Black Christians Need to Beware of Cult...Part 1

You all have heard of the Black Hebrew Israelites.  We all have.  Who are they, and where did they originate?

Well, innocently enough, this movement was borne out of a desire to know a race or culture of one's own identity.  In the midst of racism and slavery, an entire race of people sought to seek out their heritage, which is in and of itself not a crime neither a sin.

The following is an excerpt from a popular Black Hebrew Israelite website:

"In scripture the children of Israel are prophesy to lose the knowledge of who they really are. This is also part of our punishment, for disobeying the most high. If a people lose the knowledge of who they are, they have lost the knowledge of their Nationality, History and Heritage. A people without a History is a people that doesn't exist.

Since coming to the United States, we have been called by many different names in reference to our nationality.

We are the only group in this country that this has happen to. Presently we are Known as African-Americans, from Afro Americans, from Negroes, before that we were Colored and so on. This is madness...

"This very thing has happen to us here in North America, we are the only people who were not allowed to practice our original culture, etc. upon our arrival. This is one of the main reasons why we don't know who we really are today. ..."

"In verse 3 of Psalm 83 Israel is referred to as the 'HIDDEN' ones. Hidden means secret, and this is why the truth that I am presenting to you today is called 'The World Best Kept Secret', it's a secret about the identity of true Israel. But at the same time this verse says that our enemies consulted to take away our nationality/ identity...."

The Black Hebrew Israelite can be those who simply desire to get closer to God and believe doing so means embracing what they call their 'hebraic roots'- and using scripture to do so-to the radical, in-your-face street preacher-who consider themselves prophets-who hurl insults and hate language at passerbys all day long on the street corner of any urban area.  And everything and everyone in between.

Marcus Garvey is one of the earliest examples of one who considered himself a direct descendant of Israel, or one of the chosen people described in the Word of God.  He was one of the first leaders who embraced and taught Back-to-Africa movements (better known as Black Nationalism).  He was from Jamaica and had a major impact on modern-day religion that was geared towards black racial pride, ranging from the Nation of Islam to the Rastafarian religion.

Not to say that this cult (which is what they are) was borne simply at the turn of last century, post slavery.  There have been many cultures (mostly Jewish) that embraced and followed a Judaic (or of the law, strictly of the Old Testament) brand of worship and ministry.  Judaism is still practiced in many countries to this day.

Even though we are at the end of the church age-and scripture itself even prophesied it-there are still people who have had a really difficult time cutting ties with religion, temple worship, Judaism, and levitical priesthood.

John 4:19-21, 23-26

The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.

Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.

Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.

But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him.  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.

Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.

There has been a movement in the past 20 years or so of 'Black Hebrew Israelites' to go back to Israel, instead of Africa, as introduced by Garvey.  And as recent as 2010, Israel has accepted black hebrews into their  land, recognizing them as harmless and peace-abiding.

But as with all belief systems, there are dangerous, cult-like, even criminal offshoots of this movement, that targets African-Americans disgruntled with society, with the organized church system, with their lack of knowledge of their own heritage and history. So they use that as 'bait' to catch many an unsuspecting seeker of truth to be recruited amongst their ranks.

The people who are most susceptible to being recruited into this cult range anywhere from the harmless preachers disgruntled with the organized Christian church to murderers and child abusers who reign out of fear and violence over their followers.

They seek out and disciple black men, in particular.

Many mistake the BHI for the Nation of Islam, but the BHI vehemently dismisses that the Honorable Elijah Mohammed is their saviour, as the Nation of Islam believes.

The BHI do believe in Jesus, a false Jesus, nonetheless.  They call him Yeshua, who is only another mask of Jesus Immanuel Sananda.

And they call God, Yah, Yahweh, or Abba.

A lot of people see the BHI as harmless to be ignored.  I beg to differ.

This is a dangerous cult, one that has several 'communities' dispersed throughout this country, much like the Amish ones.  Except that within their communities and compounds, it is anything but peace-loving or law-abiding!

Some of the BHI are criminals, and have even committed murder...as well as attempted murder.

In a case that shocked the nation, BHI cult leader Peter Moses of Durham, N.C., was convicted of murdering two people, including a 5-year-old boy who he thought was gay in 2010.

This was the most well-known criminal case within a BHI community to date.

But do believe that-just like there is abuse, rape, incest and even murder within the so-called institutional church system-that the same injustices, crimes, abuse, persecution, deception and corruption that is publicized and sometimes overemphasized in the media goes on within the Black Hebrew Israelite community!

We just don't hear about it.  Why?

Many BHI fellowships are underground entities, believing that the current societal, religious and governmental systems in place in this country are in a conspiracy, of sorts, against their existence.

This is the reason for the rise in BHI communities, fellowships and organizations throughout the United States.

The Black Hebrew Israelites hold to certain belief systems, in addition to traditional Judaistic doctrines, including:

1) Tracing their geneology back to the 12 tribes of Israel

They believe that most of the minority races existing today can be traced back to the original tribes of Israel.

Ruben = Seminole Indians (Muskogee).
Simeon = Dominicans of Hispanola.
Levi = Haitians.
Judah = African-Americans.
Dan = Cubans.
Naphtali = Argentineans & Chileans.
Gad = Native Americans.
Asher = Incas.
Issachar = Aztec Indians and other Mexicans.
Zebulon = Mayan Indians and other inhabitants of countries from Guatemala to Panama.
Ephraim & Manasseh = Taino & Boriqua Indians and other Puerto Ricans
Benjamin = Carribe, Cibao, Arrowack, and other inhabitants of Guyana and the West Indies.

2) BHI believe that Israel taken into Egyptian and Babylonian captivity in the Word of God was prophetic of the blacks being taken into slavery in this country.  They believe that all the curses in Deuteronomy 28 were meant for the African-American peoples.

3) BHI are either overtly or covertly oppressive of women (and children) in their community.  

Speaking as a woman who was engaged to a BHI-as well as having seen the treatment (or should I say mistreatment) of the women and children within this community, I can attest to the fact that the men within this cult system are not only oppressive of 'their women,' but that they outright abuse them.  Much like what went on with Jim Jones' Peoples' Temple and their movement in Guyana, women and children are viewed as property.  The trick is that they do not show their true colors right away when trapping unsuspecting women into their cults.  They start out wining and dining them.  Calling them sisters and queens, or 'achoti' or 'malcah' in hebrew.

They seek out strong women are some even practice polygamy.  They will 'marry' more than one woman; some men (who call themselves 'apostles' or 'shalachs' within the BHI) have been known to marry as many as 5 or 6 women in different states, to set up 'ministry' in that state..or just another shootoff of their BHI belief systems.

Many of these men will let a woman head up the ministry in a particular region, while he goes off and marries another woman in another state in hopes of developing a franchise (if you will) of BHI settlements throughout the country.

But within the system, many women are beat, raped, and attacked often when they do not comply or 'submit' to the so-called leadership of their 'husband' or 'leader.'

Much like what happened with Jim Jones...

I have even heard of BHI communities where the child labor laws are ignored and children are put to work in fields-in THIS country-to support these cults.

And the sad part is that many women who have been caught up in the web of deceit and lies are afraid or too ashamed to come out of it, so they stay and subject themselves AND their children to abuse, neglect, spiritual exploitation and a host of other injustices within the BHI.

4)  Those entrapped within the BHI will push racial pride-even to the point of putting down other races.

BHIers are very racially conscious.  Now, there is nothing wrong with embracing one's culture, neither of being accepting of who you are.  Some BHI congregations don't allow ppl other races into their services!  But you venture off into sin when you start idolizing your culture, your race, your ethnicity...and NOT worshipping JESUS CHRIST OF NAZARETH.  OR trying to conform Jesus Christ into an image that you can more readily accept, in other words, conforming HIM to please YOUR flesh, instead of KILLING YOUR FLESH, dying to who you are or you THINK you are-or who you believe YOU WERE, and conforming to the Image of Jesus Christ clearly spelled out in the Word of God.

What BHIers have done is allowed a religious demon to make them believe a lie, or make them so focused on race, on sex (or the flesh), and if Jesus was a black man or not, if the Israelites were black, or hispanic, or cuban, or whatever...that they have FORGOTTEN what the scripture says that there is neither male NOR female, Greek or Jew, nor bond OR free...in Galatians 3:28!

Now, I want to stop right there!

BOND NOR FREE!!!

Do you know what that means to me????

YES, let's go there.  YES, slavery happened.  CAPTIVITY happened.  I LOVE THE WORD OF GOD because you see GOD foresaw that man would harp on the injustices they suffered, one of them being slavery, captivity.   Just like BHIers harp on slavery, some Jews hard on being in captivity, etc., GOD said ONCE YOU PUT ON CHRIST JESUS, YOU ARE NO LONGER YOUR HISTORY!!!!!!! 

YOU ARE NO LONGER JUST A FEMALE.  YOU ARE NO LONGER JUST A BLACK, A JEW, A HISPANIC.  YOU ARE NO LONGER JUST A SLAVE TRYING TO GET REPARATIONS OR JUSTICE.  YOU ARE NO LONGER A JEW.

YOUR PAST IS ERASED!!!!!!!!

THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST OF NAZARETH HAS WIPED OUR SLATES CLEAN!!!!!!!!!!!

We all have a past.  We all come with baggage.  But Christ said HIS YOKE IS EASY, HIS BURDEN IS LIGHT!  So LIGHT PACKING is what is needed for this journey!!!!

I'm not saying you wont remember what you have been through.  I am saying when you have been washed in the Blood of the Lamb, it wont hurt anymore!

And when you share your testimony, that anger is not there.  That bitterness, that rage...so prevalent within the speech, the demeanor, the delivery of BHIer preachers, SIMPLY IS NOT THERE!

The enemy's job is to keep you stuck in your past.

If you are NOT aware of that, then the enemy has done his job in stealing your identity.  And once the enemy can steal your identity, he can then replace it with his identity, his lies.

And that is exactly what he has done with this BHI movement!

Know your history.  Remember and share your testimony, as the Spirit of God leads you to.

But it shouldn't sting when you do.  If it does, you have not been healed...

Stay tuned for Part 2

Your Next Preaching 'Gig' May Be a Set Up from the Enemy...

This sounded innocent enough:  church folks were on an annual missionary trip to the Holy Land on Friday.

Since filming the above video, the hostages have since been released.

To read more on the story, read here:  http://www.theroot.com/views/pastor-abducted-egypt-stand-out?page=0,0&wpisrc=root_more_news

As you remember, in 2011, Egypt was the home of riots, bedlam, and chaos.

I titled this 'Your Next Preaching 'Gig' May Be a Set Up from the enemy...' because back in 2010, I was given an invitation to come out to Egypt to preach and fellowship with a group of 'believers.'  They were going to let me stay in their home (the pastor and wife) and it was supposed to be more of a revival than a one or two night thing.

I never felt easy in my spirit, neither did I believe God wanted me to go to Egypt.  (Anyone who knows me knows I am not a fearful person and love to opportunity to travel and go to other countries.)

I can openly say that the pastor who invited me there was almost pressuring me, insisting that my coming to Egypt was 'the will of God' and 'my destiny.'

I never got that witness in MY spirit.

So I told them NO.

I mean when you really think about it, its quite amazing.

A pastor and congregants go on your run-of-the-mill Holy Land Tour and are kidnapped.  It has been learned that in Egypt, there has been a rise of kidnappings of tourists and visitors there since the riots.

And then there were the riots themselves...

Its all water under the bridge now.  And I now know that had I been driven by ambition and a lust to be behind a pulpit, or to have a preaching revival in Egypt on my ministerial 'resume,' that I may not be here today.

I recognize that that whole trip was a set up from the enemy!

What would have happened had I went to Egypt????

The religious demon had a trap set up for me, for sure!

Now, somebody is saying, 'Oh, no!  You shouldn't look at it like that.  God may have wanted to use you over there. '

That is a lie.

I share this with you all to try and help someone.

You have been seeking 'promotion,' 'acceptance,' and looking for opportunity forever.  And many so called 'opportunities' have presented themselves to you.

You don't know if its God or the enemy.

I am here to tell you...the enemy WILL send you opportunities...YES, EVEN PREACHING, SINGING, and MINISTERIAL opportunities!

IT IS A SET UP!!!!!!

DON'T ACCEPT IT!!!!!!!

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED....

The Art of Seduction

I want you to take a close look at this picture.

In the background, is the institutional church.  Grandiose.  Majestic.  Stately.  Beautiful.

To the forefront is a couple, seducing one another, yet in chains.  In bondage.  They are not aware that they are in bondage because they are all caught up in the moment.  In the throes of passion.  Ecstasy.

Or an altered state of consciousness....

Awake, yet asleep...

Romans 13:11
And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.

When we hear the word seduction today, we automatically see a picture in our minds of the couple embedded in the above picture.  We automatically think of two people being seduced into forbidden sexual behavior, or, at the very least, sexual behavior.

When the Word of God speaks of seducing spirits in 1 Timothy 4:1, we automatically assume that the Word is talking about spirits that tempt one to have sex outside of the confines of marriage or other illicit sexual behavior.

Read the text:

1 Timothy 4:1

Now the Spirit speaks expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.

The greek word for seducing here is 'planos,' which means 'wandering, roving, misleading, leading into error, impostor, corrupter, deceiver.'

It speaks of nothing sexual in its proper context.

The modern definition only serves further to perpetuate the improper defining and perception of the the word 'seduction' as well:

From Wikipedia:

"Seduction is the process of deliberately enticing a person to engage in sexual behavior."

"Seduction involves temptation and enticement, often sexual in nature, to lead someone astray into a behavioral choice they would not have made if they were not in a state of sexual arousal."

Now...

Hear with your spiritual ear...

The enemy CAN and DOES seduce (entice, arouse, tempt) people, but not just sexually to do the wrong thing in the natural.  NO!  That is just to introduce to you what it feels like to be seduced.

Not to be too graphic, but if you have ever been seduced into sex-especially illicit, illegal sex-it is an intoxicating, overwhelming sensation.  It can be a form of escapism from whatever hell (or even boredom) you have going on in your life at the moment.

B.J. Thomas is a famous singer from the 60s.  In the year I was born, he came out with this song 'Hooked On A Feeling.'

The enemy has millions of people 'hooked on a feeling,' so to speak.

That same feeling, that same exhilaration, that same sense of escapism one gets when having sex has been duplicated, per se, in the organized church system.  It has been re-packaged to appear to be holy, appear to be God, appear to be divine.  And because the deception has been borne in the spirit realm, and everybody believes EVERYTHING borne in the spirit realm IS of God, NO ONE is properly discerning seducing spirits...in the pulpit, in concert, in conferences, in revivals, on popular so called christian programming on TV, at altars, in private prayer meetings, dancing down the aisles, running around the church, speaking in tongues, falling all out under the pews, running and riffing up the ying yang, 'prophesying,' teaching and preaching........

They are believing all of this is God, when it is nothing more than a SEDUCING SPIRIT deceiving the masses!!!!!

This is the Art of Seduction that the enemy has cleverly mastered!

He has tantalized your flesh, your senses (that includes your ability to see, hear, taste, touch, and smell), your soul, your will, your emotions, even your body....RIGHT there in the middle of church services!

And you have mistaken it all for a move of God....

I do not believe it is a mistake of all the sexual sin that has plagued the I.C.

It is only a manifestation of all the spiritual seducing that is going on within the institutional church.

Spirits of religion are praying folks back into church (or attempting to anyways).  Speaking in tongues over them (not realizing they are speaking curses over the very people they claim to be praying FOR!)

Just like a lover/temptress entices her prey..."Oh, don't you miss my touch?  My scent?  My curves?  How I make you feel???"

The spirit of religion beckons, calls you...

"Oh, don't  you miss the choir?  The praise and worship team?  Don't you miss that FEELING you get when you walk up in the House of God?  Don't you want to 'come home?'"

The spirit of pride and ambition calls some...

"The anointing on your life is SO great!  The masses GOT to hear it!  And the only way they will hear it is if you are in the church.  And get up under a covering.  Get the right connections.  You are out here and no one's listening to you.  You need to go back to church and get back in that pulpit!  YOU are called to the nations!"

The spirit of rejection and loneliness coos in...

"Aren't you tired of being alone?  Don't you miss the fellowship?  Oh, how nice it would be if you were back in fellowship with some of your church friends (who haven't spoken to you since you left church, btw!)  If you would only go back to church, you would get your friends back.  That's walking in 'real love.'"

And all these evil spirits are working together to SEDUCE you into sleeping with the Harlot Church....again!

Much like the temptress seduces her man.

The spirit of religion is on the prowl, has the hots for you!  It is insatiable!  It won't be satisfied til she GOT YOU!!!!!

Her very bowels-the institutional church's 'womb'-yearns and craves for YOUR SOUL!

She wants so bad to birth something ELSE.  So she keeps trying to 'sleep' with you, to get you to 'impregnate' her.

(Funny how within the I.C. , they are ALWAYS trying to 'birth' some thing 'new!')

If something is birthed OF GOD, it does NOT have to be new.  The ONLY thing that should be craved to be birthed is THE BORN AGAIN SOUL!!!!  Anything else is of the devil!

The I.C. gains her strength through you.

Every time you go back, you are making her seducing power over you and those around you even stronger!

The spirit of religion-THE HARLOT CHURCH-is the most powerful seductress, the most enticing temptress-of them all!

But you have power over the enemy!

Walk away from her, and never, EVER look back.

IT IS A TRAP!!!!

Who Introduced the Prosperity Gospel to the Church?

As early as the late 1940s, a pentecostal preacher named Granville Oral Roberts began teaching on seed faith and prosperity.  In 1947, another pentecostal preacher name Asa Alonso Allen went to one of Roberts' tent meetings and was so intrigued by what he heard there that he went home and preached it to his Assemblies of God church in Texas.

A.A. Allen later left the the AOG and started holding tent meetings.

In this message below, A.A. Allen gives a brief 'testimony' of how his 'ministry' blessed an older black couple:

I don't think I have ever been more disgusted and nauseated at this erroneous doctrine than now.  Now, that I have realized just how long the enemy has entrenched and infiltrated this poison into the lives of so many.

What better time to introduce the gospel of prosperity?  When the country was trying to recover for the Great Depression of the 1940s?  When most Americans were trying to obtain the American dream...a white picket fence around 3.5 bedrooms, dog in the yard?  When most Americans had a hard work ethic and working hard was rewarded?

And whats even more nauseating is that he targeted black people in this message, in particular.

Who else eats 'pigs feet, neckbones, and hammocks' but black folks????

Black people in this era were particularly vulnerable.

Black folks think they are poor now?  Only 50 to 60 years post-Emancipation Proclamation, blacks were still struggling to gain civil rights.  They were severely oppressed in every way, including financially.

Especially financially.

Allen realized this, and he capitalized off of their vulnerability.

How many black people in the 50s and 60s were riding around in Cadillacs?  If you were not singing or dancing, and were black, you did not have a cadillac.

And just how the enemy used the vulnerability of the oppressed then, so is he doing it today.

Here, during the recession, EVERYBODY is being oppressed now.  Everybody who does not have a six or seven figure salary.  Even some with a six figure salary are having to pinch pennies.

So now the provocateurs of the prosperity gospel are in full swing.

And now this doctrine is being taught everywhere!

I have said it plenty of times and have been accused of being a 'hater.'  But I will repeat it:

Just because someone is famous and well-liked does not mean you should accept what they teach or preach as written in stone, from the throne room of GOD HIMSELF.

This here is a classic example of error being taught through very popular preachers.  And no one questioned it.

It was accepted b/c of the supernatural signs that occurred with the teaching.  Because of the likability of the preachers.  Because of their popularity.

It is time to wake up!

Do not accept false doctrine...NO MATTER WHO TEACHES IT!!!!!

The above is a cover from a magazine A.A. Allen ministries published in the 1950s and 1960s.  Cadillacs for Preachers.  This sense of entitlement and covetousness was introduced before many of us were born.  It is a diabolical, demonic, false doctrine that exploits the very people it is supposed to help.

Look at the video above and tell me it doesn't look like one of these programs we see air often on BET????

It is TIME TO WAKE UP!!!!!

The RELIGIOUS Lie of Backsliding and Apostasy, Part 1

I remember hearing of backsliding and the apostate church all of the time when I was a churchgoer.

Often, preachers would use these two terms interchangeably in hell-fire and brimstone preaching that was often used to scare people into 'getting right' and 'getting saved.'

I want to make a bold statement/stand:

The popular perception that we have held of backsliding has been grossly misinterpreted and downright error has been spread as it pertains to backsliding and apostasy.

The concept of backsliding as it has been so popularly taught in the institutional church was applicable in the OLD Testament ONLY.

"Are you saying that one cannot backslide, or become apostate?"

Let's look in the Word of God.  I did not find the word 'apostate' in the Word of God one time.  I did find the word 'backsliding' in the bible 15 times....all in the Old Testament.

The very last time I see the word 'backsliding' in the Word of God is in Hosea 14.  The Hebrew word used here for 'backsliding' is 'mĕshuwbah,' which means 'apostasy or a turning back or away.'

In Hosea 14:4, God promises to heal the backslidings of Israel.

When God heals, that healing lasts.  It is done.  There is no reversal of healing...that's when GOD HEALS!

Same applies to HIS saving power.  When GOD SAVES, IT IS FINISHED!

WHEN ONE IS TRULY SAVED BY THE BLOOD OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST OF NAZARETH-AND NOT THE FAKE JESUS OR EMPTY RELIGION-THEN THAT PERSON IS SAVED.

There IS no backsliding to someone who has been born again, washed in the blood of the Lamb of God!

So when we go to the New Testament to find if the word or the idea of backsliding is there, I found two instances.  One in Acts 21:21 and 2 Thessalonians 2:3.

Acts 21:21

And they are informed of thee, that thou teach all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs.

In this passage of scripture, the 'apostasy' or falling away associated with backsliding is used by the word 'forsake' in this verse.  So what was being forsaken?  THAT'S the question!

What was being forsaken was the law of Moses!  The rituals of Judaism that required that parents circumcise their sons.

Now, of course, because we live in a different dispensation, one where Judaism and all of her rituals are no longer NECESSARY to be heeded because God told us to circumcise OUR hearts, not our flesh!  That circumcision does not take place except when one is submitted to the HOLY GHOST and is BORN AGAIN.

So forsaking, turning away from the religious practice of circumcision is NECESSARY so that we can embrace the concept and reality of having faith in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ of Nazareth and in HIS Cleansing Blood to wash away our sins.

If we continue to hold on to Judaism, we make the Cross of no effect and cannot be born again!!!!!

2 Thessalonians 2:3
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.

Now, let's look at this in its proper context.  If you read the whole chapter of 2 Thessalonians 2, you will see further down that this is talking about what is going to happen when the Antichrist is manifested in the earth.  The SPIRIT of Antichrist has been setting the stage, if you will, for centuries for his appearing.

And the Word says it will happen!

How is this going to happen, or has BEEN happening???

Well, verses 9-12 says:

 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

1.  Well, first of all, signs and wonders has been worshipped so much that now most people expect to see signs and wonders or they don't receive the Word that God gives through you.  This past century especially, with the onset of Azusa, many people have come to expect signs and wonders to always be representative of the Holy Ghost.  They have failed to realize that the enemy is the master magician.  He knows how to do signs and wonders, too.  Has been practicing it for a long, LONG time!

2.  The institutionalization of the church has made it easy for the spirit of Antichrist to control and manipulate the masses.  THIS is why he set it up in the first place!  How better to control a group of people than to get them to congregate.  Then get a whole bunch of congregations to come together in a spirit of ecumenism (the merging of all faiths, churches, fellowships, denominations, etc), even at the expense of truth, in a spirit of fake love and unity.

3.  The way all of this has been able to take place-along with all of the other maladies of the institutional church-is because people have lost a LOVE FOR THE TRUTH!  When a LOVE FOR THE TRUTH is absent, then GOD HIMSELF SENDS A STRONG DELUSION!  The Word says HE sends it so that HE makes SURE they will believe A LIE!!!!

Without a love for the truth, one CANNOT be saved!!!!

In that passage of scripture, I present to you that it is the religious BUT NOT SAVED FOLKS who this great 'falling away' is applied to!

Read 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 again.

The ones who are going to fall away from the faith are ones who were NEVER SAVED or LOVED THE TRUTH from the beginning!

They were religious.  They attended temple, synagogue, mass, church.  They served in ministry.  They ate with Presidents and Kings.  They performed many signs and wonders.  They had a great following.

BUT THEY WERE NOT SAVED!!!!

Otherwise, they could NOT backslide.  They could NOT turn away from the faith...that is, the faith that is in Jesus Christ of Nazareth ALONE!

By making the masses believe that if they are faithful to a church, a denomination, a ministry, a fellowship, an organization, or a man or a woman, then that faithfulness equates salvation and faithfulness to GOD.

AND NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That whole teaching started right around the time the catholic/institutional church began.  The term 'apostate' never came into existence until the 2nd century, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia.

Roman Catholicism introduced the concept of apostasy!

I hope that sinks in....I got to break this up into two, maybe three parts.

I am going to tear down some strongholds and correct some very real religious errors that have kept so many in religious bondage!

Is It Preaching? Or Sermonizing?

The Foolishness of Preaching...

Am I PREACHING or Am I SERMONIZING???????

I couldn't agree with Pam more...

Approximately over a year ago, I wrote the following blog on preaching.

This is a question each preacher needs to ask themselves:

My updated corrections are in parenthesis:

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1 Corinthians 1:18-21

 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

 Preaching...

 We as ministers of the gospel know all about it.  Even those we label as laity know about preaching.  We know all types of preaching.  We know the hoop. The holler.  The in between, asthma-like huffs and puffs in between phrases or sentences.  We get excited over it.  We dance over it.  We shout and rejoice.  The desired result of preaching, according to the Word of the Lord, is to save souls.  I could be wrong, but I don't see anywhere in scripture that tells us to preach to saved folks, but to instruct, to edify, or grow the saints up in the things of God.

 If we want to encourage the saints, the Word tells us to speak to each other 'in spiritual songs and psalms:

 Ephesians 5:19

Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord...

If we want to edify one another, grow the saints up, the Word tells us to teach and admonish one another-again with 'psalms, hymns, & spiritual songs...'

Colossians 3:16

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

 The Word does not say to preach to saved folks.  Preach to unsaved folks; teach, admonish, speak to, rebuke, reprove the saints!

 Ministers...

Just think about it.  This may be why the souls are not growing.  You've been preaching to them for 20 years.  Preaching (sermonizing, using Pam's term) them happy.  Preaching (sermonizing) them sad.  Preaching (sermonizing) them prosperity.  Preaching (sermonizing) them strange doctrines.  Preaching (sermonizing) everything...why are you preaching salvation to saved folks?

I was listening to this very popular woman preacher (heck, I will post her name:  it was Cindy Trimm).  She was preaching, but it was in a religious setting.  So I hit play.  I will admit:  I was somewhat annoyed at her preaching in cadence and all...

"And the Lord say...HA!

"Repent for the Kingdom of God...HA!

"..is at hand....HA!"

 As she continued, on her rant for about 40 minutes, I grew very aggravated.  Not because what she was saying wasn't true, but because of the preaching in cadence, and the organist playing behind her.  But I hung in there..I hung in there until, while preaching in cadence, she bust out...

"...that's not my key!..."

'No she didn't!  No she didn't preach to the organist to take the key up one notch!'

The organist complied and took the key up one notch!

I immediately turned the message off, in utter shock at what I just heard!

Now, I don't know about anyone else.  But I found all the theatrics behind the message quite distracting.  What Trimm was saying could have been very relevant, very powerful (but I doubt it).  And very true...but the organist playing behind her, and her "HA!" she exclaimed every 5 words was-quite frankly-getting on my nerves!

I have preached sermons, and I had to tell the organist to stop playing behind me because he was distracting from the message, and was NOT playing under the anointing!  (And what's more shocking is that the organist was my OWN father! He didn't speak to me for a minute after that message!)

Now I write what I write not just because of an annoyance or a preference of mine.  It is an admonition for preachers to take a good hard look at the fruit of what they've been doing for years.  We have to ask ourselves-at some point-why do we do the things we do...in the church?  Is it relevant?  Effective?  What are the results?  

We have preached all these sermons, in all kinds of styles.  With the best musicians playing behind us.  But what good has it done?  Really!

Let's be real about it.

No one's getting saved at (church) altars; the ones at the altars are the same ones who been going to the altar for years.  I can talk about it cuz I was a professional altar seeker!   I used to snot and cry all over the place.  I laid out all over the floor.  Shouted.  Danced.  Screamed to the top of my lungs...out of sincerity.

Really believing I was delivered, when the preaching had done nothing more than emotionally move me, excite me.

 Preachers...the saints don't need to hear another sermon from us.  They need to be taught!

And, as you can see with Pam and I citing our examples of sermonizing by Trimm and Jakes, preachers need NOT imitate the styles of their favorite preacher of the month either!  Because most of them are sermonizing and spreading doctrines of devils!

 What do they need to be taught?  SALVATION.  DELIVERANCE.  THE KINGDOM OF GOD!!!

It is only when the TRUE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST IS PREACHED that we will rid the altars of professional altar seekers and the  unsaved, unregenerated souls WILL GET SAVED AND DELIVERED!

Let's know when to preach, when to teach.

The only time we see the word 'preached' used in the Bible is when the audience was UNSAVED.  When the apostles spoke to those who were saved, the Word says they taught them, they instructed, they expounded, they rebuked, they reproved...

 Do ur homework...

 Let's get back to using the foolishness of preaching...the Bible's way.

 I encourage you to study that whole chapter of 1 Corinthians 1.  It will change your whole perspective on preaching.

Pulpitry: LIGHTS, CAMERA....ACTION!!!!!!

Where did pulpits come from?

A pulpit is another word for a podium, a platform, a stage (Mirraim Webster Dictionary).

What do people do from a podium or stage?

They give speeches and performances.

Speeches and performances-putting on a facade-comes naturally (and supernaturally) with the use of the pulpit in the organized church.

Pulpits can be dated back to the 14th century in medieval churches.  They were created by priests in the temples who were trying to compete for the attention of followers of migrant preachers who preached outside-much like John the Baptist and Jesus Christ of Nazareth Himself-did...OUTSIDE of the temples.

The migrant preachers only had a small piece of wood that they stood on outside to preach the Kingdom of God.  They often could be heard by temple-goers while they were in service.  So the priests and heads of the church created the pulpit so that their voices could carry 'over' the preaching and teaching going on outside.  To keep the attention of the people.

It was a competitive thing between the insitutionalized  priests and the preachers and teachers of the Kingdom of God who proclaimed God's word OUTSIDE of the four walls of the church.

Over time, the pulpits became more elaborate in design, seemingly as to draw attention to the speaker of the hour-and to divert attention AWAY from THE WORD, who is JESUS CHRIST OF NAZARETH.

Charles Tracy, author of 'Medieval English Pulpits,' calls pulpits 'objects of parochial pride and authority.'

What a fitting definition!

Pulpits as we know them today have morphed into 'objects of parochial pride and authority' indeed, in stark contrast to what they started out as.  There is mention of the word 'pulpit' in the Word of God only once, and that is in Nehemiah 8:4, when Ezra the scribe read the Torah to the people, he taught the people.  Afterwards, they repented...

The Hebrew word used for pulpit here is 'migdal,' which means 'an elevated stage or pulpit.'

And the pulpit Nehemiah used was NOT inside of a temple; it was OUTSIDE.  Just read the entire 8th chapter and you will see this is so.

This would explain why the migrant preachers of the 14th century were preaching on 'slabs of wood' OUTSIDE of the synagogues and temples.

Hmmmm, isn't that odd?

It seems to me the pulpit originated OUTSIDE of the four walls of the church!

The practice of having elaborate pulpit/podiums/platforms did not start until the 14th century, and that was only to compete with the preachers outside of the church preaching the Kingdom of God!

Why were they competing?

They were competing for the numbers.  The priests inside of the temples have always been into the numbers' game.  They will do whatever they need to to keep people coming to their churches.  More people inside of the temples meant easier control of the masses.  It would be easier to try and hinder THE church-THE Ekklesia- that Jesus Christ of Nazareth died for by gathering them all in one place, then indoctrinating and infiltrating error into the masses.

And more people meant MORE money for the temples!

Is it any wonder the stuff we see going on 'in the pulpit' is so crazy today?

We like to call preachers in pulpits 'hypocrites,' but what else do we expect when we place someone on a platform or a stage?

A hypocrite is someone who puts on a show, behind a mask.

Isn't the WHOLE purpose behind putting someone on a platform or a stage is to see them....PERFORM? Or be SOMEONE ELSE?

When you spend $500 to go see a Tyler Perry play, you don't go to the Convention Center, find your seat, sit down, only to watch the stage, do  you?

When you go to your child's school because lil Johnny is going to be the bumblebee in the spring play, you would be angry if you just sat there for 2 hours in the school auditorium-camcorder on standby-only to see an empty stage?

When you travel to a hair show in Hotlanta, sponsored by Dudley's Products, wouldn't you be tee'd off if you just sat there, never seeing any models come down the ramp?

Well, whenever we put someone on a pedestal, on a stage, behind a podium...and YES, even a pulpit, we must expect that they WILL perform!  And a performance is NEVER REAL!

STOP getting mad at finding out that preachers are actors, puppets on a string.  You placed them on the stage to perform, not to minister TRUTH to you.

A minister of truth is going to step DOWN from the pulpit and minister to you, RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE!  They are NOT going to hide behind clergy collars, cassocks, long flowing robes and fancy pulpits that cost more than what you make in one year.

A minister of truth is going to TELL YOU THE TRUTH.  And they will do it wherever you happen to be.  You don't have to dress up and go to a building to be set free.

Do YOU need that type of minister?  Do church buildings and all its rhetoric and hype intimidate you?  Do you tire of the hypocrisy of churchgoers and preachers, in particular?  Yet you see the need for ministry?

Then its time to COME OUT of the church...and BE THE CHURCH!

Have You Received A Call To Ministry? Or to Salvation?

As I watched this video, I was reminded of a favorite story I tell my youngest son at bedtime (even though he is going on 13 years old, he STILL loves for me to tell him stories!)

It is the story of the prophet Samuel.

How Samuel heard 'the call' as he was trying to go to bed in the temple with King Eli.

As much as I love to tell that story, if we look at that whole scenario in light of what Pam shares in this video...Samuel-in a sense-received a call to ministry, and not salvation.  Salvation was not yet given, because no eternal shedding of blood had been shed for all our sins!

As supernatural and awesome that story, I am afraid many mistake the call to SALVATION as a call to ministry....

And one CANNOT be called into ministry FIRST and HAVE NOT YET BEEN SAVED!!!!

First things FIRST!

Many hear a call, but don't know who is calling them.

Just like Samuel the prophet heard someone call his name-and answered the call, according to the instructions of King Eli-many still operate in that religious mindset of answering a call to prophesy, to operate in ministry...and have YET to answer the call TO BE SAVED!

How do you know if you have received a call to salvation, or to ministry?

If you have accepted Jesus as your personal savior, if you let Jesus into your heart, if you repeated a sinner's prayer, if you have NEVER TRULY repented of your sins, if you have no REAL understanding of what happened at Calvary OR in the tomb when Jesus Christ of Nazareth was raised from the dead, if you believe that Jesus only resurrected in SPIRIT FORM and NOT IN THE FLESH, or if you continuously sin and REMAIN unrepentant of sinning.....THEN....

THE CALL YOU ARE HEARING IS TO S A L V A T I O N!!!!!!!!!  And NOT ministry!!!

You are NOT saved.

If you are truly born again, and understand that there is NO way you can accept Jesus Christ, but He has to accept you, if you HAVE repented of your sins, if-when you sin-you do experience GODLY SORROW for your sin, that leads to repentance, if you understand that Jesus Christ was resurrected IN THE FLESH and is at the right hand of the Father-and can NEVER reside 'in our hearts,'  if you possess a working knowledge of what JESUS CHRIST OF NAZARETH DID FOR US ALL by laying down His life and picking it right back up again....THEN....

THE CALL YOU ARE HEARING MAY BE TO MINISTRY.  WAIT ON IT....

Don't get the two confused.  The enemy calls ministers, too.  He calls those who are NOT saved into ministry so that they can propagate and spread more false doctrine and deceive more people.

~Do you need help in determining if the call you are hearing is to salvation or to ministry, call 518-477-5759. Or watch this video.~