Protestants often think they don't have a leader like a pope, I am here to tell you that they do, they have their Protestant popes that they show allegiance to even more than they do Christ.
These Protestant popes are the famous teachers and preachers that are popular and elevated in their eyes.
God tells us not to hold any man in that high regard that they cannot be criticized or scrutinized.
1 Thessalonians 5:21
"21 But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good;"
Ephesians 5:10-11 "…10 Test and prove what pleases the Lord. 11 Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them."
2 Corinthians 11:3-4 "…3 I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes and proclaims a Jesus other than the One we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit than the One you received, or a different gospel than the one you accepted, you put up with it way too easily."
Sadly this is happening today just as it did in Corinth. Men are bringing a false gospel and the people are defending the man, even after seeing the evidence of deeply false teaching, teaching that denies Christ, they will continue to defend the man. This tells me the man is more important to them than Christ is or His gospel.
Even after being told the evil that these men preached, they choose to believe what they want to rather than exposing it and refusing to be part of it.
UGH!!!!!!!
Just because we believe something does not mean it is true. Many people will sincerely believe the lies of the cults, even live moral lives and think they are right, but will end up in hell for not trusting in Christ and being willing to be changed by Him.
Believing sincerely is not evidence of truth. The devil believed he could overthrow God and become like him, we know how that turned out.
Hitler believed he had a right to rule the world, we also know how that turned out.
Believing something sincerely is not evidence that something is true. Truth is not relative or subjective. All truth must be based on something, that is the Word of God.
Our culture tends to evaluate truth on the basis of their feelings rather than the facts of the Bible.
When we evaluate someone's ministry, and we should do that, it needs to be evaluated according to the principles of the Bible not our feelings or how we choose to interpret the Scriptures.
We should not be asking "What do I think of that Scripture?", our question ought to be "what did God mean by what He said?"
We find the meaning of passages by knowing the entire Bible. When one part of the Bible is read in isolation to the rest of the Bible there are misunderstandings, this is how cults begin.
This is also how the acceptance of divorce and remarriage was proliferated in the church.
The one man pastor syndrome began because there were a few passages were taken out of context and twisted to justify that system. There are many other wrong teachings and misunderstandings because those with an agenda decided they wanted to be like the world, so they found ways to incorporate the world into the church.
Many believers are disobeying the Word because they have been told wrong things about it.
When we search the Scriptures as we would if we were mining for silver or gold, by the sweat of our brows, digging and digging while praying for truth, we would find that so many things we have practiced all our lives were not commanded by God, some even condemned by Him.
Bottom line: Seek Christ in prayer and read the Bible to find God's meaning, without reading to see how we can justify what we want to believe. If you are willing to know truth, giving up all the wrong things you were taught, then God will open your eyes and you will never be able to go back to those things.
Proverbs 3:6
"In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths."
Psalm 28:7
"The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him."
Romans 15:13
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope."
Isaiah 26:3
"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you."
Toxic people always get around to targeting your character rather than your argument. This is a sign of an immature person who cares only about demeaning you, they see it as a win.
Proverbs 29:10-13 "…10 Men of bloodshed hate the blameless, But the upright are concerned for his life. 11 A fool always loses his temper, But a wise man holds it back. 12 If a ruler pays attention to falsehood, All his ministers become wicked.…"
Get ready brothers and sisters we are in for a bumpy ride, never fear though, we know what to do, that is stay close to Christ and reject any feeling of giving up.
"When toxic people cannot control how you see yourself, they will attempt to control how others see you."
Blanket statements and generalizations are the accusations of toxic people because they know they don't really have anything against you except that you won't be like them.
I have never met a toxic person who starts a fight that ever brings details to prove their point. First they generalize, then they accuse and then attack. There are no specifics, they are merely in a war with you because of their jealousy or hope to be superior to you.
When we walk according to our own convictions, refusing to bow to the standards of others we will be a target for the toxic person.
The standards of the believer are based on the Holy Word of God and His principles. The toxic person hates this, they want to be our god. When they see that we have another God, that contradicts their ideas of goodness, they are enraged, seeking to do whatever it takes to devalue us, not only in our own eyes but in the eyes of others too, as they gossip, tell half truths and even out and out lies to cause division and isolate us from others who might otherwise love us.
The toxic person can't stand that others love us, they must do something to ruin that love by their whispers and distortions.
These self exalted toxic persons put labels on you, again without specifics. Because you will not bow to their perspective they will call you "rebellious" or "stubborn." Even telling others who might love you that you are these things, to cause those who might love you to question your character.
Sadly anyone who believes them is not acting in love and may have to be avoided too. A wise man believes what he sees for himself.
These relationship destroyers will operated often from the standpoint of assumptions and feelings rather than facts. They choose to believe things about us because of their intense dislike for us, and then pass those assumptions on as facts, to others, again without specifics and evidence to back up their assertions.
Since we know that the Lord is all about love and justice, it is difficult to see these toxic people as born again, they lack justice and love. Many of their desired beliefs about us are irrational and contrived. The question ought to be "why do they want to dislike us."
We know who the father of all this monstrous chaos is, yes...it's the devil himself. The devil is using people full of rebellion, contempt and jealousy to come against those who love Christ.
When we attempt to have a conversation about anything that is bothering us that was done to us, we are told we are "too sensitive", or that they didn't say or do what you know they did. Denial is a big part of the narcissists life, they will always pull this one out of the rabbits hat whenever it is needed. It is called "gaslighting", an attempt is made to make us look silly or crazy to deflect them from any responsibility.
The toxic person will never address the real issue, it will always degenerate into accusations unrelated to the problem or an attack of character.
Toxic people presume to know what others are thinking so they feel no need to listen. Unfortunately they are basing their assessment of what you are thinking on the way they think, not on how you think, they won't listen long enough to know how you think.
A toxic person lies frequently so they will believe others are lying to them. They twist facts so they accuse others of twisting facts. The trademark of the toxic person is to "get you before you get them", because they are always out to win in any discourse, they will attack quickly to have the upper hand. Since their mentality is always in attack mode, they will assume you want to attack them even for the slightest and mildest questioning or statements to discuss anything.
Toxic people do not want to discuss anything, they think they know everything, even what you are thinking or planning so they refuse to allow their target to have their say or explain their own thinking. Assumptions are a big factor in the heart of the toxic person.
It is a blessing to learn what evil looks like and how it operates. Keeping in mind that the one who is toxic is a pawn in the hands of the devil, we can avoid the trap of the devil. He is continually whispering in the ears and hearts of those who have no defense against him. Every day he is building up lies and assumptions within those who are full of deceit.
When we know what we are dealing with we can use the weapons of spiritual warfare, prayer, silence and removing ourselves so as not to be guilty of the same things the toxic person is guilty of, that is fighting to win in an argument that turns irrational.
Ephesians 5:11-13 "…11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world's darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand.…"
If you find yourself unable to look at the truth in someone because you are emotionally invested in the gooy feelings about them, then you need to evaluate your own motives.
We should be able to tell the truth about anyone all the time. Narcissist think of criticism as a stab of death, they don't understand that because we love God so much we refuse to put anyone on the level of "perfect", only God gets that title.
When we cannot see things in truth, even making up our own truth to "feel" good, we have denied the truth.
Narcissists only like truth when it elevates them or makes them feel good. Unfortunately much of life is correction, confession and a change of heart, but only if we want truth.
Those who do not want truth, only good feelings and an elevated position will never grow spiritually or emotionally. Narcissists are on a six year old level, lacking maturity even fighting against truth to maintain their fantasies. The "positive affirmation" lies have caused an entire culture to think "if you can't say anything good, don't say anything at all", to intimidate people into lying to keep their place in the family or community. It is not Biblical to want to only see everything based on happiness or our favored fantasies.
2 John 4
"4 I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the TRUTH, just as we were commanded by the Father."
