Proverb 26:4-5, “Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.”
When I happily attended Harvest Baptist Church of Guam for a year in 2013-2014, God gave me a burden for the church. I heard Lordship Salvation preached from the pulpit by Pastor Marty Herron. I heard Misunderstood Repentance being taught by school staff. I saw dozens of Bible versions among the congregation. I learned from witnessing to the church and school staff that many of them were not saved, and some were confused about salvation. I loved the people, and as a true friend does, I began to share helpful information with people that I sat next to in church on a personal basis. I just wanted to help people see THE TRUTH.
Most of all, I shared the same information with the church pastors. First, because they needed the truth most of all. And second, because I wanted to be ethical and let them see exactly what I was sharing with others (although it's really none of their business what I share on a personal basis). Consequently, they scolded me in an official setting in the church office. I was wrongly accused by Harvest's pastors of causing “divisiveness” and “confusion.” Considering that Harvest already uses literally dozens of English Bible versions, I don't see how they can accuse me of confusing people for telling everyone that God only authored ONE BIBLE.
Harvest was a house divided a long time before I ever arrived in 2013. Am I causing divisiveness for being a friend and trying to help people see more clearly? Remember, I was only sharing books, Bibles, sermons and even Christian films on a personal basis. This raises a very important issue. How much power do pastors have to control people's lives in a church? We know biblically that pastors have absolutely ZERO authority over people. The Word of God is the only authority in a church. Even Pastor John MacArthur gets this truth right. Your pastor has NO authority in your life, he only has the privilege as a servant of the Lord to influence you for God by preaching and teaching the Word of God.
So does a pastor have a right to tell someone in the church what books, sermons or materials they can share with others on a personal basis? You'd be surprised at the answers and attitudes in today's churches. The answer depends on whether you consider the legal right versus the biblical right and obligation that a believer has. Legally, a church that operates under the umbrella of 501c3 corporation can do whatever they want basically. It also depends on how the church bylaws are written. I'm not a legal expert, but my understanding is that churches are considered private groups, which can set their own rules. But biblically, every individual believer has a right and duty to stand up for THE TRUTH (Ephesians 5:11; Hebrews 3:13; Titus 1:10-13; Ephesians 4:15). James 5:20, “Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.” What was I supposed to do at Harvest, be ethical by doing nothing? Is that what God desires and expects of us as His children—to just look the other way when we see gross theological incompetence in a church. I wasn't just some stranger who walked in off the street, I had been a part of their church family for a year. I cared about them and sincerely tried to help them to see, as a friend.
The government is not supposed to interfere with the churches, nor the churches with the government. Albeit, our founding fathers never intended for the government to exist without reverence for God and His Word. If you remove God from government, all you'll have remaining is cruel tyranny, atheism and a manmade police state. Faith in God is the very foundation of liberty and freedom. History bears witness to this fact! We keep hearing from the media how “free” we are as Americans. We keep hearing our leaders boast of our American rights to “freedom of speech.” Yet in ugly reality, the newsmedia and big tech companies who own social media have been increasingly censoring anybody who has a contrary opinion to the government's official narrative, or the politically correct agendas of out perverse generation.
I read where the honorable Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney said she has been banned from Facebook, put into what she called: “Facebook jail.” That is not freedom of speech. My website ministry has lost 75% of my web visitors over the past 5 years, censored by Google. Carlson Tucker has thankfully exposed this fascist form of censorship on social media. We saw how the media vehemently bullied, demonized and went after Pastors' Steven Anderson, Grayson Fritts and others who came out uncompromisingly against the LGBTQ community. For simply preaching what the Bible plainly teaches regarding homosexuality, these preachers have been permanently banned from social media, banned from some restaurants and even forced out of their lifelong careers. Pastor Fritts was forced to resign as a decorated police officer in Knoxville, Tennessee. Freedom of speech in America? Are you kidding me, no way!!! We do NOT have the freedom today to speak our mind anymore.
My lovethetruth.com ministry website has been banned from Facebook, with no reason given. I have written to Facebook three times, asking them what the problem is, but they have not replied. Anybody can accuse you of hate speech, and you will be banned on social media. That is fascism, not liberty. A truly “free” society is only one in which it is safe to be unpopular. This is the Devil folks. When a creep like Howard Stern can openly speak the most vile, perverse and disgusting things on social media with impunity, but Bible preachers cannot speak THE TRUTH about sin, you know the United States is in her last days.
Getting back to Harvest Baptist Church of Guam. Their pastors would be the first to say that this is America, and people have a right to their opinion. In fact, Pastor Marty Herron (Harvest's former senior pastor between 1999-2018) even said those very words to me. You see, like the hypocritical U.S. government, Pastor Herron wants me to have the right to my own opinion, he just doesn't want to allow me to speak my opinion to other church members. Herron knows that it would be wrong to take away my right to free speech as an American, yet he wants to cripple my mouth and hands from sharing a differing opinion from his own. It cannot be both ways folks. You either have a religious cult, where everyone is required to follow the thinking of the pastor; or else the pastor has control of the pulpit, and outside the pulpit people in the church have the freedom to express themselves. If you want a cult, where everyone must think only like the pastor, then you'll like Harvest Baptist Church on Guam.
The shameful Bob Jones University crowd define the “spiritual thug life.” Whether it be expelling a female student who was brutally raped, threatening to have former students arrested if they step foot on campus, or Harvest Baptist Church on Guam (all BJU alumni) expelling me from their church congregation, the Bob Jones crowd are religious thugs!
I heard a needful sermon yesterday by Pastor Jack Hyles (whom the Bob Jones crowd despise for his stand for THE TRUTH), say these very important true words:
“Brother, if we don't expose these reverends who are destroying the vineyards, we're not going to have a free country. Vineyards are the hope of this country. Soulwinning churches, vineyards, are the hope of this country.” —Pastor Jack Hyles, 'Many Pastors Have Destroyed My Vineyards'
If Bob Jones' pastors can silence truth-tellers like me, ejecting us from their midst, then how much longer will we remain a free country? It is religious tyranny in the churches. I did nothing wrong, I simply expressed my views on a personal private level with others, for which I was scolded and made the enemy at Harvest. Woe be unto Pastor Marty Herron when he answers to God in eternity (Galatian 1:6-9; 3:1-3; 5:4; 6:7). Woe be unto Dr. Steve Pettit and the administration at BJU, who continue to propagate the Devil's Bible's, and the Devil's lie of Lordship Salvation, and bidding Godspeed to evildoers like false teacher John MacArthur. Right doctrine matters! Sound doctrine comes from sound words.
I have a problem with humans who want to control other humans. Granted, no one has a right to shout “fire!” in a crowded theater. It is part of our sinful human nature to want to silence our opponents. The American media is controlled by the secret societies who wield the true power in Washington DC. Dissidents of the government today are being silenced, just like in Canada, North Korea and China. The United States will progressively get much worse. Conservatives, Christians and patriots are being demonized, censored, persecuted and now even prosecuted in America. The churches are just as guilty.
Americans are falsely told over and over that we are “free,” but we eventually find out otherwise when we speak our opinions that are not politically or religiously correct, that question the official government's story or question the pastor's theology. If your church forbids disagreeing with your pastor on a personal level, you're in a cult! God doesn't demand that everyone agree with the church pastor's views. What saith the Scripture? Romans 3:4, “God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.”
No comments:
Post a Comment