EDITED 10/29/17 3:30 PM
Are we, as Christians, gullible? We do have that stereotype and at times it seems to fit. Why do we appear to be so easily deceived? Have we at times allowed the wrong people into our lives? I'm sure all of us have been deceived at one time or another. How do we let this happen and, more importantly, how do we keep it from happening again? As Christians, when we meet someone new, we want to take them at face value. We look for the best in everyone and downplay what some might see as a fault. Our Bible tells us in Mark 12:31 "The second is equally as important; Love your neighbor as yourself.' No other commandment is greater than these." We take this to heart. We do love our neighbor, sometimes to our detriment. We try to understand and follow Paul's words in a letter he wrote to the Corinthians:
1) If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn't love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2) If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God's secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn't love others, I would be nothing. 3) If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn't love others, I would have gained nothing.
We go even farther as Christian bikers and those who support us. We will invite anyone into our lives as we try to show them what Jesus has done for us. We want them to see that no matter their situation in life, if they turn their lives over to God, he will help. We attempt not to look too closely at their past in order to open a new path as they learn to walk with God into the future. We know what it feels like to be looked down on for the long hair, beards, tattoos. We know the feeling of being looked at with scorn, and often times, with fear. Some people in our ranks have come from rather shady backgrounds. Some of our most valued and treasured members have come to us from the darkest recesses of human nature. They are the ones who have lived lives on the fringes of society. We have former 1% ers. We
have those who, in their past lives, would fight, shoot, or cut you over the wrong words being spoken. We have former narcotics addicts and dealers. We have former alcoholics. Our church and ministry was founded by a former "extreme" alcoholic who saw a need to reach out to those less fortunate and bring them to follow God's will and love. We take these people in, no questions asked, and love them into our family. We watch as amazing transformations take place in these people by showing our love and trust. We sometimes get complacent thinking that if we love these people enough, they would never do us wrong. We try to teach them to pray...as we forget. We allow ourselves to become naive and gullible. A teacher can enter our world and we will believe his teachings without reading the Scripture to see if what we're being told is accurate. It's easier to just believe it. This is why cult leaders go after Christians. When we stand in front of Jesus after being called home we're not going to be able to tell him, "I was tricked by that so-called Minister." His answer is going to be "Depart from me, I don't know you."
Please, don't get me wrong because all of our members didn't come from these backgrounds. We have professionals, politicians, blue collar workers, retired senior citizens, even current and retired law enforcement officers in our church congregation. You name a profession and we probably have someone who is either a current member or past member who worked in that profession. We are a true family, a team.
How do we as family keep the wolf at bay at home and at church? How do we discern the true from the false prophet? Read, study your Bible, and ask for God's guidance. That's how we get in trouble, not studying our Bibles. We are sometimes just too lazy to get into God's word to see if what we are being told is the truth and the Law according to God's word. We want to believe what we're being told. It's easier that way. We have been warned about this since the Old Testament. In Matthew 7:15-16 we were told, "Beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits."
Again, open your Bible. Study it carefully. If your understanding of the verse, or verses, does not match what you're being taught, speak to others about it. Find other pastors or mentors to discuss this with. Become satisfied with your understanding of what you're being taught. Last week a visiting pastor came to Faith Riders Fellowship Church and his message was from Matthew 25 and the Parable of the ten bridesmaids. I have read that dozens of times and had read it again just the night before. I have always took this literally and have never attempted to look between the lines. His message brought a whole new meaning to me. I have discussed this several times and found another new, true meaning of this scripture. But it took studying and questioning before I could truly understand. We have to study to get the meaning of the Bible's contents.
In my studies over the past several weeks I have read everything I could find and listened to countless hours of video and audio on the subject of the wolf entering our lives and found they pretty much can be classified into 7 groups. I am only going into a few of these but we must keep our guard up against anyone who attempts to destroy us. Remember Satan's primary purpose is to kill, steal, and destroy.
Let's take a look first at Ephesians 4:3 "Make every effort to keep yourselves
united in the spirit, binding yourselves together in peace." The first of these wolves, commonly called "The Divider," was seen by us recently. He entered our lives disrupting, and nearly destroying, our church. We believed in him wholeheartedly and allowed this to happen. We saw our congregation dwindling week by week, not wanting to admit what was happening. There became factions within the church as we watched him pit brother against brother, father against son, husband against wife and friends turning on friends. We no longer had harmony, but discord. He attempted to undermine our ordained leadership before we caught on to the perverse satisfaction he was apparently getting from this. This is when we finally decided that enough was enough. A true Christian leader would have been attempting to bring people together, not tear them apart. It was easy to see. We just didn't want to believe it could happen to us or that someone who supposedly was a man of God could blatantly preach God's word yet go against it at the same time. The same people he was trying to undermine were some who started this church and most brought it from it's infancy. It has taken time to heal broken relationships but we can see a return of some members who left and we are coming back stronger than ever. We learned a hard lesson but it was well learned.
During this time we also saw what one minister called "The Tickler." He is the person who is more "man pleaser" than "God Pleaser." They preach only parts of the Bible they feel are acceptable. They condense the Bible and only teach from certain chapters while ignoring the majority. You can't preach partial gospel. The tickler preaches what people want to hear and not what we need to hear. What people want to hear are the good things, heaven, and things that will make them happy and feel good about themselves, no matter what they do. What we need to hear is sin, hell fire, and how we are falling short of the Glory of God.
Some of the Pastors are only here to make themselves wealthy. Joel Osteen, and one from my old days at the Greenwood Police Department, Leroy Jenkins, come to mind first. Them, and some others I know, and have known of, are only saying, "Show me the money." This is nothing new. Paul wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:3-5 "Some people may contradict our teaching, But these are the wholesome teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. These teachings promote a Godly life. 4) Anyone who teaches something different is arrogant and lacks understanding. Such a person has an unhealthy desire to quibble over the meaning of words. This stirs up arguments ending in jealousy, division, slander, and evil suspicions. 5)These people always cause trouble. Their minds are corrupt, and they have turned their backs on the truth. To them, a show of Godliness is just a way to become wealthy." The people who buy into these seekers of wealth are usually the ones who can least afford to be sending their life savings to them.
There are others who need to be mentioned here such as the false prophets who will teach only enough truth to mask their false teachings, These are the Jim Jones, David Karesch, and even Charlie Mansons' of the world. They are outgoing and charismatic. They are natural leaders. They are probably the most dangerous of all false prophets. They will add to, detract from, or totally disavow the Bible in it's entirety. Some people will pretty much believe and follow them into total self-destruction. God's word becomes whatever this heretic tells them it is. They are a true prophet to these followers although this prophet has become empowered by Satan himself.
We have to learn our Bible. We have to protect ourselves, our families, and our churches. Study....Study....Study. Don't follow along blindly. The only way to rebut is to learn.
I heard a speaker once talking about his atheism with a pastor. The pastor questioned him about what parts of the Bible he didn't believe. When he told the pastor he didn't believe in it and had never read it, the pastor told him, "Well then, you're not an atheist, you're a moron! How can you argue against something you know nothing about. Read it and study it. Only then can you argue against it."
I believe only then....can you also argue for it.
As I read my words again this afternoon I felt remiss in not calling out all of what has been troubling me. I have never been one to keep my mouth shut when I felt something was truly wrong. There have been many times in my life where I could have just let things go, or looked the other way, and saved myself a lot of heartache and grief. In the long run I was always exonerated and my instincts were found to be solid. This article is one of the times I decided to skirt around my feelings to avoid hurt feelings but I just can't do it.
I have seen instances in my lifetime where the "wolf," mostly men, occasionally a woman, will gain total control over their victims. That's right, they are victims just as if they had been beaten into submission. Mind control and mental abuse is just as dangerous as physical abuse. Most times it is more dangerous. The wounds from physical abuse will heal in a short span of time. Mental abuse will last years, sometimes a lifetime. When the wolf enters a church it may take years to undo the damages, if they can ever be overcome.
When Bishop John Aguilar entered our church we believed we had found a savior to bring our church back to where it had once been. I, for one, was glad to welcome him. He seemed to be bringing new ideas and a new way into our lives. It didn't take long before I started feeling uneasy about his ideas. I was on the road a lot and could very seldom make it to services so I wasn't seeing firsthand what was happening. I only knew I wasn't comfortable in my own church of almost 5 years. Diane and I have always talked about the services and what was going on at the church by phone after each service. She told me about his ideas of associating the church with an international organization, which by the way, he was CEO of. I told her of my misgivings. She told him how I felt and he took us to lunch one day to explain his "vision." I told him then that I still didn't like it. I let him know I felt he was moving to fast and trying to make too many changes to fast. I though, put it off to getting older and not liking change much. I decided to just wait it out and see what others thought. He was likable and charismatic. He had a way with words and trying to get you to see his side of things.
He finally hit the last straw with me when he told the congregation there would be no outside pastors, no revivals, and no one speaking but him or someone he brought in. Mind control. No opinions or teaching mattered except his. We would hear him, and only him, or his thoughts through others taught by him. After hearing this I told Diane then I would be finding another church. I let her know that my feelings that this was becoming more cult than church.
I would never let my thoughts cloud her's. We talked, we discussed it at length and neither of us wanted to give up the wonderful friends, most of whom were closer than family. I would never take her away from that so I decided I would strike out on my own and try again to find somewhere I fit. I would never tell her she couldn't attend the church of her choice, no matter the reason. If I had done that I would have been the one trying to be in control of her mind and her thoughts. I would have been no better than the ones I'm writing about. I know the Bible says the man is the head of the household but that doesn't apply to keeping them down. Diane and I are partners. She walks beside me and not behind or beneath me. She had her own misgivings after being questioned about other members during what was suppose to be lady's prayer meetings. She was not only questioned about other members, but other members were talked about while she was there. This made her uncomfortable to the point she quit the meetings and decided also that it was time to leave the church.
Diane talked to some members about my feelings since I was not there a lot and found they had the same misgivings as me. When we learned that Aquilar had basically stated the deacons no longer mattered and we found he was trying to get rid of two of the most prominent people in the church we had no doubt about his wanting total control. Get rid of them and he figured the rest of the board would cave. He just didn't realize how close knit this family was. He, by then, had caused a division in the church which was tearing our close knit family apart.
If anyone, pastor, husband, wife, whoever, doesn't want you getting opinions, teachings, lessons from other people, take another look around. Something is seriously wrong. Get down on your knees and do the most serious praying you've ever done and listen for God's answer. It may come to you as a definite voice or it may be signs, but believe that you'll find the answer and you will.
I believe God has given each one of us a special gift to be used for His glory. It may be writing, speaking, music or getting out on the streets and into places others won't go, but He's given it to you. Don't turn your back on God's gift. I'm speaking to one person in particular here and you know who you are. You're special. You're talented. The good Lord wouldn't have given you this purpose in life if he didn't want you to use it to glorify Him.
This article has been written on my personal blog page because it is my personal opinions and my personal feelings. This has in no way been promoted or encouraged by my church or any individual person. If anyone has had their feelings hurt, good. Apparently this was meant for you. I hope it will make everyone think about what we each do and who we allow into our lives I'm just using what talent God has given me to reach out. I'm just doing what the good Lord is telling me to do and putting into words what he has given me.
Love everyone....Only trust those who've earned it.
