There Are No Denominations in the Kingdom

July 11, 2011 By 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: , , , , , ,

Intro to Leaving Legalism

July 5, 2011 By 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: , , , , , , ,

Francis Chan Reconsiders Hell

June 15, 2011 By 6 Comments

Shortly after I read ‘Love Wins’, by Rob Bell, I saw a video published by Francis Chan where he seemed to genuinely and lovingly shared his grievous heart about the open discussion of hell. I can understand that concern, since I had been in a hell fire brimstone church for 15 years. I understand that concept as they teach it and by golly if you believe unbelievers will go to hell forever you ought to be more vocal about it. But many times Christians wrestle with how to be loving while telling someone they’re going to hell. Most Christian parents would forbid their children from ever telling someone, “Go to hell”. Yet, at the same time isn’t telling someone they ARE going to hell, in fact, worse than saying “Go to hell”?

So Francis Chan, with a heavy heart, began studying this popular topic of hell and Charisma magazine reported that Francis Chan has reconsidered this teaching a bit. His new book ‘Erasing Hell: What God Said About Eternity and the Things We’ve Made Up’ is scheduled to be released in July. It will be interesting what he has to say, yet I highly recommend you read Julie Ferwerda’s new book first. This topic of hell has had me intrigued for quite a while and I have taken what Rob Bell opened the discussion with, and Julie’s thoughts, into serious consideration. Julie presented a very detailed in-depth study in what I believe is well within context of the plan of God to make all things right.

I believe there is indeed a Judgment, however the way in which that plays out is not so clearly defined. Key words such as grave, fire, flames, darkness, etc are used in symbolic ways throughout many parables and symbolic teachings. When I personally look up the word ‘hell’ in an English version of the Bible, then look in Greek I find the word ‘hades’ which is actually ‘grave’. Just a few days ago, I passed the local cemetery and didn’t find any grave spouting up flames anywhere. I also find that Jonah was in ‘hell’ for three days, God heard his prayers, and delivered him out of ‘hell’, all while Jonah was still alive. Then in the book of Revelation we see hades (the grave) emptied and destroyed (which means no one stays in the grave, ‘hell’, forever). There are many instances like these that leads me to believe that ‘hell’, or more accurately translated ‘grave’, is not quite what I was previously taught.

But this is not my intended purpose for this post. It’s just the beginning. Many Christian writers, pastors, teachers, theologians, and many others including Atheists and Pagans are reconsidering what the overall message of Christ really is. In the history of growth of the congregations on this planet, we have seen changes in their teachings. New denominations are formed regularly and anyone with a small group can file for a 501c3 (in America) and begin a new religious establishment. Do we really need more churches when we see so many of them dispersing into homes as it is?

My point in this article is about the changes. Each person has their own soul liberty in their journey to understanding the Divine Creator, however if we use the bible as a historical guide as to what has happened to the early believers we can see an over all theme and that theme is love, mercy, correction, and reconciliation. When we reconsider that hell is actually the grave, then the major premises of evangelicalism makes a swift change from threats of torture to a wooing of the Spiritual lover of our souls.

So can Christianity survive without threats of fire torture? I suppose that depends on what you think being a Christian is really all about. Surely the Bride of Christ, whose Head is Christ, will always survive because she can not disappear. The gates of Hades will not prevail against the Kingdom. However, if the head of a entity called “Christianity” is not Christ, then it will surely fail. Maybe we just need to ask ourselves if we’re following the real Christ, or if we’re following a man made copy all decked out in man’s bricks and mortar lead into a program of circus tricks, smoke, and mirrors.

Filed Under: Inquisition Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Julie Ferwerda Raises Hell With Orthodoxy

June 14, 2011 By 6 Comments

Yes, a startling title for a very grave book (pun intended). I have been reading Julie’s blog this year and conversing with her on Facebook. She is a lovely confident women who is bold in speaking out about discrepancies and discoveries she has noticed in her spiritual journey. If she lived in Anne Hutchinson’s time she would have been tried for heresy and possibly burned at the stake. What does Julie have to say that is so beautifully dangerous to mainstream Christianity? How could a pregnant home keeper like Anne Hutchinson, cause such a stir that it brings men to the front lines with full throttle hostility toward her and imprison her?

Grace

Anne Hutchinson taught grace. Oh yes, the clergy had a slew of other issues with her beliefs, but the bottom line was grace. She simply spoke up about another preacher that she felt taught more on grace than the others. So now we have Julie Ferwerda in the 21st Century and I believe Anne Hutchinson would be standing shoulder to shoulder with her if she could be here today. Julie has dared to go against the grain to proclaim that the Gospel is actually better than we thought. Julie picks up where Rob Bell left off. Don’t get me wrong, I like Rob Bell’s book ‘Love Wins’, but I think Julie’s new book, ‘Raising Hell’ knocks ‘Love Wins’ out of the ballpark.

If you thought Rob’s book was controversial you haven’t seen anything until you’ve read ‘Raising Hell’.

Julie Ferwerda raises hell with Orthodoxy and by golly she ought to! If you are a KJV proponent and think all other versions of the bible are mistranslations then you need to read this hot topic book filled with in-depth research into the Hebrew and Greek languages and just how many mistranslations there really are. Mistranslations that have altered and hidden the Good News under an English blanket of fear mongering fiery threats. Mistranslations that have side stepped a very serious and grave understanding about Judgment that we MUST understand if we think we’re going to live a “good Christian life” that is “well pleasing to God”.

Julie not only dices through the popular topic of hell, she brings to the forefront of our minds and hearts that there is a reckoning day and if you choose to “go out and do whatever you want” you will have “hell to pay”, so to speak, but it won’t be anything like what you once thought. In fact, I think it’s worse than hell.

Keep in mind that I have read Julie’s book with my own filters, as anyone else will. But from what I get out of ‘Raising Hell’ is that there is a consequence and process to our life, and the after life, that is much worse than the traditional hell doctrine. How dare those who force ‘Orthodoxy’ not tell us about this! How dare they! How dare they keep something THIS important away from us!

What could be worse than hell, but brings out how great the Gospel really is?

Julie Ferwerda is presenting, what I believe, is a well balanced view of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She does not candy coat the Judgment in the least bit. In fact, I view her perspective on the Judgment as a very startling wake up call for all of Christianity. She addresses the popular doctrines of Calvinism and Arminianism that will shake their followers to the core. Without her mentioning it, I think she also raises awareness of the “once saved always saved” doctrine as well as the “you can lose your salvation” doctrine. Being rejected and thrown into hell forever and ever is the easy way out. What Julie presents is much harder to deal with. We face God and we have no escape. (How could that be an uncomfortable thing? Read the book!)

I do believe that the bigger Story is much larger than we can imagine and I feel that Julie has done an excellent job at trying to bring that larger Story to us and I believe with all my heart that this perspective is a must read. Lets just say that Julie is onto something worthy of our attention(which I believe she has), what has she done? She has given us a glimpse into part of the bigger picture. She has not revealed anything new, she isn’t pulling doctrines out of a hat nor is she diminishing the Gospel. In fact, she is highlighting some things that demand our fullest attention! She has journeyed to the very center of the original ‘Orthodox’.

Here’s a simple analogy. The playground has been all stirred up with kids fighting and arguing back and forth. Even the teachers have not been able to calm the crowd and hostility. In fact, the teachers have entered the fight and all the kids are cheering on the fighting between the teachers! But a whistle blows and while everyone is piled high on top of one another and blood has been flung all around, they look up and there stands the superintendent with the rule book. The detention center doors are open and the time for reckoning is at hand. The teachers are not exempt from discipline, no matter how many years they have been teaching and no matter which union they have to protect them. The parents of the kids will have no choice but to allow their kids to suffer the consequences to their behavior, no matter how wealthy they are and no matter how much community service they have partaken in.

It’s called accountability.

Surely grace has them covered and no matter how much thieving some clergy have done, no matter how many deacon pedophiles they have allowed to walk free, no matter how many folks they have gotten to recite the sinner’s prayer, not exactly…they will answer for themselves.

You might be thinking, “Has Julie cheapened grace?” Oh heavens no! She has brought to our attention how incredibly valuable this grace really is.

Has Julie made the consequences and sentence of hell easier? I don’t think so, not in the least bit.

Is Julie hiding the all inclusive love that Universalists hope for? No, in fact I believe she presents a very good understanding of the reconciliation of all things in Christ coupled beautifully with appropriate personal accountability.

For those deeply wounded and taken advantage of by “Born Again Pastors” who claim they are covered by grace. No need to worry that you are not avenged by the Savior. He hasn’t missed a thing they have done to you. They won’t get off “scott free”.

I believe this book will grab you by the shoulders and shout “Snap out of it!” Or at the very least, I hope it will.

Julie Ferwerda’s book, ‘Raising Hell’ should be an incredible eye opener for all denominations of Christianity. Not only them, but I believe Atheists and Pagans will read this book in amazement. Is this a view of Christ that even they have recognized? Could it be that many Atheists and Pagans have been believers all along and many Christians have been “unbelievers”?

So what could be worse than hell, but better than grace? How could an all-inclusive Gospel still include the Judgment and appropriate consequences for those needing them? How has the ‘Orthodox’ doctrines of hell and judgment caused us to drift so far off course that we desperately need this wake up call?

‘Raising Hell’ by Julie Ferwerda will be available at Amazon.com You can read more about it’s release, here.

Pre-Order at Amazon.com, here.

Additional thoughts, cautions, and recommendations are below.

Now don’t you go and tweet out “Farewell, Julie Ferwerda” so quickly. You may find yourself facing the Almighty one day as he asks “Why didn’t you listen to the messenger I sent you?” and the male ego that tries to dismiss a woman with no formal seminary training as heretical, uneducated, or not Orthodoxy just may be faced with his response, “Did I not send word through Joel and Peter that your sons and DAUGHTERS will prophesy? Did I not already choose unlearned men from the warf to teach you as well?” Perhaps God is humbling us a bit further than simply sending unlearned fisherman to teach us the way of Christ, behold… he also sends women.

This book is not a threat to male theologians and they have no need to be afraid to read it.

If you are a faithful hell doctrine believer, I recommend that you read this book as an opportunity to refine your doctrines. If you believe your literal hell is fact, then you need this book to test your beliefs on hell and quite possibly solidify them. But read it all the way through, even to the last section of resources about Hebrew and Greek before you jump in to debate her view of hell. You will need to be very well equipped with her entire view through this book in order to adequately chop through the first section on hell. Without understanding the full scope of what Julie has presented, any debate you compose based on that first section will make you look like an idiot to all those who will have read this book in it’s entirety. If you want to maintain any integrity you have within the Christian community by debating this book, be sure to read it and study it thoroughly. But not as a way to debate between the views, but to look at the research as it stands. Then draw out your comparison.

This book presents quite a paradox. Parables will look much different in ‘Raising Hell’. It might even confuse some folks and while many believe God is not the author of confusion, scriptures actually do reveal that there are times when he does, in fact, blind people for a purpose. So when you sort through the parables Julie has presented, you may want to take some time to study the chapters rather than simply reading them.

Challenge yourself as a student of scripture. This book is much more than just a ‘good read’, it is an opportunity to be a Berean. No matter what you believe before you read the book and no matter what you will believe after reading the book, ‘Raising Hell’ is one of the best books to challenge our biblical academics.

This book is not for the weak in faith. However, I do not think this book would cause someone to “fall” from Christ either. If your faith is in Christ, this book will not cause you to falter. However, if your faith has been in religion and doctrines have become a sacred cow to you, then I believe this book would reveal that to you and set you upright face to face with God.

If you fear this book would lead people to become Atheists: Some books out there have certainly caused some to become Atheists, but I do not think that would be the case with ‘Raising Hell’. If a person becomes an Atheist it is more likely that they have done so because of the total lack of love among some Christians, in addition to their hypocrisy, than from doctrines and books they don’t agree with. A person who is an Atheist is not automatically a “stupid” person because they don’t agree with Christianity. Many Atheists are quite intelligent and loving people. I believe this book will challenge their intellect and pleasantly surprise them.

For my Pagan friends, I would deeply like to hear your thoughts on this book if you choose to read it. I am deeply interested to hear your thoughts on the section of the Harvests. I know Pagans celebrate seasonal sabbaths and I would like to dialogue with you on the similarities and differences between the Torah feasts and celebrations and the ones you observe, according to Julie’s presentation in ‘Raising Hell’.

Filed Under: Inquisition Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

This Conversation is Not Going Away

May 6, 2011 By 1 Comment

When I was graduating from junior high and transitioning over to the local high school, I heard rumors about a couple that was attending that high school. A homosexual couple. Teen girls who were dating. The rumor mill was working over time that summer and by the time the first day of school came I expected to see several couples like this on campus. That wasn’t the case. It was just one couple and once we realized that the topic of homosexuality didn’t come up at all during my four years in high school.

I didn’t think too much of it for the next several years until we ended up in a fundamentalist church where it was preached about quite often. More celebrities were coming out of their closets and more preaching followed. Now we’re in the twenty-first century and the conversation about homosexuality is not going to go away, neither are the homosexuals. They’re here among us and we can’t deny that. No amount of preaching is going to make them go away and the more preachers condemn them the more the communities will struggle with being a community with them.

Each of us lives in a community and each community has divisions. That’s a part of life, but to be a healthy community we need to learn to live together in balanced harmony for the benefit of the whole community.

The church I came out of two years ago got involved in their first political rally when Prop 8 hit the ballot in California. The Prop 8 group couldn’t find a church that was willing to host the rally in our area. So the pastor took it on. It was quite impressive actually. I was amazed to see how many people came out for it. People from several counties all around ours. That was about a year before we left that church. Looking back now and remembering the things that were said, how it was handled, and looking at the US Constitution diligently, I came to change my mind about Prop 8.

My first thought about the Marriage Act is that the government should never have been given ‘marriage’ to begin with. If ‘marriage’ is truly of God then why is the government making a law about it? There was a generation of Christians that dropped the ball on protecting their religious traditions when they allowed the state to license marriage in the first place. I could go ever further by addressing the fact that Christianity also has allowed the state to license a pastor, but I’ll save that one for another article.

Now my second thought is about homosexual individuals as US citizens. The US Constitution is there to protect them as well. Is the US Constitution only protecting the right to pursue happiness for heterosexual couples? As I think back on our nation’s history I can remember there was a time when it didn’t protect women as individuals, nor African Americans. Our nation went through tremendous battles to bring about the freedom of women and African Americans. The idea that the US Constitution only protects the rights of white men would be preposterous!

Upon a closer look at the state’s individual constitutions we see that there is indeed a civil union law that gives homosexual couples rights in their state approved union. There are a lot of disagreements about the benefits that come with both civil unions and marriage. Are they equal?

Since Christianity gave ‘marriage’ over to the state’s authority they now run the risk of seeing it redefined to keep up with the Constitutional rights of all American citizens. This is where the problem rises to the surface and it is met with a lot of hostility.

A lot of the argument about homosexual marriage is coming from the religious community.

I find it interesting that before Prop 8 hit the ballot Fundamental Baptists and Mormons were sharply divided, but become quite unified to stop homosexual equality for marriage. All kinds of churches that otherwise have absolutely no communication, fellowship, or otherwise have suddenly agreed upon something. Enough of an agreement to send their money to the Prop 8 campaign to fight for marriage in court. If marriage was this important to them, why not just take marriage out of the state constitution and give it back to the religious community where they claim it belongs?

Then the state can have civil unions for all people regardless of their orientation and the church’s can maintain their own definition for marriage aside from the state.

There’s something very interesting brewing when the religious community actually wants the state’s approval on their religious ceremonies, pastors, and ministries.

For now we have this issue and each state has varying laws about this controversy, but aside from that there is this ongoing conversation taking place with churches and pastors all over the nation.

Are homosexuals allowed to become members of churches?

Can a homosexual couple attend a couple’s class?

Is it appropriate to allow a homosexual to teach God’s grace to a group of people?

For some people the argument becomes one of the Law. The Law was given to the Jews, not the Gentiles. I’m not a Jew and I think it would be fair to assume that most churches that consider themselves “New Testament Churches” aren’t Jews either.

We aren’t required to live by the Law, but if we choose to live by the Law we have to live by all of the Law. If we offend just ONE law we are guilty of ALL the Law. Each church certainly has the freedom to live by the Law, but if they do they need to uphold all of it and I’m quite certain they won’t be changing their Sunday services back to Saturdays any time soon.

Living in the New Covenant with Christ, there is this new way of living. It’s called living by faith. To live by the Law is opposite to living by faith.

We see an example of this when Paul is explaining the wisdom of allowing one another to eat certain meats that others might claim is a sin. The argument was that the Law forbade it, but under grace it’s allowed. I believe his thoughts in Romans 14 is quite fitting for this discussion.

In the New Covenant we reap what we sow. There are consequences in this life, therefore major decisions should be taken seriously.

I believe there is a balance for this ongoing conversation about the homosexual community and the religious community and I think we need to take this entire conversation very seriously, full of grace, and in the wisdom of God under the New Covenant of Christ.

I will close with these thoughts and another article is to come soon.

  • Each church has the freedom to live by their convictions as interpreted by their denomination.
  • The US Constitution is supposed to uphold the rights of all it’s citizens.
  • Not all Americans are religious, therefore should not be made to living according to religious convictions.

In my upcoming articles I will be examining the words in the Hebrew and Greek in the popular passages that many churches use to uphold their convictions about homosexuality and bring them into the Light of the New Covenant life in Christ.

I welcome comments, but I reserve the right to withhold publishing any comments that are belittling or condemning. I do hope you will let me know what questions and concerns you have so I can prayerfully consider those things while I am studying this topic.

Filed Under: Inquisition Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

It’s Not Just the IFB

April 23, 2011 By 2 Comments

For nearly two years I was hesitant on speaking up so precisely about the Independent Fundamental Baptist movement. I have been to many different IFB churches, have had friends in various IFB groups, and have seen enough to know that not all their pastors run their churches the same way. After 20/20 aired the stories of 3 victims from IFB churches, the message board forums for ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses were in shock how how similar these 3 girls’ experiences were to their own. Even more alarming are the many other forums of ex-church goers from various denominations were saying the same things. It’s not just the IFB.

In fact, I’m not going to point my finger at denominations, because it has a lot more to do with WHO the pastor is than what the denomination is. However, some denominations seem to fester spiritual gangrene more than others. Any church can become cult-like. Any denomination can become a cult. Any religion can become a cult. All it takes is an outgoing leader who love bombs the people, praises them publicly, offers a rewards system within their group, and puts a measure of control on the people.

There’s an ongoing problem in Christianity today and we can’t keep our heads in the sand.

In the Old Testament we see the people insist on having a king “Give us a king!”, when God was wanting to be their King. Today’s Christianity shouts “Give us a pastor!” Once they appoint a pastor for themselves they shout to others, “You need a pastor! Get under a Pastor!”

The function of a pastor has been grossly misunderstood and has been created into a position to lord over the people for centuries.

Jesus clearly said in Matthew 20: 25But Jesus called them to him and said,“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26It shall not be so among you.”

The system that has been passed down through the ages and has infiltrated the minds of the people through fear is that they ‘need’ a man-pastor and a brick building in which to sit in and a day in which to go..or they will be cast off, cursed, and left drowning without God. This system is false.

God never intended that the gathering of believers and their gathering place would be the rescue boat. Jesus Christ is our rescuer.

Peter saw Jesus walking on water. Jesus wasn’t in the boat. If Peter wanted to walk with Jesus, he would need to jump ship and walk by faith in the Son of God.

I’m not opposed to people gathering together or their freedom to choose where they gather, but the mentality that enslaves people and keeps them bound in fear is an unhealthy state of mind that renders a person crippled to walk on water with Jesus.

Jesus Christ is our Authority, not the pastor. Among the brethren, we are equals in Christ.

Jesus not only challenged the system of his day, he openly rebuked it and brought in a new covenant. He would be our King and all humans were made equal.

Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

The traditional role of the male and female system of his day was transformed. No longer could people lord over the people. It left the people vulnerable to abuse and oppression at the hands of the pastors.

It left the women vulnerable to abuse by the men.

When Paul wrote to the church in Corinth about women being silent in the churches, it wasn’t because women weren’t allowed to speak. It was because the women were wildly out of control and they were usurping (taking by force) authority over the men.

Jesus said we are equal. So women who want to walk in the love of Christ will not take authority over anyone by force. Paul’s letter would have said the same thing about men being silent if they were exercising authority over the people as well.

If Paul were to write a letter to some of today’s churches it might look something like this, “You men, sit down and be quiet for once! Do not lord over the women and oppress them like that. We are equal in Christ. Esteem each other better than yourselves, for this is the way of Christ. Do not forget that the prophet Joel said that your sons AND daughters will prophesy. If you forbid women to speak at all, you may miss out on something important the Lord wants to tell you.”

It’s just like the Lord to send ‘the least of these’ to be a spokesperson to the proud.

Prophets were often sent to inform people in authority that they were headed for destruction.

Even Joseph was given prophesies to speak to his older brothers.

Women are equal in the kingdom of God. There is no gender to oppress over the other.

There is this place of mutual love and respect where we yield ourselves to one another.

But we aren’t to exercise authority over one another.

This place of equality is where we listen to one another, yield to one another, submit to one another. It goes both ways.

It’s not a one way street.

To walk in this kingdom is like a ballet, we dance in harmony because it’s love that binds us together.

Filed Under: Inquisition, Spiritual Abuse Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Is the IFB a Cult?

April 11, 2011 By 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: , , , , , , , ,

False Christian Leaders in China

April 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Hundreds of Christians were apprehended by China Police for public worship. According to ‘Voice of America’ news,

“The detentions are the latest in a crackdown on individuals and groups deemed by the government to pose a threat to social stability.”

I think most Christians know that Christianity is not highly favored in China so this story really perplexes me.

Why would these Christians put themselves in danger like this?

This group was an ‘unregistered congregation’ who had been ‘evicted from their last place of worship last week’, so why would they go public? They clearly put themselves in the spotlight unnecessarily. Was this an attempt to root out the Chinese government’s persecution of their gatherings? Is this the way of Christ?

What would cause a group of Christians to defy their government, put themselves in harm’s way, and at the same time go completely against the warnings Jesus gave in matters like this?

From the article;

“Their church leaders asked them to gather at an open-air venue for Sunday services, after they were evicted from their usual place of worship last week.”

The “church leaders” told them to do this.

They believe they should be able to meet publicly and proclaim their faith and freedom.

In a communistic country.

They were swept away by buses to a school and some unknown locations.

Did the church leaders not teach these Christians that this was unnecessary?

Our freedom in Christ doesn’t mean we should put ourselves in harm’s way just to gather on a large scale to sing hymns together. There is nothing in scripture that says a group must sing hymns in a public place. There is nothing in scripture that says to put sheep in the way of being devoured by the government.

Was the Roman Coliseum not enough of a warning for Christians?

Jesus was clear that we should be wise in regards to the government. When God places you in a country where you can’t follow certain Christian customs, he doesn’t ask us to put ourselves and our families at risk for those customs.

The article goes on to say;

“The round up of Christian worshipers is the latest in a far-reaching crackdown on individuals and groups the government says may pose a threat to social stability.”

The Spirit of Christ would not cause instability to society. Jesus brings peace.

When we read in the Bible that Jesus brought an uprising it was among the religious leaders, not the government. Remember that Pilate said in John 19:6 that he (as the government) found NO FAULT in Jesus.

It was the religious Pharisees and Sanhedrin court (religious council) that found fault in him.

Our freedom in Christ is not something we have to shove in the government’s face in order to practice customs and traditions.

Jesus would not be pushing the buttons of the government, he pushed the buttons of the religious.

All powers are ordained by God.

God allows governments to play a specific role in their nations.

We need to be wise in our speech, our behavior, our faith.

He never said we needed to boldly proclaim religion traditions.

He said to be at peace, to love others, to be kind.

The apostle Paul wisely stated that we should not cause others to stumble and that we are no longer under the old covenant law. Anything that resembles the old covenant temple worship is not necessary. Therefore, to be told you can’t worship in a building, or publicly does not mean you are disobeying God when you don’t gather in a traditional way.

Jesus would not be preaching against the Chinese government for their desire to keep peace in their nation. He would be telling them that God loves them and to be at peace.

I’m not saying I agree with how the Chinese government runs their nation. What I am saying is that Christ is not at war with them and neither should we be. We should not be provoking them to anger, we should be peace makers. The people of Christ are to be people of grace, mercy, and peace. We are to love.

Be wise before you follow a ‘leader’ into a battle that doesn’t belong to you.

It appears to me that these “church leaders” led the sheep to a slaughter.

Filed Under: Inquisition, Organic Church, Persecution Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

IFB Cult Survivors

April 9, 2011 By 35 Comments

I watched the 20/20 episode about the Independent Fundamental Baptist Cult with as open of a mind as I could get. After being within their movement for 15 years, I wanted to attempt to watch this segment without bias or anger from what I had been through. I watched with a careful and discerning eye and heart to see if there would be any hint of agenda to demonize the IFB unnecessarily. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t ‘seeing’ only what a revengeful spirit would want to see.

They mentioned the case of Lydia Schatz death, which I thought was interesting, because to my knowledge they didn’t belong to an IFB Church, although they did follow the same doctrines as the IFB. I live in the county the Schatz live in and have watched their story closely. I know of many IFB churches in California and have not found an IFB church in the city they were from. So the idea that they were involved in the IFB is a bit misguided and unfounded as any kind of fact. Our local media did break an update on the Schatz story just last night, which I thought was interesting timing given the 20/20 episode airing the same night.

Although I do not believe they were connected to any legitimate IFB church, the child ‘training’ book they used by Michael and Debbie Pearl is sold in the ‘church bookstore’ of many IFB churches, including the one I came out of. I can not comment on whether or not they still provide the book at the cult I came out of, but when I left 2 years ago, it was still being sold in their church book store, along with other books by the No Greater Joy Ministries.

Another part of the 20/20 segment that some might claim to have an agenda with is the portion about women being in a subordinate role in the family and church. They showed a clip of Jack Schaap from First Baptist Church of Hammond, preaching about overweight women in what I perceive as a derogatory manner and he arrogantly stated that it would be a “cold day in hell before I ever let a woman teach me theology”. Fabulous! Didn’t he know that hell froze over?

I have met Jack Schaap. As a matter of fact, my husband and I had lunch with him just over 2 years ago, prior to us leaving the cult. He came to Northern California to preach a “revival meeting’” our church had scheduled. At one time this revival schedule lasted 6 days long and over the years was reduced to a 2 day meeting. During his time here they scheduled for all the local Northern California pastors and other wives to come have lunch with him. They chose the ministry restaurant of a mission my husband and I were on staff with, as the location of the meeting. Due to our position in that mission and our deep involvement with the IFB church, we were invited to attend. What I am about to reveal to you is a short summary of what took place that day.

The room filled with several couples, all of which I knew personally. Their husbands had been taught by my former pastors for many years either in the same church or through the ‘Bible college’ my former pastor teaches at. My former pastor was involved with assisting other churches in Northern California with arranging for these men to become pastors in their locales.  For 15 years I saw and heard these men and their wives teach and preach at various conferences, camps, and meetings all over California. A pastor seated at his table saw Jack Schaap walk in and he said to him, “I feel like I’m in the presence of royalty”, as he shook Jack’s hand.

Red Flag

The assistant pastor of the church, who is the oldest son of the pastor, seated my husband and I at the head table with Jack Schaap and his preacher boys who came with him. I had heard of the skiing accident that took the life of a young lady in his youth group and I asked him how that event affected his church’s youth group. It was an interesting discussion, perhaps I’ll share about that another time. At the close of the lunch there was a question and answer time. Each pastor (and only the men) were allowed to write out anonymous questions for Jack Schaap to answer. My husband and I were seated just to Jack’s left with a full view of the looks on all their faces as he read each card aloud and answered them.

It was amazing to us to hear that all the questions had to do with specific tactics that my former pastor had taught them. Concerns such as, “I struggle with the idea of ‘full time ministry’ and making young people to go Bible College” and “What is the controversy about the KJV about on your church’s website?” There were many more and his answers were what hit us hard. Every answer he gave was an outright disagreement and rebuke of such teachings. Every thing my former pastor had taught these men, that they asked about anonymously, were refuted in this room before our very eyes. The look on the face of my (former) pastor was rather incredible. Flushed red skin, tight jaw, frozen still.

His covers had been stripped.

One of the things Jack Schaap stressed was that the KJV is NOT the “infallible word of God”. He made it clear that day, as well as on his church website back then, that what we have is an English TRANSLATION. He went on to prove this by asking everyone to open their KJV Bibles to a specific passage and to read aloud. Several of them had different words in the same verses.  (Yes, everyone had a Bible at this luncheon. You don’t go to lunch with the ‘royal pastor’ without a KJV Bible)

Jack Schaap preached two nights. One night he preached on pride, the other night he preached on humility. His messages shook me to the core. As much as I dislike a lot of what Jack preaches, God used him that week to open our eyes. I have no evidence of what I’m about to tell you, but by discernment I believe this whole week was planned to do exactly what I saw, as a rebuke to my pastor. It seemed like a set up sting, an intervention. My husband and I have assisted many families suffering from addictions with interventions.

This is exactly what we were seeing.

The very next church serivce after Jack left, my pastor preached about the KJV. He said emphatically with red fired face and shouting at the top of his lungs, “I don’t care what ANYONE says, the KJV *is* THE infallible Word of God!”

Jaw drop.

Is his pride that bad, that the evidence shown to him at the luncheon that day, had no affect on him whatsoever?

There was another situation that happened before we finally left, but I’ll save that for another post.

Many prominent couples left my church over the years.

Some of the left rather quietly, without a word to anyone.

After we left, I searched them out. I’ll share about that soon.

I felt the 20/20 episode was done rather well. After everything I experienced in my 15 years in the IFB, I testify that their stories are not rare at all. My experience should help shed some light on that. There is currently a civil suit filed against a former youth pastor from my old church, against the pastor, as well as against the church. I was a member of that church during the time that this Jane Doe was violated. It wasn’t until after we left that we began connecting the dots. I applaud this Jane Doe for getting a lawyer, now that she’s an adult and can be her own advocate now. Her pastor should have been her advocate.

Pastor Fail.

The man in question served only 3 days in jail and it never went to trial.

The pastor told the church “The police are handling it”.

Everyone believed the pastor. Surely the pastor would do the “right” thing.

Apparently not.

I grieve for Jane Doe.

I applaud Jane Doe.

I stand with Jane Doe.

Jocelyn Zichterman is correct when she stated on 20/20, “Victims are afraid to come forward.”

If you attend an IFB church and you are afraid for your pastor to even know that you are reading all the blog posts about this and watching 20/20 that is a red flag that you are in a cult. no one should be afraid of what their pastor thinks about these things.

A truthful person doesn’t hide such things.

A truthful pastor will openly condemn the abuse happening in the IFB movement.

A false pastor will duck, hide, and avoid questions. A false pastor will make all the victims seem like liars, like they’re exaggerating.

If you are a member of the church I left and want help leaving, I’m here for you. I know how scary this all is. There is support in leaving. If you don’t believe me and think you need to print out my article to show your pastor? It’s ok, it wouldn’t be the first time someone has done that. He’ll probably pat you on the back and tell you, “Thank you. I’ll handle it.” And the moment I get threats again or hate mail I’ll publish every single bit of it. I’m tired of being harassed for telling the truth.

I’m not alone.

I have a lawyer.

Don’t be deceived by the testimony of the “nice” IFB pastor who spoke on 20/20. There are not that many IFB colleges out there, but they are massive and they do teach the same tactics. I have sat in on many “teaching conferences’ and ‘meetings’ where the tactics were taught. I was ‘trained’ up by an IFB pastor to teach and run a ministry ‘just-like-he-does’. Exactly the same way he teaches it at Golden State Baptist College.

The IFB is not a part of a hierarchical structure of over seers. They are truly independent, yet inter-woven in fellowship. There are pockets of IFB cliques that oppose one another, and at the same time will not speak openly about one another either.

Silence is a plague among the IFB.

There are survivors. Some suffered from sexual, physical, and spiritual abuse. Some have suffered from threats, shunning, and bribery to keep the exodus as quiet as possible.

These are my personal experiences and knowledge received through 15 years within their movement. Growing up in Christian Fundamentalism can be a nightmare. Get your families out of there and find a grace filled assembly where you can walk by faith and have healing.

Filed Under: Inquisition, Legalism Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Drama I’d Rather Not Know About

April 5, 2011 By 1 Comment

If there’s anyone who gets angry at a pastor teaching false doctrine, it’s certainly the church members who have been deeply wounded by it. People I used to attend church with have no idea what I have gone through…and others like me who also left…they haven’t had their eyes open to it yet. I have no ill feelings toward those who are unknowing of those things and I have no desire at all to try and convince them. They wouldn’t believe me anyway. There are those who do know, who have confessed at seeing the abuse as well, and yet they stay, side with the man and reject me for crying out for help. This I don’t understand. I have sought the Lord on this so many times, trying to find peace within myself over it. It hurts. It feels like a stab in the back and they would probably deny that the dagger has their fingerprints on it.

I have studied the scriptures on how to handle situations like this and what I keep finding is that false teaching is rampant in the world today…and yet God has allowed it. Even john spoke about this when he said,

“Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.” 1 John 2:18

John spoke of it being the last hour during his time and that there were many antichrists in the world.  With each new generation and increased population we see more of these false pastors rising up. They’re like drug pushers, take one down and another takes his place. Why does God keep allowing this?

How can we live this Christian life with all these varying beliefs in the world? Is there any way to stop them?

I have come to my own conclusion and you are free to disagree with me, but I think the answer is, no. God is allowing these people to remain here on earth and he is allowing them to teach what they’re teaching.

Paul called out Peter on his false teaching and I would imagine that cause quite a stir. Here was Paul, a former persecutor of the church correcting Peter, a man who was discipled by Christ directly(Galatians 2). Paul was clear in his disagreement with Peter about circumcision, yet some time later Paul directed Timothy to get circumcised even though it wasn’t necessary.(Acts 16).

We see this scenario played out a lot in today’s world. Then we see Paul, who was contacted about the trouble at the church in Corinth. They obviously had some serious drama going on, as Paul felt the need to send two letters to them.

Lets take a look at what Paul opens his first letter to them with:

1 Corinthians 1: 2To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:  3Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (italics are mine for emphasis)

Paul begins his letter with the acknowledgment that they are believers, that they are believers WITH ‘all’ those ‘in every place’ who call upon the name of the Lord. He didn’t use any -isms to describe their doctrine. He simply acknowledged them as believers. He even says in verse 8 that they will be,  ”guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” So here we have the apostle Paul writing a letter of correction to the church at Corinth and while they are being corrected he says they will be guiltless. We know that we are guitless because of Christ alone, not because we have the “right” doctrine.

His compelling words that begin in verse 10 really make me think of the ongoing saga between The Gospel Coalition and Rob Bell. Paul says very clearly to us today “You are not of Tim Challies, you are not of Rob Bell, you are of Christ”

Paul wanted the church at Corinth to be of one mind and of the same judgment, which is Christ the Lord. Certainly there are some false teachings and they are rampant in the world today, but Jesus didn’t say we would be known as Christians by our doctrine, but instead we would be known by our love for one another.

I think Paul’s words in this first chapter of this first letter to Corinth is speaking loud and clear to us today.

1 Corinthians 1: 18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

20Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

So much of what we think is correct doctrine will certainly pass away one day and be burned in the fire. Maybe this happens for each of us individually as Christ sifts through our hearts to sort out all those things that lift themselves up against the knowledge of God. Jesus is mighty to the pulling down of strongholds and there certainly is a fire in that process. He did the same for me when he delivered me from legalism and he continually heats me up to remove the dross.

Proverbs 25:4 Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer. (KJV)

1 Corinthians 1:17 shows us that Paul had a specific calling and it was not to baptize, but to preach the Good News, Jesus is risen. Jesus opened the flood gates of grace and we can now come boldly to the throne of grace because of Christ.

His admonishment beginning in verse 26 take a whole new meaning for me in this day of the rising population of false teachers,

26For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29so that no human being  might boast in the presence of God. 30And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

There certainly are many in the world today who exalt their doctrines above Christ our Lord, thinking they have the only “right way” to “get grace” through Christ. Yet we can certainly see how God will take down all those things that puff themselves up against the Lord, pull those strongholds down, so that we really truly rest on our only foundation, Christ our Lord. Let our only boasting be that of Christ.

We have no part in our salvation, it is Christ alone.

There is no step by step, point by point process in which we can “get Christ”. He willingly gave himself to us. It’s a done deal.

When you come to believe this is true, praise God! You can then begin to walk in the reality of who He is, the Savior of the world.

But other than that, we will continue to study the ancient writings to try and figure out who God is. Each person will receive some different perspective, but one thing remains true, Christ our Lord.

There is another thing He invites us to do, now that we have believed, He says “follow me and be my disciples”. But I’ll save that topic for another time. My purpose in writing this is to remind myself and any who are willing to hear, that we love one another even when we disagree. Paul made it clear that the one thing he wanted to know was if people believed. Everything else that we learn is part of the journey of discovery.

1 Corinthians 2: 1And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Lets not be so worried about the drama going on in other camps of Christianity, lets be focused on the fact that they believe Christ and then live with love for one another.

Colossians 3:14 “And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony”

light house (1) by tshack, on Pix-O-Sphere

All scripture quotations are from the ESV, unless otherwise noted.

This article in no way implies that any of the above mentioned pastors are false.

Filed Under: Faith, Grace, Inquisition, Persecution Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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