These are three YouTube videos done by a former Pentecostal in Australia. He is not a Christian and there were a couple things I didn't like, but overall he did a nice job with these.

He also goes over some of the points made in the book, "The Subtle Power Of Spiritual Abuse."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5efYlPLKMg




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2whznvArJ18




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pROvFTmthP4

Lois

Faith without works is dead. That is true. But does this Bible passage mean what unhealthy churches say it does, in equating works with their list of things a Christian must do to be saved?

We are saved because of what Jesus did for us by dying in our place. If works could have saved people, then the law that God put into place for the Jews would have accomplished this. The Bible is very vocal in that it did not.

Works, as mentioned in the book of James, are our actions. Faith without works is dead- not because works are essential to our salvation- but because if one has faith in God it will be evidenced by their actions. You can't have real faith with nothing to show for it. However, in those actions, there is no salvation made, kept or bought. They are simply a natural result of our faith in God.

Back in the early church, people wanted to add rules to be saved. This thought is nothing new. People seem to have a hard time accepting by faith that Jesus paid the price completely for their salvation. He said it was finished. People keep wanting to add conditions to our salvation. So let's look at the early church....

The second chapter of Galatians continues with Paul telling about his past. This is where he starts to show the Galatians the problem that false brothers caused with their false teachings.

Chapter 15 of Acts tells in more detail about what Paul shares happened in Jerusalem. I encourage you to take the time to read Acts 15. The men who came to Antioch from Judea, who were teaching that the Gentiles must be circumcised in order to be saved, had caused a sharp division. This division caused the believers to send a delegation of people, including Paul & Barnabas, to Jerusalem in order to consult with the apostles and other elders.

At the meeting, some proclaimed that the Gentiles must be circumcised and made to obey the law of Moses. There is lots of discussion and then Peter addresses them all, reminding them that God made no distinction between the Jews and Gentiles and purified the Gentile's hearts by faith. He then asks why they are trying to test God by making the Gentiles do what even the Jews could not follow? He states that they are saved through the grace of God.

James later shares similar thoughts and they decide to write a letter to the believers in Antioch, Syria & Cilicia that states they will not burden the Gentiles with anything more than four requirements. These are listed in verse 29 of Acts 15.

So things haven't changed and adding lists of things to do in order to be saved is hundreds upon hundreds of years old. The problem now is that Christianity has split itself into so many different groups that there is now no longer one place for people to go in order to sort out what isn't proper teaching. We can't send a delegation to Jerusalem to consult with the...

Lois

Lois

Lois

I can imagine Jesus saying something today like He did in Matthew 23, "Woe unto you ministers who cause all kinds of harm to those trying to follow Me! Woe unto you who abuse my people, making merchandise of them for your own gain! Woe unto you ministers who rob people of their hard earned money and live the high life!...."

So often in unhealthy churches we heard to "obey them that have the rule over you" because they will be giving an account of you to God one day. My desire is not to delve into that at the moment, except to say it isn't true. Ministers have super big egos if they think they get to be the go-between with you and God. The point I wish to make is the price these ministers will have to pay in the end if they do not change their ways.

It is one thing to teach erroneous doctrines in sincerity and with love, believing them to be true. I am fairly certain that we all believe some things that we will find are not true. However, it is a different story when a minister refuses to objectively look at what they are teaching when valid points are made. It isn't the same when things are taught with shaming, threats and manipulative tactics or when God is painted in such a manner as to be viewed as a harsh taskmaster, almost anxiously waiting for you to mess up so He can cause you harm and/or leave you behind.

I can only imagine how God feels when he sees the damage that these abusive ministers cause. Through the years, I have witnessed a multitude of individuals with varying degrees of harm, left by those who were supposed to help them grow in their walk with God. Some of these people go out and commit all kinds of sins because they believe they are lost and without hope, so what does it matter. Some cannot bring themselves to become involved in another church as they are too fearful. Some struggle for years with the after effects of their experience. There are so many things that people face when they have been involved in unhealthy and abusive churches.

I think the saddest and most harmful of all, is when their experience causes them to no longer believe in God or they continue to believe in the warped sense of God that was taught in their former church. Some, though they see the errors of the teachings, cannot see that the wrong image of God they were given isn't how God is at all. They don't want to follow a God that is so harsh and ready to pulverize them at any small indiscretion. My heart goes out to these people. Who wants to follow a God like that?

These ministers won't be reporting to God about you, but they will be answering to God for what THEY have done. Though written in regard to the spiritual leaders of Israel, I believe God feels the same toward these ministers today. Here is what God said:

""Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!"...

Lois