Spiritual Abuse Survey: Is YOUR church a safe place?
Take the survey from wickedshepherds.com and see!
Here is a questionnaire to determine just how healthy your church really is. To find out how well it ranks, answer “yes” or “no” to the following questions:
•Does your church tightly control the flow of information within its ranks?
•Does the head of your church, along with the other “leaders”, use public shaming as a method to gain the compliance of followers?
•Does the head of your church and his “fellow elders” appear to be intolerant or consider it evil persecution when criticized or questioned?
•Are you discouraged to associate with former members, being warned that they are “evil” or “defiling”; a “danger to your spiritual welfare”?
•Is leaving your church to join another church that “is not approved by the elders” equal to leaving God?
•Do you fear being rebuked, shunned, or ignored for expressing a different opinion?
•At church, is there a sense of control, rather than support?
•Is there a relentless obsession of reminding the sheep of “who’s in authority”?
•Are you told not to ask questions as to why others have left? Are you told to accept the statements that the “elders” give you?
•Are books, tapes and CD’s, speakers, music, etc., carefully controlled to keep only the belief structure of your church before your mind?
•Is there is a relentless campaign to keep you around the activities of your church, expecting you to be at all the stated meetings, except if providentially hindered? And if you are absent, is your spirituality and dedication sometimes questioned?
•Is the concept ever so subtly present that, “when you please the “pastor”, God is pleased and when your “pastor” is not pleased with you, God is not pleased with you?
•Is there present, the breaking of even the closest family ties, to “guard” the flock?
•Is there the constant using of guilt and shame as tools of control?
•Is there present at your church the encouragement of the members to spy and report on each other, lest sin be found in the midst?
•Is there present at your church the dominant climate of fear in the group – fear of failing to keep one of the rules, and fear of being held up to public humiliation and rejection?
•At church, are the normal lines between what is private and what is public knowledge broken, and members confess the most personal, and the most minor sins, as the conscience is being surrendered to the “leadership”?
•Are many (if not all) of the results from voting at “congregational business meetings” announced as….. “it is unanimous!”?
•Is questioning condemned as “whispering, back- biting, vicious slander, gossip, nit picking, signs of a proud rebellious spirit, being disaffected and divisive?
•Are those who dissent publicly punished? Are their reputations murdered by veiled, or not so veiled “revelations” of “sins”; past and present, as confidentiality is broken for the benefit of the leaders?
•Is there a misplaced loyalty from Jesus and God onto the leadership, which is idolatry?
•Is there harsh preaching and full of condemnation for your failures and are you deliberately being kept wounded and off balance by the haranguing and condemnation from the pulpit?
•Is “Persevere or be damned” and “listen to YOUR elders; obey YOUR elders”; “submit to YOUR elders” preached over and over again?
•Is paranoia the “very air you breathe”? Paranoia of falling from grace; thinking for yourselves; breaking the many unspoken rules as well as the clearly spelled out expectations of the leader?
•Are you becoming paranoid – carefully watching your every word and even gesture, lest someone report your faults?
•Does a code of silence reign at your church? Is no one to divulge the business of the church, or the faults of the leadership?
•Do the spiritual leaders at your church seem to give you the impression that either covertly or overtly, they have the right to tell you how you should manage your own family; presuming that they know your own family better than you know yourself?
RESULTS
If you answered “no” to all of the above questions, your church is relatively healthy. If you answered “yes” to a quarter or more, your church is showing signs of being unhealthy. If you answered “yes” to half or more, your church is very, very unhealthy. If you answered “yes” to three-quarters or more, your church is an authoritarian cult.
http://endtimesdeception.com/?p=681
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Top 5 False Doctrines To Avoid
NUMBER 1 – THE WORD OF FAITH GOSPEL
— What Is This All About ? —
The Word of Faith Doctrine, The Prosperity Gospel, The Name it And Claim It Creed… The list goes on and on with this False Doctrine. This doctrine is probably the greatest weapon that Satan has used in these last several decades to destroy Faith in Christ and His Finished Work. The direction of this doctrine sends the seeker in a wrong direction than what God has intended for believers.
As Judaism was the great hindrance to the Message of Grace during the time of Paul, the so-called “faith Message” is the great hindrance presently. In fact, I believe it is even worse than Judaism.
First of all, the faith which is proposed is really no faith at all, at least that which God will recognize. If our faith isn’t properly in Christ Crucified, we are not truly in “Faith”. ( I Cor. 1:17-18, 21,23; 2:2; Col. 2:14-15; Eph 2:13-18). The “Word of Faith” teaching totally denigrates the Cross. It is referred to as “past miseries,” or even as “the greatest defeat in human history.” It also teaches that the Blood of Jesus Christ didn’t atone. While it will say out of one side of its mouth that the Blood does atone, it will then turn around and say, but not within itself. And with that little hook, people are made to believe that they are teaching and preaching the Blood, which they aren’t.
They teach that Jesus became a sinner while on the Cross, died as a sinner, which means that He died spiritually, thereby went to Hell, and we speak of the burning side of Hell, and there suffered for three days and nights the agony of the damned. At the end of the three days and nights, they continue to teach, God then said, “It is enough,” meaning that He had suffered enough. He was then “born again,” even as any sinner is Born-Again, and then resurrected. So when they talk about a person’s faith in Christ in order to be saved, they’re speaking of trusting Christ and what He did in the pit of Hell as a lost sinner. Incidentally, all of this is pure fiction, with not a shred of it being in the Bible. But sadly, untold millions believe it!
The teaching of the “Word of Faith Message” of which has been written here, is none other than blasphemy. It cannot be construed as anything else. To believe such a doctrine, which is the worst perversion of the Atonement that Satan has ever concocted, is none other than believing a lie. That’s why Paul said:
“Examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith; prove your own selves, know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except you be reprobates?” ( II Cor. 13:5)
These are strong terms as given by the Holy Spirit through the Apostle. He is saying that any doctrine, any teaching, that eliminates the Cross, is termed as a reprobate doctrine, which produces “reprobates.” Reprobates in the Greek is “adokimos,” and means, “rejected, worthless, cast away.” So in effect Paul is saying that any other type of faith is a “worthless faith.”
The truth is, anyone who takes unto themselves the false message of the “Word of Faith” doctrine has taken a path that will ultimately lead to spiritual ruin.
— Who Is Involved ? —
Mike Murdock / Paula White / Benny Hinn / Kenneth Copeland / Gloria Copeland / Creflo Dollar / Steve Munsey / Jesse Duplantis / Pretty Much All of the TBN Network / Pretty Much All of the Daystar Network / Marcus Lamb / Joni Lamb / Too Many More To Mention /
NUMBER 2 – THE GOSPEL OF SELF ESTEEM
— What Is This All About ? —
To correct this situation, man (not God) has come up with the false gospel of “self-esteem.” This false way basically teaches that man’s problem is that he does not readily know his self-worth; man consequently needs his self-esteem elevated. If this can be done, they teach, man’s problems will be solved.
In order to place this new teaching into proper perspective, we should realize that so-called “Christian” psychologists and psychiatrists transplanted it from outside the Church and from outside the Bible, and I speak of that which is truly the Bible, preferably the King James Version or another Word for word translation and not a paraphrase. A leading evangelical psychologist, who vigorously promotes self-worth teaching, explains, in one of his books, “You’re someone special:”
“Under the influence of humanistic psychologists, like Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow, many of us Christians have begun to see our need for self-love and self-esteem.”
Satan’s threefold humanistic plan for world domination is basically simple, and you might be surprised how well it correlates with this new theology:
1. Darwinism (Darwin) — the concept of evolution, as it affects the social man, resulting in abortion, humanism, and the “survival of the fittest.”
2. Marxism (Communism and Socialism) — Satan’s economic foundation, which has been proven the world over to be an unworkable philosophy. It results in nothing but poverty.
3. Freudianism (Psychology) — a profound influence on the morals of man, and leading, one might say, toward immorality. And there you have it! Satan’s three-pronged assault — social, economic, and moral. The self-esteem philosophy comes directly from Freudian principles, and it does demand an entirely different
— Who Is Involved ? —Robert Schuller, Joel Osteen
One of the foremost proponents of the self-esteem gospel, Robert Schuller, has called for a “new reformation,” stating that the Sixteenth Century movement (under Martin Luther and John Calvin) was a “reactionary movement” because it emphasized that men are sinners. Schuller goes on to say,
“Once a person believes he is a ‘unworthy sinner,’ it is doubtful he can honestly accept the Saving Grace God offers in Jesus Christ.”
Schuller then offers his blueprint for bringing sinners to Salvation:
“If you want to know why I make people laugh once in a while, I am giving them sounds and strokes, sounds and strokes, like you would a baby. “It’s a strategy. People who don’t trust need to be stroked. People are born with a negative self-image. Because they do not trust, they cannot trust God.”
Of course, if this man is right, accepted Evangelistic practices, which have brought millions to Christ, are wrong. We should then stop telling people they’re sinners who need Jesus Christ as their Savior. We must no longer convince them of their sin and rebellion against a Holy God. We must never speak of Hell, nor warn of the terrible, eternal consequences of rejecting the wonderful offer of Salvation as an unmerited gift from God.
Instead we should begin to stroke men and women into faith, smile them into the kingdom of God, and elevate their self-esteem. If one knows his Bible, he will agree that this is a major change in Christian perspective. However, the proponent of this false gospel has an even broader concept in mind. He goes on to say:
“A theology of self-esteem also produces a theology of social ethics and a theology of economics — and these produce a theologyof government. It all rises on one foundation: the dignity of a person who is created in the image of God.”
Basically, this self-esteem theology states that we need a new reformation and a new theology.
What it also suggests — but does not openly state — is that we need a new Bible. But, truthfully, without openly saying so, it is now giving the Church a new Bible. I speak of the many new interpretations which are now on the market, such as “The Message Bible,” and scores of others of similar perversion. By no stretch of the imagination can these interpretations be called the “Bible.” Pure and simple, they constitute no more than mere prattle, one might even say drivel, of man. Concerning this new gospel of self-esteem, it strikes at the very heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The True Gospel states that man is a lost sinner, who cannot save himself, and who thus desperately needs a Redeemer.
One the same steps as Schuller, stands a megachurch leader by the name of Joel Osteen. His charming smile and his personable tone leads many to wonder: “How can this man be wrong”? Well, its all about the message. He will not preach the cross. He will not preach the blood. He will not preach about sin. He will only tell you how great a person you are and how much potential you have in you. He will tell you to repeat phrases to yourself daily for affirmation. He will not direct you to God, but he will lead you to self every time.
— Why Should I Avoid Them ? —
(MARK 8:34) “AND WHEN HE HAD CALLED THE PEOPLE UNTO HIM WITH HIS DISCIPLES ALSO, HE SAID UNTO THEM, WHOSOEVER WILL COME AFTER ME, LET HIM DENY HIMSELF, AND TAKE UP HIS CROSS, AND FOLLOW ME.”
The phrase, “And when He had called the people unto Him with His Disciples also,” speaks of an interval of some period of time between His rebuke of Peter and this present statement. In the previous exchange, only the Disciples were included; but others are now also addressed! What Jesus will say will be the very heartbeat of what it means to a Christian; consequently, the Message is given not only to the Disciples, but also to the people, because it is a requirement for all! The phrase, “Whosoever will come after Me,” refers to those who accept the call. It means to be Born-Again, to become His Disciple, to follow His Teachings, and to enter into His fellowship. If one is to notice, Jesus didn’t say, “Come after the Church,” or “Preacher,” or “Priest,” or “Prophet,” but rather Christ Himself (“Me”). Christianity without Christ is no more than any other philosophy. Such produces the moralist, of which there is an abounding number, but does not produce a changed life. The moralist reduces Christianity to a mere religion, which makes it little different than the other religions of the world. Actually, Christianity, within itself, cannot change anything or anyone. Only Christ can change hearts and lives! He actually makes a new creature of all who come to Him.
When we preach self and how great we humans are, first of all, we are lying and second we are doing the opposite of what Christ taught and what God expects.
NUMBER 3 – THE PURPOSE DRIVEN …
— What Is This All About ? —
The Purpose Driven Life attempts to turn a born again life into one of pragmatism rather than one being led by the Spirit of God. The book series has many “uplifting” stories of giving purpose and hope to a people worldwide. It subverts God’s way in order to push certain agendas that are exposed in the book series. The doctrine is filled with biblical half truths held up by scriptures that are only partial and taken out of context. The quotation of many paraphrase translations of the Word of God are used in order to fit into what The Purpose Driven Life is trying to indoctrinate. The founders of The Purpose Driven series draw their visions from the business world in order to try to grow the church in ways never tried before in the Body of Christ.
— Who Is Involved ? —Rick Warren
Rick Warren is the founder and pastor of the Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. He is responsible for writing the Purpose Driven Series while receiving personal help from business guru, Peter Drucker. Between these two characters and other like minded individuals, they founded a new way to “DO” church. These methods brought people into the church in droves, but at the same time threw out all sound doctrine. Warm bodies on the pews seemed to be the only goal at the beginning while now it has expanded to Global domination and an inclusive doctrine.
— Why Should I Avoid Them ? —
Any group who throws out sound doctrine to “tickle the ears” of the saints, has done a great injustice to the work of Christ. When any body refuses to confront sin as sin in order to bring no offense and risk the possibility of losing a member, has compromised the message of Christ and thus became apostate. This group, and many like it, attempt to widen the gate that Jesus Himself calls narrow. Rick Warren’s idea of Salvation is not telling the sinner of their need to repent due to their sins. This is how you get saved in Rick Warren’s mind, according to The Purpose Driven Life book:
‘Dear God, I want to know Your purpose for my life. I don’t want to waste the rest of my life on the wrong things. Today I want to take the first step in preparing for eternity by getting to know You. Jesus Christ, I don’t understand it all, but as much as I know how, I want to open my life to You. I ask you to come into my life and make yourself real to me. Use this series to help me know what You made me for. Thank you. Amen.’
“If you just prayed that prayer for the very first time, I congratulate you. You’ve just become a part of the family of God.”
Those were words from his book, and that is the dogma that is held high by that camp. Avoid this at all costs. Eternal souls are in the balance, and messages like this do nothing to aid in leading people in the correct direction. The focus should be Christ crucified. It should ever be that we glory in the Cross of Christ. Not in the works or programs of man.
NUMBER 4 – THE EMERGENT CHURCH
Preface: I know I will probably get a lot of backlash about this one, but hear me out. The proponents of the Emergent Church will probably say that they have heard my schpiel over and over again, but nonetheless, I “schpiel” on.
— What Is This All About ? —
The Emerging Church is all about change. They vocalize that, as the culture and society of the world changes, so should the Church. The Word of God becomes less true to the Emergent Church because they want to bring unity to the world by compromising the scriptures in order to avoid any offense. There is deep thought to what God “really” thinks about sin and hell. There is much avoidance of mentioning that some other person’s religion might actually bring them down a path to hell. They like to read the scriptures with an attidude of:
“Yea, God did write about hell in the Bible, but how can a loving God actually send people to hell, if it even exists”?
They liken God to a parent who might threaten a punishment or make up the boggie man in order to get the kids in line, while all the while the parent never intends to follow through with the punishment.
— Who Is Involved ? —Brian McLaren is one of the major mouth pieces of the Emergent Church Movement. You may have read a post on this website about some of his escapades. To read more about Brian McLaren read here and here.
— Why Should I Avoid Them ? —
The False Doctrine that the Emergent Church presents about inclusivism and the compromise of the scriptures is addressed as directly contrary to scriptures such as Revelation 2:14-17 where the church of Pergamos is addressed as preaching a False Doctrine. I think the bottom line is, the Word of God stands true now as it has always. We shouldn’t invent new ways to do God’s work. We should just “Do” what God says. We have to tell others about Christ and His Finished Work on Calvary. There is a literal Hell, and souls are going there daily. If the Emergents are right, and there is no Hell, and all roads lead to Heaven, then WOW! Great. But Why did Christ have to die? ….What if the Emergents are wrong??? What if in condoning sin and accepting all religions and celebrating them as on the same road to heaven, they are actually doing the souls of man no good. I am of the belief that Man is sinful and wicked. We are in need of a savior. In Christ we have hope and must accept him, or we will be held accountable for our sins and thus pay an eternal price. I wouldn’t want to be wrong about that one. Not when you are so close.
MATTHEW CHAPTER 7
13Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
14Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
15Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
21Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
24Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
26And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it
NUMBER 5 – THE NEW MYSTICS
—What Is This All About ?—
They claim to be a Christ centered ministry, but warning signs go off when they expound that their vision is to “practice the presence of God”. They are deep into “soaking” in the presence of God (another warning sign). They are heavily into the Signs and Wonders and promote prophetic schools where they can teach you how to function as a prophet including how to receive and deliver revelations, etc.
—Who Is Involved ?—
Probably the most famous of the New Mystics would be John and Lily Crowder and Benjamin Dunn. A simple google or Youtube search will bring up videos of these clowns “getting high” and drunk in the presence of god. They make an open mockery of the Holy Spirit and His giftings. I have posted about one video in particular here. and here.
Another prominent member of this movement is Joshua Mills. You might recognize him from one of my past posts here where Patricia King, another Mystic, builds his lies up until you hear the lies from his own mouth. Joshua mills regularly encounters angels, angel dust, gold dust, diamond dust, diamonds, feathers, and more. He even has oil pour out of his hands and onto other people.
—Why Should We Avoid Them ?—
The Bible says in Acts 17:29:
Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.
Our focus should be on Christ and His Finished Work. If we are out seeking for signs and wonders we are not obeying God in his call on us to tell the World about Him. And the simple fact that we think that fake dust signifies the Glory of God, is sad. If I thought that glitter signified anything Godly, I might think twice about avoiding those strip clubs. I hear those girls get covered in the stuff.
http://imablogger.net/2008/09/21/top-5-false-doctrines-to-avoid-the-compilation/
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The Saddleback Community Church in Lake Forest, California started with just two families in 1980 has more than 15,000 baptized church members today with an average Sunday attendance of 19,000. Rick Warren attributed this rapid growth to his magical formula now written in the book “The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?’ (A Campus for Christ and Zondervan Publication 2002)
The book has taken the world by storm; more than 2000 churches around the world used it in 2003 as part of 40 days of purpose. These congregations commit to read one chapter of the book a day and participate in an rigid program of worship, fellowship and mission. More than 1,500 churches in the 50 states in the U.S. and 1000 churches in 10 nations participated in the pilot program in 2002. As projected, more than two million people will have joined a 40 days of Purpose at end of 2004.
According to The Purpose Driven Life (PDL) God created individuals with five distinct eternal purposes, namely worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, and mission. Warren missed God’s perfect plan of grace for the imperfect man, distorting the doctrine of grace, imputation and divine essence. Warren has a distorted viewpoint of sin, confusing it with guilt and which caused Cain’s separation from God (pages 23, 28 and 54). Guilt then, is the failure to give God the glory. We must understand that the glory of God is eternal. He is the Source and Cause of all the glory.
. The original sin of Adam is not the failure to glorify God, the sin of Lucifer was not his failure to glorify God. According to PDL the greatest problems of man are lack of purpose, guilt, resentment, anger, materialism, fear, need for approval, and lack of drives, unused potential, stress and unfulfilled life (page 30). Warren did not view the biblical concept of sin as man’s greatest problem.
Warren presented the Gospel in nine words (58) without telling the reader why he needs to accept the free gift of salvation and why Christ has died for his sin. Warren presented another gospel empty of God’s holiness and man’s depravity, missing the grace of God and the atoning work of Christ. He presented an ecumenical gospel acceptable even to the cults. Warren is making Christ likable and His Gospel very friendly to everyone, giving the reader the impression that the access to heaven and earthly greatness is the nine magical words he formulated, “Jesus, I believe in you, and I receive you”. Warren missed the truth of 1 Corinthians 1:23-25.
Warren has introduced phraseology that sounds biblical especially to those who are ignorant of Bible doctrine. The discerning (those with Bible doctrine in their souls) may agree to about 30% truth but can easily discriminate and classify the 70% lies he formulated. In general, Warren is “world-class writer” who was able to capture his readers with his articulation of fictitious ideas (like J.K. Rowling of the Harry Potter), but he is bad Bible expositor for distorting the truth of the Scripture (Matthew 15:7). Like a master cultic apologist, Warren uses excessive proof-texts of unusual paraphrases from 15 Bible translations (14 of which are questionable).
Warren has driven the truth from the PDL and masterly reversed the truth of the Bible. He is dynamically serving Satan by deceiving people with his gospel. To make his point, Warren has mastered the art of making Reversed Translation of the Scriptural text he used. For example his version of Matthew 16:25 is Self-help is no self help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self (page 19). In Appendix 3, Warren reasoned that he wanted the reader to see the meaning of the Scripture in new, fresh ways. He has forgotten that Christians has the indwelling Holy Spirit who is responsible for teaching the Word of God. We do not need the unusual paraphrases which he invented.
Most of Warren’s supporting verses are out of context and vaguely applied. That is because he diminishes the importance of the Scripture in the life of the believer. For him, “the purposes” becomes the standard you use to evaluate which activities are essential and which are not (31).
To become best friend of God one maintains constant conversation with God (89). Abraham became a friend of God by living according to divine protocol, which is possible only when the believer has the maximum Bible doctrine in his soul. For Warren, service is the pathway to real significance (234), in effect; he was trying to manufacture “great servants” driven by wrong purposes and distorted motivation. For Warren God’s purpose for creating man is part of His “planned of pleasure” (63). It seems that Warren is totally ignorant even of the most basic Bible doctrines.
He missed God’s eternal, perfect, sovereign will for creating man. PDL is a gallery of “Christian phraseology” enjoyable for nominal believers but nuisance for those who are studying the Bible systematically. Most of the phrases he invented are non-sense and has no biblical basis. For example, “The best expression of love is time”, “the greatest gift you can give someone is time” (127). You can be with someone for 20 years without leaving his side but it does not mean you love him.
Warren misinterpreted almost all the passages he used in PDL. For example, he advocates public confession of sin (212), using James 5:16 as basis of his teaching. There is nowhere in the Bible that we are commanded to confess our sins publicly. The context of James 5:16 is between two party who have sinned against each other and who are instructed to reconcile. In interpreting the Scripture, we need to use four basic approaches: namely, categorical, grammatical, historical and exegetical. In few part of PDL, Warren used a little of historical approach not for clarity of the passage but just to bring out his point to the attention of the reader.
Warren’s formula for defeating sin and temptation is to direct your mind or feelings to something. “Don”t fight the thought; just change the channel of your mind and get interested in another idea” (209-210). He confuses the temptation of 1 Corinthians 10:13 with the sin of the believers. The context of 1 Corinthians 10:13 is undeserved suffering or testing of the spiritual mature believer not the sin of the carnal believers.
Warren confused spiritual maturity with religious involvement, mission, ministry, fellowship and worship. Spiritual maturity is measured by maximum Bible doctrine stored and functional in the soul of the believer. The growth of any church is measured by the quantity of Bible doctrine in the souls of the church members, not by 40-days of purpose. Rick Warren’s, Saddleback Community Church is full of pseudo and infant Christians whom he had deceived with another gospel. I am not criticizing God*s method of blessing, (as he had warned in his book Purpose-Driven Church), since that cannot be considered blessing from God.
The impact of PDL to the churches is not the work of God since He cannot compromise His Holiness with humanistic and heretical lies of man. The popularity of PDL and Rick Warren and the numerical growth of churches is not from God. All the cults create the same “impact”. The Lord Jesus Christ, the genuine Gospel, the true Bible doctrine are not that popular like all the cultic leaders and their teachings!
“Test every spirit” (every teacher, every preacher, every teaching),…”because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).
PDL is the sum total of humanistic, man-centered, mechanistic approach to pseudo Christianity, pseudo spirituality and pseudo blessings. PDL is fake map to greatness that the Grahams are alluring the readers to bite. PDL could better stand for “Program for Deception of Lucifer”. I agreed with Billy and Franklin Graham when they said, “Make sure you’re not missing the point of your life” but I edited their statement and add, “Do not read the Purpose-Driven Life!” so that you will not miss the point of your life.
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This past week, Lighthouse Trails learned that a Saddleback apologist contacted IPOWER, the web hosting company for Apprising Ministries (a Purpose Driven critic), threatening IPOWER with legal action. This resulted in IPOWER notifying Apprising Ministries that they would shut down the website if a request to remove certain material was not complied with in 48 hours (by Saturday night). IPOWER has a policy statement on their website, which states they will take “corrective action” against websites that post “controversial” material.
As a private company, IPOWER has the right to refuse service to anyone whom they wish; however, given the controversial nature of many websites and blogs and with a customer base of over 700,000 sites, IPOWER will need to shut down thousands of websites, if they treat all of them in the same manner as Apprising Ministries.
There is growing concern among many Christian believers that the time is soon coming, largely because of hate crime legislation, when websites and ministries that challenge and critique popular and non-biblical religious movements (e.g. Purpose Driven, the emerging church, the New Age movement) will be shut down. A prime example, which has warranted growing concern, is that of MacGregor Ministries in Canada, who was recently informed by the Canadian government that they were being stripped of their non-profit status because they violated Canadian regulations that state non-profits cannot say other religions are wrong (constituting this to be hateful behavior).
Because the long-term implications of IPOWER’s actions could set a precedent with other hosting companies (a precedent that could ultimately affect many voices who stand for the truth and the Gospel), Lighthouse Trails considers this current action to be of a very serious nature. Lighthouse Trails wrote a letter on July 25th to IPOWER, expressing our concerns. (Click here to read.)
Update: On July 26th, Apprising Ministries website was shut down.
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Hello ya’ll,
I don’t want to be an alarmist or anything but you all know that new “hate speech” laws have recently went into effect in America and around the rest of the western world. We often here of Pastors being censored in America and Canada. It has been about a month since I listened to the Jay Sekulo (ACLJ) show but he was harping about new laws that may be used to shut him and similar radio ministries down. I assumed it would be while before this affected the WWW.
But because of new pressures to web hosting companies, an apologist for the Saddleback Church was able to levy this new law to silence and censor one it’s critiques. Saddleback is Rick Warrens Church. Ya’ll all know him as the author of the “Purpose Driven” series of Christian book. If you have not done any study about the purpose driven material, you may be surprised to find out it is not very Christian and that it’s doctrines are more NEW AGE than anything. This mussling of their critics proves the Spirit of the individual and the movement itself. You may also know that the “purpose driven” material is classified as part of the “OUTCOME BASED RELIGION” or the “EMERGING OR EMERGENT CHURCH MOVEMENT“.
The shutting down of this Christian apologetic site could just be an isolated incident or it could start a trend. The way in which this happened is very unchristian like. Read the following article to show the motives. Poof! Apprising Ministries Online is Now Dark
I spent about 6 hrs making a page for outcome based religion and gathering related articles, video and book links. I will be working a couple of more hours on it as I found many more articles that I need to sift through and put on the page. I will be putting a “send this page to a friend” hot link for you to forward to anyone, if you wish. There is more info here than you need so I will be put them in order from most important to least soon. You can visit the page @ http://www.how2becomeachristian.info/outcomebasedreligion.htm
If you don’t know about “outcome based religion”, please study some of these materials and tell others about the false doctrine and politically correctness aspect of this worldly ecumenical movement.
Sincerely, IJN, IHS
Damon Whitsell
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