Personal Power Of Christ Or Corporate Power?-An Open Letter To Those Who Name The Name Of Christ
Everyone has, at one time or another, been hurt, abused and/or humiliated by their experiences in organizations, from kindergarten to fraternities to college, from private/public social to military, in various places of employment and anywhere else where we humans gather together.
It’s part of the human experience and we learn to deal with it. If it’s a place where we must be and must continue to be, we learn to develop—hopefully—successful coping strategies. And we grit our teeth and stay there because we know it’s in our best interests to do so.
If, however, we step back and realistically assess the situation, circumstances or environmental influences and determine that it’s an option in our lifestyle, not a necessity, then we may very well simply depart from that place. This is especially true when we determine that it’s not only an option, but a very unhealthy option for us. When we finally work up the courage to leave there, we keep a cautious eye open to avoid other such similar places.
This is an extremely difficult thing to do if the place we leave has been near and dear to us in the past because we are accustomed to it, injustices and all.
(Like the battered bride syndrome, we assume personal guilt for our abuse, telling others “It isn’t all bad!”and feel terrible if we have failed to receive the attention that comes with our daily physical beating.
(Closely related to the battered bride syndrome is the Stockholm syndrome.
(Stockholm syndrome refers to a group of symptoms among those who suffer physical, sexual or psychological abuse or any combination of these. It’s a defense mechanism to avoid fear, terror, violence and physical and mental pain. It’s a survival strategy and a common phenomenon. It’s also an expression of gratefulness to the abuser for providing an escape from threats of death or violence, from the abuser or from another source.
(There is an emotional bonding with the abuser, and they will seek the abuser’s approval. They will also come to depend on that person or organization for their security and purpose of existence. This state of mind can come about in as few as three or four days. They will then come to have feelings of caring and affection for the abuser and will resent anyone who attempts to get them out of their situation. As things progress they lose their personal identity in favor of identifying with their abuser, coming to incorporate the abuser’s perspective regardless of how ridiculous it is. Any small token of approval, appreciation, acceptance or recognition is valued by them and considered to be an exchange of mutual affection between the two parties. After this mindset is firmly instilled by the person abused, they will resist, refuse and renounce any efforts by others to attempt to free them from their abusive situation.
(The longer the period of association with the abuser the stronger the emotional bonding becomes. The reason this happens is that the abused comes to know the abuser as a human being with their own set of strengths, weaknesses, goals and purposes. The abuser’s position is eventually rationalized by the abused as being a just one and the abused denies that his abuser is at fault. The need to survive overwhelms their clear and logical thinking. This denial of factuality contributes greatly towards lessening of feelings of terror, fear and helplessness.
(This behavior has been termed as a survival strategy in extreme conditions by mental health professionals. Because of the continual threat to physical and/or mental survival there is an onset of absolute helplessness with all loss of hope. Because of the ongoing terror/trauma, they then abandon all support systems and actually prefer the isolation that comes with being exclusively with the group that abuses them.
(Psychologically they must give up their previously held value systems and begin to believe that their very survival will only come about when they totally surrender to the will of their abuser.
(As human beings, we are motivated by a strong survival mechanism, which includes avoiding mental and physical pain, having hope and meaning in our lives accompanied by a sense of significance and security and we seek the approval, appreciation, acceptance and recognition of others.
(All of these motivations play a part in shaping our behavior at various times, but in an abusive situation all of these factors come into play at the same time and help to strengthen our bonding to our abusers. There is a tremendous amount of fear, curiously accompanied by a sense of compassion, love and empathy towards the abuser.
(Those individuals who have a strong understanding of the Bible and who they are in God and whose faith in God comes from studying and understanding the Bible are much better equipped to handle those abusive situations by retaining their identity in Christ. These are the ones who will seek ways to get out of the abusive situation. To put it another way, those who are biblically illiterate and don’t have a biblical understanding of who they are in Christ, and what God’s eternal purpose for us human beings is, are more likely to fall prey to the entrapment of man-made systems of unscriptural bondage.)
If we later dig into the facts we may come to the realization that the whole thing we got out of is a fabrication of the inventions of mankind, and has nothing to do with its stated purpose. In other words, we come to realize that it has no worth on its own merit, it merely continues to cite the worth of something or someone closely affiliated to it, even an integral part of it.
But there is help for those entrapped in this bondage ...
Think about this ... Jesus came into a system of religious, political and societal activity built upon forms, procedures, rules, regulations, valueless traditions and other forms of control mechanisms which had corrupted God’s original plan for mankind and which gave illegitimate and irresponsible corporate power to certain groups and classes of people. Illegitimate and irresponsible in the sense that men were only responsible to other men who were classified and sorted into categories of master and slave, superior and subordinate, generals and privates, the privileged and the unprivileged. Read any history book.
The exercise of this corporate power by the elitist groups caused people much pain, suffering and hardships. The teachings of Jesus were totally contrary to the prevailing religious, political and societal systems of His day. In so doing, He gave clear instructions on living free from controlling people and systems by essentially emphasizing living in such a way that this corporate power would be dissolved and each and every individual would then have legitimate and responsible personal power within themselves to live their lives with a fullness of love, life and liberty as God had originally intended for us humans. I’m speaking of the love of the Father, the abundant life given by Jesus and the liberty that comes from the Presence of the Holy Spirit. Legitimate and responsible in the sense that each and every one of us is responsible to God Himself, as creatures to Creator and responsible to other men or groups of men as fellow equals who are siblings, i.e., brothers and sisters, with no hierarchical structures among us and with no special privileges from men given to a select few. The previously inflicted and endured pain, suffering and hardships were thus eliminated.
In other words, much of what Jesus taught was explaining to us what we had failed to learn from the Mosaic law. All the laws, ordinances, statutes, commandments and precepts of the Old Testament law were a device to, among other things, bring us to this desired state of legitimate and responsible personal power as explained above.
Another way to look at it is to think in terms of social justice for all human beings. Especially for the fatherless, widows, traveling strangers in the land, the poor and those who God, under the Old Testament law, chose to be His representatives to act on His behalf, i.e., the Levitical priesthood, those He appointed as judges and others who were His sovereign choice. This special group is to be viewed as types and shadows of the coming of Jesus, Who fulfilled the law and ushered us into a period of grace, with a new and better covenant than the Old Testament, i.e., Covenant. Under the New Covenant, i.e., Testament, it’s the people of God who are the temple of God and who are responsible to each other for the welfare of the totality of the ekklesia to which they have been called out to. Not only are we responsible to God and to each other, we have each been given personal power that operates within a collective corporate power to accomplish God’s eternal purpose.
In a study of the words used for “sin” in the Old Testament I’ve attempted to bring out the essence of the meanings as discussed in Vines Expository Dictionary. According to this reference “sin” implies the condition of guilt because of wrongdoing. “Sin” also refers to the compensation given to satisfy someone who has been injured, i.e., “trespass offering.” “Sin” also conveys the meaning of the pain, suffering and hardships suffered by the sinner because of sin and also to those who suffer the same things because of the one who sins. “Sin” is also a perversion of life, truth and intent. “Sin” also refers to punishment for the iniquities stated above and also for the one who bears such punishment. “Sin” also suggests the wickedness caused by doubt, division and disturbances, justification of the wicked and hostility towards God and His people.
The basic nuance of “sin” is missing the road or mark, manifested in rebellion against God or an offense against a fellow human being. It also refers to a person guilty of a crime, to destructive hurtfulness, a state of evilness or badness, unpleasantness, fierceness, severity, calamity, covenant or commandment breaking and going beyond the boundaries of something.
In its most basic meanings “sin” means moral failure towards God or man, and the results of such actions.
Vines Expository Dictionary makes this comment about the word “sin” in the New Testament:
“The Septuagint translates the group of words with the verb hamartano and derived nouns 540 times. They occur 265 times in the New Testament. The fact that all “have sinned” continues to be emphasized in the New Testament (Rom. 3:10-18,23); cf. (1 Kings 8:46; Ps. 14:1-3; Eccl. 7:20). The New Testament development is that Christ, “having made one sacrifice for sins for all time sat down at the right hand of God ... For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (Heb. 10:12- 14), NASB.” ... “The noun hamartia is, lit., “a missing of the mark,” but this etymological meaning is largely lost sight of in the NT. It is the most comprehensive term for moral obliquity [a turning aside from moral conduct or sound thinking] ...”
A practical definition of “sin” is anything contrary to the character, compassion or conscience of God. This meaning incorporates God’s character of love, His compassion as illustrated by the many scriptural examples of His grace and mercy, and His conscience, understood to be His divine wisdom, justice and judgment. I have written about this in more than several articles and books posted on this web site.
In our exercise of legitimate, responsible personal power, as taught by Jesus, we will come to love God will all of our heart, soul, mind and strength and our neighbors as ourselves. However we will only come to embrace that mindset if we are true disciples of Jesus, learning of Him as His pupil, following, supporting and imitating Him. All else is simply pure ritualistic, formulaic, dead dry lifeless “letter of the law” stuff, which completely misses the mark as to what the “spirit of the law” really is. Been there, done that, tossed the T-shirt.
We will never come to walk in the power of the love of God, truly dispensing grace and mercy for offenses that come our way, real and/or imagined, if we fail to identify with Jesus Christ, and in fact, allowing that identity to become our self-identity. We will never exhibit the wisdom of God without relying upon the wisdom of God as stated in the Bible, as best we can understand, and incorporate it into our personal value systems. We will never step back from judging, condemning and criticizing others until we come to the truth that God, in Christ, is the only One Who has the authority and power to judge. We will never understand the heart of God if we don’t understand the fullness of God’s justice and that God is the only One Who has the wisdom and judgment to fully execute justice.
You will also never understand the meaning of what Paul said to the people of God in Corinth when he said:
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (NIV):
9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders
10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
(I have used the New International Version as a biblical reference here because the terms used are more explicit and more easily understood by us today.)
When you get to the point in your life where your soul and spirit are a reservoir of God’s love, grace, mercy, wisdom, judgement and justice you will quit judging, condemning and criticizing those whom Paul has named in the previous verses.
You will see them as fellow human beings who have their own set of personal problems, just like you and me, and who have absolutely no concept of what it really means to have legitimate and responsible personal power. Because they have no relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
You will learn to appreciate them for their differences, much stronger differences than your brothers and sisters in Christ, while at the same time knowing that the only way they can come to a personal relationship with God is when they see the living Christ within you.
You can pass out tracts all day long, you can preach the word in season and out of season, you can drag them to an institutional church with you, you can pass out Bibles, you can continue to “do” many different human activities. Just as we have done for 1,700 years, and with exactly the same results. Read any history book.
But .. when they see the Spirit of Christ manifesting through you they will read your tracts, they will hear your preaching, they will see how the true body of Christ interacts with each other (sorry, but you won’t find that in an institutional church), they will read the Bibles you gave them—and they will ask you questions about God and the Bible and Jesus and the Holy Spirit. But you yourself must, simply must, be filled with the word of God yourself to answer them. Once they see your 24 hour a day, seven day a week Christ-like lifestyle they will begin to understand what you think, say and do in the name of Christ in a new spiritual light.
That’s quite a challenge, isn’t it?
Basically it means to quit “doing” the witty inventions of men and to “be” what God wants you to be—a true son (or daughter) of His who is so much like Jesus that those who don’t know Jesus will see the difference in your life and in your lifestyle. And you will be pursuing the Father’s eternal purpose for us—bringing all things together in one, in Christ, by collectively as His ekklesia, making known the manifold wisdom of God to the principalities and powers in the heavenly realms.
You will then be “hitting the mark,” instead of “missing the mark.”
Isn’t that what you really want for yourselves and for your God?
If you can grasp this concept, and read the New Testament with this mind, many things previously not understood will fall in place. Particularly if you will look up the meanings of words in those verses and passages which seem to contradict this concept. I say this because man has attempted to interpret the Bible with corporate power in mind, rather than personal power in mind.
The parallel of the history of the Jews of the Old and New Testaments and the institutional church of today is amazing. Both took God’s teachings and perverted and corrupted them into a system by which man could create a hierarchical authority system for the benefit of the few at the expense of the many.
In the past 1,700 years man has departed from the teachings of Jesus, just as the Saducees and Pharisees departed from the teachings of the Mosaic law, and devised yet another religious system which gives corporate power to certain groups of people—from perversions and corruptions of the teachings of Jesus! Many people in the institutional churches have been in pain, and suffering and hardships as a result of this exercise of scripturally illegal corporate power. And it continues and continues and continues.
Men have created rules whereby they can assume and continue to retain this corporate power. When questioned their response is that they are simply men of God, carrying out God’s rules. (This, of course, is a lie, because they did create the rules as hoops for you to jump through at their command). They then boldly state that if you don’t obey them—God’s anointed ones—then you will be punished by God, but if you do everything they think, say and do, then you will be rewarded by God. This horrible and perverted misrepresentation of God’s will toward mankind has lead to constant doubt of God’s word, division among those who name the name of Christ, and disturbances ranging from private and personal to corporate and world-wide. Read any history book.
This idea of them being the “anointed ones” and others apparently being non-anointed ones is easily dispelled by understanding scripture. Jesus has clearly stated that Father, Son and Holy Spirit come to make their abode in those who truly love Jesus. You have the Anointed One living within you! We are all “anointed ones.” Simple, huh? Also note that the many false prophetic declarations about a new Joshua anointing, or a Samuel anointing, or a David anointing are silly. Since you have the Anointed One living within you, why would you want to receive a lesser anointing? Selah ...
The solution is simple ... biblical literacy and returning to the teachings of Jesus as recorded in the original manuscripts that are available to us. Like it or not, every translation and/or version of the Bible is in reality a commentary. It’s one man’s or one group’s interpretation of what they think the original text means based upon their personal perspective of society, politics, history, economic factors and etc. It’s only by checking out for yourself what the original language really, really, really says that you will ever arrive at a knowledge of the truth of God’s word.
By understanding what Jesus really taught and implementing those teachings into the totality of your 24 hour a day, seven day a week lifestyle, you will regain the personal power in your life that Jesus taught us to live. And the illegal corporate power of elitist groups will dissolve away into nothingness. Be a disciple of Jesus Christ, learn of Him, be His pupil, follow Him, support Him, imitate Him. Be free, saint of God!
I’ve discussed in several articles (one of them is “Tithe, Covering, Assembling, Obey Them That Have The Rule Over You”) the unscriptural practices and methods used to manipulate, intimidate and control untold millions of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ:
(1) You are taught that you must pay a tithe to your local church.
If you don’t tithe, you are told, God will curse you.
(2) You are taught that you need the spiritual covering of the organization you are a member of or wherever you attend on a regular basis.
If you leave their church/group/meetings and cease to attend regularly then in some mysterious way God will obliquely punish you for voluntarily rejecting their spiritual covering and the devil and his crowd are then free to wreak havoc in your life
(3) You are taught that you must assemble together—when and where they say to assemble—as a scriptural commandment.
If you don’t attend their organization’s meetings every time their door is open then you are in disobedience to God’s commandments.
(4) You are told that you are required to obey those that have the rule over you.
If you don’t agree with and obey their every word then you are in rebellion against God’s appointed and anointed authority.
What’s the bottom line here? God will curse you, the devil will kill you, steal from you and destroy you, you are being disobedient to God and you are in rebellion against God.
All negatives from powerful spiritual sources: God Himself three times and the devil once. If you don’t tithe, if you don’t have their “covering,” if you don’t attend their church and if you don’t believe everything they tell you and don’t obey everything they tell you to think, say and do, then you will suffer severe loss in every area of your life. For those who truly love God and have a healthy fear of displeasing Him, this can result in emotional states akin to terror and panic. It strongly motivates a person to do the things they are told, using fear and terror as a motivator.
And this abuse continues century after century because those who name the name of Christ don’t read and attempt to understand the Bible and apply that biblical truth to their lives. Instead you let another human being become a mediator between God and you, a man or woman, thus granting them the status of godhood in your own personal life. However, scripture says: “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).
Because you have allowed another human to take the place of Jesus Christ in your life, you have shown symptoms of both the battered bride and Stockholm syndrome. And you will defend with your (eternal) life those with whom you have come to both fear and love at the same time. In addition, because you have not loved the truth of God’s word, He has sent a strong delusion into your life.
Our disappointment at having learned the truth may be very great. We may even find ourselves venting hostility towards the formerly revered place. Anger may come in great outbursts from time to time. But eventually, we will calm down.
What we are actually feeling is best expressed as grief. Grief is emotional suffering after a loss. Any loss.
There are, arguably, five stages of grief we must pass through in order to get back to normal.
First, we will attempt to deny that there has been any loss. Accompanying this denial, we will enter into a state of self-imposed isolation. This can be a short or a very long period of time.
Second, there is anger at the person or thing who is the focus of the happening of the event. After all, they are responsible for it all happening. Even if they died.
Third, typically there comes a time of bargaining with God. You’ll say, “What can I do, God, of myself, that will take away my sense of loss?”
Fourth, there then comes a time of depression which may last a short time or a very long time, during which time anger continues to simmer beneath the surface, along with continual mourning. All of these emotions will be accompanied by anxiety, shame and guilt and overload our frail human nervous system to a point of near collapse from the overwhelming stress.
Fifth, finally, when denial, isolation, anger, sense of loss, depression and all the accompanying feelings of anxiety, shame and guilt have subsided and no longer control us, we will come to a state of simple acceptance.
In many, if not all, cases, there will be accompanying post-trauma stress syndrome problems, which is another subject not easily understood by most. This may be in addition to other post-trauma stress syndrome problems you may be coping with from other traumatic events in your life.
There are a number of useful healing strategies detailed by different authors, however, I’m simply attempting to describe the symptoms.
We will begin to think seriously of the harm done to us. And still being done to others stuck in that place, and others who may be wooed into believing the lies and fabrications that you, yourself, once believed.
There is also additional emotional and psychological conditioning through subtle means which most of you probably aren’t aware of. I’m talking about an eyes wide open altered state of consciousness. I discuss this in the book “Prophets And Prophecy,” and also posted the same information in the article, “Free In Christ!” This is a very dangerous technique which can completely override your conscious choice to make free will decisions. This is what a “worship service” will do to you. Yeah, I know that’s a sacred cow for many of you. However, after you read the information I have posted you will understand why your will may not be your own anymore. You can kick and scream and holler and hoot in defense of your cherished rituals, but they are robbing you of your own identity and your mind is not your own anymore. Look again at the New Testament. You will not find a happening such as a contemporary “worship service.” Instead you will see a pattern of worship which relates to Jesus Christ on a personal basis.
What to do, what to do, what to do? For those who recognize the dangers of the abusive institutional church, most of those people who get out of it will simply steer clear of any similar types of situations. Others will wonder how they got sucked into such abuse, and might attempt to warn others as the occasion arises. Still others will analyze the problem and how it came into existence in the first place, how it can continue to operate and still draw intelligent and alert people into it, and how to get out of it and lead a normal, healthy, happy life. Maybe they will also actively pursue discussions of the true counterpart of the counterfeit they experienced and how to get involved in that activity. Also how not to confuse their new, genuine activities in another, different, environment with the old counterfeit ones of the former abusive church.
In my experiences in the institutional church, I have obviously experienced the feelings described above. I’m only human, like you. Having gone through the process, and seeing the tremendous harm being done to those who name the name of Christ, I have chosen to discuss the true counterpart of the counterfeit “church.” I have analyzed the problem and actively pursue, in my personal life and by this web site, how to get out of the fake institutional “church” and become a true disciple of Jesus Christ, i.e., a learner, pupil, follower, supporter and imitator of Him. The objective of being a disciple of Jesus is to learn to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and your neighbor as yourself. In so doing you will learn how to “be” what God wants you to “be” instead of continually attempting to “do” what other men and women want you to religiously “do.”
When you learn how to “be” instead of how to “do” the never ending list of hoops that men and women want you to jump through, your lifestyle will be observed by others. These “others” include your brothers and sisters in Christ and also those who don’t know Him. Yours will be a 24 hour a day, seven day a week lifestyle which is the most effective evangelism you can undertake. It won’t be an effort on your part to “do” anything. You will simply be observed by others and they will want what you have.
Being a part of the true ekklesia of God, you will naturally do those things which the New Testament tells you are signs of good fruit of a good tree. You will assemble, or congregate, at those times when you feel led of the Lord to do so, not a rigidly imposed schedule of meetings, complete with pre-arranged, “worship,” “sermons,” senseless “altar calls,” and other useless rituals of men.
This is the essence of “house/home church.” Obeying the Spirit of Jesus Christ as you hear Him speaking to you. Not jumping through hoops at the instructions of men.
And the “institutional church” is traditional and it’s a custom, isn’t it, hoops and all? There is much false teaching about “authority in custom.” Others blindly parrot this theme. However, there is a custom, here in America at least, called “date rape.” There is a custom throughout the world by bank robbers to rob banks and kill anyone who gets in their way. Is there “authority” in these examples? Obviously, there are better examples, but they’ll do for now. We have to amend the “authority in custom” idea by providing a big “if.” If the majority of society finds the custom to be good, i.e., beneficial, utilitarian, valuable and desirable then it may be assigned authority by the majority.
You will find that your former mindset of “doing” those things which reflect self-centeredness, death and bondage, will be replaced by “being” which reflect the love of the Father, the abundant life of Jesus Christ, and the liberty given to us by the Holy Spirit. Glory!
I have attempted to discuss all these aspects of true Christian living in the articles and books I have written and in the links to other web sites.
I understand very well where I’m at in my Christian walk. I also understand very well where most of you are at.
Somebody has said, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.” I will add to that, “An institutional church mindset is a terrible thing and a waste.” If you are in that category and simply cannot stand to see your cherished illegitimate, paganized, Romanized, pope-modeled, traditional, man-made system of “institutional church” that has violated the very will and purpose of God for His ekklesia, being systematically and scripturally analyzed, then click off and go read material offering comforting support of that system. You will not find it here.
You have been given the privilege of choice through the free will God has given you. You have every right to stay in an abusive institutional church system that manipulates you and intimidates you in order to control you. Even though you know in your spirit that what they are doing is wrong. I have every right to choose to warn you of that abusive church of self-centeredness, death and bondage and to attempt to tell you how to enjoy the love, life and liberty that God wants you to enjoy in Christ.
You have more than several factors to overcome in your spiritual life:
1. Biblical illiteracy is by far the main culprit. I used to ask at every meeting I held how many had read through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation at least one time. The show of hands and excuses were pathetic. Biblical illiteracy is something that each and every one of you can wipe out in a year or two. Start reading in Genesis and keep going until you read the last page of Revelation and then start the process all over again. Stop along the way in your reading and consult Hebrew and Greek references and read commentaries at least 200 years old. Please do your part to wipe out biblical illiteracy! As Nike says, “Just Do It!”
If it wasn’t for biblical illiteracy the following problems would not be running rampant through those who name the name of Christ:
2. Teachings that there is authority in custom and tradition, therefore the institutional church system has authority. This is badly flawed logic as the truth is that there is only authority in custom if the majority in society finds the custom to be good, i.e., beneficial, utilitarian, valuable and desirable. Then it may be assigned authority by the majority.
3. The battered bride syndrome
4. The Stockholm syndrome
5. Teachings that God will curse you, the devil will kill you, steal from you and destroy you, that you are being disobedient to God and you are in rebellion against God if you don’t tithe, have a “covering,” assemble at a building at pre-set times, and obey everything alleged “leaders” think, say and do.
6. The grieving process. This is an continual process because of the constant abuse and subsequent sense of loss in individuals in an abusive place. (You’ll also have to deal with it when you come to your logical senses and leave that place.)
7. Dealing with (additional) post-trauma stress syndrome problems. Many individuals are struggling with PTSD from other events in their lives. Additional stress for these individuals is a tremendously heavy load to deal with.
8. An eyes wide open altered state of consciousness in which your brain releases chemicals almost identical to opium, creating an addiction to whatever caused the altered state. While in this state you are 20 to 25 times more open to suggestion than while in a wide-awake, fully aware Beta state. Suggestions made are interpreted as virtual commands. When these techniques are used in conjunction with voice, sound and lighting methods to produce altered states of consciousness, the effect on individuals is such that it robs them of their ability to correctly perceive, analyze and interpret the effects of what is happening to them. (I discuss this in the article, “Free In Christ!”)
All these factors contribute to the peer pressure to conform to and stay in, an abusive church.
It’s a very difficult uphill struggle to get free from these influences in your life and will take time and determination. Your time and your determination. Nobody can do it for you.
And please ... don’t send me e-mail (especially if you provide an alias email address so I can’t reply to you), saying something like “You poor pathetic thing ... you’ve been so hurt and wounded by the church ... why don’t you give it all to Jesus?” I have already dealt with this fake “hurt by abusive church” routine in the article “Advisory” posted on my web site. I suggest you read it.
All that “religious” mumbo jumbo is simply a patronizing projection of one’s own personal feelings of continual hurt and wounding received from the antichrist institutional church system upon someone else to get a “religious” “feel good” experience by attempting to sound as if one really cared. In fact, it is simply another self-centered mental pampering demonstrating the lack of true discipleship of Jesus Christ. There is also a hidden agenda in such a tactic. It’s called “jockeying for position.” A position of superiority over another. Look out for that one, Jezebel was good at it ...
And please ... don’t ask about my “credentials” or “my ministry.” Read 2 Corinthians, chapter 3 and hear what Paul the apostle said about “letters of recommendation” (KJV, “epistles of recommendation.”) That’s what an ordination certificate actually is—simply a recommendation written by a person or an organization. (And yes, I still have a couple of those). It would also help if you redefine “ministry” as “public service, freely given.” That changes the concept of “my ministry” to mean “my public service freely given.” Quite a qualifier, isn’t it?
And please ... don’t charge me with being a “false teacher,” without a shred of evidence. Please take your Bible and references in hand and show me by chapter and verse where I have erred instead of making broad statements of your own personal opinion based upon an obviously limited understanding of my Father’s heart.
And please ... don’t tell me I’m tearing down the cause of the “church.” The only cause I’m tearing down is that of the illegitimate, paganized, Romanized, pope-modeled, traditional, man-made system that has violated the very will and purpose of God for His ekklesia. A humanly devised organization which has no place in God’s economy other than as a spiritual Babylon from which the overcoming remnant bride of Jesus Christ will exit as they realize the truth of God’s eternal purpose. How can you not see and comprehend this simple fact if you really are a disciple of Jesus Christ?
And please ... don’t falsely accuse me of promoting my own cause. Show me, please, where I am promoting my cause. It should be obvious that I am promoting only the cause of God’s eternal purpose, to bring all things together in one, in Christ.
And please ... don’t charge me with promoting a system of “home church” that is as equally corrupt and perverted as the institutional church. If you take the time to read what I have written you will see that I have urged tremendously great caution in taking the institutional church forms, procedures, patterns and traditions into one’s living room and then calling it “home/house” church.
One of the things I hope to accomplish by this letter is to get me out of the picture. Unfortunately, the institutional church mindset has come to believe that if you reveal a problem in the hierarchy and its doings then you are the problem. So forget about me and attempting to assign some arbitrary culpability to me. Get me out of the picture. All I did was make you aware of a very long-standing problem. Get me out of the picture and focus on the real problems as I’ve mentioned in this letter. I’ll say it again—get me out of the picture and focus on the problems and focus on yourself and focus on your relationship with Jesus Christ.
Many in the institutional church are unable to comprehend the truth of God’s word and don’t love the truth of God’s word and may have been sent a strong delusion from God Himself. Instead of reading a web site to see what it says this mindset reads into it what they want to—just like they do the Bible.
The only thing these people know to do is to attack the messenger because they’re afraid of the truth of the message. Again, show me by chapter and verse where I state other than the truth of what God has told us in His word. If they think they have sufficient biblical knowledge to attack my message, please do. But quit resorting to attacking the messenger. And remember, as someone once said, “It’s either chapter and verse or it’s chatter and worse.” So please immerse yourself in biblical facts and biblical history and then we’ll talk. But this biblically illiterate, ignorant, subjective personal opinion is simply a knee-jerk response to reading something that you don’t like because it’s not what you’re used to and you don’t understand the truth of it. As I said, get me out of the picture and focus upon yourself and the Bible and your relationship with Jesus Christ. While you’re at it, get everybody else out of the picture. Focus on the solution instead of the problems. Most people just want to sit around and talk about the problems, complain about the problems, nurse it, rehearse it and curse it. But they never do anything to attempt to implement a solution. How about you?
You’ll find the article I mentioned above, plus many others that will help you get to get free from the bondage you are in at Sitemap
If you will scroll down to “Articles Index” on that page you will find those articles, plus many others, under “Church Articles” which will be of tremendous benefit to anyone who names the name of Jesus and really, really, really wants to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ. “Disciple” means a learner, follower, supporter and imitator of Jesus. True disciples of Jesus Christ will learn to love God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength and their neighbor as themselves. That in itself is liberating ...
I write and post articles and books on the web site with a sense of urgency. I know where the urgency is coming from, but I don’t know why or what God’s purpose in it is. All I know is that there is a sense of urgency.
“Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all peoples” (1Chronicles 16:24-Amplified Bible). This has become a confirmation to me of what I’m attempting to do. As of the date of this writing, the web site as been visited by over 100 different countries. (That’s as of the past couple of years, when I inadvertently pushed the wrong button and wiped out all records up to that point in time).
Well, this turned out to be a lot longer than I had in mind when I started writing it. But I felt it was important for you to know where I’m at and where most of you probably are in your walk with Christ through this life. (If I wasn’t concerned with your soul I wouldn’t have bothered to post this). And so you know why this web site exists. It’s the main thrust of my public service freely given [read: “ministry” for you religious folks] for which I am supremely unqualified. But ...
1 Corinthians 1:27-31:
27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.
30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
Love in Christ,
Steve Morris
Acknowledgments:
Information on the Stockholm syndrome is based upon the writings of various authors but mainly upon the writings of: Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D., President, INPM, Research Director and Professor, Counselling Psychology Department, Trinity Western University, BC, Canada. Information on the grieving process is based upon the writings of various authors but mainly upon the writings of: Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, M.D., a psychiatrist and internationally renowned author of over twenty books, including the groundbreaking “On Death and Dying.” She is also the recipient of more than twenty honorary doctorates.
(I have referenced these secular professionals because these particular articles are descriptive in nature, not prescriptive, i.e., they contain information based upon real life observation of persons’ actions and conduct, by professionals who have dedicated their formal training to such a pursuit. They are not based upon hypothesis, speculation or conjecture.)
