian denomination. For years he has promoted “interfaith” and in doing so has taught there is no difference between the clean & the unclean. If you think I am being too harsh please refer to the following interview from 1994: youtube.com/watch?v=m67Vez2UP5Y where Charles says that he would rather the title “Defender of Faith” than “Defender of THE Faith” and spruiks his ungodly interfaith nonsense. It is a rather long video so please forward to 1:06:00 to 1:14:00 with the particular comment being made at 1:09:40.

Charles is clear, rather than defending the Christian faith of the Church of England and the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ he has elected to “defend everyone’s right to believe in whatever they want to believe in”. That is fine if you are some misguided but possibly well meaning ignorant hippy at a health food shop but not if you are the head of one of the world’s largest Christian denominations. A better title for Charles would be “Enemy of the Faith”.

Charles’ comments were made over 30 years ago when he was prince and now as king the fruit of his spiritual adultery is on display. It is this rot at the top that has allowed Sadiq Kahn’s little caliphate of London to flourish and Keir Starmer’s government to permit an islamic invasion under the guise of immigration and to persecute any who dare to object, online or otherwise.

The rot trickles down through every link in the chain. Just as the precious oil poured on Aaron’s head ran down through his beard to the hem of his garment (Ps 133) so does the filth of apostasy. Recently, King Charles appointed Dame Sarah Mulhally as Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of the church of England.

No doubt a marvellously, inclusive DEI choice that would win the hearts of the woke but a disastrous one in light of the word of God. Mrs Mulhally is a supporter of the LGBTIQ+ community, is in favour of blessing same sex marriages and is “pro choice” when it comes to abortion. So King Charles bows at the altar of islam while the top cleric is England’s new high priestess of wokeness. (Eze 8:11-12) England is clearly lost and only a return to Christ can save her.

ITS NOT JUST THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND

The Church of England is not the only denomination to suffer because of the rot at the top. Many others have as well as they have sacrificed biblical standards to accommodate social and moral decay. Here in Australia, the Uniting Church is another perfect example. While the Archbishop of Canterbury bangs on about blessing same sex marriage, the Uniting Church in Australia has given itself over to wokeness with its “strong focus on social justice, inclusivity and LGBTQIA+ affirmation”.

Sadly, it would be more appropriate for their services to begin with “welcome to apostasy” rather than “welcome to country”. Again, if you think I am being a little too harsh please consider the following quote from the Uniting Church relative to the “vision” for their new church plant here in Maitland:

“Their vision is to create a safe, inclusive space where people from all walks of life can explore faith together. This includes actively supporting the LGBTQIA+ community, walking the path of reconciliation with Aboriginal people, being mindful of the climate emergency, and advocating for local, national, and global social justice”.

Further, their own publication boasts that their “commissioning service after party” was held at an “inclusive pub”. Follow the link to nswact.uca.org.au/blog/maitland-s-fresh-vision-for-church/ and check to see if I have misread, misunderstood or misrepresented the depth of rot at the top.

God help us please! Christianity is not about coffee and blending the sacred with the secular – to go down that path is an exact replay of the failure of the priests in Ezekiel’s time. The gospel is about warning people of the judgement to come and showing them the way out of sin and judgement through faith in Jesus Christ. Its not about affirming one’s sinful lifestyle, endorsing paganism or rescuing the environment from plastic drinking straws but a call to repentance and forsaking sinful behaviour.

THE LORD’S RETURN IS NEAR – MAKE A CHOICE.

Jesus was clear that deception would be a key sign of the last days (Matt 24:4). 1 Tim4:1-2 speaks of departing from the faith, demonic teaching and seared consciences, 2 Thess 2:3 tells of a great falling away and 2 Tim 4:3-4 speaks of the rejection of sound doctrine and teachers that will appeal to the corrupted fallen nature. We are seeing all of these signs occurring in and through rotten leadership.

The remedy is to first recognise and expose this ungodly leadership for what it really is. Please consider Paul’s take on it, he put it this way (2 Cor 11:13-15) ” “For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. (14) And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. (15) It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve”. Jesus called them wolves in sheep’s clothing and said that we would know them by their fruit (Matt 7:15-20).

Further, we are not meant to be compliant with this moral decay within the church and follow the “blind into the ditch” (Matt 15:14) but rather “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 1:3) and to expose these matters (Eph 5:11).

I encourage believers to write to their leadership, challenge apostate behaviour and hold leadership to the biblical standards that the Lord Himself has established. When apostasy and spiritual harlotry is so brazen as the examples that I have given, true Christians should warn everyone in their hearing of the sinful error of the leadership.

After this, there remains only one course of action for the believer and that is to withdraw from corrupt fellowship and from beneath corrupt leadership.

COME OUT FROM AMONGST THEM

It is no light matter but genuine Christians cannot, in clear conscience, remain associated with such a blatant abandonment of the Truth or remain in submission to leadership that is clearly rotten. The faithful, whether they be in the pulpit or pew need to leave, it is as simple as that.

The word of God declares “Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” (18) And, “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”” (2Cor 6:17-18). Please note, this isn’t a suggestion, it is a command.

Leaving is always a difficult step but a very necessary one in these situations and it is the first step to finding a new fellowship that will remain true to God’s word regardless of social trends, false doctrine and moral decay.

In closing, I give this impassioned plea because the time is short and we must choose between life and death, the holy and the common, the clean and unclean. There are eternal consequences to our decisions and Easter is a perfect time to take stock of it as we consider the suffering, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus.

In our contemplations we might find that this is the perfect time for the death of improper associations and submission to rotten leadership with their false doctrines and heresy and this in turn may result in a resurrection of light, life and holiness in fellowship with God through a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ.

Please feel free to share these thought with any who you feel may benefit from them or who are caught up in the lies and deceptions called out in this message.

May the Lord be with us all!

Many blessings,

Pastor Bob

Pastor Bob Cotton has been recognised with an Order of Australia Medal.

We know him as the man at Maitland Christian Church’s podium delivering sermons but Pastor Robert ‘Bob’ Cotton’s passion for advocating for the community runs much deeper.

In fact, it was his advocacy which saw a significant change that went all the way to NSW Parliament.

Today, the born and bred Maitland man has been recognised with an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for his service to the community as an advocate for child protection legislation.

“I’m very honoured and humbled. I was totally surprised,” Pastor Cotton said on receiving his OAM.

It came after the local Maitland pastor spent countless hours visiting pubs and walking the streets with a clipboard in hand, petitioning for harsher punishment for those who conceal child sex abuse.

Speaking to Australian Community Media, Pastor Cotton reflects on the Royal Commission and the overturned case of the Archbishop Philip Wilson as the catalyst for his advocacy.

“At that point, no clergyman had ever been held to account for concealing child sex offences of his colleagues so something had to change. Every denomination was guilty,” he said.