Candace, Calvary, and the Conspiracy Culture Crisis: A Pastor’s Response
ISAIAH 8:12-13 – 12 “DO NOT SAY, ‘A CONSPIRACY,’ CONCERNING ALL THAT THIS PEOPLE CALL A CONSPIRACY, NOR BE AFRAID OF THEIR THREATS, NOR BE TROUBLED. 13 THE LORD OF HOSTS, HIM YOU SHALL HALLOW; LET HIM BE YOUR FEAR, AND LET HIM BE YOUR DREAD.”
A SERPENT’S WHISPER
Have you ever noticed how the enemy’s oldest trick is also his most effective? In the Garden of Eden, Satan didn’t come with obvious lies. He came with questions: “Did God really say…?” He took something true (there was indeed a tree in the garden) and wove it into something poisonous, planting seeds of doubt about God’s character and goodness.
This same pattern continues today, and recently it has touched the church I love and have served for over two decades.
Candace Owens, a voice many Christians have trusted for cultural commentary, has made some extraordinarily serious claims about Calvary Chapel churches. According to her public statements, we’re not simply a family of Bible-teaching churches with our share of human failures and flaws. No, she suggests something far more sinister: that Calvary Chapel has been “infiltrated” by military and intelligence operatives, that we’re part of a coordinated psychological operation designed to manufacture “Christian Zionists,” and that what appears to be a move of God is actually a carefully orchestrated deception stretching back to the 1960s.
These aren’t casual observations. They’re accusations that, if true, would mean millions of believers have been spiritually manipulated for over half a century. That pastors standing in pulpits across the world aren’t servants of Christ but pawns (witting or unwitting) in a covert operation. That the Jesus Movement, which saw thousands of hippies and outcasts radically transformed by the Gospel, was actually… what? A military psych-op?
I need to respond to this. Not as a pundit or culture warrior, but as a pastor who has walked alongside God’s people in this movement for 22 years. I personally know and have served with the Calvary Chapel pastors she mentions. I’ve buried saints, baptized new believers, watched marriages restored, seen addicts set free, and stood with brothers and sisters through the valleys and mountaintops of faith. And I can tell you with absolute certainty: what Candace is describing doesn’t match the reality I’ve lived and witnessed.
But more than defending Calvary Chapel, I want to help us think biblically about conspiracy, suspicion, and how Christians should navigate an age where everyone seems to have a “red pill” to offer and a hidden narrative to expose.
THE WEB SHE’S WEAVING
Let’s be clear about what’s actually being claimed here, because the specifics matter.
In her broadcasts, Candace weaves together an intricate tapestry: MK Ultra mind control programs, Britney Spears’ conservatorship battles, Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes, various financial scandals, Turning Point USA’s internal conflicts, Hollywood’s darkness… and then, somehow, Calvary Chapel pastors and churches.
The connecting tissue? Military backgrounds. Financial connections. A “feeling” that something isn’t right. The sense that too many scandals orbit around certain names and places.
From these disparate pieces, she constructs a grand unified theory: that we are living inside “one big psychological operation,” and that Calvary Chapel churches have been systematically infiltrated to control the faith and politics of American Christians, particularly regarding Israel and end-times theology.
She suggests that when pastors or their family members have military backgrounds, this isn’t just personal history but a potential red flag. She asks her listeners whether their pastors came from military families, framing this as evidence of something suspicious rather than simple biographical fact. She implies that the military executed an operation to shape Christian theology and that those of us teaching from Calvary Chapel pulpits might be part of that machinery. And she doesn’t just imply certain people within Calvary, but also the movement as a whole.
Those are breathtaking accusations. They paint not just a picture of human failure or even theological error, but of coordinated spiritual deception on a massive scale.
The question we must ask is this: What standard of evidence supports such claims? And perhaps more importantly, what standard should Christians use when evaluating them?
GOD’S STANDARD FOR TRUTH
Before we go any further, we need to remember something fundamental: God has already told us how to handle accusations. His Word isn’t silent on this matter. In fact, it speaks with crystal clarity.
Consider what Scripture actually says:
“He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him.” Proverbs 18:13
Think about that. God calls it not just unwise but shameful to pronounce judgment before you’ve heard the whole story and have completed facts. Making an assertion or a judgment before having concrete facts plants seeds of doubt and suspicion. Once those seeds exist, they create roots that are hard to pull out later if you’re wrong. These are regularly Candace’s tactics, which indicate that she is more concerned with planting suspicion than presenting truth, and becoming the sole voice of reason to those who ingest her ideas.
The ninth commandment is unambiguous: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”(Exodus 20:16)
This isn’t a suggestion. It’s a command that sits alongside “You shall not murder” and “You shall not commit adultery.” God takes false accusations that seriously because He knows how much damage they cause. Not just to individuals, but to communities, to trust, to the very fabric of relationships He designed us to live within.
Paul, writing to Titus about how to pastor God’s people well, warns: “But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless.” Titus 3:9
The first-century church had its own version of conspiracy theories. Elaborate genealogies that supposedly revealed hidden spiritual significance. Secret knowledge that set the “enlightened” apart from ordinary believers. Endless speculations about hidden meanings and coded messages. It’s cultish. Paul’s response? Avoid them. They’re unprofitable. They’re useless. They distract from the main thing.
And when it comes specifically to accusations against church leaders, God’s standard becomes even more stringent:
“Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses.” (1 Timothy 5:19)
Why such a high bar? Because Satan knows that if he can discredit shepherds, he can scatter sheep. If he can make God’s people suspicious of everyone in leadership, he can paralyze the church’s mission and fracture the unity Christ died to create.
None of this means we ignore genuine sin or corruption. When there’s credible evidence of wrongdoing (when multiple witnesses can verify specific actions, when documentation exists, when patterns of behavior are clearly established), then yes, we must address it biblically and firmly. The church must never be a place where abusers find refuge or where wolves in sheep’s clothing are protected.
But what we’re seeing here isn’t that. What we’re seeing is something else entirely.
THREE FATAL FLAWS IN CONSPIRACY THINKING
Let me identify three patterns in Candace’s claims that should concern every Christian who wants to think biblically about truth and discernment.
1. FEELINGS ELEVATED TO FACTS
One of the most troubling patterns in Candace’s commentary is the way suspicion gets elevated to the level of revelation.
She describes having a “feeling” that faith had become a “military operation.” She talks about how her various investigations into different scandals all seem to converge into one narrative. When specific details “don’t make sense” to her (when she can’t explain why multiple problematic situations involve people with some connection to Calvary Chapel), this confusion itself becomes treated as evidence of infiltration.
At one point, she openly says she’s following a “faith feeling” as she pursues these lines of investigation.
Now, let’s be careful here. The Bible does call us to walk by faith. The Holy Spirit does give us discernment. Sometimes we sense that something isn’t right, and that prompting from God leads us to discover truth that was hidden.
But the Holy Spirit never authorizes us to bypass evidence, fairness, and truth. A feeling that something is wrong may prompt us to look more carefully, to ask questions, to pray for wisdom. But it cannot substitute for actual facts or biblical truth.
Think about it this way: How many times have you had a “feeling” about someone that turned out to be completely wrong? How many times have you been certain you understood a situation, only to discover later that you had misread it entirely? Our feelings are real, but they are not infallible. They can be shaped by our biases, our past experiences, our fears, and yes, by the enemy himself, who is perfectly happy to feed us “feelings” that lead us away from truth and into division.
The apostle John warns us: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” 1 John 4:1
Testing requires more than feelings. It requires evidence. It requires verification. It requires the humility to say, “I might be wrong about this.”
2. GUILT BY ASSOCIATION
Another deeply troubling element is the way ordinary biographical details get twisted into evidence of something sinister.
In one segment, Candace notes that some Calvary Chapel pastors or their family members have military backgrounds. Then she asks (and I want you to hear how this question is framed): “Is that what everybody does when they leave the military, they start a church, or are we looking at an operation?”
She encourages listeners to ask whether their pastor came from a military or high-ranking military family, presenting this as a legitimate question about whether the military executed an operation to manipulate Christians’ views.
Let’s be absolutely clear: Serving your country in the military is being treated as evidence of being an infiltrator.
Think about what this means. Consider the men and women who put on a uniform, who served their nation with honor, who risked their lives for their fellow citizens, and then, through the transforming power of the Gospel, felt called to pastoral ministry. Their military service, which involved sacrifice and courage, is now being presented as a reason to question their motives and integrity.
I know pastors who were saved out of drugs during the Jesus Movement. I know former atheists, former criminals, former businessmen who encountered Jesus and whose lives were radically redirected. And yes, I know veterans. Men whose experience of war made them deeply aware of human brokenness and the desperate need for a Savior. Men whose military discipline now serves the Kingdom of God. Men whose courage under fire now shows up as courage to preach hard truths and shepherd God’s people through difficult seasons.
To imply, without any specific evidence, that former military service is a red flag for covert operations isn’t discernment. It’s character assassination by association. It’s guilt by biography. And it’s profoundly unfair.
If we follow this logic to its conclusion, we should also question every pastor who worked in business (possible corporate conspiracy?), every pastor who came from academia (possible indoctrination?), every pastor with family in government (possible deep state ties?). Do you see how quickly this descends into madness? How soon can no one be trusted because everyone has a history, and any history can be twisted into suspicion?
The early church was filled with people from diverse backgrounds. Tax collectors who had collaborated with Rome. Zealots who had fought against Rome. Pharisees steeped in religious tradition. Greek philosophers trained in pagan wisdom. Paul himself was a Roman citizen with impeccable Jewish credentials who had violently persecuted Christians before his conversion. Should the early church have viewed all these backgrounds with suspicion, wondering if each person was still secretly serving their former masters?
Of course not. Because the Gospel transforms people. Because Jesus makes all things new. Because “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17
3. THE UNCORRECTABLE NARRATIVE
Perhaps the most seductive (and most dangerous) aspect of this kind of thinking is how it becomes immune to correction.
When pastors and Christian leaders have pushed back on Candace’s narrative, she has portrayed that pushback as part of the operation itself. Those who question her claims are described as overreacting, as fearful, as potentially trying to silence her because they’re implicated in what she’s exposing.
Do you see the trap? It’s brilliantly constructed, in a diabolical sense:
If you agree with her, you’re awake and discerning
If you question her, you’re part of the problem or blind to it
Your very disagreement proves she must be onto something
This is not how biblical dialogue works. This is not how we test claims and pursue truth together. This is not humility and the fruit of the Spirit that follows wisdom that is from above. This is how closed systems of thought operate, systems that inoculate themselves against any correction or accountability.
The New Testament commands us: “Test all things; hold fast what is good.” 1 Thessalonians 5:21
Testing requires the freedom to examine claims critically. It means asking hard questions: Where’s the evidence? Can this be verified? Are there alternative explanations? It means having the humility to say, “I don’t think this meets the biblical standard of proof.”
But when honest examination is reframed as evidence of complicity, when every “no” is treated as confirmation of “yes,” we’ve shut down the very process Scripture commands. We’ve created an unfalsifiable narrative where the conspiracy theorist is always right, and everyone else is always suspect.
This isn’t wisdom. It’s a trap. And it leads not to truth but to isolation, suspicion, and the fracturing of the very community God calls us to protect.
A VIEW FROM THE INSIDE
Let me pull this down from the abstract and speak from what I actually know.
I have been pastoring within the Calvary Chapel movement for over two decades. I was born again in Calvary Chapel, fell in love with God’s Word in a Calvary Chapel, and received my pastoral call within the movement. I’m not speaking as an outsider trying to defend something I read about in a book. I’m speaking as someone who has lived this reality, who knows these pastors, who has fellowshipped with leaders from across the country and around the world.
I have seen Calvary Chapel churches thrive and churches struggle. I have seen pastors walk faithfully through decades of ministry, and I have seen pastors fail morally and be appropriately disciplined and removed from ministry. I have witnessed the beautiful mess of God’s people trying to follow Jesus in a broken world. The victories and the defeats. The moments of glory and the moments of deep disappointment.
What I have not seen (not even a hint, not even a shadow) is anything remotely resembling a militaristic psychological operation.
Calvary Chapel grew out of a genuine move of God’s Spirit in the late 1960s and early 70s. A pastor named Chuck Smith opened his church to hippies and outcasts, people the religious establishment had written off as unreachable. And they came. By the hundreds, then by the thousands. Young people strung out on drugs found freedom in Christ. Broken families were restored. Lives were radically transformed by the simple message of the Gospel.
Was it messy? Absolutely. Did mistakes get made? Of course. Show me any movement of imperfect humans where that hasn’t happened. Were there growing pains and theological debates and personality conflicts? Yes, because the church is made up of people who are being sanctified but aren’t yet perfect.
But a covert military operation? A coordinated effort by intelligence agencies to manufacture Christian Zionists? That’s not just wrong (perhaps some of us support Israel’s right to exist not because we are part of a covert operation, but becasue we believe it’s biblical). It’s absurd to anyone who actually knows this movement from the inside.
The distinctives of Calvary Chapel aren’t military; they’re simple and biblical:
Teach the Bible verse by verse, book by book, chapter by chapter
Emphasize the grace and Lordship of Jesus Christ
Rely on the work of the Holy Spirit, not on programs or human manipulation
Keep church life relatively simple and focused on the Word, worship, and fellowship
Welcome everyone (from hippies to businessmen to yes, veterans) because the Gospel is for all
Have there been scandals in and around some Calvary Chapel churches? Yes. Sin is real. Leaders are human. Some have fallen into sexual immorality, some into financial impropriety, some into abuses of power. When these things have come to light, they’ve needed to be (and often have been) addressed biblically.
But taking the sins and failures of some individuals, the complex and tragic stories of a few, and painting an entire global movement as a covert operation is not discernment. It’s slander dressed up in spiritual language.
THE REAL SPIRITUAL DANGER
Here’s what troubles me most about all of this, and it has nothing to do with defending an institution or protecting a brand. It has everything to do with what this kind of thinking does to God’s people. Conspiracy theories (particularly ones directed at the church) train Christians to distrust the very structures God has given for their spiritual care.
Think about what happens when a believer sitting in a Calvary Chapel (or any church) starts to wonder: “Is my pastor really a pawn in a military psych-op? Did he come to ministry through authentic calling, or is he part of an operation? Should I receive his teaching with humility, or should I be constantly suspicious, looking for hidden agendas and coded messages?” How long before that person stops receiving the Word of God with an open heart? How long before they see wolves behind every pulpit, infiltrators in every prayer meeting, operatives in every ministry team?
The New Testament doesn’t call us to gullibility. We’re supposed to be “wise as serpents” even while remaining “harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16). But neither does it call us to permanent, paralyzing suspicion.
Paul writes: “Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Ephesians 4:3
Unity doesn’t mean pretending sin doesn’t exist. It doesn’t mean protecting abusers or ignoring corruption. But it does mean approaching one another with the assumption of good faith until evidence proves otherwise. It means extending the same grace to our brothers and sisters that Christ extended to us. It means refusing to fracture the body of Christ over speculation and suspicion.
When conspiratorial thinking takes over, unity becomes impossible. Every denial is treated as a cover-up. Every call to focus on Christ instead of internet narratives gets labeled as compromise or complicity. Every request for evidence gets dismissed as either naivety or participation in the conspiracy.
In that environment, Satan doesn’t need to infiltrate anything. We devour one another all on our own.
“Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.” 2 Timothy 3:12-13
Yes, there are deceivers. Yes, there are impostors. Yes, evil people will grow worse. But the solution isn’t to assume everyone is a deceiver. The solution is to be so rooted in Scripture, so anchored in the character of Christ, so filled with the Spirit that we can discern truth from error without becoming cynical and suspicious of every believer around us.
HOW WE SHOULD RESPOND
So what do we do with all this? How should Christians navigate an age of conspiracy, where every week seems to bring a new “revelation” and a new reason to distrust?
Let me offer three biblical guidelines:
First, measure everything by Scripture, not by internet shock value.
God’s Word is “profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17
This means when someone makes a claim (no matter how compelling the video, no matter how convinced the speaker), our first question should be: “Does this align with what God has clearly revealed in His Word? Does this approach honor biblical standards for truth-telling, for handling accusations, for addressing conflict?”
If our “discernment” leads us to slander and suspicion without solid evidence, we’re not operating in spiritual wisdom. We’re operating in the flesh.
Second, refuse to bear or spread unverified accusations.
This is a matter of basic obedience. God commands us not to bear false witness. James warns us about the deadly power of the tongue to set destructive fires. Proverbs repeatedly counsels us about the fool who speaks before listening.
If something is publicly and credibly established (if multiple witnesses can verify it, if documentation exists, if patterns of behavior are clear), then it should be addressed appropriately. But when accusations are built on feelings, hunches, and distant associations, we must not become amplifiers.
Sharing a video or reposting a claim or sending a link with “What do you think about this?” might seem harmless, but it participates in the spreading of potentially false witness. It gives credibility to accusations that may not deserve credibility. It contributes to the very atmosphere of suspicion that’s damaging the church.
Before you share something that makes serious accusations about believers, ask yourself: “Do I have actual evidence for this? Have I verified this? Am I willing to be held accountable for spreading this if it turns out to be false?”
Third, keep the main thing the main thing.
The Gospel is still true. Jesus still saves sinners. The church’s mission is still to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to observe all that Christ commanded.
That mission doesn’t change based on the latest conspiracy theory. It doesn’t get put on hold while we chase down every suspicious connection and decode every hidden meaning. It continues, day by day, as ordinary believers faithfully follow Jesus and share His love with a broken world.
When we become more focused on exposing alleged conspiracies than on proclaiming Christ, when we spend more time connecting dots between scandals than connecting people to the Savior, when we’re more passionate about our suspicions than about the Gospel, we’ve lost the plot.
Paul said it plainly: “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” 1 Corinthians 2:2
That’s still our calling. That’s still what matters most.
A PASTOR’S HEART
Let me conclude by speaking directly from my heart as a pastor.
I don’t know Candace Owens personally. I don’t claim to understand all her motives. I recognize that she has a platform many Christians have appreciated, and that she has spoken courageously on some cultural issues where the church needed bold voices.
But her public claims about Calvary Chapel are public, which means they must be publicly weighed and publicly addressed. Public speech carries public responsibility.
If there is specific, verifiable evidence of systemic corruption or intentional infiltration in any church or movement (in Calvary Chapel or anywhere else), it should absolutely be brought forward and dealt with in the light. Scripture does not protect evil. It exposes it. Genuine corruption must be addressed biblically and firmly, regardless of who is involved or what movement is affected.
But what’s being offered regarding Calvary Chapel right now is not careful documentation or humble rebuke. It’s not multiple witnesses with verifiable accounts. It’s not a pattern of specific, provable facts that lead to an unavoidable conclusion. Neither does it have any reconciliatory or grace-centered overtones that the scripture encourages.
Instead, it’s a web of suspicions, associations, feelings, and disparate stories stitched together into a narrative that simply doesn’t match the reality many of us know firsthand. Not because we’re blind. Not because we’re part of some operation. But because we’ve lived and ministered in this movement, and we know what it actually is.
The Calvary Chapel churches I know today are filled with ordinary people trying to follow an extraordinary Savior. Some are veterans. Some are former drug addicts. Some are businesspeople. Some came from broken homes. Some came from privilege. All of us came as sinners in need of grace, and all of us found that grace in Jesus Christ.
Our pastors aren’t perfect. Our churches aren’t perfect. But we belong to Jesus, not to the military, not to the CIA, not to any hidden syndicate.
The church belongs to Christ. And He is still building His church with very ordinary, very imperfect, very redeemed people. Some of whom once wore a uniform and now carry a Bible.
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
May we be people who love truth more than excitement. May we love Scripture more than speculation. May we love the unity of Christ’s body more than the thrill of the latest conspiracy. May we be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, especially when accusations are made against our brothers and sisters in Christ. May we test all things, hold fast to what is good, and refuse to participate in the spreading of unverified claims that damage reputations and fracture the church.
And may we remember that Satan’s oldest strategy hasn’t changed. He still comes with questions designed to make us doubt what God has clearly said and clearly done. “Did God really say…?” “Can you really trust…?” “Doesn’t it seem suspicious that…?”
The antidote to the serpent’s whisper is the same now as it was in Eden: returning to God’s clear Word, trusting His character, and refusing to let suspicion replace faith. Truth does not fear examination. Truth welcomes questions. Truth can withstand scrutiny.
But truth also requires evidence, not just feelings. It requires verification, not just association. It requires the humility to say “I don’t know” rather than constructing elaborate theories to explain what we don’t understand.
And truth, ultimately, is found in a Person. Jesus Christ, who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” John 14:6
He is still worthy of our trust. His church is still His body. His Gospel is still the power of God unto salvation.
And that truth is worth protecting, defending, and proclaiming, even when it means standing against the spirit of suspicion that wants to devour the very people Jesus died to save. Amen.
“TEST ALL THINGS; HOLD FAST WHAT IS GOOD.” 1 THESSALONIANS 5:21
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