Jesus came to get the clergy drivers of pack mules
off our backs. In fact, the burden He came to relieve is that laded
on the back of church members by the doctors of the law who take away
the key to knowledge. If, therefore, one is to gain the freedom
Christ died for it must begin with seeing ourselves as priests of God
and the congregation as competent to teach one another.
Narrative Theoligy and Post Modern
Cults
I tell Thee that
man is tormented by NO GREATER ANXIETY than to find some one quickly
to whom he can hand over that GIFT OF FREEDOM with which the
ill-fated creature is born. But only one who can appease their
conscience can take over their freedom. Dostoyevsky
See Erasmus bite the clergy. Paul often warns against the unlawful clergy who were
the biters and devourers because they saw "godliness as a means of
financial gain."
In this he agrees with all
of the prophets:
Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their
skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in
pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron. Mic 3:3
Then shall they
cry unto the Lord, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his
face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in
their doings. Mic 3:4
Thus saith the Lord
concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace;
and he that
putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare
war against him. Mi.3:5
Shall not all these take up
a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say,
Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his how long? and to him
that ladeth himself with thick clay (acting, performing)! Habb 2:6
Will not your
creditors rise up suddenly? Will they not awaken who oppress you? And
you will become their booty. Habb 2:7
Jesus defined the den of
vipers as children of their father, the devil, because "they speak on
their own" and could not make the words of God pass their lips And
others warned of abandoning His Word:
Surely the
serpent will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better.
Ec.10:11
For, behold, I will send
serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they
shall bite you, saith the Lord. Je.8:17
The following notes and links
are part of a large source of research about the explosion of new
movements which seek to replace the church with a new, exciting
wineskin model. These include the urge for
male-deficient men to undergo a system of indoctrination into certain
ancient mysteries to convert them into dominate, masculine leaders
usurping the authority of the local "families" or
congregations.
The following is a cyber space
list of marks or brands by which the local congregation can tell if
they have been infiltrated by dominion theologians:
ELEVEN MARKS OF
PERVERTED AUTHORITY
The claim of direct authority
from God, rather than testing things by the Word. Many today have set
"personal" revelation and experience above the final authority of
God's Word. When this occurs there is no longer any basis for
ascertaining the will of God, as one would not be able to discern
truth from error because the standard is "personal" rather than the
Word of God.
>
The command is to
"submit to
me," rather than "I
will
serve you."
> The method of leadership is to
"order" people around, rather than to appeal
for them to do the right things.
> There is a dominating, "pushy"
drive instead of a dependence on God to
direct.
> There is a sense of control, rather than a sense of support.
> A gift is exploited so that others are made to feel dependent on
it.
> There is an inflexibility -
"don't question
me" - "don't touch the
Lord's anointed."
> There is unapproachability and
intimidation - the "aura" around the leader keeps the followers
in "awe."
> There emerges an organization built around a
man and his peculiar
emphases instead of around Christ and His Word.
> There will be cyclical challenges to the authority figure (which are
immediately and forcefully purged). It is not "loving" to question.
> There is more concern for
maintaining the
authoritarian structure
than there is for caring about the people in it.
The next list of links are
further sources of study to prevent or eleminate the intrusion of
destructive, self-appointed pastors:
- Spiritual
Abuse
- The
Discipling Dilema Yeakley
- Promise
Keepers the Quest to be Male
- Billy
Graham
As a second incarnation of the discipling dilema reminds us of Cross Roads, the Boston Movement
and The International Church of Christ:
"Promise Keepers
believes that as a part
of mentoring, every man
must be accountable to
some other man,
especially in the areas of one's finances, sexual
life, and
relationship to
God.
This partner gained through mentoring, then, must be given complete freedom to inquire into any of these areas at will, with
the understanding that he may bring correction to those areas he
feels are not in proper alignment. This is a kind of covenant
relationship not
found anywhere in
Scripture. In fact, to the contrary, God takes such covenants far
more seriously than does Promise Keepers (cf. Num. 30:2). [Media
Spotlight, 11/94 Special Report on Promise Keepers, p. 13. See also
the 4/95, Men of Action, p. 8, for "An Open Letter From 'Generation
X,'" which is a plea for mentors, all couched in psychological terms.] One error that comes from this
covenant relationship is the encouraging of men to take oaths. This unbiblical practice is not at all uncommon at
Promise Keepers conventions.
These oaths are supposed to
entail life-changing decisions. Instead they impose an
extra-Biblical series of
requirements on men.
The Seven Promises themselves comprise nothing more than a surrogate
sanctification that puts men under legalism rather than grace (9/95,
The Christian Conscience , p. 24). Click Here for A Fuller
Story about
brainwashing in the church.
This also speaks to the
Purpose Driven Cults. Some churches which have added this extra
Biblical covenant of membership:
Becoming a Part
includes the Purpose Driven Cult pledge
of allegiance to the elders and a creed which demands more of a
member than Jesus demands. Furthermore, Baptism is much more than
just a confession of faith but Jesus and the New Testament treats it
as a MEANS because He put the power there. This presumes authority
the preacher nor elders have to "go beyond that which is
written."
You may have recently moved
into this area and are looking for a church home. You are certainly
welcome to attend all assemblies and become a part of the Bible class
that will spur your spiritual growth. We encourage you to visit soon
and get to know us better.
Or perhaps you have already
visited with us and would like to be identified with our
congregation. What do you do next?
First, you must identify publicly with Jesus Christ. In other words, you
must be a professing
Christian. This means:
You have
admitted that you are a
sinner. (Romans 3:23)
You have confessed that Jesus is truly the Son of God. (Romans 10:9)
You have expressed trusting faith in Jesus' saving work on the cross by uniting with him
in
baptism. (Acts 2:38,
Romans 6:3-4, Galatians 3:26-27)
You are seeking to live a life
surrendered to Christ and His will for your life. (Romans 12:1-2,
Galatians 2:20)
Next you must identify
publicly with the body
of Christ in this place. This means:
You
must submit yourself to the shepherding leadership of the elders of the Richland Hills Church.
You must commit
to actively support the mission
of this church as stated: The Richland Hills Church exists to
participate in God's mission of loving
and saving
the worldthrough Jesus Christ.
See the Madison Covenant of
Membership from Saddleback as that which broke their backs utterly
as a result of elders 'sowing discord' and failing to feed the
flock.
This is the direct product of Rubel Shelly and
the Willow Creek Commercial cult which has been stolen by Saddle Back
and their Purpose Driven cult.
Postmodern preachers boast about "infiltrating
and diverting" because the DRIVING PURPOSE is to turn to the
beginning-time and ending time prostitute musical worship.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
(1834-1892)
warning against baptismal regeneration which
was the Catholic baptism of unbelieving infants noted that many
preachers did not believe infant baptism but taught it noted
that:
"I am told that many in the
Church of England preach against her own teaching. I know they do,
and herein I rejoice in their enlightenment, but I question, gravely
question, their morality.
To take oath that I
sincerely assent and consent to a doctrine which I do not believe would to my conscience appear little
short of perjury, if not absolute, downright perjury; but those who
do so must be judged by their Lord.
For me to take money for defending what I do not believe--for me to take the money of a church,
and then to preach against what are most evidently its doctrines--I
say for me to do this (I shall not judge the peculiar views of other
men), for me or for any other simple, honest man to do so, would be an atrocity so great that, if I had perpetrated the deed, I should consider
myself out of the
pale [boundaries] of
truthfulness, honesty, and common morality.
Sirs, when I accepted the
office of minister of this congregation, I looked to see what were
your articles of faith. If I had not believed them I should not have
accepted your call; and when I change my opinions, rest assured
that, as an honest man,
I shall resign the
office; for how could I profess one thing in your declaration of
faith, and quite another thing in my own preaching?
Would I accept
your pay, and then stand up every Sunday and talk against the
doctrines of your standards?
For clergymen to swear or say
they give their solemn assent and consent to what they do not believe
is one of the grossest
pieces of immorality
perpetrated in England, and is most pestilential in its influence
since it
directly teaches men to lie whenever it seems necessary to do so in
order to get a living or
increase their supposed
usefulness.
It is in fact an open testimony
from priestly lips, that at least in ecclesiastical matters,
falsehood may express truth, and truth itself is a mere unimportant
non-entity.
I know of nothing more
calculated to debauch
the public mind than a
lack of straightforwardness in ministers; and when worldly men hear
ministers denouncing the
very things which their own Prayer Book teaches, they imagine that words have no
meaning among church men; and that vital differences in religion are
merely a tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum [totally unimportant things],
and that it does not much matter what a man does believe so long as
he is charitable towards other people.
And so dominant theologians lust for power and
Spurgeon makes it clear to those with BASIC HONESTY that to
INFILTRATE a church and then teach them contrary to their held views
is goes well BELOW even basic honesty. And so saith the Lord.
And to allow oneself to be USED by men intent
on SUBVERTING the church is worse than dishonest and totally
discredits the leaders and the church and everyone involved with
it.
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