Modern Christianity is a mental disorder

After a long vacation from church I reluctantly paid a visit to a local church to see if anything had changed.

 It went as I expected.  The cult indoctrination began at once. You see no one is  allowed in modern churches to have beliefs that differ from others in the church. To have a brain is a sin. To have your own ideas, however well reasoned out, or closely held, is sacrilegious. You are cajoled, arm twisted, brow beat, and ridiculed, until you accept their interpretation of scripture. Or you are run off... There are no other acceptable outcomes.

Is this not the very definition of a cult? Are not most all modern Christian churches cults? I think you can guess my position on this question.

You are told that scripture is the absolute word of God, and not to question it at all. Want to see the results of that?  The  Christian sect Christian Identity believes that black people are the spawn of Satan. There are Christian sects that believe that they are going to get beamed up to Heaven a-la, a Star Trek transporter beam  right before TSHTF.  And most Christians interpret Romans 13 to mean that your government can never be wrong, and to follow it into the pits of hell. That was what Hitler taught the German people, and this is what the vast majority of American Christians believe today,  in large part because you can not question what you read in scripture.

I have been told over, and over, and over never to question what you read in scripture.  Really?  So if I read the scriptures  to mean that blacks are the spawn of satin (Christian Identity does) then I dare not question this at all? I can not use the reasoning brain that God gave me?  The king James bible says "thou shalt not kill. " Well should all be pacifists then? And then we have the problem of other bibles saying "thou shall not murder." How can  you have conflicting words of God? Is that not a contradiction in terms?  Could we have a translation problems? And my guess is if you have one translation problem you have dozens. Oops I'm questioning... I'm sorry, and a blasphemous heathen. I really didn't mean to use the brain God gave me. I am being so un-cult like.

If I interpret  that scripture  tells us to do absolutely everything the government tells us to do,  I should not question that either. People get these differing interpretations, yet  most Christians say that you should not question what you read in scripture, UNLESS it disagrees with THEIR interpretations. Then they question it.   Have you ever seen a more absurd, circular argument? Never question anything unless it disagrees with what I get out of scripture.

I have not figured this all out as of yet, but I do know that not questioning what you think scripture is saying, Romans 13 in particular, has caused more evil to take hold in this country than any 10 other causes put together. Is that not the ultimate of ironic statements? That in a manner of speaking that a verse of scripture is responsible for most of the evil in this country.

Call me a heathen, or whatever other derogatory term you want to use, but for the life of me scripture looks like a math book where after reading it one person thinks 1+1=4, and the next person that reads it thinks 1+1=6, and  IMHO questioning is in order.

Getting back to church....

To the people that I talked with that Sunday, my problems were my fault , or God was punishing me because of this or that.  Never mind that most of them have participated  in the destruction of our country, it's economy, it's freedoms, and  it's moral character mainly through their vote, and their refusal to get seriously involved in keeping an eye on the psychopaths and sociopaths that call themselves politicians and public servants. A few months back I could not get a single member of this church to begin attending  local government meetings.

No - it is their childish, irresponsible behavior that lies at the root of not only many of my problems, but the problems that most of us face.


Here is another  example: Almost to the man, they have by their actions, or their inaction's, supported the dental and medical monopolies. Yet the fact that I am mercury toxic to them is my fault because that is the kind of God they see. A God that destroys your life if you somehow slight him.  They live in a world with no personal responsibility whatsoever.  They vote for people that openly proclaim that they are thieves, and then when the actions of their elected  thieves hurt someone, it is not their fault for voting the thieves in. No, it is the fault of the victim. The victim must have pissed God off somehow and they are suffering because of that. 

The evil that Christians support is boundless. They openly worship Caesar more than God. They will certainly not hold Caesar accountable for his actions. They seem to think this would somehow be blasphemous as Caesar is a deity to them.

 Here is a thought experiment for you:  If a Christian see's a  woman being raped, he goes to her aide. Right? But if the same Christian see's a government agent raping, stealing, or murdering someone, they do nothing. Often they will  even justify the action. Christians take little or no responsibility for the state of the world, nor do they  try to change things. They attribute every evil  thing to the will of God, rather than their own poorly thought out actions, and their worship and approval  of Caesar. 

As I said at the beginning: modern Christianity is a mental disorder.

 RESOURCES:

Pastor Chuck Baldwins 4 sermons on Romans 13

  "Government is how we choose to treat our fellow man. Nothing more nothing less. Hence government is how we choose either to love our brothers or rape them. Unfortunately   most Christians have chosen the latter."  ~ Joe Tittiger

"Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God"  ~Ben Franklin

Required reading:   Healing Our World: The Other Piece of the Puzzle

An un-salted church is not healthy

http://durablefaith.com/2012/05/31/unsalted-church/#comment-2127

Today America is circling the drain of moral decay and economic decline.  The church at large has nothing to say about tyranny, complicity with evil, preparedness, or resistance. The 501c3 and fear of audits has most churches self-censoring on a wide range of issues including abortion, homosexuality, spanking, and conscientous resistance to evil government orders. The church is carrying on with its meetings and activities trying to win a soul here and a soul there, meanwhile she is losing relevance and credibility with entire generations over her offensive silence on the ethical issues of our day.
There are timely moral issues that people are desparate to learn about but the church has decided they are not spiritual issues (even though Jesus’s teaching apply to these issues). Meanwhile, most college students wont take up a seat at church but when seats aren’t available, they will  climbing trees  (like zaccheus trying to hear Jesus) to get a chance to hear Ron Paul speak about topics the church wont dare to speak about.
When the church limits its role in the world to only evangelism, when it declares that the only things that matter are the eternal destination of souls and the continued preaching of the gospel, when the church has lost its saltiness, it should be no suprise that many are lining up to  trample it underfoot.
If the youth group is worldly and is sleeping around, its ok, there is forgiveness at the cross.
If the parents curse and shout at home and put on church faces and church clothes on sunday, its ok, they’re not perfect, just forgiven.
If the eloquent pastor has areas of his life that are simply out of control, it serves as a reminder to us all that God can use broken people to preach the truth.
If the government begins to intrude into the affairs of the church, telling pastors what they can and can’t preach about sin, convictions, and parenting…its ok, as long as they don’t tell us not to preach the gospel…
Many believe that ‘the great commission’ formalized the commencement of the ”era of the church” whose job was to preach and convert souls until Christ returns. But where exactly do we find the biblical directive to focus on evangelism (winning souls) as the key task of the church?
Let’s pause and consider what the ‘Great Commission’ actually says

Matthew 28 ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

The world evangelism isn’t in the great commission. I looked at the greek and its not there either. In fact, the key focus in the original language of the great commission is discipleship.  The phrase “make disciples” is translated from the greek Matheteuo which means: “Not only to learn, but to become attached to one’s teacher and to become his follower in doctrine and conduct of life.”  It is quite distinct from the greek noun- Manthano which means  “to increase one’s knowledge, to be increased in knowledge”.
Discipleship is intentional relationship whose goal is to incrementally and in an ongoing process, transform lives into resembling Christlikeness.  Evangelism emphasizes preaching a message which requires intellectual assent, repeating a prayer, and making a good confession that Christ died and has risen. Discipleship emphasizes conformity of thinking and lifestyle to the pattern of Christ. Evangelism emphasis has produced churches which mirror their culture in every way including statistical rates of substance abuse and divorce.

“The God of holiness and eternal majesty is hardly mentioned these days. The preachers used to declare with holy boldness to the pew dwellers, “You are lost.” Today it is, “You are loved.” It takes living men to deliver the living Word. Unless the preachers walk in the fear of the Lord and step out of eternity into the pulpits, the spiritual life of the nation will continue in its descent to weakness and finally apostasy.” Leonard Ravenhill

There are other pragmatic differences as well. Evangelism focuses on the moment when someone chooses to believe, but there is much work to be done before and after that moment. If we are simply focused on the moment of decision, who will befriend those who are hostile to the gospel. Who will provide belonging before believing so that unbelievers can taste christian community and kindness? What about after the decision? If everyone is focused on preaching the gospel and evangelism, who will mentor them and share the deeper truths about God’s transformational power for sanctification? Who will go out on the streets with them and provide on the job training for being ambassadors for Christ?
What if we could rediscover the biblical focus of discipleship and holiness. If instead of (or in addition to) focusing on one time decisions, the church were focused on relational and transformational discipleship, perhaps:
The youth groups would be distinctly different than their secular peers and they would apply positive peer pressure (exhortation unto sanctification) with each other in a subculture of Christian community. 
The parents would personally train up their kids in the way they should go instead of outsourcing their education and entertainment to a godless society.
The pastors would not be selected on the basis of their oratory skills, but on their proven effectiveness in making disciples and training leaders.
If the government began to intrude into the affairs of the church, telling pastors what they can and can’t preach about sin, convictions, and parenting; the bold unashamed pastors would continue to teach “whatsoever I have commanded you” and would defy the state’s commands which run contrary to God’s commands and Christ’s teaching.
Perhaps the reason that the church can’t seem hang onto its young people and can’t find its voice against a godless and tyrannical government is because it has lost sight of its calling to discipleship and life transformation.
It’s time to show the world the roaring lion as well as the meek lamb. its time to fulfill the great commission including “teaching them to obey whatsoever I have commanded you”. We must stop the self-censoring on ethical issues where the government is wrong. We must overcome the fear of man and be faithful to the word.
Let’s not forget that the same Jesus that called us to be the light of the world also called us to be the salt of the earth.

^{MT 5: 13} “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. ¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others,that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.