Manipulative anger is a common method of making someone feel guilty for two reasons, one is to get their victim to think they were wrong, after all, someone got angry so someone must have made them angry, and two,to silence their victim for future discussion.
If we feel guilty for speaking our mind, we might stop speaking truth that they don't want to hear. These tactics work, just look at our culture, most people are frightened little rabbits, shaking in fear, to voice an opposing opinion or truth. Even avoiding at all costs any discussion about Christ or the Bible.
God's people are bold as lions, they are accused of many things to foster silence in them, but if we are led by the Holy Spirit of God, we are not intimidated by these fleshly manipulative outbursts of anger, they merely show us what is inside the perp.
The guilty person will blow up in anger or run away to hide when corrected.
Proverbs 28:1
"The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion."
Matthew 10:22
"And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved."
The person who was unaware of their sin but have a sense of righteousness, will be ashamed, desiring to be cleansed through confession of that sin and restoration with those they have offended, especially God.
Ephesians 5:20-28
"20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself"
A guilty person will avoid all contact with the things of God, embarrassed to speak of Him or engage in conversation about Him.
Jeremiah 8:12
"Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, saith the LORD."
A humble contrite person will love discussing the things of the Lord.
Proverbs 29:23
"A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit."
Psalm 51:17
"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, you will not despise."
Proverbs 8:11
"For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it."
James 1:5
"But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him."
Which one do we want to be? The humble who loves God more than life itself, or the one who thinks they have all the answers and resists instruction and correction?
Saturday, January 3, 2015
Whose Pulpit?
Question all that your church leaders say, God told us to do that. Even when Paul spoke, the Bereans went to the scriptures to see if what he was saying was true, they didn't just take his word for it.
Acts 17:10-11
10 The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.
11 Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so."
If you have a leader who will be happy to receive a challenge based on the Word, then you have a jewel. If you have a leader who refuses to discuss a challenge and says things like "my pulpit", then you have an arrogant man who should not be teaching and preaching until he learns humility.
Acts 17:10-11
10 The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.
11 Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so."
If you have a leader who will be happy to receive a challenge based on the Word, then you have a jewel. If you have a leader who refuses to discuss a challenge and says things like "my pulpit", then you have an arrogant man who should not be teaching and preaching until he learns humility.
You Don't Have To Join, You Are Already A Member!
Today I was listening to a young political pundit who became exasperated at his and other's attempts at changing the political climate of a particular university. It struck me that what he was saying, may be the answer to a question I have had from time to time, about individuals remaining in churches with the goal of changing the hearts in them.
Not only do I see it as an exercise in futility, but I also see it as this man saw the attempts to change politics on a college campuses, as he put it, "a fool’s errand."
Those who desire to seek God for all things, need to leave the organized churches that are refusing to obey God's Word and fellowship with likeminded others who have also left.
If someone accuses you of "sheep stealing", then you know their bent is fame and mammon. Since everyone who is born again of the Holy Spirit and is a member of the body of Christ, it makes no difference whether they leave or stay in any gathering, that they are seeking God is all that matters.
If someone feels led to remove themselves from a particular gathering, to join another gathering, then those they are staying should send them off with a blessing and a prayer. The fact that in most situations, those who have left because leadership would not obey the Word, are gossiped about, shunned and rejected, tells us that something other than Christ was their focus. Not to mention the immense pride involved in being offended that someone did not endorse the activities in that particular gathering. Often when believers leave over bad doctrine or no doctrine at all, those who stay are glad to see them go, but withhold the prayer and blessing.
When leadership will not obey the Word, then it is our responsibility to bring it to their attention. When they will not listen and you have followed all the steps mandated in the word to get them to see their error, and they will not repent, then it is time to leave.
Those who approach the brothers that are leaving, to intimidate, demean and manipulate them into guilt about their decision, are showing who they are in their spiritual walk, which is superficial, prideful and deceptive.
When I see that no one is listening, then it is time to shake the dust from your feet and move toward those who are obeying Christ. No one does this perfectly, and everyone is at a different spiritual level of growth, but everyone should be seeking Christ.
All of this falderal about church "membership", shows us that the purpose is to have something to chain people to, hold over their heads and prevent leaving, more manipulation to keep the money rolling in and bragging rights to entice others to join.
Formal church membership is akin to the rights of passage that Masons, Catholics and other fraternal organizations use to keep their members living in fear of leaving.
Church membership is a device of the world and not Biblically based.
There are many scriptures to support what has been said here, perhaps some of you can post them for me. At the very least, do your own study of these things and you will find that scriptures have been twisted to justify them, for the purpose of keeping people in bondage to human rules and traditions that Christ never mandated.
Some food for thought!
Not only do I see it as an exercise in futility, but I also see it as this man saw the attempts to change politics on a college campuses, as he put it, "a fool’s errand."
Those who desire to seek God for all things, need to leave the organized churches that are refusing to obey God's Word and fellowship with likeminded others who have also left.
If someone accuses you of "sheep stealing", then you know their bent is fame and mammon. Since everyone who is born again of the Holy Spirit and is a member of the body of Christ, it makes no difference whether they leave or stay in any gathering, that they are seeking God is all that matters.
If someone feels led to remove themselves from a particular gathering, to join another gathering, then those they are staying should send them off with a blessing and a prayer. The fact that in most situations, those who have left because leadership would not obey the Word, are gossiped about, shunned and rejected, tells us that something other than Christ was their focus. Not to mention the immense pride involved in being offended that someone did not endorse the activities in that particular gathering. Often when believers leave over bad doctrine or no doctrine at all, those who stay are glad to see them go, but withhold the prayer and blessing.
When leadership will not obey the Word, then it is our responsibility to bring it to their attention. When they will not listen and you have followed all the steps mandated in the word to get them to see their error, and they will not repent, then it is time to leave.
Those who approach the brothers that are leaving, to intimidate, demean and manipulate them into guilt about their decision, are showing who they are in their spiritual walk, which is superficial, prideful and deceptive.
When I see that no one is listening, then it is time to shake the dust from your feet and move toward those who are obeying Christ. No one does this perfectly, and everyone is at a different spiritual level of growth, but everyone should be seeking Christ.
All of this falderal about church "membership", shows us that the purpose is to have something to chain people to, hold over their heads and prevent leaving, more manipulation to keep the money rolling in and bragging rights to entice others to join.
Formal church membership is akin to the rights of passage that Masons, Catholics and other fraternal organizations use to keep their members living in fear of leaving.
Church membership is a device of the world and not Biblically based.
There are many scriptures to support what has been said here, perhaps some of you can post them for me. At the very least, do your own study of these things and you will find that scriptures have been twisted to justify them, for the purpose of keeping people in bondage to human rules and traditions that Christ never mandated.
Some food for thought!
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