Category: Spiritual Covering
12 Reasons “Spiritual Covenants” Are Not of God
Recently, I interfaced and interacted with a group whose primary commonality is their claim to be apostolic leaders, which, in my view, is extremely dubious in the case of but only a few. In the aftermath, a great disappointment and matter of dismay to me was being made aware, despite the decades of disapprobation and disrepute, some of their number, including some of their senior leaders, continue to employ in working/relating “covenant relationships” with junior leaders of their group such “spiritual covenants” of the ilk described and referenced herein. I was deeply grieved in my spirit by what I saw, discerned, and experienced at that conference.
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Uncovering the Myth of Spiritual Covering
“Spiritual covering” as theorized by those who teach, promulgate, and adhere to it is an absolute myth. No semblance of the version of “spiritual covering” taught by its proponents exists anywhere within the pages of Holy Writ (Scripture). I will take it a step further and state straightforwardly and unambiguously: “Spiritual covering,” in the vein that it is presented by its proponents and proliferators, is an unmitigated lie and complete myth! It is a complete fabrication concocted by the originators of these fallacious doctrines by which to facilitate and perpetuate their purely self‑aggrandizing objectives of subjugation, domination and control of the sheep of God’s Flock.
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25 Reasons Hyper-Authoritarian Church Leadership IS Disqualifying
In the previous post I indicated my strong disagreement with the conclusions of the group of elders and an overseer who identified themselves as the “investigators” who conducted an investigation into the long train of abuses, misdeeds, and other allegations against the founding senior leader of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Mark Driscoll. Those men concluded that “While we believe Mark needs to continue to address these areas in his life, we do not believe him to be disqualified from pastoral ministry.” I ended that post by saying that abuse of spiritual authority is one of the most, possibly THE most, egregious affronts in existence to the One who is the Source of all legitimate authority, and that in a follow-up post I would offer 25 reasons why that is so that immediately come to my mind. This post consists of those 25 Reasons.
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Recovering From Authoritarian Abuse
Multitudes of sincere and trusting believers are caught in the virtually invisible web of religious captivation in the churches they attend, the ministries they are under, and the networks they are aligned with…and don’t know it! These faithful followers of Christ are unaware victims of spiritual abuse, psychological enslavement, and exploitation perpetrated under the heavy-hand of hyper-authoritarianism. That is to say, the leadership of the church-group of which they are a part is dominating, controlling, manipulating, and exploiting their followers for their own personal gain and private kingdom-building. Through systematic indoctrination, victims have been duped into accepting as biblical and beneficial the oppressive and abusive predominance imposed upon them by unscrupulous, tyrannical church-leaders.
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33 Signs of Spiritual Abuse
Delineated and defined in this article are some of the signs and symptoms, or common characteristics, of hyper-authoritarian groups, churches, networks, and ministries. Often, these are the symptoms of a church or group laboring under the heavy-hand of hyper-authoritarianism. That is to say, the leadership is dominating, controlling, and manipulating their followers, and exploiting them for their own personal gain and private kingdom-building. Wholesale abuse and misuse of authority is an integral part of the very foundation, fabric, and functions of such groups. Culturally and systemically, such “churches” are nothing more than demonic “Charismatic” cults, regardless of the modernized name of their organization, the Mission and Faith Statements on their website, the worldly hypnotizing and mind-numbing so-called “worship,” aimed at alluring the spiritually naive, and the spiritual-sounding jargon comprising their group-speak.
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The True Nature of Spiritual Idolatry
To merely call idolatry “sin,” though it certainly is, somehow seems an extreme understatement, for it is the ultimate affront unto God. Yet, arguably, it is the most pervasive sin of all today among professing believers. Contributing to the prevalence of idolatry within Christendom, no doubt, is the common perception by many that idolatry is something that occurs only in underdeveloped, far-away, foreign lands, or that it is something relegated mostly to ancient civilizations of past ages, while nothing could be further from the truth.
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The Curse of Unauthorized Covenants
In Exodus 23:32-33 God warned Israel about the idolatrous nations whose land they were about to enter: “Do not make a COVENANT with them or with their gods…The worship of their gods will CERTAINLY be a SNARE to YOU.” If you make a solemn agreement with people who are under the power of evil forces, you come under that same power…. As Christians, we are all in a covenant relationship with the Lord and the ONLY other valid covenant is that of marriage between a husband and wife. Covenants are very powerful, and to enter into a covenant relationship on any other basis but these can be extremely dangerous. If it is a scriptural covenant [which the author states are only those between a believer and the Lord, and between a husband and wife], its effect will be a blessing. But, if it is unscriptural, its effect will be a CURSE.
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The Thin Line of Leadership (Part 2)
At a juncture in American history when the sitting president has revealed himself in obvious and undeniable ways to be an avowed Marxist with a belly filled with fiery ambitions of a would-be world dictator, who is hell-bent on transforming the republican form of government that has served this, the greatest nation on Earth, for some 240 years, into a totalitarian socialistic nanny state, and every segment of society, from political to economical to ecclesiastical, is now inundated with people driven by what Augustine called libido dominandi—lust for rule or dominion—the matter of legitimate versus illegitimate authority is being speedily forced to the top of public discourse. The scope of this article and the series it inaugurates is primarily leadership in the ecclesiastical realm. However, much, if not all, of the principles regarding legitimate and illegitimate authority—i.e., abuse of authority—addressed herein can also with some adaptation be applied to authority in any realm of society and human interaction.
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Leading or Lording?
Multitudes of sincere and trusting believers are caught in the virtually invisible web of religious captivation in Charismatic and other Neo-Pentecostal churches, and don’t know it. They are unaware victims of spiritual abuse and exploitation under the heavy-hand of hyper-authoritarianism. That is to say, the leadership of the church-group of which they are a part is dominating, controlling, and manipulating their followers, and exploiting them for their own personal gain and private kingdom-building.
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Charismatic Captivation
Multitudes of sincere and trusting believers are caught in the virtually invisible web of religious captivation in Charismatic and other Neo-Pentecostal churches, and don’t know it. They are unaware victims of spiritual abuse and exploitation under the heavy-hand of hyper-authoritarianism. That is to say, the leadership of the church-group of which they are a part is dominating, controlling, and manipulating their followers, and exploiting them for their own personal gain and private kingdom-building.
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