Friday, September 23, 2011

Am I in a cult? How to discern a cult.

Calling a church a cult is pretty extreme so I need to suggest some criteria for such a label.

One definition of a cult-like church is that there is spiritual abuse.  Spiritual abuse also needs to be defined because that is a strong term.  Spiritual Abuse is when the agenda of the church or the pastor overrides the needs, gifts and calling of the person.

Unfortunately that is a very abstract and general definition.  Unfortunately most institutions calling themselves 'Churches' will tend to fit into that definition to some extent.  Unfortunately, most churches exist to some extent, for their own sake or to benefit the pastor more than they exist to nurture, encourage and equip the Christian to live out their life in their home, community or workplace in victory.

Let be more specific in guidelines or markers.  An unhealthy church does not leave you feeling encouraged and built up but you leave the Sunday worship service feeling burdened or guilty.

Jesus said "come unto me you that are burdened and heavy laden and I will give you rest."  If the service ministers that Jesus then you will find relief from guilt and pressure to perform 'religious' duties and encouraged and empowered to live your life with Christ in you and the Kingdom of God invading your places of home, work and study.  This will happen without striving.

Freedom is present where Christ is present for he came to set us free.  What that looks like in the local congregation is that everyone is expressing themselves in their own unique way.  People dress different.  You can look around and see many different ages, colors, genders, dress, financial levels.  The people are not all dressed the same.

In some churches there is a drift toward a 'deliverance' ministry or to 'spiritual warfare.'  It is a danger sign if the focus of prayer, preaching and song is on attacking evil, binding demons and naming different powers of darkness.  Flee such a place because they are attracting demons by giving them so much attention.

Are people in leadership so 'super spiritual' that they do not manage their everyday affairs well.  It is unhealthy to be so focused on 'saving the world' that you neglect your family.  It is unhealthy to be so focused on 'spiritual things' that you neglect your earthly responsibilities.  You need to feed your rabbits, take the dog for a walk and have food in the refrigerator for the household.  Practical stuff, believe it or not, is spiritual stuff.

A healthy church will have healthy small groups.  People will be able to study the bible and not always the sermon notes from the pastor's sermon.  There should be some personal sharing and getting to know one another.  If you can sense a healthy refreshing sense of freedom and encouragement.

As a church becomes more controlling it comes closer to being an unhealthy church or a cult.

  1. The teaching suggests that other groups are wrong and you would lose out by leaving this church.
  2. More extreme, the teaching suggests you are lost from salvation if you leave this church.
  3. The pastors speaks and teaches that bad things happen to those who leave the church.
  4. The pastor or others pray negative prayer (curses) against those who leave their church.
I have talked about 'exit control' in another blog.  These are some guides as to whether you are in a healthy or unhealthy church or a cult.  Learn to discern and to trust your gut feeling.

Tuesday, September 06, 2011

Survival Handbook for the Church

We know that we are in a war, it is how we engage in spiritual warfare that will mean blessing or cursing for the Body of Christ.
I thank John Paul for his book: Needless Casualties of War. I call it a survival handbook for Christians because those that do not read and following Jackson's warning are being decimated.
Personally, I lost my marriage, my home, my children, my job and ran home to my mother with my tail between my legs. I was whipped and all the time I was boldly binding the principalities over my city and workplace.
After I attended a PCM with Leanne Payne and heard and heeded her warning, I began to see my life turn around.
Friends who I knew were "binding" dark powers were also suffering in theirs lives: children in rebellion, ill health, loss of marriage relationships and, for each of us, financial difficulties.
The teachings that John Paul Jackson addresses - Peter Wagner and others - might as well be demonically inspired because they will drag the church into defeat faster than anything else I know.
Before Jackson's book, I already had the warnings of a few isolated teachers as to stopping the focus on demons, spiritual mapping, binding territorial spirits.
There was a warning in Let Us Praise page 71. There was a warning in the teaching of John Dawson about an incident in New Zealand which backfired on a native Christian leader in the midst of a large praise and teaching gathering. There was a story in a vision of Rick Joyner where he is up on the mountain and given the cloak of humility and, in contrast, some leave the mountain to attack and are devastated.
This stuff is life or death, health or sickness, victory or defeat for any that have got involved in 'binding' Satan or Princes of the air.
And, of course, Leanne Payne, she has been on this and written about it in two books: See Restoring the Christian Soul: Overcoming Barriers to Completion in Christ through Healing Prayer on wrong ways of doing spiritual battle, especially chapter 14 and and Listening Prayer: Learning to Hear God's Voice and Keep a Prayer Journal, chapter 4 on Intercession, and chapters 14 and 15 on the related problem of neo-gnostic ways of prayer.
Big mistake. Big strategic error. Do not continue with this stuff. Read John Paul and the others and heed.

I have several articles on Listening-prayer.com about this: