A Christian Heritage of Theological Discussion

Over the last year we saw such an overload of Internet religious wars with the publishing of various books about the questioning and re-examining of the doctrine of hell. It has appeared that some Christian circles have outright demanded that their perspective not be questioned and have done all they can to forbid such discussion within their churches. The doctrine of hell has been debated for centuries and while 4 out of 6 early churches believed there was no literal hell, it has remained a topic with heated proportion. The thing that gets my attention is that debating this topic is nothing new for Christianity and while some evangelicals insist their perspective is the only right one, the fact remains that there are plenty of others who disagree.

Inside the Church by lacybekah, on Pix-O-Sphere
photo credit Lacy

As much as some denominations of Christianity wish to silence the freedom of inquiry in their congregations, the heritage we have as Christians to continue to study and question each other thrives today. Some may want to halt such communication, however I propose that we embrace this tradition instead of trying to stop at the doorsteps of the mainstream view. Just because a view is in held by a majority doesn’t make it true. Americans live in a time when we won’t be burned at the stake or sent to jail for questioning the preachers. And God forbid any pastor in America today EVER vote for the power to do such a thing.

“An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it.” Mohandas Gandhi

The topic of hell is not the only theological topic that has been debated for many years. Among other arguments are the Trinity, Christian works, security/loss of salvation, and the working of the Holy Spirit through ‘supernatural’ gifts. I support the tradition of free inquiry without the fear of reprisal from among our Christian brothers and sisters. The apostle Paul said this about divisions,

1 Corinthians 11: 18For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part,d 19for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.”~ESV

In Galatians 2 Paul goes on to discuss the disagreement yet peace that came about between him and other brethren (verses1-10). He went on to publicly rebuke Peter in verses 11-21 for his contradictions. Furthermore, we see in James what appears to be opposing teachings to that of Paul’s gospel of grace. Martin Luther debated against the Catholic Church and Michael Servetus argued theological points with John Calvin. Yet somewhere along the line some Baptists think they cornered the market on theology while Pentecostalism rose up and presented some interesting and valid perspectives on the working of the Spirit.

Thankfully the tradition of burning people at the stake was halted here in America and we continue to have more tools at our disposal for studying the Hebrew and Greek through the Internet. We no longer have to live in fear that our lives will be at risk for disagreeing with the denominational styles of Christianity. There are over 35,000 denominations of Christianity today and not one of them has the corner market on truth.

So to the older generations who hold fast to their traditional teachings, please do everyone a favor and stop trying to forbid people from thinking on their own, studying the scriptures, and coming to their own conclusions. Simply present your conclusions and people will present their own. In Christ, we are free to question, debate, and find our own paths that Theos has laid out before us.

 The sites linked into this article may or may not represent the views of this blog author.

The following blogs are a variety of different perspectives on theology;

Sermons.com

Julie Ferwerda

Rachel Held Evans

Charles Stanley

Brian McLaren

Frank Viola

TentMaker.org

Bless you,

Sisterlisa

Teen Mania Berates Teens into Eating Bugs?

There is a steady increase of concern surrounding Teen Mania and while I and my teens have not gone to this camp, I have a friend who has. Mica is a courageous young woman who has found a way to raise awareness and seek healing for herself and countless others through her blog Recovering Alumni. MSNBC aired a segment about a few women who are seeking healing from their experiences with this popular “Christian Ministry”.

The documentary is interesting as I see different perspectives from people they interview. I highly recommend that you watch the video. I put the term Christian Ministry into quotes above, because I question whether this place is truly Christ-like and if it actually ministers to the youth.

It is in my opinion that Christ is gentle with children and that a ministry is a place where people who are already broken can find grace to heal from their brokenness.

In what I see of Teen Mania in this video, I see the staff trying to break these teens then “minister” to them afterward. This is parallel to me beating a dog with a whip then trying to convince the dog that I love him. Eventually the dog may end up attacking me, mistrusting me, and being mentally abused in the process. If this is love then how will they respond to real love when it’s given?

Regardless of what my opinion of Teen Mania is, I challenge you to search your own mind and heart and see what your Lord says to you about his grace and mercy and if this organization is truly Christ-like or if it even ‘ministers’ grace to these teens.

In the mean time, lets cross worms and cockroaches off our shopping lists, because quite frankly..I’m pretty sure feeding them to our children equates child abuse.

Do I Study the Bible?

Brenna wants to know if I study the bible. The short answer is, yes..of course I do. And here’s my question for her and others who ask this same question of me…have you studied the history behind the bible?

Here’s a few other questions to consider…

When did God send a prophet to fortell the book that would later become the “Bible”? Surely he would have sent someone to let us know.

Keeping in mind that the printing press wasn’t around during the days of Jesus being on the earth…where did Jesus ever speak about the Bible? Surely he would have commanded us to read it, study it, meditate on it, and memorize it…and he most likely would have said which English version was the authentic version.

Have you read “Mystery of Iniquity” by Thomas Helwys?

Which council chose which books were to be added and which ones weren’t to be added and how did they come to that decision?

Where is the apostle Paul’s other epistle? And why wasn’t it included?

When did Jesus say he was no longer the Word of God and that the Bible was taking his place?

Why didn’t the apostle Paul make a Bible for us?

Why didn’t Jesus ever write anything for us?

How could Paul say to read the ‘scriptures’ and it mean the New Testament when all his epsitles hadn’t been written yet?

When we were told that God would write his law on our HEARTS and that the Holy Spirit would bring ALL things into remembrance, did he fall short and need the bible as a back up plan?

Just a few questions to consider.

Dear Pastors

Dear Pastors,

In order for you to understand my heart in this, please be sure to read my letters to…
Jesus
Christians
God and
the Devil

…before reading this one.

Now this is really just perfect timing since this last week was a celebration of the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther insisted that Jesus is our only Mediator to God…but somewhere along the way, pastors assumed that we needed a Mediator between us and Jesus and they assumed that ‘role’. They pressed even further, insisting that we need them in order to understand the Holy Spirit. Allow me to reintroduce you to the original idea of the Royal Priesthood. Jesus became our Mediator to God, and the Holy Spirit helps us to understand his voice in our lives. These are roles that do not belong to the pastors.

I understand that you feel like the people need you and that somehow you are of utmost important to the church today. I don’t mean to hurt your feelings, but your ego needs to be deflated a bit.

I find it odd how many pastors insist that Jesus teaches more on “x,y,z than anything else” while using a word count to justify their teachings while that type of method is unreliable to support your role in the lives of people since “pastor(s)” is only mentioned 9 times in the entire bible.

And if you pride yourselves on being a “New Testament Church” then you’re really up creek without a paddle, because ‘pastor’ is only mentioned ONCE in the entire New Testament. I also understand that most pastors reject the idea that there are apostles in the world today, but the word apostle is mentioned far more times than ‘pastor’ in fact the word apostle(s) is mentioned 80 times.

Keep in mind that I don’t use that method of justification in my bible studies, but since pastors often do, I figured I’d follow their lead on that one.

Another issue that I feel is important is this matter of theology. Pastors seem to think they are better theologians than a ‘lay person’ (which by the way, lay persons aren’t in the bible). Anyway, pastors have dissected the bible so much that it often looks as though they have laid God out on the lab table and ripped him to shreds trying to prove their way is the only way. Don’t you realize that God can explain himself to people far better than you can?

We’re told by many pastors that we are stupid rebellious sheep who need to have our legs broken by them, in order to keep us in the fold and out of danger. Pardon me, but my logical mind tells me that if a pastors feels the need to “break the sheep’s legs”.. that they are abusive and their “fold” isn’t worth being a part of. You see, being a ‘sheep at rest’ in the Kingdom means we’re free, not in prison. And should we wander off, it’s Jesus, our Great Shepherd, who comes to our rescue…not you.

Why can’t you see that you’re just like us? Do you have a problem with true equality? Let me explain something to you. We’re free. This means you have absolutely no right to tell us what to believe, how much money to donate to charities, or which ones we donate to. You have NO RIGHT telling us to quit a job that schedules us to work on Sundays and no authority whatsoever to dictate to us to skip a family reunion or cut off family members who don’t go to church. You do not have the authority to condemn us for being human, belittle our choices in life, or command who we can and can’t be friends with.

Furthermore, when we leave your churches, we have the freedom of speech to say why we left. It is within our full freedom as American citizens and as Christians to disagree with you, your theology, your church creed, and how you conduct your church politics. God is not going to strike us with leprosy like Miriam or kill us like Ananias and Sapphira. When we disagree with these things, it does not mean we’re gossiping about you or your church.

For those pastors who hate the idea of ex-members blogging about their journey out or discussing things on Facebook, if it bothers you then don’t read it. If they are outright lying about alleged criminal activity in your church, then hire a lawyer and ask them to stop. But if they aren’t naming your church’s name, yours or church members names, then you can’t do anything about it. It’s simply their experience and they have the freedom to tell their story.

Now before you get all bent out of shape, consider the news source you read, watch, or listen to that informs you of your nation’s government, leaders, politics, and justice system. You want the chance to speak freely about that, hold the leaders accountable, and even protest when you disagree. Your ex-church members have that right, in fact..even your current church members have that right.

It really behooves you to understand just how equal we all are. You will reap what you sow. Sow control over the people and control will come after you. Sow fear into the people and you’ll have something to fear too. Sow a large platform for your so called authority and the harder you’ll fall when reaping time comes.

Sow equality for everyone…and you’ll reap freedom for yourself.

How About that Building

This topic has come up in hundreds of conversations…the church building. Besides the fact that Jesus specifically told Peter NOT to build him a temple, thousands of pastors continue to do so…they think they are required by God to do so.

We know that God does not dwell in man made structures, he dwells within mankind. The only temple left is the temple of his Holy Spirit, which is us.

So how about that building? Many pastors claim the church is the ‘house of God’, but we know that’s not true. These same pastors declare that “God” requires 10% of their Gross Income or else you will suffer from curses and if you give faithfully, “God” will reward you. This is also not true. Jesus became a curse for us and God rains on the just and the unjust.

In addition to all of this, many pastors insist you become an official member of a church and give to their ‘work’ and they do all they can to convince you that their work is the most worthy to ‘invest’ in.

None of this is required by God.

If only pastors could be more honest with what is really going on. They’re building their own kingdoms, while they are the CEOs. Why don’t they just call it what it is? What so many of us already know it is… a club. It’s really not much different than the Elk’s Lodge, Lion’s Club or the Masons. The building needs to be paid for, but just ask each member for a fee like a gymnasium does. Give them a discount if they have several children or even ask for volunteer hours from those who want to join, but can’t afford it. Various other clubs in a community are formed with passions to contribute to their local community. They raise money for the parks, donate books to the library and schools, or even provide food for the soup kitchen once a month. But a lot of churches clubs don’t participate in their communities like that, instead they just want to raise money for their own kingdoms and hoard their resources for themselves.

There are some exceptions to this. There are some churches who are as practical as this, they are honest about the donations, accountable for their books, and give to the needy. These churches are rare, but they are out there.

I just think that with this mass exodus of Christians leaving churches, that these pastors would just be honest about about their club’s intentions and maybe people would be more likely to stay involved. We’re all very tired of being lied to and manipulated into funding their personal agendas.

Sadly, many Christians don’t realize just how free they are. They are free to disagree and even leave. Mankind is not required to go to church or become a member of a church. They take one verse out of Hebrews and created an entire church doctrine out of it…where none exists.

The encouragement to spend time with people on the same spiritual path as you is just that…an encouragement. The gathering of people you become close to might change over time, or even change quite often during your lifetime. The point is to get together to encourage each other in the faith and build friendships, support, and community. It does not, however, mean to isolate yourselves with your groups and reject the rest of your community. Jesus was not out to build a religion of elitists, his love is equal for all.

So get together with your loved ones, build friendships, and have really great barbecue nights. Help each other when a ‘storm’ comes, assist when someone is moving, bring them a crock pot of stew when they are sick. Be a community. This is church. No fees, no dues, no commands for women to wear skirts and nylons or for men to wear suits. Just love one another. You create your own ‘church’ by building a community of support around your life and your family.

Be Blessed and Blessed Be.

To the Devil

My other letters began with “Dear”, but I can’t honestly use that term with you. I encourage you to read what I had to say to Jesus, to the Christians, and even what I dared to say to God, before you read this letter.

I have a sneaking suspicion that you have been impersonating God for many years. Yes, I’m coming right out with it…an accusation against you. I’m not sure if this is all a part of God’s plan or not, but I see right through your mascaraed. Perhaps God gave you permission, like he did with Job, but I do not see where God ever said you could pretend to be him and frighten the people with your abusive, narcissistic, twisted so called leadership. Maybe I’m wrong in assuming you are behind all the trouble in the world today. If that’s the case, then I apologize, but I just can’t help but to see a really bad misrepresentation of God and I don’t know who else to blame but you.

I’m not to happy with you taunting God about Job. Quite honestly, I’m not too thrilled with God about it either. All of Job’s children had to die because you two just can’t get along. The so called relationship you and God have is quite dysfunctional and I highly recommend that you two get some serious therapy.

But onto another subject. The apostle Paul mentioned that he gave two men over to you for their punishment. So am I to assume that you are the one who does the discipline in this Kingdom? Because if you are, I think you’re falling short. Haven’t you heard of all the false prophets around here? Some Christians claim that you are the one who empowers them, but Paul said you are the one who disciplines people. I just don’t get it. How can you be behind the evil in the world and discipline people for evil deeds at the same time?

Now let me get back to this mascaraed I mentioned above. You see, there’s this guy who claims to be God and he twists all the scriptures around to deceive people into thinking they’re naked, condemns them, and threatens to torture them forever if they don’t accept his so called love. Now, may I remind you that I am a mother. I have 3 daughters and if some guy came along and wanted to marry one of them, but threatened her with eternal torture if she declined his proposal, I would have the guy arrested. There’s no way I would allow my daughters to marry someone under those conditions. Maybe he is ‘a’ god, but he’s certainly not the God I know.

So if that’s you under that knock off God label, then back the heck off! And when I see your devoted followers continually abuse people with that story I’m going to call it what it is, a lie! Oh they won’t like being told that they are following the devil, but even Jesus said the preachers of his day were your sons.

But here’s the way I view God…he has adopted everyone and the gate is wide open and everyone is welcome to come when they’re ready. Yes, that means even the sons of the evil father..they’re adopted. They can enter the palace whenever they’re ready and you won’t be able to stop them.

I think it’s interesting that you have your sons and daughters standing at the open gate trying to tell gays, hookers, and Democrats that they aren’t allowed to enter in until they jump through your religious hoops and statements of beliefs. And no matter how many hours they put into picketing in front of the pearly gates, I’ll keep standing their with a bullhorn announcing the freedom they have to enter in. And while I’m at it, I think it’s extremely hypocritical of you to allow your children to condemn Harry Potter and Lady Gaga.

Again..if that’s not you behind all of that, then my apologies. But as I see it from here, you and God have a very twisted outlook on life. What a mess. And since I know God is probably reading this I’ll just add that I do wonder why the heck I would want into a heaven with such a God. Why would anyone want in there?

Maybe I’m just really confused because of all the so called Christian perspectives in the world. Maybe there’s some cosmic purpose for why us humans experience tragedy in order for joy to be such a triumphant occasion. Maybe you and God weren’t supposed to be literal people/beings for us to interact with or avoid. Maybe it’s all just a really great fable that can speak to us in some kind of mystical way to help us make decisions in this life. Maybe the bible isn’t really an instructional manual to be read on a literal plane. Perhaps it’s possible that we’re all in the Matrix and are mere chess pieces on a checkerboard, waiting to be moved into position.

By the way, don’t puff yourself up, any more than you already have, in thinking you’re equal with God and Jesus to warrant such a letter from me. I have a right to tell you what I think of you. Jesus already has the victory over you..and it’s only a matter of time before more people wake up to see the lies for what they really are. I’m not entirely convinced you’re even a real being and the purpose of this letter is more about me sorting through all the crap I was fed for so many years than it is about thinking you’re a real entity. I also don’t think Christianity, in general, is a ‘being’ or ‘entity’ either, but I will have some words for her another day.

Maybe these letters are helping me to see what some claim to see as well. That viewing all these deities as actual beings can cause a lot of mental health issues. But I have experienced what I believe to be Jesus and I happen to think we’re all connected in some cosmic and mystical way. But I’ll save those thoughts for another time.

Anyway, I have been closing my letters with “Respectfully”, but I am not sure I can honestly say that to you. According to the bible, you have a part in all of this and whatever that role is, I’ll just back away and let you and God sort it all out. You might want to give Jesus a chance. He’s a really good Mediator.

Hell is not THAT Clear… or is it?

My friend John Fincher shared this video with me and I thought it was amazingly courageous of this Mennonite pastor to share his thoughts on this wildly controversial topic. He gives a short…very short, over view of 4 perspectives that have been a part of the debate for centuries now. The idea behind one denomination or movement of Christianity having the “right” perspective is quite arrogant. But what I find very intriguing about this video is that he leaves it up to you to decide. With the very few verses he shares on each of these 4 perspectives, there are a lot more that he doesn’t give and that’s ok.

When I study the bible for answers about doctrines I study out every passage a theologian has presented and I chase each passage down and if there are weak points of unanswered questions, I break through those areas and explore further.

In the end of this video this pastor declares his utmost concern about this ‘doctrine’ and about the people who believe in it. I admire his bravery to present this in the manner in which he did and even more so, I applaud him as a pastor to allow his congregation to make up their own minds.

You Asked For It — What About Hell? from Jon Carlson on Vimeo.

Dear God

Just in case you missed it, I wrote a letter to Jesus and my fellow Christians before I sat down to write to you. Please be sure to let the devil know that I’m not done with writing letters just yet. He has his coming soon.

Allow me to preface this letter with a reminder (not that you need it, but my readers might) about the story of Esther. First of all, her husband, the king, is an idiot. What kind of husband would carry the rule of death  over his own wife if she entered the throne room. Get real! Nevertheless, I admire her courage to boldly go before her king with the problem she and her people was facing. She had to risk her life just to try and save her people. She wasn’t rude at all, she went in humbly and I appreciate that. In the New Testament, in this thing people call the bible, it says we can boldly go before the throne of grace. So with all that in mind, I trust that you are holding out your golden scepter over me as I approach you with something very important to me and my people. I know many will shudder in fear that I am coming to you so frankly, but I have a very difficult time believing you would be wroth with me for doing so when the oppressed people are crying out for help.

Esther courageously informed the king that there was one in his court that was planning to destroy all her people. That was a bold move to make. She made an accusation and from what I understand of the culture in their day, women didn’t flippantly do such a thing out of fear of being physically punished. She was needing to “tattle” on an “authority” in her kingdom. I understand a little about what that feels like. I’ve had to tattle on a few authorities myself. I’ve even questioned how they carry out your laws and I have been shunned and accused of being a heretic.

If this grace that Jesus and Paul spoke of is true, then I walk in the power of that grace as I come to you with my problems. You see, not only do I need to talk with you about some of the things in the bible, but also about what’s going on down here on earth with people who claim to be your spokespeople and under shepherds. But even more than that, I need to talk to you about your anger problem.

I keep thinking that maybe these prophets and leaders were mistaken. I can’t fathom how you would ever command or empower people to kill humans, slaughter women and children, and claim that to be your perfect will. If a man did that today, they’d think the guy was psycho and needing to be locked up in a loony bin. So either the writers of the books in the bible were mistaken or you need a good domestic violence program. I know a few, if you’re interested.

I’ve been a victim of domestic violence and I turned my life around to help other victims as well. I know this might sound odd, but I can’t help but to feel sorry for you. The bible makes you sound like you have self-esteem issues. I’ve experienced jealously before and I know how awful it is to deal with. But what I learned in my own marriage is that I needed to be fully self confident so that jealousy didn’t run my life or throw me into a panic any time a pretty woman walked by my husband. I would think that a perfect God could be more patient..like Edward from Twilight. He was able to keep his cool when Jacob came around to try to seduce and manipulate Bella. Edward didn’t want to bully Bella into a relationship with him. He wanted it to be of her own choosing. He waited patiently for her and loved her dearly even when she was acting foolish. He didn’t get angry at her or threaten to destroy her if she looked at Jacob.

Anyway, I am hoping you’re not really like the writers say you are. Then I came upon one verse in the bible ….that says… “to people who are pure, you show yourself pure and to people who are crooked you ‘seem’ torturous.” And  there  is where I suspect that the writers had some mental health issues and they misunderstood you all those years. Then when Jesus simply said, “Who do you say that I am”, it hit me. I need to be able to know you and Jesus based on my own personal experience, not on how others view you. If I view you based on the crooked people’s observations, then I would have to view you as torturous. Pardon me God, but I have never been tortured by you. There was a time though…that I think I thought you were torturous…which most likely explains more about the people who were teaching me, and myself, than it does about you.

Which leads me to my next complaint. There are people down here who are belittling the brethren and sisters of the Kingdom. They claim to be your spokespeople and under shepherds, but they seem more interested in breaking the legs of the sheep than carrying them to safety. They line their pockets with our house payments with promises that you will provide our needs for us..but more people are losing their homes as they have filled their offering plates with their last penny. I realize that I can’t do anything to stop these so called under shepherds, but perhaps you could give me some power to speak the truth and get the people to listen? They need to be woken up from their hypnotic trances.

In the mean time, as the people begin to wake up, the other blind followers of those crooked leaders turn on us all like a pack of ravenous vampires. It’s worse than watching Underworld. Selene is much easier to deal with than those so called followers of yours. They certainly seem very misguided. I hesitate on asking you to hold them back a bit, they really do need leashes, but I understand that when people see them for what they really are, that it will serve as a caution to never go back.

God, I know people who have been so hurt by these under shepherds and their followers, that they have a very hard time believing in you. These so called leaders have misrepresented you. The people have believed them…that you’re really like what they claim you to be…and therefore they have openly rejected you. I can’t blame them really. You know I wrestled with you a couple of years ago. I had to come to grips with “who do you say that I am” and rest in the grace that Jesus spoke of for me to be able to even want to still have you in my life. And even to this day… I have a serious problem with how you are portrayed in the Old Testament. I can’t accepted that you really had such a violent temper, that you needed Jesus to jump in front of us as you came at us like a freight train and you ended up accepting his death just so you wouldn’t destroy us. Because quite frankly, God..if that really is you, then I don’t think you are worthy of worship. Could it be possible that all the glorious things that were said about “God” in the Old Testament was really Jesus in charge while you were on vacation? Did he step in when you weren’t looking? Because what some writers said about “God” sure doesn’t match what other writers said about “God”.

Is it possible that you and Jesus are a bit like that guy in Batman who goes by the name Two-Faced? Or how about Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde? It’s just really tough to try to make sense out of you. Maybe it’s more about us than it is about you. Maybe all of us humans just really struggle with who we are and that’s why we can’t see you as perfect..because we aren’t perfect. In the times we are weak and crooked in our thinking..you seem to be a torturous God. I’d rather see the pure God all the time…but I don’t have a pure mind all the time. And even though I know Jesus is my righteousness..I’m still a fallible human.

This is where I’m probably going to get way too close to that slippery slope everyone keeps talking about. But you are so complex that my human mind splinters while trying to figure you out. So maybe that’s why people worship lesser gods and goddesses. Or maybe they aren’t really lesser…but just individual personas of you. Maybe this makes it easier for people to approach you. The bible does indicate in numerous places that there ARE other gods and goddeses. I know there were a few that you weren’t exactly fond of, but you didn’t say much about the other ones. I mean… I know you have that jealousy problem, but what is their to be jealous of? Surely you aren’t actually jealous of Molech. He’s really creepy. I think I can understand you being jealous of Athena though, she’s really pretty. And Diana..wow, she’s a warrior woman.

Here’s the thing about jealousy though, if you are so magnificent, then you don’t have anything to worry about. People will figure out who you really are and make up their own minds. But if you really think that destroying them if they don’t choose you is the best way to go, then I feel sorry for you. I love my children and I would never destroy them if they lived their whole lives rejecting me. I love them more than that. Because true love doesn’t destroy people, it sets them free.

Anyway, whoever is giving those uneducated spokespeople power to speak in your name.. don’t mind me when I push back. I just won’t continue to tolerate such behavior against my own brothers and sisters of humanity.

I know for a fact that I experienced Jesus..he revealed himself to me when I was quite young..before I ever read the bible. I just knew. But you…I’ve never really had a ‘revelation’ of you the way I had of Jesus. I know people say you and Jesus are One…but that’s a difficult concept for me to comprehend. I was told that you understand us, that through Jesus, you/Jesus know what it’s like to be human. But do you know what it’s like to be a female? I haven’t found any stories that depict you as experiencing cramps and my menstrual cycle has been giving me hell lately (pun intended). So maybe you have experienced a ‘type’ of menstrual cycle and labor pains in the spiritual realm..but if you’re going to reveal yourself as a human to show us you understand what it’s like to be human, then shouldn’t you have had to be pregnant and give birth? I would think you would need to experience engorgement and blocked milk ducts. It’s really quite painful, especially when the baby bites. It also seems to me that you would need to come to earth as a teenage girl with weight issues and small breasts, because the bullying us girls go through is awful. Please don’t patronize us females when you say “I understand”. Pardon my boldness, but I don’t think you do. Unless you have been a female like we are, then how can you say you understand how we feel?

Then I come to the cross where Jesus died and he said to one of his disciples, “Behold your mother” and Mary wasn’t really this guy’s mom. Could the Catholics be onto something when they honor Mary so much? Was that you in female form? There certainly is a lot in the bible about honoring both father and mother. And how could you have a son without a wife? Mary certainly knew what it was like to be pregnant and have rumors spread about her. A virgin, pregnant? Ya right. She must have been the laughing stock of her town. That’s a lot of pressure for a teenage girl to go through in such a patriarchal society that lived by the Law and oppressed women as less than. Ok so this is starting to sound more like a rant and I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but I’m just talking to you from my heart, sharing my feelings, and I was told I could talk to you like I talk to anyone else.

Maybe the stories about you sound more like a human man with self esteem issues because it shows us how to just be who we are, human. That it’s normal to wrestle with who we are, experience all that goes on in this life, suffer and be joyful all in the same week. Maybe you’re more like we are than we thought. Perhaps we just don’t understand how to be what we were created to be, humans with needs and longings, heartaches, and enlightenment. Maybe it’s easier to be a human when we see that even God struggles with being perfect.

At any rate, I’m glad I can come to you just as I am. As you can tell, I have been told many things about you that just don’t make sense. Thank you for your patience while I try to sort all these things out.

Respectfully,

p.s. Don’t forget to let the devil know that he’s next…. and I’m taking the gloves off for that one.

A Great Man of God?

I have read about this in the Bible and I wondered what you all have been taught about what a false preacher is?

Let’s start in Matthew 24:5 “For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” {KJV}

They will come in His name saying He is Christ.

I used to read that and say “false preachers will claim to be Christ”

But how would that deceive us? We would KNOW they aren’t Christ.

Then I read it again and thought WOW. They will come and say He IS Christ. That’s how they will deceive.

Acts 8:9-10, A man named Simon had been a sorcerer there for many years, amazing the people of Samaria and claiming to be someone great. Everyone, from the least to the greatest, often spoke of him as “the Great One—the Power of God.” {NLT}

Do you know what sorcery a preacher uses to ‘amaze’ the people with that would make them think they were following a ‘great man of God’? This word sorcery in today’s language would be better translated as ‘whisperer’. Their words are used to deceive you and while the word means whisperer, they might be shouting as well. It doesn’t mean that whispering is bad. It goes much deeper than that.

I don’t think God’s people would follow someone who was dressing in bizarre clothes, painting their face, and wearing bones in their hair. So how does a false preacher like Simon get the people to think he was so great, to where they thought they were following a ‘man of God’? And how do preachers today do the same thing?

Manipulation: to control or play upon by artful, unfair, or insidious means especially to one’s own advantage : to change by artful or unfair means so as to serve one’s purpose.

The word artful really catches my attention. Artful:: adroit in attaining an end usually by insinuating or indirect means.

Sounds crafty to me. Crafty: adept in the use of subtlety and cunning b: marked by subtlety and guile.

I think we’ve seen those two words before. Subtlety and guile.

Guile: Middle English gile, from Anglo-French, probably of Germanic origin; akin to Old English wigle divination —  Date:13th century
1: deceitful cunning

A more proper word for this in our modern language would be glamouring. Glamouring is an act used to hypnotize people into submitting to them so the person can have control over them. And this is done by many Clergy today. I do believe that some are raised this way and may not even realize what they are doing, but I do believe there are many who know exactly what they are doing. Either way, it is our responsibility to be educated so we don’t fall victims to it. Some examples of glamouring that you may recognize easier is in some vampire films where the vampire convinces the woman that he is the ‘good guy’, but subtly brings her to a place of trusting him blindly and thereby becoming a victim.

Genesis 3:1, “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”

Oh that’s where I saw it before. The serpent was subtil to Eve.

Genesis 3:13, “And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.”

Oh he used his subtilty to beguile Eve. There’s that word guile!

He used God’s very own word to MANIPULATE her into thinking she was making the ‘right’ decision. The word serpent means to ‘whisper’ or ‘hiss’. Remember above that I showed you the word ‘scorcerer’ was better translated today as ‘whisperer’.

So now we know where manipulation comes from and who empowers others to do the same. This kind of manipulation is an art form with negative results for the victims, but powerful results for the one speaking their cunning words. Some so called seminaries teach the ‘pastors in training’ how to speak and preach to the people to get them to obey “God”. But what they’re really doing is teaching them how to submit to their idea of God, therefore submitting to them directly..not to God. They craft their words to hypnotize you into believing they are of God.

God doesn’t need to manipulate us, he gives us freedom to make up our own minds about him. Any clergy who seeks to manipulate you into believing in God has missed the whole point of who God is. Real love (Agape) has no need to deceive us into a relationship. If you feel that a teaching is trying to shame you, guilt you, threaten you into, or bribe you into making a choice, then you are witnessing what is called, glamouring. Use caution.

When you find a teacher that gives it to you straight, with grace and lavished in Agape, then you have found someone worthy to study with. The Royal Priesthood of Believers have no need for such glamouring, they offer freedom to explore God through grace, not control.

Church Slips Into Public School

I’m not one to be adamant about Halloween, not anymore anyway.. I did have those years when I thought I was a better Christian if I avoided the holiday, but that’s another story. This year I came across a rather interesting scenario when a friend poses a question on her Facebook page. She was wondering what our thoughts were on her public schooled daughter getting an invite to a Haunted event…it was slipped into her locker at school.

Her daughter said, “Everyone got one.”

Upon further investigation, my friend discovered that this Haunted event is being hosted at a local church’s property.

How is it that a church gets their event slipped into “everyone’s” locker at a public school?

The invite to this Haunted event doesn’t say anything about the church, but my friend recognized the address.

Sure enough it’s AT the church.

But the church’s website doesn’t have anything listed about it…oh wait, yes they do.

Fright Night

Oh come on now, it can’t be that bad though, right? I mean, it’s a church for crying out loud…well some might cry out loud, even their waiver says “The event is meant to scare and terrify” and their website says people come out of their Haunted Trail…crying. You might want to skeedaddle on over there and watch their trailer videos… use caution.

They allow any age, but recommend they be at least 12 years old…but the movie theaters require age 18 to see a film of this nature. Go watch the videos and make up your own minds.

It may not bother anyone who is hosting this event, but the fact that the invites were slipped into lockers at a public school seemed a  bit odd.

Soliciting? It’s $15 a ticket.

So a church has someone get to the public school, slip in invitations to a Haunted event that is hosted at the church. Ok, so maybe one of the students goes to that church and didn’t realize that this could be a violation of the school’s policies on soliciting students through their lockers. Well, might not be so bad..they’re not using this as a manipulative way to get kids indoctrinated are they?

Lets head on over and ask at the Fright Night Facebook page…(keep in mind that their FB page says NOTHING about being a part of the Community Church.

Well, I don’t know about you, but a church who slips in an event flyer into lockers at a public school, doesn’t have the church information on this flyer, nor on their Facebook page…and they do plan to use this event to benefit their church… well I guess you can make up your own minds.

Is this manipulation?

Did they violate the public school?

Have they solicited unlawfully?

Should it bother us that a church wants to scare and frighten people for monetary gain, does it bother you?

Can a Non-Profit organization, like a church, charge admission for this kind of thing?

I sure would like to be there and see if they target these youngsters with their version of the ‘gospel’ and ‘hell’ during this event. Just what are they trying to do here?