See also Religion, Humility, and False Humility — Part 1
I served in a very large church (3000 plus members 1980’s) and I witnessed many things.
I have always learned OJT (on the job training) as The LORD has His reasons. I have always learned and experienced things firsthand.
Sure, I have questioned many things through the years, but I learned some powerful lessons at that particular Church — both good and bad.
Sometimes we think when there is conflict or disagreement, (even serious disagreement) we should just leave the Church.
God taught me early on and through prayer and fasting to seek His Will.
I was led by God to the Church I am writing about. I also learned early on when God plants you in an assembly you are not to leave unless The LORD specifically tells you to leave.
I am going to share just a few of MANY things I learned. I thank God for keeping me rooted there. So many people like to uproot and run.
I call them “potted plant” Christians — and a potted plant is limited by its container as the roots can only grow so far and they can get root bound and die.
As you read the few accounts I reveal, if I went by what I had seen, felt, and experienced I would have left. However, The LORD did not release me. I had to obey The LORD to remain among them, because I wanted to leave.
The LORD reminded me of a Biblical experience of a man of God who lived and went through a lot for what he carried.
If you have read and studied the life of Jeremiah, he was called “The Weeping Prophet”. During his four decades as God’s Prophet in Jerusalem, he was a laughingstock to the people of the city.
He prophesied so much and wept over Israel for their rebellion. No one would take him seriously with the warnings God sent.
Jeremiah prophesied that Israel would be taken into captivity to Babylon — and the people laughed at him, threatened to kill him, scorned him, beat him, even left him in a pit!
Jeremiah suffered much to deliver the Word of The LORD to Israel. Why didn’t he just get up and leave? No one was hearing him anyway, and he could have left long before, but God DID NOT release him!
The prophecy did come to pass, and Israel was taken captive to Babylon. On their journey, Jeremiah was right there with them prophesying as they were taken away into captivity to Babylon. (Study Jeremiah 25)
One time I was in a service and the pastor said, “The book of Job should have never been written. If Job had enough faith, he wouldn’t have had to go through what he did.”
That troubled me big time, and I even asked the pastor’s wife, and all she did was avoid answering me. It did not sit well with me.
I continued to serve that Church as The LORD led me. There in many ways I learned so many lessons. I found out later why The LORD wanted me there.
The LORD taught me very well during those three years. He equipped me with understanding of what would be needed to expose religious, legalistic and cultic churches and organizations.
I know God sent me there, and I know when he told me to leave three years later. I have seen so many religious facades.
God wants all the gifts to operate in The Church. To see, is a powerful gift when God lets you see what is there.
Some people who have always been in a good Church all their lives may find these things offensive and have limited understanding. But those who have been forgiven of much — love much!
There is no perfect Church.
There were so many things I learned while I served there. I am thankful to God that He taught me Himself. The LORD wanted me to learn this firsthand.
This pastor didn’t want you to question anything he said as he had the final say. This one time, the pastor went out and purchased a multi-million-dollar golf and country club type of place.
He just decided to do it, and he had no one to answer to, because he had only yes men whom he appointed, who did not hold him accountable for anything.
The pastor and his wife were “Word of Faith” but came out of “United Pentecostal” which is extremely legalistic, (for example if you were a woman you couldn’t cut your hair)
As you read this, you might remember there were a number of famous ministers at that time that fell from grace and were exposed in the early 1980’s who had huge ministries and some made their ministry into a theme park.
I questioned a lot of things, and you might say, “Well, why didn’t you just leave?”
I developed a strong prayer life early on way before I came to that Church, and I asked God repeatedly if I could leave and it was, “No!”
Looking back, I can see the wisdom of God, by having me witness everything in person. I served that Church three years, and was involved in many things including, pastoral care of discipling every new convert to Christianity, teaching, women’s ministry, prayer ministry etc.
My point being, I saw a lot of the internal workings of the ministry. I learned a lot of things while I was there. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
Back to the theme park type of decision the pastor made; not only did his deliberate decision put the Church into hardship, but he also told the assembly that we were to meet there to clean it up!
The pastor — with his prideful and deluded mindset — believed he would have his name in lights and have the next Christian theme park!
It did not take long for the strain he put on the Church to surface, and the pastor ended up letting the bank take it back.
Everything was kept hush hush, and I was upset and angry that the pastor never got up to say he missed God or apologized! He just blew it off acting like nothing happened!
His pride and delusional thought process would never allow him to say he made a mistake. That was a lesson that taught me a lot about pride, false humility and his deceptive charisma!
During an event he was angry and walked across the front of the Church, and as he was speaking, he suddenly took the microphone and threw it across the sanctuary and demanded another one! The people looked at each other, but no one dared to voice a word about it.
So many things happened at that Church, and it would take me a very long time to write it all. But I have valuable lessons I have learned to help others who have come out of the bondage of cultic, pride based religious system Christianity.
The LORD equipped me and said that it will be needed in times to come. I have taught some of it, but I believe there will be a need for more teaching as people will be coming out of these types of abusive churches and organizations.
I imagine in time The LORD will expose more of this type of cultic behavior. He has proven to me over and above that I was to experience this.
The LORD gave me first-hand knowledge about detecting religious spirits and cultic behavior in churches and to expose this type of thing to the true Bible based, and led remnant believers in Christ.
I believe what kept me solid was how The LORD taught me early on about prayer and how it is the most vital and important discipline you must learn.
Next to getting saved it is vital that you need to be discipled and disciplined and learn to pray and communicate with God and study The Holy Bible from Genesis to Revelation.
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of The LORD!” Luke 13:34-36 NKJV
My point in all this is that pride, false humility, deception, error, extreme teaching and not being accountable to godly men and women is detrimental to an assembly!
The Word of God is our plumbline, and we are to align our lives by that Word!
This so-called pastor was a charlatan, but I knew God sent me there, and I know when he told me to leave three years later.
But let me tell you this, I left equipped with what God wanted me to experience. I have seen so many religious facades.
Beloved I remained faithful to God in doing ministry and especially my prayer life and when The LORD told me to leave three years later, they said if I leave this church, 99% of the people who leave that church fall away from God!
Beloved, this type of manipulation, control, and abuse is more common than you might think. I could go on and on…
God wants all the gifts to operate in The Church. To be able to see is a powerful gift because it’s for protection, because The LORD lets you see what is going on behind the scenes.
That pastor did not like what I could see, and it went a lot further than what I am writing about today.
God wants all the gifts to operate in The Church, not just a few.
When all the gifts are there it is powerful and designed by God to be protective. To see and hear what The Spirit is saying to The Church is a powerful Gift, when God opens your eyes and ears to hear!
That charlatan was being so irresponsible, dangerous and cultish. There were the religious and cultish in Jesus’ day, in the form of Judaism and other sects that had things added to it and taken from it. True to religious dogma, any belief held without certainty or questioning, is dangerous.
Jesus dealt with a system of religious doctrine that revealed Christ, but the religious if his day could not see.
Jesus wept over Jerusalem just like we must weep, because they cannot hear or see what The Spirit was saying to The Churches.
Religious spirits do the outward things that attempt to make our appearance look the part of what we think we are.
We attempt to act differently thinking to gain attention, popularity, and notoriety from those who are in authority.
However, service to the King of Kings isn’t about who’s who, or what works to gain access to those in authority and control.
The peacock can be symbolic of pride, because of the dance and the display of all the feathers. Have we been dancing the dance and fanning our feathers to display ourselves in false humility and have we adapted to a religious mind set to gain entrance into the club of who’s who?
Who do we vie for attention in negative ways? Do we think in our mind, that we are the most invaluable and capable person in our midst?
Pride is like a peacock, so beautiful and thinking I must be the best thing that has ever happened in my church?
Beloved, it is more prevalent than we know. Pride is an evil spirit and why The LORD threw the devil out of heaven because of it.
Politics isn’t just how our government rules, it is also in The Church. People who seek to rub shoulders with leadership and vie for position, need to be warned and corrected.
A flattering mouth works ruin. Why? Because God is a jealous God!
Are we to conform to the ways of this world’s system? It is time that judgment must come to the house of God!
If the ways of a Church — or religious system — doesn’t lead us to Christ in true repentance by turning away from sin, being holy, obedient, Christ like, humble, broken, lowly of heart, it is a very dangerous place to be in!
The religious Christian organizations and churches that are self-serving instead of Christ serving are NOT the true Church of Jesus Christ.
“The Church must not conform to the world but come out of the world and be separate,” says The LORD “and I will receive you.”
You cannot come to Christ on your terms, you come to Him on His Terms — and if you can hear Him, harden not your heart….
“For it is the time for the judgment to have begun from the house of God; and if from us first, what will be the outcome of those disobeying the gospel of God? And, If the righteous one is saved with difficulty, where will appear the ungodly and sinner?” 1 Peter 4:17-18 BSB
See also Religion, Humility, and False Humility — Part 1
In HIS Grace and Mercy,
~ Sherry Edwards Mackey
New Beginning Christian Ministries International 