Legalism

Defending Grace May Not Always Appear as Gracious

October 12, 2011 By Sisterlisa 1 Comment

The admonishment to be gracious can sometimes be overwhelming. We wrestle with giving the kindest response, because something within us triggers a knee jerk reaction to some things. Maybe we can stop trying to defend our own perceived righteousness and start really defending grace.

But does grace need to be defended?

Maybe it’s people who are resting under grace that need to be defended so they CAN rest. Wounded people ‘die’ inside due to the building pressure to be perfect in man’s eyes. They need a place to rest. But Law givers stalk them into the abode of peace and rip it right out from under them when they insist they get back on their feet and run in the race of ‘be perfect’.

Sometimes a sharp rebuttal against legalism can sound terrifying, but a legalistic teacher doesn’t usually respond to a meek silent plea for grace. Even Paul needed to have a blinding light strike him to get his attention. It was then that the Lord said, “Why do you kick against the pricks?”

I don’t often call out those that I believe are false teachers here on my blog. Those ‘popular pastors’ could care less what I think, but when a teaching leans into law and hate I just can’t sit idle and say nothing about it. To take a stand for wounded people who are being misled into a trap of bondage is risky business. Anytime one exposes a lie and introduces grace, the onslaught begins.

Proclaiming grace is risky business.

Standing in the gap to protect the wounded and shouting, “Back off!” may not appear to be very gracious. I’m not sure Jesus was exactly gracious in the temple either…when he over turned the tables and chased those ‘popular pastors’ right out of that building.

The plea for justice is twisted in today’s society, especially among Christianity. Many people think God’s justice is the same as theirs…the desire for never ending torture by fire. But many of them reject water boarding of terrorists and defend the right to live for babies who may or may not grow up to be Christians. Go figure.

When a wounded person lies ‘bleeding’ on the ground, stolen from, lied to, neglected, and their will to live is so stifled by their pain that they can’t even whisper a plea for grace, it’s us who needs to stand up and say something!

Back off!

God’s justice is that the spiritual consequences for sin has been COVERED! Jesus is the person of justice. He brought the balance. Justice is not a form of extremism to bring about torture for humans who can’t do a single thing about their sin. Justice is that Jesus already took care of it. People have been called Christians because they are supposed to be ‘little Christ’s’ to the world. We are to be ‘little justice lights’ who put their feet down and insist the penalty has already been paid. We are to uphold the banner of grace, that Jesus already declared, over these humans wounded by the first Adam.

We are free in this kingdom of God, the banner is held high, and His grace is ours to claim.

Don’t even think about trying to tear down this banner of love, or you’ll have quite a fight on your hands.

That fight may not look or sound very gracious, and I think Jesus understands that.

Filed Under: Grace, Legalism Tagged With: banner, freedom, God, God's justice, grace, gracious, Jesus, justice, legalism, liberty, love

Jump Ship, It’s Sinking!

October 7, 2011 By Sisterlisa 4 Comments

Of all the articles I have written on this blog, the ones that gained the most comments and highest hit count were my personal stories from the IFB, (Independent Fundamental Baptist). Comments came in from both sides, those who have been hurt and those who insist they’re the “best” churches in America. When I survey the content of the messages both these groups convey, it becomes painfully obvious that those hurting hearts are reaching out for answers and their ‘speaking out’ has a purpose. When you’re ministering to wounded people, they need to have their pain validated before you can even begin to ‘stand up for’ the groups who have hurt them.

It’s been interesting to see the battle going on about this highly controversial type of Christianity. When the wounded people speak up, the supporters of the IFB are all too quick to bark and bite at the very people who are already tore up. Yet I have more and more people asking me to write more about what we went through. The most difficult part about this is that we still live in the same small town as the IFB church we left. I still see those people at the stores, the restaurants, and at community events.

And they know about my blogs.

I’m not the only person who got hurt. My husband and all my children were hurt. Other people who left and still live in this town got hurt too. There’s a lot of wounded people in this community because of the things that went on there. Their stories are profound and mind boggling.

We’re accused of lying. Some of us have been accused of “backsliding”, “out of the will of God”, “on a slippery slope”, “on our way to hell”, and “heretics”. Oh the rumors have been flying around too. It’s been about 4 years and some folks still avoid us in public, others act like they don’t know who we are (even though we went there for 15 years), and some act super excited to see us with the last word as, “Call me, you know my number.” Seriously? After being ignored for 4 years, *I’M* supposed to call you?

*shakes head*

Then we get hit by a storm last night. Our carport collapsed….and we get this… “goes to show ya who’s in charge doesn’t it?”

Are you serious?

Why do Christians seem to think that when a home of people who don’t go to your church suffers damage, it’s a curse and when it happens to your pastor it’s a “test of his great faith”?

Give me a break.

Some Christians are some of the most superstitious people in the world.

1 Timothy 1:4 “Don’t let them waste their time in endless discussion of myths and spiritual pedigrees. These things only lead to meaningless speculations, which don’t help people live a life of faith in God.”

God is not waiting on the side lines of life waiting to strike you with lighting for not going to church or reading your bible.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” (NLT)

It’s high time that Christians teach the Gospel, which is GOOD NEWS. Not condemnation.

“Westboro will picket his funeral. He had a huge platform; gave God no glory & taught sin.” ~MarjieJPhelps in regards to Steve Jobs’ funeral.

Are you kidding me?

You see, that is the kind of Christianity that the media wants to direct attention to. But I’d venture to bet that MOST of today’s Christians do NOT agree with nor support the Westboro Baptist Church cult.

So why is there such a feeding frenzy on stories like that?

People obviously see different versions of Jesus, but why?

Titus 1:15 “Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure. But nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, because their minds and consciences are corrupted.”

It’s all in their head, folks.

Psalm 18:26 “with the purified you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.” {ESV}

But nonetheless, mean spirited people believe they are correct in what they do. The beautiful thing about God is that he doesn’t expect us to give them any attention.

We have the freedom to ignore them. But when the media keeps giving them attention, we need to speak up and let people know that folks like Westboro and the IFB are NOT representatives of the God in whom we believe in.

I am not intending to tell anyone to go against those people, just speak up louder about who God really is to you!

There’s always going to be church folk who hurt others, it’s because they’re fallible humans like the rest of us. But we don’t have to subject ourselves to their harsh condemnation. We are NOT obligated to lay down and allow abuse to take place. We CAN and SHOULD speak up. Don’t be afraid, you’re not alone!

Sometimes the most loving church is the one in the wilderness. Don’t be afraid to jump from a sinking ship. Walk by faith. He’s always with you.

Filed Under: Legalism Tagged With: Christianity, condemnation, IFB, Independent Fundamental Baptist Church, Steve Jobs, Westboro Baptist Cult

Wasting Valuable Time

July 15, 2011 By Sisterlisa 2 Comments

This article is going to be much more direct than others I have written on this topic of legalism. It is not meant to be harmful, but rather my hope is to jolt you into reality so you can take a closer look at the motions you may be going through without realizing what you’re doing. I simply want to draw your attention to spending your spiritual time wisely. I’ll cover four things in this article, the Preaching/Teaching(Pulpit), the Pew, the Bible, and your Spiritual Diet. I’m not going to use any scripture quoting in this article and it’s for a reason. This article is my opinion based on experience and I want you to hear from the Lord directly. Far too many people believe twisted scriptures because of how they are weaved into sermons. I want to show you that you can think for yourself.

There certainly are times when a sermon might truly impact your outlook on life, however, if your church attendance time has come to the point where you spend your ‘pew time’ doodling on the bulletin or writing your shopping list, then you are wasting your time in the pew and wasting the seat for someone else who really wants to be there. Do you think that obligating yourself to church attendance is needed to get through the week? If all you’re doing in the pew is making a shopping list or judging another person’s attire or hair do, then you’re not “really” there and that should be a clear indicator to you that you’re only there out of obligation or to keep up appearances.

You’re wasting your time.

If you’re not truly there to hear what the speaker has to say, then plan your time better. God put you here so you could enjoy life and not everyone has to sit under a motivational speaker every single week. Would you to go the movies to make your shopping list? Would you drive to the camp ground only to sit in your car the whole time?

Lets use this time to go through a few things to help put our religious time into a better perspective.

I’m not opposed to church attendance or fellowship activities. So please don’t let your fear get the best of you when I present the facts about sitting in the pew being a waste of time for some people. I’m not going to tell you to “pay attention” to something you’re flat out not interested in.

Time is a valuable form of commerce. Are we being good stewards of the spiritual time we have, when giving it to religious practices? Every second you spend in the pew, in front of the pulpit, and reading your Bible is being paid for with your time. We are to “redeem the time” in our spiritual journey. Are we being wise with that time?

Lets take the bull by the horns, shall we?

The church speaker is not the ONLY person in your life who hears from God. YOU hear from God throughout the week. You have FULL access to the Divine without a public speaker. We are NOT living in a time when only the speaker hears from God and you have to sit in the pew to get the message. The pulpit is not a gum ball machine that dispenses fortunes stamped on it. You don’t have to hope that the preacher has ‘just what you need’ and you have no need to worry yourself about not ‘getting the message’. When the Divine wants to speak to you, He will. With or without a speaker.

To the preachers, if you think that you need to work hard to prepare a sermon that feeds everyone equally and you feel the pressure to present the ‘message of God’ or you will fail Him (or the people) then you need to seriously get over yourself. You’re an important person to God and your loved ones for other reasons than your preaching. You aren’t the Savior of the people, so get rid of that yoke and enjoy life with your loved ones. Preparing a message to share with your local gathering should be enjoyable. If the people aren’t listening or interested, it’s not about you. If you think it is, then you might have a problem with vanity.

Some preachers will tell the people that they shouldn’t miss church service because “you might miss the ONE message that could change your life.” That is HOGWASH! When the Divine wants to speak to you a ‘message that will change your life’, HE WILL! He will do so no matter where you are and no matter what you’re doing. How dare any preacher think he’s “all that” that the Divine can’t POSSIBLY get His message across to you without the pulpit.

If you want to go to church, use the time wisely.

Why are you there? We already covered the fact that you can hear from the Divine yourself without a public speaker, so why do you go? Do you enjoy the people? Is the fellowship the highlight of your Sunday morning, but the preaching is honestly just not interesting to you? Then maybe you might want to re-examine your fellowship time. Consider going early to fellowship, then go for a walk around the property during preaching. That is the time when most of the congregation is inside and the property is quiet. That might be just what you need, some quiet time for listening to the Divine. I can’t even begin to tell you how amazing being alone in the quiet outdoors does for my spiritual walk with the Divine. I’ll share more about redeeming that quiet time in another article, but lets continue to get some more perspective on what time you are wasting.

To the preachers, if you think the people MUST be in “your” service and you quake at the thought of them walking out of the preaching time to be alone with the Divine (or even to go home early to watch a football game), then you have some major control issues. The people are free to come and go and if they feel the need to depart from the service during the preaching time, they are free to do so. Do not judge them! Do not take it personally. It’s not about you, it’s about them and their personal journey in life.

So you arrive early to hang out with your friends and you come back at the close of the service to hang out some more and maybe go out for lunch together. Do you know that MUCH of fellowship time is where we REALLY get ministered to? It’s the small group times of open fellowship and dialogue that becomes intimate. The church service is a formality that rarely becomes intimate. Everyone is required to sit quietly while one person has the microphone. If you are at a time in your life where you need instruction like that, then fabulous. But for right now I’m talking about the times when people are not mentally or spiritually there, even though their bodies are present.

Now lets move into the next part of your spiritual journey to be better stewards of, Bible reading.

I can’t tell you how many people have expressed their utter boredom with reading the Bible. It becomes a chore to many people, some don’t understand a word they are reading, and some folks feel like God is going to curse them if they don’t get their 20 minutes in each day. I used to feel just like that. There is nothing worse about reading the Bible than reading it just go to through the motions and not get anything out of it. We’re wasting our time!

Preachers, don’t get upset with me for saying this. Seriously now… reading the Bible is not a magical spell book that must be read in order to have your day go better. Millions of people have read the Bible faithfully only to have ROTTEN days and very tragic things happen to them. It’s not the Bible reading time that gets us through each day, it’s our faith and interaction with the Divine that does that. In the early days of the church, people didn’t have a Bible and their faith multiplied in leaps and bounds. I’m not knocking the Bible, I read it, study it, and memorize passages of scripture, but we need to have a healthier perspective on why we read the Bible in the first place. We don’t want the Bible to be a creation that is worshiped more than the Creator himself.

Furthermore, maybe some preachers aren’t aware of this, but the Bible has become an idol to many people. What does a person do to break out of that “going through the motions” Bible reading time and how do they stop idolizing the Bible as if it’s a golden calf to be worshiped?

We know that a medicinal fast is good for the body every now and then. Sometimes an entertainment fast is good for a family to reconnect. It’s ok to fast from the Bible. Seriously folks, The Living Word is dwelling within you. He knows your every thought, He can speak to you through nature, the stars, and through the Spirit within. Maybe this example will make you think deeper. My daughter has her learner’s permit for driving. She has spent countless hours studying for that written exam, but unless she puts that book down and actually gets behind the wheel, then she remains a student and not a driver. Will she need to study that handbook religiously for the rest of her life or simply refer back to it every now and then when she has a question? Do you have a copy of your state’s driver’s handbook in your car or on your bedside table? Do you get the picture?

Put the Bible down for a few days. Your life is not going to end because you don’t read the Bible. The Bible is not the Savior. The Savior lives within you and walks with you daily and he doesn’t leave your side if you miss reading the Bible. How do you know you understand what you have read unless you live your life by faith? You can study all about tightrope walking, but unless you get up that ladder and actually step out by faith, you’ll never be considered a real tightrope walker.

Christians spend so much time in church, in the pew, listening to the pulpit, reading their Bibles, memorizing passages and hymns, but their actions don’t reveal that they even know how to live in the Kingdom. Imagine yourself in heaven and the King of Kings approaches you, will you tell him, “Pardon me, Jesus. I have about 15 more minutes of Bible reading to do, I’ll be right with you.”

Reading the stories and instruction of the Bible is a wonderful thing, it’s mysteriously beautiful and I love reading and studying the Bible, but the Living Word is in your presence daily. If you want to spend time with him, do so!

There are other ways you can redeem your spiritual time in studying and prayer, but I’ll share about that another time.

Lets move on to one more thing, your religious diet. Have you been in a church where the pastor forbids you to read anything outside their denomination? Have you been told that listening to KLOVE is demonic and that preaching tapes from a non-denominational church will infect your spiritual life? You might be subjecting yourself to some serious junk food from leaders who tell you such things. Preachers like that seem to think that there’s no possible way for you to be spiritually fed outside of their denominational control. They’re force feeding you. Do you still let your mommy come over, put a bib on you, and spoon feed you mashed chicken and rice? It’s time to get out that steak knife and feed yourself.

We aren’t meant to remain on milk for the rest of our lives. Milk is good, has nutrients, and is refreshing, but there’s not much substance in it. Maybe you’re afraid that you’ll “eat” something “toxic”. In the United States, every package of food has a nutrition label on it. Some ingredients we don’t recognize, much less pronounce them. But you still eat it, assuming the FDA knows what they’re doing. We have come to trust the FDA and the Government to tell us what is safe to eat, while Cancer an Autism is on the rise. Hmm how ’bout that! If we have never listened to or read spiritual food from any other ‘pastor approved sources’ then how do we know that we are being fed properly? You may think that you know because you read your Bible, but if you read the Bible while being force fed from one perspective then you have never had your beliefs challenged and put through the fire. Every denomination thinks they have it more correct than any others. We need to stop assuming that our religious ‘FDA’ of yesteryear knew what they were doing .

Let your beliefs be challenged, put through the fire, and see if they can stand up under serious testing. If you’re afraid to do this, then you’re not walking by faith yet. If your pastors forbid you from doing this, then they are controlling you and fearful that their beliefs may fail the test and what kind of belief is it that people would fear don’t really stack up? Their fear of you questioning their long held traditions reveals that they haven’t truly tested their beliefs either.

Just because an interpretation has been passed down through the ages, held to religiously, and even died for, does not make it a true interpretation. That can NOT be the test of what is true. Even Extremist Muslims die for their interpretations of their holy book, does that make their beliefs true? Some religious lineages claim they “must be the right one” since their “trail of blood” spans through the centuries. If that was a true test then Witchcraft surely must be the “more correct faith”. Some people believe that the most supreme of creation is the better lineage based on who was persecuted more, if that were the test then Blacks would be the supreme beings. Some believe that those who have been held back and subdued the most are the greatest and if that was a true test, then that might be the women. Do you see where I’m going with this? These are not true tests of our faith. In fact, I think these things are ample evidence that our society is still very much bigoted and vain.

There’s so much more I could go into, but this shall be enough for today. If you want to participate in religious and spiritual practices, then don’t waste that time. Use your time wisely and enjoy life! He didn’t come to bring you a more solid religious practice, he came to give you life and that you would live it abundantly.

Filed Under: Legalism Tagged With: bible, bible reading, church, church attendance, control, denominations, fear, legalism, mind control, pastors, preachers, pulpit

Religious Supremacy

July 11, 2011 By Sisterlisa 1 Comment

This term might not be one you have ever heard of before, but if you have heard of White Supremacy then you will understand the concept I am presenting today. A Religious Supremacist is one who believes their religion is supreme over all other religions. But even more specifically, lets look at Denominational Religious Supremacy. Each denomination believes they have it either 100% correct or almost 100% correct and yet more correct than the next denomination. There is an overall urge to get everyone in your city to go to your church, because you believe your church is more correct than the next. The competitive spirit that is plaguing the churches is choking it to death.

Jesus never pointed to a denomination as being the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He never intended that building a theological religion of supremacy was going to give you an abundant life. His objective was to point us to the Father, he reminds us that our pursuit of correct theology is not the point! The point is to go to the Father. The Father isn’t out to find who got an A+ on their theological exams, he is looking for those who are looking to him. The confusion comes in when people think that acing their doctrinal p’s and q’s is actually pursuing God. So ask yourself this question, “What is my theology teaching me to do?”

Jesus warned the people to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. They thought their way of religion was earning them their Teacher’s Pet status and in doing so they looked down upon others who hadn’t reached their level of religious superiority. The Pharisees debated the scriptures against the works and teachings of Jesus. Have you ever been in a situation where religious people taunt you and debate your acts of love against their interpretations of the scriptures? They want “proof” of your beliefs and they want “scriptural evidence” to support your works of love in the community.

Mark 8: 11The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. 12And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.” 13And he left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side.

They love to make their knowledge higher than others, they argue to prove their “rightness” and they exalt their gates as something supreme which invites destruction.

Proverbs 17:19 He loveth transgression that loveth strife: and he that exalteth his gate seeketh destruction.

Matthew 16: 6Jesus said to them, “Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 7And they began discussing it among themselves, saying, “We brought no bread.” 8But Jesus, aware of this, said, “O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? 9Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? 10Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? 11How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 12Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

The leavening is symbolic for pride. The arrogance of the Pharisees and Sadducees is a trap of legalism. When a teaching points to you or your religion as being supreme over others, then you fail to understand the way of the Kingdom is through humility. Allowing ourselves to be puffed up in our own imaginations is setting ourselves up for destruction.

Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Do the teachings at your gathering point to the abundant life in Christ or to building up your religions as higher than the others?

I believe part of the problem of these modern day Pharisees is that they think their religion is supreme because they claim to follow Christ who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. But they have fallen victim to legalism and placed their own religiously ‘right doctrine’ in the place of Christ and they follow what they think is their ‘way’, their ‘truth’ and their ‘life’. Their end is destruction.

I’m not saying that we have no way of knowing the truth, for we are told that the truth will set us free. But is the religious ‘truth’ setting people free or binding them to the religious system?

Jesus came to set us free, not bind us to religion. He came to humble us, not puff us up into thinking we’re better than everyone else. He graced us with the revelation of the Anointing so that we can love as he loves. He did not reveal truth to us so we can think ourselves to be supreme in our belief. When we walk in the truth of this grace, we are humbled and realize that we are equally loved.

He warned us of the Pharisees who love to sit in the high seats in their churches and community gatherings.

Luke 11: 43Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.

They find favor with the wealthy and shun the poor.

James 2:1My brothers,^a show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 2For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? 6But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? 7Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?

8If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

These are just a few of the many examples in which we see throughout the scriptures of religious supremacy. Jesus did not come to give us an earthly place of superiority over all of mankind just because we think our “theology” is better than others, nor is he interested in seeing you puff yourselves up in His name. That is taking the name of the Lord in vain.

So be cautious of this legalistic trap of religious supremacy and when you see people in your gatherings leaving the walk of faith in humility to seek after their pursuit of being “right in their own eyes” of superiority, then perhaps it’s time to reconsider your participation there. Jesus is teaching Citizens of the Kingdom to be humble, the greatest among us is the Servant.

Filed Under: Legalism Tagged With: arrogance, denominations, humility, legalism, Pharisees, pride, Religious Supremacy

There Are No Denominations in the Kingdom

July 11, 2011 By Sisterlisa 2 Comments

I have read many articles written by various people in assorted denominations about how they define legalism and I have often commented to let them know it goes much deeper than what they have described. Many have said that legalism is ‘commandments of men‘ that are commonly called “extra-biblical”. They intend to say that the only form of legalism among the churches is about whether or not to wear nylons to church or men not being allowed to wear pink ties. Legalism goes beyond that as they tie in the twisted scriptures of the Christian Religion and attempt to enforce that legalism, as if the Lord would have you adhere to it. In my intro article to Leaving Legalism, I explained that it’s the difference between the Christian Religion and the Christian Faith. It’s important to understand the difference between the kingdom of religion and the Kingdom that is within you.

In the kingdom of religion there are multitudes of denominations, while there are no denominations in God’s Kingdom. The kingdoms of the Christian Religion are always at war with one another, competing for the attention of the people, and accusing each other of being heretics. In previous years they have been known to threaten people who don’t convert, imprison them, or even burn them at the stake. It’s of no surprise to me that over the course of the latter years of the first apostles, we begin to see factions among the people and denominations beginning to form. God is so multi-faceted that people in various regions were growing, learning, and increasing in numbers. People learn and grow at different times and while one gathering in a city may be growing in leaps and bounds in their faith, those younger in the faith may not understand that growth. In the process the people began questioning the validity of the teachings the people were following.

Even the apostles warned the people about those who sneak in to steal their liberty, those who would cause divisions, and people who teach false doctrines. We’re obviously going to see varying doctrines and teachings among the churches and of course the denominations formed alliances and some become somewhat of the ‘heresy hunters’ in their attempt to prove who was ‘right’ and who was ‘wrong’. The problem with this, is that it puts mankind in the position to be the authority and only Jesus is our authority. I’ll write more on the topic of authority, but for now I want to challenge this idea of denominations.

The Christian Religion has over 30,000 denominations world wide. So the people are left with trying to decide for themselves which one is right and in turn they’ll believe all the others are wrong. Some have become wiser and come to understand that no one has the corner market on truth and each denomination could possibly have some things not quite accurate. At least these folks are humble enough to admit that, but eventually the people will become dogmatic in their beliefs and the unity of all the brethren diminishes over time. The Christian Religion is always seeking to be more right than the next and the competition between the churches has become ludicrous. Pastors hack away at pastors, deacons bash book authors, ministry leaders excommunicate each other through Twitter and Facebook. It’s an absolute mess!

In the Kingdom of the Christian Faith, the people strive to remain humble, allowing each other to question and sort through the so called heresies and come together with mutual love and respect. These people are growing! I believe we’re in an age of revealing, revival, and renewing as folks are coming together through online forums to discuss these matters. So while the 30,000+ denominations are at war with one another, the people of the Christian Faith are studying together and coming to a healthy balance of understanding the scriptures. The most exciting thing is that they don’t profess to have “the” ultimate denominational answer, although they do recognize WHO the answer is. As far as all these ‘heretical doctrines’ out there, they are cutting to the quick and re-examining old traditions taught through centuries of man made interpretations.

The difference between this ‘doctrinal war’ we have been seeing for thousands of years is that the Christian Religion continues to be at war with one another and those who have become tired of the bickering are finding one another outside of the Christian Religion, they are walking by faith, and getting along in love. It’s certainly a wonderful thing to become free from the religion, but ancient teachings have bore such a deep groove into many generations that it can be quite a wrestling match to have your mind renewed. Having a renewing of the mind is an ongoing process and it’s part of our journey to having Christ disciple us through His Spirit. It means he is not only challenging us to think differently, but he is changing us in the process. He said to repent, which means to change your mind.

Luke 10:27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

The Lord wants us to understand how important it is to use our minds. Sort through the traditions and commandments of men. Find out what is truth and what is not. But in all our getting we are to get understanding. It’s not about who has the ‘smarter’ doctrines, it’s about coming to an understanding of the Divine who resides within and how to walk wisely in this Kingdom.

Proverbs 4:7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all your getting get understanding

You see, people can chomp away at doctrines and they think they find their salvation in their theologies, but God shows us that the theologies are not what saves us.

John 5: 39You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.

That word ‘eternal’ is not a definition that is to be taken lightly. In the Greek the word is ‘aiónios‘ and has a much broader concept that just a single English word can accurately define. Through the lens of the whole counsel of the scriptures, we find a much deeper definition that is spiritually applicable and has been at the root of the entirety of the teachings of God as, ‘partaking of the character of that which lasts for an age, as contrasted with that which is brief and fleeting.’ It’s about having a particular character and quality of life. Even verse 40 reveals this truth as he says they refuse to come to the One the scripture points to, so that they may have life. This ‘quality and character of life’ is much better described as an ‘enduring, rich, and abundant life‘.

But what is the problem with these religious people Christ was speaking to? They were standing before their very Messiah, yet they refused to believe that the Truth was standing right there in their presence. Jesus explains exactly what the problem was.

John 5: 41I do not receive glory from people. 42But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. 43I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him.

There are many religious teachers in the world who come and go in their own names. They have built their own religious kingdoms and they receive one another in their own names. Religious leaders who have built up large church kingdoms become popular among one another and they seek after them to come and teach in their churches. They seek after notoriety! History is repeating itself. He goes on to let them off the hook. He is not condemning them.

John 5: 44How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? 45Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. 46For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.47But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

Jesus hit the nail on the head and He’s been hitting it on the head ever since then. The people chose to remain under Moses as their leader instead of learning of the One in whom Moses put this trust. They became so ‘well versed’ about the Law, that they forgot to see that the Law points to Christ. Instead of receiving the One who paved the Way for us, they chose to worship their own paved ways.

There has never been anything wrong with studying the scriptures in an effort to understand God’s amazing love, grace, mercy, and justice. When interpretations point people to religion then we have again missed the mark. When an interpretation of the scriptures point to Christ then it encourages our faith. This is the Way of the Christian Faith.

The Christian Religion points to the religious system, while the Christian Faith points to Christ and He points us to God and how to walk in the Kingdom.

We certainly have the freedom to study with whoever we feel God is leading us to and we also have the freedom to walk away and go study with another gathering when we realize their ways are leading the people into legalism. I have no qualms with denominations as long as they allow the people to come and go in love and keep the door open to freedom. The heresies are when the Christian Religion binds the people into isolated controlling environments and limits their freedom of conscience. This is precisely what many of the early Protestants stood up about. Here it is again, history repeating itself. Many denominations have allowed themselves to become that which their ancestors fled from. There are no denominations in the Christian Faith. Just people who are seeking to walk by faith, study together in love, and continue to walk in the liberty that set us free.

Filed Under: Faith, Inquisition, Kingdom Living, Legalism Tagged With: Christ, Christian Faith, Christian Religion, faith, freedom, kingdom living, legalism

The kingdom or the Kingdom

July 6, 2011 By Sisterlisa 2 Comments

Most people wouldn’t think they are sinking in legalism until they are so far in that they lose sight of reality. When one disciples another in the faith, it should be important to teach how to recognize legalism before they get caught up in it. When a frog is placed in a pan of water and you heat it up slowly, it adapts to the water and doesn’t realize it’s being cooked to death. This is what legalism is like. It’s a trap that you don’t recognize when you step into it. Legalism is a deception and so subtle, that’s what makes it’s grip so powerful. The key to understanding how to recognize it is our best defense to not get caught up in it. When it comes to Christianity, it’s the difference between the Christian Religion and the Christian Faith.

Legalism will make you think you’re being welcomed, befriended, entering the “will of God” for your life, it seems like a nice fit, step by step guidelines to make sure you get it right and who wouldn’t want to make sure they’re practicing “Christianity” correctly? When one enters the Christian Religion, they will be informed of what is expected of them and how they can succeed as a “Christian”. You’ll be told to make a decision (convert), get baptized, join the church, and serve God in the church. Somewhere along the lines you’ll learn that you need to pay God a portion of your money and may be required or strongly ‘encouraged’ to take a “new believers” class. Doesn’t sound so bad, what’s wrong with that?

These are just some of the first steps to solidifying your membership in the religion. In the Christian Faith, we became members of the Body, in Christ. Christ does not require that we join a physical membership in order to be part of the community of faith. See the difference yet? It’s by faith that we come to realize that we already are members of the Body. It’s a spiritual Body that we belong to. You’re either a member of a religious community or a faith community, a spiritual Body or a physical Body (made up of several people).

Can a person of faith gather with like minded people and not become part of the Christian Religion?

Yes.

In fact, just because you go to a church doesn’t mean you are following Religion, but it does increase the risk of falling victim to it. I believe many gathering of folks originally intended to be a faith community, but over time the religion found it’s way in to trap them.

If we look at a local ‘church’ as what it is, then it may seem clearer to you what I’m talking about. Any group of believers can rent or buy a building to use for all their gatherings, pot luck meals, activities, etc. There is nothing in the Bible that prohibits this. There is nothing in the Bible that would even suggest that there is anything wrong with this at all. Lets just look at it for what it is though. The scriptures are clear that the Temple is not made of bricks by the hands of men, it is spiritual Temple within ourselves.

1 Corinthians 6: 19Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

John 2: 18So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21But he was speaking about the temple of his body.

1 Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?

2 Corinthians 6:16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Hebrews 9:24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.

Understanding that WE are the “Church”, the Bride, the Body then we can gather wherever we want, but the place in which we choose to gather is not the Temple, the Church, or the Body, it is simply a physical location where the Body happens to gather.

Any group of people can pool together the funds needed to get a building, create an organization of people to take care of it, and they can legally (through a 501c3) and ethically ask for donations to help support it. This would become a community center for your group of believers.

Here’s where it gets tricky. The scriptures do not require that we become part of such an undertaking. It is optional. There is nothing in the scriptures to suggest that you are required by God to join a community endeavor like this, nor are you “cursed” for abstaining from it. It is simply a community center. To call it a “church” would be in violation of the scriptures presented above. The people are the Church, the building is just a building. Having a clear understanding of this is of great benefit to the freedom of a person’s soul. I’m not speaking about our eternal abode in the after life, I’m speaking of the condition of our soul in this life.

When a person who claims to be a spiritual leader tells you that you must:

Join this “church”
Fund it financially
Abide by the requirements of the charter
If you don’t, then there are spiritual consequences

Then they are twisting the scriptures and placing a yoke on you that is not required by God.

Here is what they CAN state:

This is a community center for people who believe x,y,z.
If you would like to become a member of this community center, we ask for a suggested donation to help take care of the building and the staff it takes to manage it.
To participate in this building’s activities, we have a dress code to abide by.

Each community building may have more requirements than others and that is their prerogative. It is also your prerogative to deny joining such a membership. If you join such a membership, then violate their membership requirements, then don’t be surprised when you are either asked to leave, or shunned into leaving.

When people mistake their community membership club for the “Church” then they forget to love those who aren’t members there. They become to caught up in their program and in thinking the program and building are “God’s” that it becomes somewhat of a ‘castle complete with a mote and armed guards’ to keep unwanted people out and it’s citizens inside, isolated from the world around them.

They will make war with anyone they perceive as a “threat” to their little kingdom. They have created a religion within their own kingdom and it’s not the Kingdom of God.

Citizens of the Kingdom are spiritual citizens that reside on this earth and they have the freedom to gather wherever they want. They just might decide to become a part of a community center and that is certainly their free choice to do so. Just understand the truth of the matter and don’t get caught up in the web of deception that religion seeks to entrap you in.

Citizens of the Christian Religion may be comprised of people of faith and religious people as well. Understanding how these two types of people operate in their lives and in their kingdoms will help us get a better grasp on the things we see happening around us today. To stay updated on this series, please subscribe via email in the top right side bar.

Filed Under: Legalism Tagged With: Christian Faith, Christian Religion, church, community, faith, kingdom, legalism, religion

Intro to Leaving Legalism

July 5, 2011 By Sisterlisa 8 Comments

*Disclaimer, this article may be judged as highly controversial.

Leaving legalism is not an easy journey and is impossible if you aren’t aware that you’re steeped in it. I have spoken with many people who claim to refute legalism, yet they were so deeply ingrained in legalism and didn’t even know it. Just as with any 12 step program teaches, you must first realize the problem is at hand in your life.

Step 1: We admitted we were powerless over our addiction – that our lives had become unmanageable

Identifying legalism is tricky business and many in the Christian Religion think they know what legalism is, but so many don’t notice the deeper roots of legalism thus they don’t become truly free from it’s vicious cycle. Legalism is an addiction and is present in many religions world wide. Even some Atheist groups can become legalistic. Legalism stems from any set dogma that you allow to govern your life. This is why legalism has infiltrated the Christian Religion. The Christian Religion is fraught with dogma that governs their lives.

It may help to understand that the Christian Religion and the Christian Faith are two different concepts and are easily misunderstood because they use similar lingo and the same book, the Bible.

The Christian Religion was established by mankind and they set their dogma based on their interpretations passed down from various religious forefathers. One of the biggest problems in the Christian Religion is that the people submitted themselves to government tyranny masked with the Bible. Without the Bible, they would not have been able to gain the power it has over the people today. They used the Bible as a weapon, not a helpful tool for faith. The leaders of yesteryear have used the Bible to force people to adhere to their tenants of religion ‘or else’. That ‘or else’ is somewhat different, depending on which denomination you follow.

Some threats include disassociation from the group, breaking off of relationships, financial down fall due to lack of economic support to your business (boycotting), and character assassination for leaving or not adhering to their group’s dogma. In former years, they would imprison you or have you burned at the stake. Some historians have recorded that if you had your own copy of the bible to read for yourself, you were killed in their attempt to remove it from your possession. This wasn’t because they hated the Bible, it was because they didn’t want you to read it for yourself. They wanted full control over the Bible and over the people’s ability to reason the interpretations for themselves.

In the Christian Religion today, many clergy and seminaries do not want the people to study the Hebrew and Greek outside of their control. They also don’t want you studying other dogmas outside their own, even from their own pet version of the Bible. When you walk into the Christian Religion with control such as this, it is a clear indicator that you are entering the realm of legalism and it goes quite deep.

On the surface it seems to be “right” as they tell you to “rightly divide the word of God”, but only as far as they want you to. If you go outside your chosen denomination for an interpretation they will tell you that you are either disobedient to the “man of god” or you are “on a slippery slope”, and even “walking with the devil”. Don’t forget the ever so popular threat of “you’re going to hell”. There are many other statements in which the Christian Religion and it’s devotees will say to you if you venture out of their elite realm of “understanding”of Christianity.

Then there is the Christian Faith. This is a community of folks who walk by faith, not dogma. They seek to follow the Divine and listen to this leading aside from dogmas. They indeed read the Bible and study it, but they realize that the Bible is not a closed canon as once forced by the Christian Religion. There were many other books and letters from prophets and disciples that the Christian Religion does not accept. Those who walk in the Christian Faith believe that one could read anything and know if it’s to instruct them in their walk or not, because they hear from the Divine directly. This is not to say that those in the Christian Religion don’t also hear from God directly. The difference is that in the Christian Religion one must seek the clergy’s guidance on what is from God and in the Christian Faith the people rely on their faith to know if it is from God or not.

The Christian Religion claims to follow “Biblical facts” to support their dogmas guided by their traditions, while the Christian Faith takes everything by faith and simply walks in the confidence of their hope in the Divine.

It is evident to me that there are folks who walk in both communities, but it often leads them to confusion. When they are faced with this crossroads, they are coming face to face with the reality that these are two communities that do not agree.

If one wants to follow the Christian Religion you must adhere to your chosen denomination and all of it’s dogma. Only those who adhere to it are welcome.

If one wants to walk in the Christian Faith, it simply requires faith. In the Christian faith, all are welcome.

One leads to legalism, while the other leads to freedom.

You can leave the road to legalism, but you will suffer the onslaught of modern religious warfare. The Christian Religion is a jealous sort that does not take kindly to “defectors” of their Religion. In some extreme cases, one might need professional assistance in leaving. Some families are so integrated into the Christian Religion, that even choosing another denomination will land them in “hot flames” with families members, co-workers, and church members. They might put you through “hell” trying to flee to another denomination, let alone leaving it entirely.

A word about leaving “Christianity”. To leave the Christian Religion does not mean one has fled from the Christian Faith. They are two different realms.

This is the first of a series I will be sharing to help those seeking to leave legalism.

Filed Under: Inquisition, Kingdom Living, Legalism Tagged With: bible, Christian Faith, Christian History, Christian Religion, faith, freedom, legalism, religion

Betrothal and the Work of the Flesh

April 29, 2011 By Sisterlisa 16 Comments

There was a time when we had researched and considered a form of betrothal for my three daughters. Yes, that was past tense because back then we were steeped heavily in legalism. The idea of betrothal is huge among legalists and since legalism is a form of feeding the flesh I can’t help but to wonder if betrothal is also of the flesh.

There hadn’t been many books on the topic of courtship until this last decade. I spent about a year studying the history of courtship and sought the advice of many pastors about this topic. Over the past few years I have come to the conclusion that courtship is defined differently by each family, but it most often veers into betrothal.

Betrothal is a controlled appointment of a spouse under the authority of the parents.

This removes the freedom from the men and women who are to be wed.

When Jesus came to be our High Priest he gave us a New Covenant where He is our individual authority.

Any amount of total control we would have over our adult children getting wed would be usurping the Divine Authority of Christ in their lives.

I am not opposed to adult children seeking their parent’s advice for wisdom when it comes to relationships. I am in full support of that kind of wisdom within a family and between two families who would be joined by their children’s marriage.

{photo credit by Ellen}

I believe an adult child would be wise to consider the parent’s beliefs when choosing to continue in a relationship that appears to be growing. When a son of a grace filled couple chooses to court a woman whose parents are strict legalists, there is bound to be division later in life when grandchildren enter the picture.

Just because someone goes to church doesn’t mean they are an ideal future spouse. Ideas and beliefs in church traditions can change drastically as each individual in a relationship grows and their beliefs change somewhat.

Many times I have had conversations with friends who walked away from a one congregation as they discovered something in different interpretations of another denomination. The heartache the couple goes through when the In-Laws shun them over choosing a different church can be incredibly difficult.

When my husband and I ventured out of our former church, we were so blessed that both our sets of parents were in total support of any decision we make about where we choose to grow our faith.

Not every couple has this kind of freedom to really grow as a couple.

Some parents try to divide their married adult children when they try to usurp the marriage relationship between a husband and wife. Parents who insist on their own religion on a couple who is independent from them and under the Headship of Christ is causing division of the union between man and wife and their Lord.

Mark 10: 6But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, 8and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh.9What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” (ESV)

When one of our daughters told my husband and I that a young guy was interested in getting to know her we took a step back to consider how we were going to embrace this growing process in our daughter’s life.

Since our daughter met this young man at a church we sought out the youth leaders for advice about this friendship. We got to know the parents of this young guy and began scheduling opportunities for us all to get together so we could get to know each other.

As parents we all agreed that this would be a friendship that we all wanted to supervise and watch closely. It was a relief to know they believed a lot of the same things we believed, but more important than theology was the wisdom in which we all had come to know through our own heartaches growing up.

Neither of us couples wanted to be controlling or legalisitic with the friendship between our teens.

It was so important that we all agree to walk with them through this time in their lives.

During this time we continued to cultivate our own relationship with our daughter and it gave us the opportunity to watch her grow and learn under supervision and guidance of us as her parents.

As with any new relationship, especially between a guy and a girl, there are bound to be difficult times in which the parents are to step in. These other parents were so open to all four of us being involved in the growth our two teens were taking in their friendship and a mutual agreement between all of us, including the teens, was made to have a time of rest in the friendship for reflection on the few months they had to get to know one another.

It was a difficult time, yet it brought my daughter and I so much closer than we had been before.

She appreciated that while we gave her the freedom to have this friendship, she also appreciated that both sets of parents stepped in to give them this time to contemplate the relationship.

It was during this time, which was one month of no contact, she decided that this friendship was not going to continue to grow in the direction she had once hoped for.

She made this decision on her own after many nights of prayer on her own.

She experienced a lot of crying. The decision was extremely difficult for her, but as a parent I have to say that I am very proud of her for making the decision without us having to insist.

But not only was this hard for her and the young man, it was hard on all of us as parents. We had come to really care deeply for each other’s teens. We became friends with the parents and genuinely love them.

Although the break up was incredibly difficult for them both, we walked with them through it. All four parents. We were all involved with helping each other’s teens heal from this new direction and help them continue to grow forward as individual families seeking the Lord every step of the way.

It’s been quite a journey and we have no regrets over the decisions we all made.

Even though there were some difficult feelings to get through it was well worth it to glean more wisdom from God and from each other as parents.

We want our daughters to wisely grow in their friendships and give them supervised freedom to grow as individuals and remain close with us during that process.

My daughter said that because we gave her some healthy boundaries and freedom within those boundaries to explore life, friendship, and love, it gave her room to breathe and grow dependent upon the Lord for the decisions she needed to make.

We gently pursued our daughter’s heart through that time and continue to do so today.

But more important was the nurturing of her dependence upon Christ and encouraging her to seek Him as her Lord and the Voice of guidance in her life above our own.

We want our daughters to fall in love without forcing our control over them. They need to develop a good solid listening relationship with Jesus and we don’t want to insist that we have that Voice in their lives. We choose not to usurp Christ’s authority over our children, but instead we seek Him in all their friendships and listen to him telling us to give Him room to work in their lives without us trying to control His work in their hearts.

It’s been a wonderful experience for our family and we are thankful for the difficulties that came with it.

We grew as a family, as parents, and our daughter grew in her relationship with Christ.

We chose to allow the Spirit to guide us, instead of the Law. It was by faith that we all grew closer to God and to one another in love.

This is my response to the wonderful article, ‘Bondage of Betrothal‘ by Eric M. Pazdziora published at Quivering Daughters.

{photo credit by Sisterlisa My Wedding Day 1992}

Filed Under: Grace, Legalism Tagged With: betrothal, Christ, courtship, dating, friends, friendships, growth, legalism, parenting, relationships, teens

Hiding the Pain of the Victims

April 17, 2011 By Sisterlisa 2 Comments

For two years I have prayed that the movement I departed from would have their eyes opened to the freedom we have in Christ and begin to really love the least, the last, and the lost. Last week when 20/20 aired their segment on the abuses that have happened in the IFB movement, the responses from many in the IFB has confirmed yet again, that I will never go back.

They had an opportunity to rise up and offer words of healing to victims of abuse, and yet they chose to defend their name instead. They could have openly rebuked those arrogant abusive ‘pastors’ and they could be teaching the people how to vote them out. They could be reiterating the fact that they cooperate with the law enforcement agencies in the prosecution of sex offenders from their groups.

They did not.

There are some matters that can be handled ‘in-house’ such as stealing food from the food locker, when a staff member’s child gets in a battle on the playground with another child, or even when a deacon has trouble with drinking. But when men in the church molest and rape young girls, it’s time to go outside the church for help. When the pastor tries to convince parents not to call the police, not push for a trial, and keep the child silent, it’s time to go to the local law enforcement for help.

Many independent churches don’t have accountability above the pastor. Many churches have submitted for so long that any amount of questioning about how the pastors are dealing with these matters is met with control, hostility, and banishment from their churches.

This is not a biblical church.

The elders, bishops, and deacons in the churches in the bible do not lord over the people.

Jesus said “It shall NOT BE SO AMONG YOU.”

We are all equal.

Yes, even the women.

Just prior to the 20/20 episode there was a blog post by a prominent youth pastor among the IFB who shared a letter he got from a female student from an IFB college. There were many comments on the article. Some were quite harsh, most were outpouring of love and understanding, and several who stood in agreement with the girl. There were some comments that flat out said that the legalism in their movement is a major hindrance in the lives of the people. But my comment was deleted.

Here are some of the other comments he allowed to remain on his blog:

Private
Posted February 22, 2011 at 11:41 pm | Permalink
The young lady in the letter is sincerely asking Bro. Schmidt to help youth workers and parents, but what she may not realize is that, over the years, dozens of kids in his own youth group have turned their backs on God and have pointed their fingers at him saying the same thing, “Our parents and youth workers were not there for us.” Is it Bro. Schmidt’s fault? Did he not have the discernment or wisdom to help them with their struggles?
Maybe the heart issue that needs to be addressed is this propensity of young people to carry bitterness and point fingers. Young people watch dirty sitcoms because they enjoy them. They idolize pop culture heroes because they want to be like them. They listen to wild music because it feels good, and then they say, “If our parents and youth workers had done a better job, we would not be dealing with these issues.” Maybe as youth workers and parents we need to teach our young people to take responsibility for the bitterness and lack of forgiveness in their hearts. Maybe these are the vile, dirty sins of the heart that we are allowing to slip by unnoticed.
God is interested in the condition of our hearts, but every man is responsible for his own heart. I do not see in the Bible where teens and young adults are exempt from this responsibility.

Elsen
Posted February 23, 2011 at 4:32 am
I believe this letter goes very much to the heart of the problem in our fundamental movement. I would add, though, that although we parents have used this supposed “pursuit of excellence” from an external perspective as we raised our children and often had to face serious negative results, if the policy of our churches do not change the emphasis likewise I see 2 things that will be perpetuated: the children will remain in a conflict situation where they hear a church leadership rhetoric emphasizing what the Lord did not; and the PARENTS will continue to be ‘raised’ to promote the externals and not the internal relationship with the Lord Jesus.

Anonymous
Posted February 23, 2011 at 6:59 am
I agree that “Rules without Relationship breeds rebellion”. It is sad when parents miss the mark and think that their rules and consequences of breaking those rules are the end all. You have to have rules, but you have to have the right Relationship (with Christ)! Parents, we’re not being all we can if we don’t get this point!
But I’d like to say that too many teenagers are looking for excuses and too many people parents and youth workers are catoring to that! Teenagers, do you really think that you’re going to stand before God and blame your parents? If you’ve been taught the Bible, than you know right from wrong, the consequences of disobedience and the blessings of obedience! Great lessons all of us can learn from this!

Stephen Nissley
Posted February 23, 2011 at 8:39 am
I guess by the looks of things I pretty much stand alone here. I think this is a joke! Dad gets the blame for the girls rebellion. I have seen this happen many times in my 35 years of preaching but when it does there is something wrong at home. The home is NOT a “good” fundamental godly christian home. The home is a mess! The family is one way at church and another at home, in other words they are phonies! This kind of stuff sells books but all it really needs is strong preaching. My wife and I raised 8 kids in church. We have two full time preachers and one missionary. The rest are serving the Lord in Ind. Fund. KJV Baptist churches. There are many many many just like our family.

Chris
Posted February 23, 2011 at 10:13 am
I wanted to say thank you to the young girl who wrote this to Bro. Schmidt. It must have taken a lot of courage to share that not knowing the response that it would bring. Thank you for allowing God to use you to remind all of us what is important as parents. I’ve been married over 11 years with two young children at home, one with the Lord and one on the way. Every day I try to do what the Bible says I should do as a father, and every day I feel like I fall short. My earnest desire is that no matter who they become or what they do in life, that they will have a heart for God. When I mess up everything else, I always try to share my heart with my kids. I want them to see how much I depend on God and how much I need him in everything that I do. I hope that even though they may not know every Bible story and and may not be able to quote much scripture, that they will have a heart for God. If God has our children’s hearts; He can help with all the areas where we fall short. Thank you again for sharing; it has made a difference in my life and that of others. God bless!

Amanda Rene’e
Posted February 23, 2011 at 12:39 pm
I definitely understand where this younglady is coming from… My dad is an independent fundamental baptist preacher… And I attended Bible College. But I can remember my parents not having time for us because they were so busy as were we with ministry that I think we all lost sight of God’s first institution- FAMILY. I can actually recall setting up a “pastoral” appointment to tell my dad somthing… I was having trouble and needed his guidance and I set up an appointment. When he asked why I did that I replied that it was the only way I knew he would definitely talk to me… If it was on the church books. Needless to say none of my parents 6 children attend church regularly. I know of 4 at least that have very lil if anything to do with God. My brother said that my parents “religion” left a bad taste in his mouth. I guess I wish someone would have emphasized that christian teens have struggles and that sending a kid to camp is not a cure all for lacking parental guidance and love. I am not bitter I would like my testimony to inspire other parents out there to take the extra time…. My dad helped other families with their relationships while all of them in our family fell apart.

And here was my response, that was deleted:

“Dear Brother Schmidt,
I echo the writers words loud and clear. I am UTTERLY thankful that you have HEARD her soul in this and have shared this publicly.

I was in the IFB movement for almost 15 years and the rigid rules almost destroyed my family. We did everything the preacher said we should do to turn out good kids. He promised that his teachings would work every time. But time and time again we saw kids from good homes fly straight into the face of drugs, alcohol, jail, and various other torments. But it’s not just the rigid rules, it’s the hypocrisy of the leaders. (not all of them) but a good number of them who insist their way is the only right way. And when those leaders put their own families on the pedestal, and even their own daughters are highlighted as THE example and the other teens KNOW BETTER.

They see those kids with the pastors and deacons aren’t looking. So I wanted to share with you that it’s not just the rules. It’s the lies. The sweeping under the rug. The constant suspicions of “sin” in others. It’s all these things that take place in many churches, not just those of the IFB movement. It would really really help if pastors would say very clearly, they do NOT have all the answers, that’s why we walk by FAITH. I can’t tell you how many nights we spent crying, sobbing, with our teen daughters when we left the IFB churches. Our family was so crushed by everything, it piles up year after year. The weight of the Law crushes people. We can’t live up to the Law and we aren’t supposed to. Not the OT Law and certainly not the church’s made up laws. We need GRACE. Good old fashioned

RADICAL lavishing GRACE. We need to know that we will all fall at some time or another and that doing all these church activities and scripture memorization is NOT our foundation, our foundation and only Savior is Christ. Preaching at people about sin doesn’t free them from it. Christ does that. Preach grace, please preach grace. Guidelines and boundaries in life is great, it’s part of discipleship..but lets make sure not to allow those guidelines and rules deceive us into thinking we won’t fall.

And lets not be so blind to think that life is all roses and lolly pops. Building our lives around the church isn’t what gets us through life, it’s building our lives on the foundation that does that. Because as hard as we try to build our homes on the rock, the storm still comes and it’s the foundation that stands the firmest. All our brick and mortar, wood, hay and stubble crashes hard. Just like we see in Japan..the foundations of the homes are still there, but the homes aren’t. We are One with our Foundation, One with Christ our Lord. And one last thought..the ones who just may have it the hardest, are your Pastor’s Wives and daughters.”

My plea for help was deleted. He did not email me. I was hidden and swept under the rug. I am not surprised, but I am disappointed. I had tried reaching out to other IFB pastors for help before. This is the third time I got this kind of brush off.

When Jack Schaap first aired his public opinion from his pulpit on the episode of 20/20 he made sure everyone knew how he felt…he stated that his words were ‘the word of God’ and defended his opinions as ‘standing where God stands’. He was quite sure of himself that what 20/20 showed about him was something to be proud of. But a couple days later the video clips of him stating these things were removed from YouTube as a complaint of a ‘copyright violation’. A copyright violation? For a 2 minute video clip of something he said from a pulpit with a 501c3 PUBLIC ministry? Why delete the video if it’s something he’s so proud of? Then a new series of videos were posted on YouTube with the very misleading title “Jack Schaap’s response to 20/20″ which is a 5 part series on “how great Jack’s ministry is”

Deleting and covering up.

Isn’t this exactly what 20/20 revealed was happening in the IFB movement?

Their responses prove that what 20/20 revealed is true.

“Be sure, your sin will find you out”

A real minister, when shown to be wrong, unkind, lacking compassion, would openly admit it, in humility and love, and seek public forgiveness.

A real minister of the Gospel of peace would offer condolences to the victims and their families.

You see, when tragedy strikes and children are abused, the answer isn’t the church. The answer isn’t the church program of getting donned in a suit and tie, or getting a floor length dress and nylons. The answer is not found in arrogantly shouting about how your low opinion of women is somehow God’s opinion of women. The answer is not found in degrading women with weight issues and making fun of their weaknesses.

The answer is Christ. The response of Christ’s people is love and humility.

Usually the reason someone deletes messages, videos, and comments is due to pride. It’s easier for them to delete, than it is to apologize and admit they are wrong. They think that by hiding what they did and trying to move on as if it never happened will work.

But the victims know better.

It’s easier for them to not address your pain, than it is to examine what the problem is and offer compassion.

It’s easier for them to delete videos, hide their own sin, and keep pointing out everyone else’s sins, than it is for them to humble themselves so Christ can lift them up.

Standing higher on their platforms and shouting louder about how they think their opinions are right is not the way of Christ.

Christ is humble. He came to serve, to love, to embrace the oppressed abused and worn. He came to wash feet. He came to lower himself to the lowest possible place.

I think it’s obvious what a real leader is.

Be wise before you submit yourself to abusive, arrogant, lofty, bull horn shouting bullies.

Find a place of grace where being transparent is welcomed and where the wounded are lifted up and the leaders are humbling themselves to ‘wash your feet’ and tend to your wounds.

I had hoped that someone with a high profile among the IFB, like Jack Schaap, might take this as an opportunity to address the many abuses happening in the IFB and BE A LEADER and stand up WITH these victims and proclaim that all IFB preachers (at least the ones who came from his college) would humble themselves and address this growing epidemic and make the necessary changes to be sure matters like these are dealt with swiftly by local law enforcement.

I have yet to see this happen. And I am free to never step foot in an IFB church ever again.

My salvation has nothing to do with which church I go to. It has everything to do with Christ my Lord. The Savior of all.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Related Article:

Help When Leaving a Cult

Filed Under: Grace, Legalism, Spiritual Abuse Tagged With: abuse, arrogance, Cary Schmidt, Christ, cover ups, cults, equality, humility, IFB, Independent Fundamental Baptist Church, Jack Schaap, legalism, pride, spiritual abuse, victims

Is the IFB a Cult?

April 11, 2011 By Sisterlisa 10 Comments

There are no doubt, many people in the IFB movement that are now questioning if the IFB is a cult, especially after 20/20 aired their story about 3 women who were molested and raped when they were teens in their IFB churches. The IFB is not the only denomination that has these crimes happening in their ranks. Regardless of whether or not they tell you they aren’t a denomination, they are. They have annual pastor’s conferences, they have specific leaders in their movement preach, they have annual marriage seminars and kids camps they all participate in. They also receive IFB missionaries as guests to present their vision for foreign missions and these IFB churches help support each other’s missionaries. If they weren’t a denomination they would reach out to other baptist churches, but they don’t. They only associate with other IFB churches.

Yes, they claim to be autonomous, yet some of them won’t teach you how to vote a pastor out. If you try to go to another pastor in the IFB for help, you may find it very difficult for them to take you seriously. I tried to reach out to two well known IFB pastors and the CLA and they wouldn’t help. One refused to return my messages, the other sided with the pastor, and CLA continues to support and defend the church I contacted them about.

When we left the IFB, we didn’t want to cause an uproar so we chose to leave with a simple email to our friends that we were going in a different direction in ministry, that we know our ministry could not be supported through the IFB, because we were choosing a ministry not affiliated with them. My husband was rebuked for me sending the email and the pastor ‘told’ my husband not to talk to anyone from ‘his church’.

The pastor on 20/20 said they aren’t a network, but they are. They don’t ALL connect officially, but they don’t disconnect officially either. My mom was a member of an IFB church in her town and her pastor knew who my former pastor was. He never indicated to me that there was a concern about me going there. Until we left. Then he spoke up. He didn’t say anything incriminating, but he did say he has concerns about the one I came out of and that he won’t associate with the pastor. He said has concerns with how the church is being led.

I had been to this man’s church many times when my mom attended there. He is a soft spoken pastor, I never heard him yell from his pulpit. But as my parents slowly started missing services and walk away quietly, they started noticing a difference in how they were treated by it’s members when they saw them at the stores.

Somehow, at some point in time, something is being taught to the people in churches like these. Something that puts the people into a fear and anger towards those who leave. What are they hiding?

There is an overall teaching that is spread through the camps that indicates that the ‘devil will get you if you leave’. There are stories told about people who suffered awful tragedies after leaving. There’s a story that I have heard taught to teens at a IFB church camp. A story of a man who was a Bible College student that decided to leave the ministry. He had a wife and two sons. One day the man was on top of his roof doing some electrical work. He needed someone to run a line under the lattice covered porch. He asked his little boy to do it for him as he stayed on the roof. This story goes on to reveal that the son crawled into a den of rattlesnakes and began screaming for his life. The dad jumped down grabbed his son out of there, screamed for his wife, jumped in the truck to leave and backed over his other son. Both sons died…because he left the ministry. This story was never confirmed as true. No name was ever given. No evidence at all. To assume it happened BECAUSE he left the ministry and state that as a fact is heresy.

Then we started hearing of pastor’s sons who were killed in car accidents, motorcycle injuries that almost took their lives, pastor’s and deacon’s daughters in car accidents, one deacon’s daughter was in a skiing accident that took her life. Odd how the man’s two sons died out of the ministry and all these were happening within the ministry. They teach scare tactics to keep your kids out of the public schools yet so many pastors and deacons are arrested and convicted of raping and molesting children in the ministry. These stories have all been confirmed as true through various newspapers and public speaking by the children’s parents…the pastors and their wives.

Life and tragedies happen both inside and outside of the churches.

When it happends outside their ministry they call it God’s discipline or punishment on you for leaving.

When it happens in their churches they call it a test to strengthen your faith and permitted by God to be a blessing and help you grow. Sometimes it’s said to be a warning of what could happen if you leave.

I have sat in on numerous leadership meetings and conferences. I was a student at a local 2 year mini bible college. I listened to their teaching for 15 years. I attended the annual ladies conference in Napa, Ca for many years. I have read many of their books, training manuals, and ordered teaching tapes from various IFB preachers, evangelists, and women speakers. All of them teach the same things. I am not speaking about ONE isolated church. I am speaking about the numerous churches and their leaders from all over the country. We have traveled to other IFB churches when on vacation. We have put our kids in their Sunday School classes. Sent our kids to camps and teen conferences from various IFB churches.

If not all IFB churches teach the same things, then I sure live in a state that has a BAD infestation of false IFB pastors and the rest of the country’s IFB pastors should be raising hell over it. oh but many of the evangelists and pastors who traveled from other states have come to my state and supported all these churches, speak at their events, and camps and teen conferences. So I guess it’s not isolated to California.

Is the IFB a cult? Is it a denomination?

You decide.

Just before I typed out this article one of it’s members came to my home to invite me for Easter service.

It’s been two years since we left.

This person knows why we left.

Don’t they EVER STOP???

If you’re from my former church, please don’t ask us to come back. We’re NOT going back. Besides, with all my public testimony coming out, I doubt your pastor would want me there.

The armed guards that block the exists during service is a bit creepy to me. No thanks.

Filed Under: Inquisition, Legalism Tagged With: church camps, fundamentalism, IFB, IFB colleges, IFB Cult, IFB pastors, Independent Fundamental Baptist Church, teen camp, teen conferences

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