Refining Fire Fellowship: Email copy 12 Mar 2014

This is my last email sent to Kerrigan in response to his denial of a meeting.

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Hello,

Yes we all have busy lives, us included.  The point was not to assume anything—that’s why I emailed you.  The thing I find grieving is that you did not take the time to even respond back to let me know your decision.  I had to seek again to find out.  For knowing someone for 2-1/2 years and not to even respond when your last words I knew were “I’ll hear you out” on the phone, shows little respect to your own words and to us.  That was my last known response–so, what else am I to presume except that we’re going to set up a time to meet?

I find it rather grieving also, if the truth is what you think you have—you should have the ability to stand on it for that truth should have nothing to fear.  I care about you guys enough to confront you. Sadly it appears you do not really care enough about me and my wife to say anything other than arbitrary accusations(like asserting that the trinity is equal to God’s word) to condemn us.  You haven’t yet responded to even some of my simplest objections from last summer, yet I’m supposed to just submit to your beliefs without answer?  Tell me, would you do that?  You say you “saw it coming”? Yes because I don’t submit to lies or to false teachings about the one true God, our Father(the actual list for clear unambiguous Scripture references for this would fill page upon page).  I actually test things(as commanded by Scripture), and I hope others in the church will do the same.  In my mind, the beginning of the death of the trinity was when you guys taught it—you all have partial blame also for not substantiating it with truth, but lies and weak proof-texts mostly based on inferences.  My wife and I have no problem openly saying now(since we aren’t going to meet formally)—you are all in idolatry(as were we).  You have an idol, a false god, and with such you are in the lineup of 1 Cor 6:9-10 as those who will not inherit the Kingdom of God.  This is, and was your wake up call to come to the knowledge of the truth that there is one God, the Father, one God and one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.  I believe God is being patient with those as He was me, but the burden will remain, you are in sin now that you have been confronted fully.  I’ll share this with the entire church via email if I must if you won’t allow me to declare it openly because I actually care about you guys and want you out of sin.

The simple truth has not hit you, that you cannot declare me an idolator for having the same God as Jesus. Jesus was a unitarian(for lack of a better word), not a trinitarian.  Jesus had a one person God, His Father(John 17:1-3, John 20:17).  That is replete through the obvious Scriptures which somehow I also was blind to for so long—and you now are also.  Jesus did not have a 3 person God(b/c that would include himself as his own god, nonsense), so you have a different God than Jesus… so unless you’re going to declare Jesus an idolator, you cannot call me one without associating him into the same camp.  I know where I stand, and I’m in the faith and of the faith of the Lord Jesus and out of sin now.  That trinity doctrine was a burden for the last year, and I cannot truly explain the depth of the freedom I received when I let it go and repented.

You guys have 3 gods… you’re tri-theists, not mono-theists.  You don’t seem to recognize you have to claim 3 persons is 1 person, which is nonsense–like claiming 3 cars is 1 car.  It’s hidden by equivocation because you’re claiming the 3 person share 1 nature, and then you fallaciously title that 1 nature “God” with a capital “G.”  This is a deception, as English readers we’re trained to recognize capital letter proper nouns of titles as “identities” in this case, since ‘God’ is a title of a person.  But then, you cannot say that 1 God is a person, because then you’d have directly 3 persons=1 person, so instead it’s called a nature(a WHAT according to trinitarian apologists), and then give it a singular person pronoun “Him.”  This is a deception.  You have to claim that because you have to somehow get back to 1 person, because it’s clear–the Scripture shows God speaks as a single individual, a single person in grammatical terms(Deut 32:39…and v.6 shows it’s clearly the Father speaking). You cannot avoid this, even your own teaching from many years back you showed you have 3 gods by analogy when you used your son Malachi and yourself as an example regarding the trinity.  You said you each were 2 persons, sharing 1 human nature.  By that simple logic, you are also 2 humans, not 1 human(unless you’re oneness).  Taking that analogy straight over to the Father and Jesus, you have 2 persons sharing 1 divine nature, 2 gods… not 1.  Your own analogy shows you’re not a monotheist.   And this isn’t just your own analogy—I’ve seen the same analogy on other trinitarian websites trying to claim Adam, Eve and Cain are all 3 person sharing 1 human nature and trying to compare that to the trinity.  But no one in their right mind would conclude Adam, Eve, and Cain are 1 human, they are 3 humans.  This whole entire doctrine is built on equivocation.  I found that out because I forced myself to define terms, and that’s why I forced you to—there is no definition of “o theos” meaning “nature/essence/ousia”–this is outright unbiblical and clearly forced into the Scriptures.  The one God is not a “what,” but a “who”–a person, an individual.  Your one god is an “it”–an idol.  I spent the last year trying to make this work, it won’t.  There are even trinitarians who admit this verbally in their own books, and then they fall back into calling it a “mystery” and saying we shouldn’t try to figure it out. Sounds like self-delusion, I wouldn’t do that to myself. It reminds me a lot of calvinism’s double predestination contradictions.

I also found when you read the Apostles creed–you read into it that it’s trinitarian.  That’s some eisegesis if I’ve ever seen it… the trinity is not just have 3 persons, but saying those 3 person are 1 God.   The Apostles creed says no such thing, it says “One God, the Father…”  not “One God, the Father, Son and Spirit” as you somehow read into that creed because you think you see 3 persons.  It’s interesting even the Nicene creed begins with the same statement “One God, the Father…” yet no trinitarian affirms that.  There’s a lot of false history surrounding this topic also, “Arius” was not a new view… he was likely actually the majority view in the church at that time.  Not even 10 years later after Nicea(roughly 250 bishops), the Rimini-Seluecia council with more representation from both east and west, and estimated 400-500 bishops, denounced Nicea.  Athanasius was on the run and banished for many years after that council while Arius was constantly re-instated, but you aren’t hearing about those councils in between 325 and 381.. it just skips all of them to point out the ones that affirm Athanasius(and then the arm of Roman law was behind it, and killed dissenters).  Justin Martyr in his Dialogue with Trypho in Chp. 56 says Jesus is another God, a lesser God than the one true God. That’s either obvious polytheism, or a claim that Jesus is just a lesser ruler, judge, angel, or representative of God.  Tertullian says there was “a time when the son was not” in Hermogenes… so he had no concept of the trinity today as it exists.  This all continues to prove this doctrine was formulated over time, not handed down(and there’s more to it than this).  I doubt you would affirm those things though even while they’re facts of history.

Emma will learn the truth both about simple English grammar and math, both of which I’m rather concerned for you when you claim somehow the godhead is 3 persons that speak as a single person.  You admitted to me a long time back that your English grammar was not the greatest, and this is where most of the deceptions in this doctrine are found.  When you teach your children what a singular personal pronoun is, hopefully you’ll see you’re denying grammar to uphold your trinity.  You’re certainly going to confuse your children, it’s cognitive-dissonance.  Emma is not being led astray in the least, and will learn the Shema that our Messiah taught from a young age to know that our God is one, not three in one.  Jesus says YHWH is our God, including Himself… I noticed both in the teachings of yours from years ago, and last summer with Kevin’s… and in any dialogue afterward, this text of Mark 12:28-34 was avoided every time and still hasyet to receive a response.  It’s completely damaging to the trinity, showing it’s a lie.  “Our” in English grammar denotes himself(Jesus) and others(Jews).  So Jesus’ God is 1 YHWH, not 3 in 1.  And that one YHWH, is the Father(John 8:41, Mal 2:10, 1 Cor 8:6 etc…)  Why in the world are you expecting me to submit to objections you didn’t answer either in the teachings, in the last 2 meetings, and yet still have no response?  Don’t you see you’re holding me to a double-standard?  Would you submit to a teaching that didn’t answer any objections? I hope not.

You guys have also been singing oneness songs for the last year… where has your discernment been?  In Matt Redman’s “Holy”(sung to Jesus)—where in the entirety of Scripture is Jesus directly called “God Most High,” or the “living God”?   Those terms are always clearly in reference to the Father.  Jesus is the son of the Most High God, and the son of the living God(Luke 1:32-35, Matt 16:16).  Or the Kari Jobe song where in reference to Jesus, it is sung “You are God alone, from before time began”… uh? That’s not trinitarian, that’s oneness… I’ve even spoken with a few oneness people lately who clearly loved that song.  Where has your discernment been?

Overall, I could show you so many clear irrefutable proofs from God’s own mouth that He(the Father) is the one and only God and there is no one else but Him–but in reality it is you and the other elders who do not want to submit to the clear Scriptures and have rather made a god of your own mind and imposed it upon the Scriptures.   I’ve actually already given you many objections and verses, and you’ve yet to respond to any of them.  I find that really astounding that you think I should submit to a teaching from you that cannot respond to objections and recognize its errors.  Would you do that? At least, you guys don’t use that god to suit your sinful desires—most people use the trinity and deity of Jesus to claim they really can’t follow/obey Jesus.  But the problem still lies in the fact that… since you’re not submitting to love the one true God YHWH, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength according to the greatest commandment—you aren’t keeping the commandments, and thus do not know Jesus(Mark 12:28-34, John 15, 1 John 2:3-4).  Your one YHWH is a nature, an ousia, an essence… an it.  So your preaching will all be self-condemnation until you repent.  Such is one of the main reasons I did not go preach while I searched this out for this last year.

How would you suggest we trade back the items that others have of ours and we of yours?  I have some of John’s items to return… and we also have children’s clothes that are yours/Angela’s and also Lauren/Vons.  We need to give back clothes, and so do others to us since these are traded items.

I hope you do understand that we are both very grateful for everything you have taught us, and have learned much from you.  You have built us up in the Scriptures on the Kingdom of God, the truth regarding righteousness and holiness, and loving obedience among many other things.  We grew much here under this church body, and experienced many great things in the giving, sharing, and graciousness from the church.  We both clearly appreciate this, but that does not exclude you from being in error and also from proper rebuke.  You personally, used to be somewhat calvinist–and you were rejected by others for going into what they straw-man as “pelagian.” So likewise you now do to me for submitting the contextual Scriptures and rejecting the Roman catholic doctrine of the trinity.  Much of it lies in the same mis-use of Romans 9 by calvinists because they don’t know the OT Scriptures in which Paul is referring to, and that’s part of the problem with the trinity.

-Sean and Tina Holbrook, both according to 1 Tim 5:19, as two witnesses to this letter of rebuke to the elders.

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