False Teachings of Barrie Victory Centre

Statement of Faith of Barrie Victory Centre and Comments by The Grand Poo-Bah!

Barrie Victory Centre Believes:1. FALSE -- The Bible is the inspired Word of God and the revealed will of God.
Needs to be Added -- "And contains the complete revelation of God." Without this part in there, the Statement of Faith allows for extra-biblical revelation which is one of the primary marks of a cult.

2. TRUE -- There is one true Godhead comprised of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. All are co-equal and co-eternal. Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh, is the second member of the Godhead.

3. FALSE -- Man was created in God's image. By voluntary transgression he fell and his only hope of redemption is in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Comment -- "By voluntary transgression he fell" seems to be an attempt by the writers of this statement of faith to avoid saying that all mankind are sinners. This sentence, if it were properly written, should be included as part of the plan of salvation which the writers call "salvation for man".

Salvation for Man:

4. THE SHELL OF TRUTH STUFFED WITH LIES -- Man's only hope of redemption is through the shedding of the Blood of Jesus Christ. On the Cross, Jesus Christ became sin and sickness, thus providing both salvation and healing for all mankind. This salvation comes by believing in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and confessing with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord of your Life.
Comment -- The plan of salvation begins where man realizes he is a sinner in need of a Saviour. Neither of these words are used anywhere in the "Salvation for Man" section of the statement. These are very important concepts and should not be left out or worded in another way. This is a deliberate attempt to water down the Gospel and avoid offending people who do not want to be told that they are sinners. The Bible teaches that "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God" and "Ye must be born again." -- OH! I just realized those two words have not been used anywhere in this statement of faith either. Does this church believe in being born again? It certainly does not appear in the statement of faith anywhere.
Scripture is also very clear about repentance for our sin -- being sorry for our sin and turning away from sin. There is no mention of this in the statement of faith. Scripture states that without repentance there can be no remission of sins.
"Man's only hope of redemption is through the shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ." My question here is "what is man supposed to do regarding the shed blood of Jesus Christ?" The statement of faith doesn't say. This seems to be referring to the historical fact of the crucifixion. The Bible says that Satan believes and trembles. What it should say is "the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life." This is the Gospel in a nutshell.
"On the cross, Jesus Christ became sin and sickness, thus providing both salvation and healing for all mankind." This simply isn't true -- there is no Scripture which states that Jesus became sin. The offensive word here is 'became'. How could the sinless Lamb of God ever become sin? And the Scripture does not say the wages of sin and sickness is death. The reason it doesn't say that is because Jesus died for one reason and one reason only! To pay the price for our sins that we could not. This is the Gospel of Grace. The believer receives unmerited favour. Our sins are placed on Jesus but He did not become sin. This teaching is highly offensive and not true.
The idea of condemning people to hell because they are sick or not whole in some way is ludicrous and not loving. (Item #5 in the statement of faith talks about the outward evidence being love.) Remember "God is love." What about all those people who are born with ailments from the time they are in the womb? There is nothing they can do about it. Oh yes, I forgot, there must be sin in their lives or they don't have enough faith. Right?
"This salvation comes from believing in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead." This is a second reference to the historical fact of Christ's resurrection. Again, I repeat the Devil believed and trembled. It should read, "This salvation comes by placing your faith (trust) in the finished work of Christ on the cross." Knowledge cannot save you. You must accept the free gift of salvation that Christ offers. You must invite Jesus into your heart to be your personal Saviour. He is a personal Saviour and this phrase is not used anywhere in the statement of faith. Does this church believe that Jesus is a personal Saviour? The statement of faith does not answer this question.
"Confessing with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord of your life" is the only portion of Item #4 that is true. This is very cleverly inserted at the end to make the reader think that Item #4 is all true when it is not.
The idea that sickness is part of the atonement is an abomination and a slap to the face of God. By so doing, you are saying to God that after all the pain and suffering endured by Christ on the cross, all we get is forgiveness of sin. "What do you mean we only get forgiveness of sin? Is that all there is? We want more. We want to be healthy all the time." How do these people at this church justify this teaching? I would not want to be showing up at the Pearly Gates on Judgment Day with this explanation of the atonement of Christ in my hands.
5. FALSE -- The inward evidence to the believer is the direct witness of the Spirit. The outward evidence to all men is a life of true holiness and love.
Comment -- Only God is Holy. No man can achieve holiness in this life but we are instructed in Scripture to strive after it. Is this church teaching a gospel that brings perfection? There is no Scripture for this teaching. The Christian still has a sin-nature and will continue to have a sin-nature until he gets to Heaven. However, sin no longer dominates his life because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit which helps us to keep from sinning but we still may sin from time to time. Nobody can live a perfect life and we will not be perfect until we get to Heaven. This is very clear in Scripture.
The Bible teaches that God is love and that we are to love our neighbour as ourselves but nobody lives a life of true love all the time and never has an unloving day or moment. This is a reality of living in a sinful broken world. Nobody can be loving all the time. Is this church teaching that we can be loving all the time? Good luck with that!
6. FALSE -- Salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ and not by human works; however, our works are evidence of our faith and will determine our reward in eternity.
Comment -- It is clear from the Word of God that the Christian is never put under obligation to do, give, sacrifice, or expend himself in any way in order to be more sure that he has the gift of God which is eternal life. He is invited in many earnest ways to commit himself to the service of Christ and to become a useful instrument in the hands of God. The Word of God, however, is clear that service for Christ is a voluntary proposition on the part of the Christian, and nothing that he does will increase his own guarantee of eternal life. He is saved by grace and kept by the power of God. His eternal life came to him without payment on his part. It is dependent wholly on the work of Christ on the cross. (from Know The Marks of a Cult by Dave Bresse).
7. TRUE -- Baptism in water is a declaration to the world that a believer has died with Christ and that they have been raised with Him to walk in newness of life.

8. FALSE -- The celebration of the Lord's Supper by eating of the bread and drinking of the cup is a remembrance of Jesus.
Comment -- This sentence sounds like something has been left off at the end. The Lord's Supper is a remembrance of Jesus' death on the cross for our sins. We are instructed in Scripture to do this until He comes. My question here is "Why has this been left out?"

9. FALSE -- All believers are entitled to and should expect and earnestly seek the promise of the Father, the Baptism in the Holy Spirit; according to the command of Jesus Christ. With this comes the endowment of power for life and service, the bestowment of gifts and their uses in the work of the ministry. The Evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is found in speaking with other tongues and spiritual power in public testimony and service.
Comment -- There is no Scripture to support this teaching except for "misinterpreted" Scripture. All believers receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. When you invite Jesus to come into your heart, you are inviting the Holy Spirit into your heart. The baptism of the Holy Spirit in Pentecostal circles means speaking in other tongues. Please tell me where the Scripture is that speaking in tongues is a command of Jesus Christ. I would be very interested to know where this Scripture is. It should be noted here that glossolalia; grunts, groans and noises, are not the Scriptural form of speaking in tongues that was displayed at the time of Christ. I will have much more to say about speaking in tongues in upcoming blogs but I will say this, according to Scripture, speaking in tongues is not for today. Is it possible to attend Barrie Victory Centre if you don't speak in tongues? Are all members required to speak in tongues to demonstrate to their fellow congregants how spiritual they are? There is nothing in Scripture that says speaking in tongues is a measure of your spirituality.
Please see my blog dated Sunday, April 20, 2008 titled "It All Starts With the Baptism of the Holy Spirit" from Charismatic Chaos by John MacArthur.
10. TRUE -- The Church is the Body of Christ. Every believer is an integral part.

11. FALSE -- Total prosperity is available to every believer spiritually, mentally, physically, financially and socially.
Comment -- This is man-made theology based on manipulation of Scripture but has nothing to do with true Christianity. For more information on prosperity theology go to my blog dated Thursday, April 24, 2008. For more information on the Faith Movement, which Barrie Victory Centre is involved in, you need to read "Christianity in Crisis" by Hank Hanegraaff. This book is available through the website http://www.equip.org/.
12. TRUE -- The Blessed Hope is the return of Jesus Christ to gather all His saints to heaven.

13. FALSE -- Those who have not accepted the redemptive work of Jesus Christ will suffer eternal separation from the Godhead in hell.
Comment -- Everyone who attends Barrie Victory Centre is condemned to hell because they all believe the "Salvation for Man" section of the statement of faith to be true when it is not.

14. TRUE -- The Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ with His saints will occur on earth as the Scriptures promise. After this there will be a new heaven and a new earth.

The Grand Poo-Bah says:

The problems with Barrie Victory Centre can be summed up in the following four ways:

1. Misinterpretation of Scripture due to inadequate theological training.
2. Blatant misunderstanding of the Scriptures (common occurrence in cults).
3. Deliberate deceit designed to benefit the leadership.
4. Man-made theology created specifically to serve the purposes of the cult.

The Bible teaches that God is the Head of the Church. The leadership of Barrie Victory Centre do not believe this Scripture because BVC is a church franchise which is owned and operated by Paul and Debbie McCulloch. They are the Chief Executive Officers. They hire, they fire and cannot be removed from office. Don't bother to question anything they say or do.
Barrie Victory Centre is a business first and a church second. The congregants are nothing more than customers coming to the "store". It's not much different than going to Tim Horton's to get a caffeine fix. You go to Barrie Victory Centre each week to get your glossolalia fix. Glossolalia is learned behaviour which is addictive and very difficult to give up; just like caffeine! It's an emotional drug.
Ministers at BVC and other churches like it labour under the illusion that if they say something loud and full of passion that that makes it right. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Hitler spoke with passion but he was dead wrong. T.D. Jakes speaks with passion and he's wrong too. Just because you speak with passion doesn't make it right. You can scream at the top of your lungs that "black is white" but that doesn't make it so. You can probably fool a lot of people a lot of the time but they will eventually figure it out. Better sooner than later!
"He is the same yesterday, today and forever" is the favourite Scripture that is quoted by members of Barrie Victory Centre and Pentecostals in general when anyone questions speaking in tongues, healing or miracles. Just so you know, this Scripture is referring to Jesus' character, not to the things He did while here on earth. This is just another example of misunderstanding and misinterpretation of Scripture by Pentecostals. How can you believe anything they say? They have no credibility!
The Jesus described in this Statement of Faith is not the Jesus of the Bible. Their Christology is totally screwed up. Christology means "how you define who Jesus is." They do not know Scripture. My Jesus, the Jesus of the Bible, did not become sin and sickness to provide both salvation and healing for all mankind. He died only for my sins. Sin is the only thing that will prevent me from getting into heaven. The BVC Jesus will be standing at the Pearly Gates asking everyone "Are you born again?" and, OH yes; "Were you healthy down here on earth?" How ludicrous! This teaching is laughable but when you think that followers of BVC actually believe this nonsense that being healthy is necessary to get into heaven, you can only feel sorry for them.


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UPDATE:  Please visit our latest update on this cultic church. 

For more information on the Faith Movement/Word of Faith and Victory Churches International (the Faith Movement in Canada), go to http://thegranpooba.blogspot.com/2011_07_01_archive.html   
The first 3 books on the list are all "must reads" on the subject and are available through www.amazon.com.