What If I Stumble

Learn Greek Teach Yourself Greek for Free

2012-02-03T15:05:00.002+09:00

You must work at your new language every day, even for 5 or 10 minutes. Ideally, you should study an hour or more every day, but this is just not practical for most people. If you can get at least a half-hour of study time once or twice a week, that's good too. But here is the key - make sure you get a little review and study time every single day, even if it is for just 5 or 10 minutes.

Learning Greek as a Foreign Language (Beginner)

Learn Modern Greek Online

Learn New Testament Greek

Ancient Greek Online

God Knows What is Best for Us Even When We Do Not Understand

2012-02-03T14:33:00.000+09:00

Prayer Changes Things First United Methodist Church Midtown Sacramento

The Power of Prayer -

God knows what is best for us, even when we do not understand what is happening in our lives.

Jesus Himself taught us to pray “Thy will be done!” Simply put, every Christian prayer must be offered with the understanding that God might have other plans. We need to remember that God will always give us what we need, but He will not always give us what we want. God knows what’s best for us.

Have you ever had a time in your life when you didn’t know whether to turn left your right? Sometimes we don’t know what is best and we struggle with the choices in our lives. Other times we are caught in horrible circumstances beyond our control and we want some assurance that God has not forsaken us.

Well, that’s when the power of prayer is so important. You see, our prayer doesn’t change things. But God’s gift of prayer changes US! The Spirit moves us to pray through faith in Christ and according to God’s will, and the result is that we become new people who trust God and know that He has our best in mind – even when we do not understand His ways.

When the Spirit moves you to pray “Thy will be done” you can always be sure that God will answer your prayer. God will either say “Yes”, “Wait” or “I’ve got something better for you.” In any case, God is giving you what is best.

There IS power in prayer -- and that power is the Holy Spirit who moves us to pray through faith in Christ and according to God’s will. Such prayer changes US into people who seek God’s mercy in Christ and trust that His ways are best.

South Korea Morality on Verge of Collapse. Korean Society a Beastly Realm

2012-02-03T12:01:00.002+09:00

South Korea has built their economy, but morality/ethics in South Korea on verge of collapse.

South Korea now bows down and worships the idols of cultural arrogance, extreme nationalism and materialism. Korean people don't respect their elders or the elderly anymore. It's all about money. Show me the money. Show me the money!

To Combat Modern Ills, Korea Looks to the Past
(from New York Times)

When he looks out from the time-frozen world of Korea’s oldest private Confucian academy, Park Seok-hong sees the rest of the country “turning into a realm of beasts.” He points to recent news as evidence: young people swearing at elderly passengers in the subway and children jumping to their deaths to escape bullying or the pressure of hyper-competitive school life.

“We[South Korea] may have built our economy, but our morality is on the verge of collapse,” Mr. Park said.

In recent months, South Korea has also been gripped by soul-searching after half a dozen students who had been bullied at school took their own lives. A series of suicides by soldiers has also shocked the country, which depends on a conscript military to guard against North Korea.

Sermons on Prayer and Power of Prayer

2012-02-02T21:29:00.001+09:00

(to be organized)

Psalm 69 Pastor John Piper

Psalm 109 Should We Curse Those Who Wrong Us?
(Faith Christian Reformed Church)

What Happens When We Pray?
(Central Presbyterian Church Baltimore)

Positive Power of Prayer (Ray Pritchard)

What If I Stumble - My Spiritual Gifts

2012-02-01T16:52:00.000+09:00

results from Chazown

Discernment

Exhortation

Mercy / Compassion

Teaching

Writing

Reform Change Korean Culture and Korean Society

2012-01-30T17:07:00.000+09:00

I don't know if What If I Stumble has any regular readers. I do know there are some people who stumble across my blog. While I don't know whether anyone bothers to read these blog posts, my intention in blogging about South Korean society, Korean culture and the South Korean church - my intention is to create spiritual waves that may lead to a spiritual and cultural upheaval in Korean culture and Korean society.

I want to create spiritual waves that will lead to permanent cracks in the cultural arrogance, nationalistic pride, ethnocentrism, smug self-righteousness, spiritual pride, cultural/racial intolerance and bigotry of the (South) Korean people and the Korean nation.

Korean Culture is Superior to and is Better Than Western Culture

2012-01-30T16:56:00.001+09:00

Many (if not most) South Koreans strongly believe that Korean culture is superior to (and is better than) Western culture.

If you didn't know already, Korean culture is rooted in shamanism, Chinese civilization (the false philosophies/false religions of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism), collectivism (the herd mentality), authoritarianism and paternalism.

Many South Koreans unthinkingly follow the crowd in doing wrong. Why do they do this? Because "this is Korea" and because "this is the way things are done in Korea" and "if you don't like it, you can leave." In rationalizing their intolerance, bigotry and racial/cultural prejudice, many South Koreans love to say "when in Rome, do as the Romans do" and "if the monk dislikes the temple, the monk should leave the temple." Translation - if you don't like the way things are done here in Korea, you can leave the country. We don't want you here.

In the South Korean church, spiritually abusive and emotionally abusive practices are also accepted as "normal" because "South Korean culture is different from Western culture."

South Korean society is a society which devalues and crushes weakness. South Korean culture is a culture that crushes truly open-ended communication. Koreans only communicate with people who agree with them or people who think the way they think (collectivist herd mentality). Koreans ignore or attack people who don't agree with their opinions. South Koreans frequently make decisions based on "the opinion of the majority." South Koreans seem to think that "the opinion of the majority" is true democracy.

When will South Koreans stop criticizing and condemning people who are seen as being weak? When will South Koreans start to treat people with compassion, dignity and respect? When will South Koreans seek to understand and empathize with people who are different from them?

Grace and Deeds, Grace and Works, Justification and Sanctification

2012-01-26T22:45:00.000+09:00

from Preaching Grace (Independent Presbyterian Church)
God’s grace instructs us not only that we are forgiven, not only that we are accepted, not only that we are safe and secure, but it also “instructs us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age” (Ti. 2:11, 12). Grace teaches us that. Not law. Grace has everything to do with freedom, not merely from guilt, but from sin’s controlling power. The message of grace cannot be reduced to words of forgiveness and acceptance. Grace instructs and enables us to put sin to death, to mortify the flesh (Rom. 8:12, 13).

The certainty of sanctification is a great encouragement to believers. Our spiritual development may be slow. The fruit of the Spirit may grow slowly. However, we will be sanctified. It cannot but happen. God promises it. Christ ensures it. Grace enables it. It is a special grace of God that delivers us from bondage and enables us to live holy lives.

At the same time, the absence of sanctifying graces raises doubts about the authenticity of one’s conversion. Thomas Watson (1620-1686), a representative English Puritan divine, expresses the historic Reformed view when he says, “Sanctification is progressive, if it does not grow, it is because it does not live.”[5] The Reformed have always insisted on the role of “signs of grace” (note the title: signs of grace) in confirming the authenticity of justifying grace. This is why the warnings of Scripture can be so sharp while still teaching eternal security.

South Korean Church Pastors Who Preach Hellfire and Brimstone Sermons

2012-01-26T14:22:00.003+09:00

Christians and pastors do need to talk about hell! We need to warn people about hell! If we do not talk about the existence of hell, we are distorting and twisting the Gospel. We do need to show that God is a God of justice.

Hellfire and brimstone sermons need to be preached in the right spirit. If the pastor preaches out anger or frustration because he is angry at disobedient and rebellious sinners (the congregation and church members), the pastor not preaching hellfire and brimstone sermons in the right spirit.

If the pastor views the position of pastor as the office of priest, prophet and king...and uses the Old Testament as his Biblical basis, but he ignores the New Testament references to church elders, something is wrong (

If the pastor views the congregation and church members as disobedient, rebellious and stiff-necked, but he acts and talks as if he himself is free of sin or any wrong-doing, something is wrong.

If the pastor preaches AT the congregation to repent of sin, BUT HE DOES NOT INCLUDE HIMSELF, something is wrong.

If the pastor says church members are disobedient because the church members don't serve the pastor, something is wrong.

If the pastor says church members who resist or oppose the pastor are disobeying GOD and will by PUNISHED BY GOD, something is REALLY WRONG.

If the pastor says that everything he says must be heard as the Word of God, something is wrong and warning bells should go off in your head.

If the pastor is unforgiving and does not forgive others, but he tells church members that they must forgive when church members say they have been hurt by the pastor, something is wrong.

If the pastor preaches about disobedience and sin, but never (or rarely) preaches about the grace of God, something is wrong.

Spiritual Abuse and Sovereignty of God

2012-01-26T09:56:00.001+09:00

Nothing Need Go Waste
Finally, I’ve become convinced that God’s desire and control over all the past and future events of my life combined to produce a particular outcome to bring Him glory and to give me some much-needed preparation for following Him with passion, both now and for eternity. There are no chance events in God’s universe. My involvement in this cultic group was not some sort of bad dream come true or mere blunder on my part, but rather His preparation. This doesn’t mean that people who contributed to my abuse are not culpable; they certainly were and are. This also does not mean that to a lesser degree I was not culpable; I certainly was. What it does mean is that God is sovereign and fully capable of using all things to bring about His desired ends.

“If I believe Romans 8:28, that God sovereignly orchestrates all events in my life for my ultimate spiritual good (and preeminently for his ultimate glory), I can only conclude that, all things being equal, if I’m not healed it is because God values something in me greater than my physical comfort and health that he, in his infinite wisdom and kindness, knows can only be attained by means of my physical affliction and the lessons of submission, dependency, and trust in God that I learn from it.”

- Sam Storms

South Korean Church Pray for True Repentance and Revival in South Korea

2012-01-23T20:49:00.006+09:00

LORD GOD, Creator and Sustainer of the Universe, Creator and Sustainer of Heaven and Earth and all life on the Earth, I praise You. I praise You and thank You for Your faithfulness to the Korean Church for the past 127 years. LORD GOD, I confess that Your church in South Korea has strayed from You. LORD GOD - Sovereign LORD - I ask that You will grant true repentance and revival to Your church on the Korean Peninsula just as You did in the Korean Revival of 1907.

Sovereign LORD, I ask that in Your mercy, that You will grant true repentance to the leaders of the South Korean church. I ask that You, oh LORD, will grant true repentance to all of us in the South Korean church.

In Your mercy, help us to repent of racial prejudice against the people of Southeast Asia. In Your mercy, oh LORD, help us to repent of the unforgiveness, hatred, anger, and jealousy in our hearts. Oh LORD, in Your mercy, help the South Korean church to repent of nationalistic pride and cultural superiority.

Sovereign LORD, help everyone in the South Korean church so that the church leaders and all of the people in the church will truly repent of spiritual pride, self-righteous attitudes, judgmental attitudes and arrogance. Help us to stop rationalizing our sins and wrong-doing. Help all of us in the South Korean church to stop blaming other people for our own sins and wrong-doing.

Be merciful, Sovereign LORD, and help the leaders of the South Korean church to repent for trying to glorify themselves instead of glorifying the LORD.

LORD restore Your glory to Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, Andong, Daegu, Ulsan, Busan, Daejeon, Jeonju, Gwangju, Mokpo, Jeju Island, and Pyongyang. LORD GOD, grant that Jesus will reveal Himself to the leaders and pastors of the South Korean church. All these things I ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

South Korean Church Spiritual Condition Christianity in South Korea

2012-01-23T10:26:00.001+09:00

In the South Korean church (in South Korea's Christian churches), whether or not you are a true Christian is defined by what you DO - if you do not miss church services, you are a true Christian. (BUT if you come to church and you DO NOT serve at church, you are not a true Christian - you are a hypocrite who is PRETENDING TO BELIEVE)
If you serve at church and if you do church work, you are a true Christian.

If you obey the pastor, you are a true Christian.

If you listen to the pastor when he is preaching sermons and when he is giving advice, you are a true Christian. If you listen to everything the pastor says and believe his words to be the Word of God (if you believe that the pastor's interpretation of the Bible equals the Word of God), you are a true Christian).

If you disagree with the pastor (if you disagree with the pastor's preaching or if you think the pastor's advice is wrong), you are disobedient and rebellious.

If you disagree with the pastor, you are disobeying God and you will be punished by God.

If you disagree with the pastor, you are NOT a true Christian.

Theology in some conservative South Korean churches can be summarized as follows:

As long as you do not miss any church services, as long as you serve faithfully at church and do church work, as long as you obey the pastor and submit to him...judging, shunning and condemning "disobedient" church members is acceptable - judging, shunning and condemning "disobedient" church members is even encouraged in some South Korean churches.

As long as you do not miss any church services, as long as you serve faithfully at church and do church work, as long as you obey the pastor and submit to him...a self-righteous, judgmental attitude, an attitude of spiritual pride is acceptable - sometimes there is subtle encouragement of such attitudes.

God Only Answers the Prayers of Sinless People and Perfect People?

2012-01-22T19:25:00.000+09:00

The righteous person whose prayers have great power is not a sinless person but a repentant person. It is not the person who falls into sin, but the person who stays there whose prayers the Lord is slow to answer. It is not the person who fights against temptation and now and then loses, but the person who is content in his spiritual mediocrity and does not war against his own lethargy. So never say that God demands perfection before he will answer your prayers. (from What Do Answers to Prayer Depend On? - Pastor John Piper)

South Korean Church & False Teachers Who Judge People's Salvation

2012-01-22T13:32:00.004+09:00

Can We Judge A Believer's Faith or Salvation?

Many people will disagree with me, but Christian believers and pastors/church leaders should not and must not judge another Christian believer's faith or salvation. Christian believers and pastors/church leaders should not and must not condemn another Christian believer's faith or salvation.

SOME PEOPLE and MANY PASTORS/CHURCH LEADERS believe that if you are REALLY SAVED, your life will show it...and these people (including pastors/church leaders) are excessively JUDGMENTAL and CRITICAL of people's faith and/or salvation.

Judging another Christian believer's faith and/or salvation frequently gives us an excuse not to love them or pray for them. Once we pass judgment on another believer's faith and/or salvation, we comfort ourselves by telling ourselves that we are no longer obligated to love them or pray for them. But the truth is that God alone qualifies to judge humanity. Therefore, if we have set ourselves up as the Judge of another believer's faith and/or salvation, we must repent.

Pharisees were notoriously legalistic. And legalistic people are very judgmental because they have certain standards they live by - the standards of their legalism. When they perceive someone violating their standards, they will immediately judge them as less worthy or less acceptable.

False Teachers in the Christian Church

Anyone can say, ‘Jesus is Lord’, but if their Jesus is not the Jesus of scripture, this statement means nothing. False teachers in the church ask us to go after other gods. They may call an idol the true God, but it is still ‘other gods’ if it is not the God who has revealed Himself in scripture. False teachers in the church may call the spirit who guides them the Holy Spirit, but if it does not confirm scripture and point to Christ, it is nothing but a spirit of deception.

We will be accused of attacking God’s anointed when we obey scripture and test their doctrine, but in reality, we are defending, not attacking. If a teacher presents his doctrine to me and I compare it to scripture, is that an attack? Of course not.

When You Are Judged and Condemned By Other People

When you are accused by others, Jesus will readily rise to your defense. As long as you faithfully forgive those who judge you, God will vindicate you and execute His righteous judgments towards your accusers. As the prophet says:

“No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the Lord. (Isaiah 54:17)

Angry at God? Keeping Praying. Don't Give Up. Persevere in Prayer

2012-01-21T22:24:00.004+09:00

taken in part from a sermon by Pastor Vince Gerhardy

If we took prayer seriously then we wouldn't hesitate to be persistent and consistent in the time we spend in conversation with God.

If we really believe that God is a God of love, forgiveness, compassion and gentleness;
that he can change us, heal broken lives and restore severed relationships,
then we would really be serious about praying to him. In fact, if we really believed this then no-one and nothing would be able to keep us from praying.

I believe one of the big issues that we face in our praying is that we don’t come to God in helplessness and with an earnestness. We are often far too half-hearted about what we are praying and don’t really believe that God will really give us what is for our good.

If we really believed that God hears and answers our prayers, if we were convinced that prayer changes things, heals broken lives, and restores severed relationships then we would be hammering on God's door constantly, asking, seeking and knocking, and waiting, our trust sometimes fainting, sometimes growing angry. In the face of every difficulty we would not lose heart, but consistently and persistently keep on going to God even though we have become discouraged.

If his answers depended on us, on how well we pray, on how well we have lived as God's people, then we could never expect to have our prayers answered.

Keep on praying even if the whole situation looks hopeless in our eyes.

Sometimes we may doubt, we may be angry, we may be upset, we may question "why?" but he is always ready to listen.

People who pray honestly in anger can grow in faith and develop an honest faith.

Throughout the Psalms, David expresses his anger and frustration with God from time to time, but he doesn't let his anger get in the way of his relationship with God. And just as much as he had angry questions for God, he also found his greatest comfort in God. So, ask the questions. Get on your knees and pray for guidance and comfort.

Instead of letting your anger block God, use your anger to let God in. Tell Him everything. Confide in Him your deepest, darkest fears and concerns. He ALREADY knows your fears and concerns. He knows your sorrows and counts your tears. You may never get all the answers, but you may just get the comfort you need.

Can Anything Good Come From Our Suffering? Why Do Believers Suffer?

2012-01-17T16:52:00.001+09:00

adapted in part from Why For? The Quandary and Questions of Suffering - a sermon by Dr. J. Ligon Duncan

God’s grace is unearned and undeserved. There is nothing we can do to make Him love us more and nothing we can do to make Him love us less.

In order to enter into the abundant life that Jesus Christ offers us, we believers must place our lives completely in God’s hands daily, walk in fellowship with Him and abide in His Word.

Sometimes - many times - believers suffer. Sometimes we suffer because of our own sins. Sometimes we suffer because of other people's sins. SOMETIMES, like Job, believers suffer because God is testing their faith.

Can anything GOOD come from our suffering?

First, God purposes to work godliness in you by suffering (Romans 5:3-5)…God purposes to work godliness in you by suffering.

Secondly, God purposes that you would prize Christ more than this world by your suffering…God purposes that you would prize Christ more than this world by your suffering (Philippians 3:8-11).

Third, God purposes to serve the maturity of the whole body of believers through your suffering (Colossians 1:24-29).

And then, God purposes to prepare you for glory through your suffering (II Corinthians 4:7-18).

God will NOT forget the sorrows of his people.

South Korean Presbyterian Reformed Churches

2012-01-17T00:05:00.002+09:00

Do South Korean Presbyterian churches truly hold to Reformed theology? If a local church is legalistic and performance-focused, does that church truly hold to Reformed theology?

"As Christians we should offer our best in service to the Lord. Yet, we also believe that the Christian life is about God’s grace, not performance. Our salvation is secure, not on the basis of our performance, but on the basis of Christ alone."

This, unfortunately, is NOT a description of my church.

I think I have just figured out WHY my pastor and his church are so performance-focused.

While the performance-focus of my pastor and his church COULD be explained in most part by Korean culture (more on Korean culture, later), the strange thing is that my pastor INSISTS that his church holds to conservative, Reformed theology.

My pastor's theology sounds A LOT like Federal Vision theology -

The Federal Vision is a recent heresy in some of the most prominent and influential conservative Presbyterian and Reformed denominations and congregations in North America.

The “New Perspective” and “Federal Vision” redefine “faith” as “faithfulness,” and turn faith into work and compromise the doctrine of justification.

According to the Federal Vision, God's covenant, the covenant promise, covenant grace, covenant blessings, and covenant salvation are CONDITIONAL. The maintenance of the covenant with the children of believers, the continued enjoyment of covenant blessings (including especially justification) by the children, and the fulfillment of the covenant promise to the children in their everlasting salvation depend upon DECISIONS the children must make and WORKS the children must DO..
These conditions are faith, repentance, good works, and, generally, lifelong covenant faithfulness.

One aspect of this covenant doctrine, which the men of the Federal Vision emphasize, is that boys and girls, men and women, can and do fall away from covenant grace and salvation; can and do separate themselves from Christ, to whom once they were truly, spiritually united; can and do lose the grace of justification, which once they possessed. In the language of Reformed theology, the Federal Vision teaches the falling away of saints-in the covenant and with regard to covenant salvation.

My pastor does, in fact, teach that Once Saved, Always Saved is UNBIBLICAL even though he claims to hold to Reformed theology.

Sovereign God - Sovereignty of God

2012-01-14T22:14:00.001+09:00

Our Choices and Decisions

from The Mountain Retreat
Our decisions are each links in the chain of means ordained by God to bring about His planned ends. If different decisions had been made, the consequences would have been different. But God works to ensure that the means He has ordained will most certainly occur so that none of His purposes can fail. This makes human decisions truly significant and vital.

Life Circumstances

from RubelShelly.com
Our life circumstances are serving some purpose that we cannot see at the time. They are accomplishing the divine will in an indirect way by disciplining us. They are mellowing us and teaching us to trust God through the dark hours.

Power of Prayer Changes People and Changes Things

2012-01-14T22:02:00.002+09:00

"We don't know what causes changes in human minds, who tears down walls between nations and human beings, whether the origin of those peaceful revolutions are to be found in public demonstrations or perhaps in prayers. We may at least trust in the effect of our prayers on those who start such movements."
(P. Anselm Grün OSB, 1990 as a reaction to the fall of the Berlin Wall

from Living Vine Church - God loves honest talk. Realism is at the heart of His own character. He hates darkness and deception. Darkness is the domain of His enemy. Therefore, a second essential to confidence in prayer is to learn to be honest about what is in our hearts. God can handle our complaints, our foolishness, our fears, and our failures. God won't be surprised or threatened by our anger, our confusion, or our childlike pleadings.

What does not please God are the cheap lies of flattery, ritual praise, insincere words repeated over and over without regret for what is really happening in our own soul. We need to put away our practices of fearful coverup, our sophisticated deceit, and our formal language of prayer long enough to lay foundations of truth.

Prayers filled with civilized lies are as unacceptable to God as they are unreflective of our own hearts. That is why, in order to enter the throne room of grace and begin to pray with confidence, we must learn to tell the truth when we pray. To do this, we have to spend time in self-evaluation and confession of sin. We must tell God how we really feel about Him, about ourselves, about our problems with people, and about our needs, frustrations, desires, and painful memories. We must also be honest about our desire to make His will our own. If we don't want to do His will, then that too must be brought to the light so that we can ask God Himself to help us to overcome our rebellion and foolishness.

Can Prayer Change Things?

article on prayer from The Mountain Retreat

God ordained prayer to be the vessel of changing things

Prayer can change one's circumstances

Prayer has the power to change the one who prays

Controlling South Korean Pastor Discourages Personal Bible Reading

2012-01-14T20:45:00.010+09:00

The false teacher is afraid that his lies will be exposed by the light of Scripture

The less we read the Word of God, the less we desire to read it

An unbeliever can find Jesus by reading God's Word without ever hearing a sermon

A commitment to read the Bible is an essential part of the commitment to serve the Lord

You will be blessed if Scripture is a part of your life day in and day out

In reading God's Word, you hear God's voice and give the Holy Spirit the chance to do His work in you
....

The pastor of the unhealthy South Korean church that I attend actually discourages personal Bible reading.

He said - "You must act on the Word of God, not just listen to it."

The pastor is right and he is wrong.

He is right when he says that we must apply the Word of God to our lives and live it out.

If he is discouraging us from personal Bible reading,
I believe he is wrong in doing that.

The Importance of Reading the Bible

from Bible Knowledge.com - The Bible tells us that God wants to sanctify us and transform us into the express image of His Son Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us that this sanctification-transformation process is actually done by the Holy Spirit. However, the Holy Spirit will not start this transformation process in you until He has something to work with – and that something is knowledge – and that knowledge can only be obtained from the Bible.

from Grace Fellowship Church - There are no "quick-fixes" to sanctification.

We need to use the tools God has given us to be sanctified.

They are Bible reading and meditation (Ps 1:2, Jn 17:17); Prayer (Ep 6:18); Worship (Ep 5:18-20);Fellowship (He 10:24-25); Self-control (Titus 1:8) and even Evangelizing (Mt 28:19-20).

Profiling Spiritually Abusive Pastors in the South Korean Church

2012-01-14T18:55:00.001+09:00

Abusers drive; leaders lead (John 10:11-15).
� Abusers say, "I" while true leaders say, "We" (1 Cor. 3:5-9).
� Abusers insist on being served; true leaders serve (Matt.23.11).
� Abusers govern by guilt and fear; true leaders create trust
(1 Thess. 2:10-11).
� Abusers control by guilt and manipulation; true leaders influence by example (Phil. 3.17).
� Abusers think themselves better than others; true leaders esteem others better than themselves (Phil. 2.3).
� Abusers rely on the power of authority; true leaders rely on the power of servanthood (Matt.20.25).
� Abusers make service and ministry a grind; true leaders make work worthwhile (Nehemiah).
� Abusers serve themselves and their goals; true leaders serve others
(1 Cor. 9:19).
� Abusers wield authority; true leaders empower people (2 Tim. 2:2).
� Abusers fix blame; true leaders fix mistakes (Phm. 18-19).
� Abusers know how; true leaders show how (Ex. 18:17).

From his examination of Matthew 23, Ken Blue, in his timely book, Healing Spiritual Abuse, outlines the following "symptoms of abusive religion":
� Abusive leaders base their spiritual authority on their position of office rather than on their service to the group. Their style of leadership is authoritarian.
� Spiritually abusive church leaders manipulate people by making them feel guilty for not measuring up spiritually. They lay heavy religious loads on people and make no effort to lift those loads.
You know you are in an abusive church if the loads just keep getting heavier.
� Abusive leaders are preoccupied with looking good. They labor to keep up appearance. They stifle any criticism that puts them in a bad light.

South Korean Churches Spiritually Abusive and Controlling Tendencies Because of Pastoral Leadership Characteristics

2012-01-14T17:05:00.006+09:00

Many pastors in South Korean churches (and some Korean-American churches and Korean-American Christian groups - Berkland Gracepoint and University Bible Fellowship) show off their strength and absolute authority over all church-related matters by acting like despots, dictators, kings and emperors of their small empires. Many pastors in South Korean Protestant churches criticize the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church, but many South Korean pastors behave as if they are the Pope of their local church. These authoritarian, despotic and dictatorial South Korean pastors frequently say that they are the mouthpiece of God or the spokesman of God(하나님 말씀을 대언하는 자). These controlling, domineering South Korean pastors set themselves up as the divine authoritarian, ruling and dominating over people, which is easy to see in many South Korean churches. These authoritarian, controlling South Korean pastors set themselves up as the Judge. Authoritarian, controlling South Korean pastors always make judgments about the authenticity and validity of a church member's salvation. Authoritarian, controlling, abusive South Korean pastors also habitually make judgements about whether or not a church member is a TRUE CHRISTIAN (as opposed to a church member who is just PRETENDING TO BELIEVE).

South Korean Church Spiritual Abuse and Abusive Pastors Preaching Their Own Opinions

2012-01-14T12:56:00.013+09:00

"Spiritual abuse is the mistreatment of a person who is in need of help, support or greater spiritual empowerment, with the result of weakening, undermining or decreasing that person’s spiritual empowerment” (from The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse by Johnson & VanVonderen). Spiritual abuse can also include forcing people to live up to rigid rules and contributes to a belief that is based on legalism or a belief that is legalistic in practice. No matter how much the individual does or how hard they try it is never good enough leaving them feel unworthy spiritually……Spiritual abuse can also occur when spirituality is used to make others live up to a “spiritual standard.” This promotes external “spiritual performance,” also without regard to an individual’s actual well-being, or is used as a means of “proving” a person’s spirituality.” Spiritually abusive religious systems are sometimes described as legalistic, mind controlling,religiously addictive, and authoritarian. Spiritual abuse is the manipulation and exploitation of others by the misuse of spiritual privilege and power.

When a pastor tells his congregation that those who disobey his authority are in danger of God's wrath and that they will be punished by God, you can be sure that this pastor is a controlling person who is operating in a spirit of control. In an unhealthy church, the pastor actually begins to take the place of Jesus in people's lives. If you find yourself striving to gain the acceptance of church leaders, if you find yourself working hard to receive the blessings of God, or if your church constantly requires more and more of your time with no end in sight - and your church and its leaders give you little encouragement along the way - then you may want to re-examine your church to see if it really is a healthy church.

In many spiritually abusive churches - even in some conservative churches that claim to be theologically sound and theologically orthodox - spiritually abusive pastors may preach and teach their own personal opinions. Spiritually abusive pastors may also twist Scripture so they can target, criticize and attack "disobedient, rebellious church members."

90% to 95% of the spiritually abusive pastor's sermon may be Biblical (sometimes even 99% of a spiritually abusive pastor's sermon is Biblical), but the spiritually abusive pastor adds his own personal comments, usually in a sarcastic, critical tone of voice. In his attempt to target, criticize and attack disobedient, rebellious church members, the spiritually abusive pastor may actually discourage private, individual Bible reading by saying something like - "Some people listen to the Bible (audio Bibles) a lot and some people actually memorize the Bible. But their lives are not Biblical"

If a spiritually abusive pastor thinks that one of the church members is a disobedient and rebellious church member who rebels against and opposes the pastor's God-given authority, the spiritually abusive pastor will target, criticize and attack the disobedient, rebellious church member or church members. The spiritually abusive pastor is judgmental, and the spiritually abusive pastor self-righteously ASSUMES that the church member has hidden sin in his life that he is stubbornly refusing to repent of.

I answered 12 questions about the health of my church here. If you answered “yes” to three or more, your church is showing signs of being unhealthy. If you answered “yes” to six or more, your church is very unhealthy. I would say that I scored between a 5 and a 6, so my church definitely is an UNHEALTHY CHURCH and it may even be A VERY UNHEALTHY CHURCH. The characteristics in red really match my church situation. Answer the Harmful Church Group questions.

1. Does your church tightly control the flow of information within its ranks?

2. Does your spiritual leader use public shaming as a method to gain the compliance of followers?

3. Is your spiritual leader intolerant of questions or critical inquiry?

4. Is your spiritual leader the exclusive means of knowing “truth” or receiving validation?

10. Do the goals of your spiritual leader seem to supercede any personal goals or individual interests?

11. Do you fear being rebuked, shunned, or ignored for expressing a different opinion?

South Korean Church Authoritarian High Demand Performance Driven Churches

2012-01-14T05:52:00.002+09:00

Sometimes, authoritarian, high-demand, performance-driven churches and religious groups base their standard of orthodoxy solely (and entirely) on whether or not the church or religious group is doctrinally orthodox, doctrinally sound...and whether or not the Statement of Faith is doctrinally orthodox.

Unfortunately, a Christian church or Christian group can be doctrinally and theologically sound with regard to doctrines and Statement of Faith...and still be an aberrant, unhealthy or cult-like Christian church in terms of religious practice.

A Christian church or Christian group can have

doctrines and a Statement of Faith that are doctrinally

and theologically sound (doctrinally and theogically

orthodox) - and still teach things that are aberrant

or engage in religious practices that are

psychologically and spiritually abusive.

If a Christian church or church leaders are authoritarian, high-demand,

and performance-driven...the Christian church or its pastor(s) may have a

faulty understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ — and of the Bible’s

teachings regarding discipleship.

I want to post Priestly Nation's words about University Bible Fellowship -

We do not accept the notion that much of the University Bible Fellowship’s cult-like ideas regarding authority, submission, obedience and discipline can simply be explained by the group’s Korean influences.

It is not Korean culture that should influence a Christian’s walk with Jesus.

Rather, it should be the other way around.

In our opinion, the UBF is an unhealthy organization whose teachings and

practices provide a breeding ground for spiritual elitism and [spiritual]

abuse.

If a Christian church or Christian group directly or indirectly states that

the church and "serving the Lord" are more important than

commitments to family or children,

warning bells should go off in your head.

from exubf.blogspot.com

UBF dictated that even your kids were less important than

the group’s mission. Keenan and his wife witnessed other members leaving

their young children at home alone in order to attend meetings.

As he recalled, “All sorts of weird things took place.

People would just leave their kids in cribs or in cars to get to meetings.”

Neglecting children was encouraged, because members who demonstrated

that kind of devotion to UBF’s mission were rewarded by its leaders.

Does God Care That I am Hurting? Does God Care About My Suffering and Pain?

2012-01-12T21:50:00.001+09:00

from GLOW

Why me?

It’s natural to ask, “Why me?” when pain and trouble come into your life. It often seems so unfair. Why do some people’s lives seem so pain-free, while terrible things happen to others? In the same accident, some will walk away unhurt, while others lose their lives. Why? Why does God seemingly work a miracle for some—but not for others?

Totally satisfying answers to such questions don’t exist. We must remember, however, that in the end, the power of miracles—and the reasons for them—remain in God’s hands, and God’s alone. He sees the big picture, and He will make all things right. Says one Bible writer, “God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few” (Ecclesiastes 5:2).

Faced with such circumstances, we must trust that God knows the answers, even if we do not, and that we will not know until we can ask Him face to face in heaven. We can only believe that when all the accounts of life on this earth are settled—when we look back at this earth from the shores of heaven—we’ll be satisfied that “our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).

Romans 12:19 and REVENGE

2012-01-12T21:36:00.001+09:00

When you lay down the burden of vengeance, God will pick it up. Since God is going to take up your cause and see to it that justice is done, you can lay it down

– John Piper

from Precept Austin Romans 12:18-21 Commentary

Revenge is excessive retribution. It is not only "getting even", but it is giving the other person something else besides and that is not God's way! He is the only One Who can recompense perfectly. So let Him take care of all vengeance!

God says in essence that the believer is never do this. We who call Christ our Lord and Master are never (not just most of the time but never!) to try to get even - never, ever attempt to exact your own vengeance because that "job description" belongs to one person only -- God the Just and Righteous Judge. When we attempt "pay back", we usurp God's job and we do so at some "risk" for we lack God's omniscience, omnipotence and wisdom and the result will most likely be that we make things worse. Think for a moment those times you disobeyed this clear command and how many times your pay back actually made things better! This alone should motivate us to diligently seek to obey this section of Scripture.

The benefit of the method of returning good for evil is that it preserves the man from evil. If evil assails you, and you only fight it with good, it cannot hurt you, you are invulnerable. If any man curse you, and you answer him with a blessing, it is clear that the curse has not hurt you. It has not made you full of curses, or else one would come out of you. If a man has slandered you, but you never return him a reproachful word, he has not hurt your real character; the dirt which he has thrown has missed you, for you have none to throw back upon him. If when much provoked your temper still remains calm and quiet, the provocation has not touched you, the arrow has passed harmlessly by. The very thing your enemy wants is to make you descend to his level of anger and malice, but, as long as having much provocation you remain unprovoked, you vanquish him. Believe me you are provoking your adversary terribly if you are quite calm yourself, you are disappointing him, he cannot insert his poisoned darts for you are clad in armor of proof. He tries to injure you, but he cannot; he fails to make you sin, and so he misses his mark. Do you not see what a wonderful armor it is? If God preserve you, so that you have nothing but good wishes and goodwill towards the man who hates you and seeks your ruin, then you are a conqueror indeed.

To remain quiet is generally the way to baffle an adversary; indeed there is no weapon with which he can wound you. If you will not yield so as to give railing for railing, what is to be done with you? It is much the same as when a certain duke proclaimed war against a peaceful neighbor, who was resolved not to fight. The troops came riding to the town, and found the gates open as on ordinary occasions. The children were playing in the streets, and the blacksmith was at his forge, and the shopkeepers at their counters, and so, pulling up their horses, the soldiers enquired, “Where is the enemy?” “We don’t know. We are friends.” What was to be done under the circumstances but to ride home? So it is in life, if you only meet evil with good the bad man’s occupation is gone.

How to Tell If a Church is Unhealthy or Spiritually Abusive

2012-01-12T12:48:00.003+09:00

How Does a Person Discern Whether a Church is Unhealthy
or Spiritually Abusive?

In an unhealthy or spiritually abusive church, people are told that they should not complain about the pastor or the church. Questioning and disagreement are discouraged.

A healthy pastor welcomes even tough questions, whereas in an unhealthy church disagreement with the pastor is considered disloyalty and is virtually equal to disobeying God. Questioners are labeled rebellious, insubordinate, and disruptive to the harmony of the body. Attempts are made to shut them down. The only way to succeed is to go along with the agenda, support the leaders, scorn those who disagree.

Are family commitments strengthened by the church? Does the church encourage the strengthening of family commitments? In unhealthy, performance-based churches, church obligations are valued more than family ones (There seem to be many unhealthy, performance-based churches in South Korea). Does the pastor or church leader make a person feel guilty when he or she makes decisions to choose family over God? For example, is a church member made to feel guilty because she chooses to stay home with her baby and skip the early morning prayer service because it's winter (and it's cold)? The mindset is that loyalty to God means loyalty to God's church. One's spiritual commitment is determined by one's allegiance to the church.

“I found that I was busier with church than I was at work. Eventually I had very little time for myself. My life revolved around this group.” Read this person's spiritual abuse testimony

Spiritually abusive, authoritarian pastors and church leaders leaders evaluate all forms of Christian spirituality according to their own prescribed system and these spiritually abusive pastors and church leaders openly (and actively) criticize other Christians, other churches and other pastors as "people who are not living out their faith in the right way" or as "people who are pretending to believe in God."

Unhealthy, spiritually abusive churches thrive on tactics that create total dependence on the church while protecting and isolating themselves from the "sinful" world.

Spiritually abusive pastors and church leaders use their position to demand loyalty and submission. True spiritual leaders gain the loyalty of the sheep because of the quality of their character and their attitude of servanthood. Church members freely submit to Christ-like leadership and do not have to be coerced to follow. Good shepherds lighten the load of the sheep while false leaders add to the load on the sheep.

5 Characteristics of Spiritually Abusive Churches
adapted from Abusive Churches and Abusive Churches Leaving Them Behind

1) Control-Oriented Leadership

A central feature of an abusive church is control-oriented leadership. The leader in an abusive church is dogmatic, self- confident, arrogant, and the spiritual focal point in the lives of his followers. The leader assumes he is more spiritually in tune with God than anyone else.

2) Manipulation of Church Members

Abusive churches are characterized by the manipulation of their members. Manipulation is the use of external forces to get others to do what someone else wants them to do. Here manipulation is used to get people to submit to the leadership of the church. The tactics of manipulation include the use of guilt, peer pressure, intimidation, and threats of divine judgment from God for disobedience.

3) Denouncing All Other Churches

Abusive churches usually denounce all other Christian churches. They see themselves as spiritually elite.

4) Persecution Complex

Because abusive churches see themselves as elite, they expect persecution in the world and even seem to enjoy being persecuted. Any criticism received, no matter what the source--whether Christian or secular--is always viewed as an attack from Satan, even if the criticisms are based on the Bible.

5) Painful Exit Process

Members in many unhealthy, abusive churches are afraid to leave because of intimidation, pressure, and threats of divine judgment. The majority of the time, former members are publicly ridiculed and humiliated before the church, and members are told not to associate in any way with any former members. This practice is called shunning.

Symptoms Difficulties That You May Experience After Leaving a High Demand High Pressure Church or Religious Group

2012-01-11T21:43:00.015+09:00

(post in progress...currently being updated...)

Without intending to, I think I may have already started the process of leaving my unhealthy church...the church that I have attended for the past three years (I'm still praying about whether or not I should leave my unhealthy church. I am also praying for wisdom regarding the best(wisest) way to leave, if I am (in fact) given the go-ahead and led to leave my unhealthy church. For the past three days, I intentionally skipped the early morning prayer service at church because I needed a break from the condemning, guilt-inducing sermons.

I went to church tonight for the Wednesday night mid-week church service. Both the pastor and his wife completely ignored me (Including the pastor and the pastor's wife, there were only eleven people at tonight's Wednesday night church service...so I know that both the pastor and the pastor's wife saw me).

My Current Emotional State
It's 10:30 at night. Right now, I feel as if a heavy burden has been taken off my chest...a burden that I have been carrying around for the past 15 months or so... I DO feel a bit of anxiety, but it's not a full blown panic attack...yet....

The following emotional and spiritual difficulties are common among spiritual abuse victims who have left high-demand, performance-based legalistic churches and religious groups (including performance-based, conservative Bible-believing churches that claim to be theologically orthodox).

Adapted from
Common Emotional Difficulties After Leaving a High Demand Group and adapted from
Common Spiritual Difficulties After Leaving a High Demand Group

I thought the following link would be helpful as well -
How to Walk Yourself Through a Panic Attack

Emotional Difficulties

Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Trauma becomes crystallized a few days after a traumatic event, such as exiting an abusive, high demand group. Several of a cluster of symptoms can develop, including spontaneous crying, suicidal thoughts, emotional numbing, phobias, social withdrawal, flashbacks, amnesia, anxiety, depression, shame, guilt, self-loathing, fear of going insane.

Anger or Rage
Toward the group and leader; toward oneself; suppression of anger in the group actually contributed to depression and a sense of helplessness.

Denial

Dissociation (or Dissociative Identity Disorder)
Not being in touch with reality or those around them; inability to communicate.

Floating (a.k.a. trancing out)
Getting triggered into cult mode, flashbacks into the cult mind-set; thoughts of returning to the group, nostalgic feelings (part of dissociation).

Panic and Anxiety Attacks

Depression

Psychosomatic Symptoms
Headache; stomach ache; backaches; fatigue; asthma; skin rashes; lethargy; sexuality problems.

Problems or Inability in Making Decisions because of the dependency fostered by the group.
Lack of Motivation
Inability to Concentrate & Short-term memory loss.

Fear
"What if I am wrong?" "What if harmful events actually do happen?"
"I can't ever be happy outside the group."

Grief & Sense of Loss
Grieving loss of innocence, idealism, spirituality, self, pride; sense of purpose, meaning and belonging in life; support system; friends and family lost in the group; loss of time, goals and youth.

Guilt/Shame
For getting involved, for the people they recruited, things done while in the group; for leaving.

Lack of Trust involving group situations; deep suspicions about others' motives and attitudes.
Intense Loneliness
Sense of Purposelessness & Disconnection

Sense of Isolation/Alienation
"No one can understand what I am going through."

Overly Critical of Oneself and Others due to internalizing the harsh attitudes of the cult leader.

Problems Having Boundaries
Boundaries were violated time and again in the group until one lost sense of which boundaries were appropriate.

Feelings of Inferiority and Worthlessness because the cult leader(s) continually blamed you
Hypersensitive to anger and rebuffs from others
Sleep Disorders including nightmares and insomnia.
Eating Disorders
Fear of Intimacy and Commitment
Problems with Career or Employment because of years in the group; lost job opportunities, etc.
Unable to Deal With Conflicts
Impatience with Recovery Process

Difficulties in Relating to God:

Anger at God (feeling He has betrayed, abandoned, etc. you)
Questioning God ("Why me?" "Where were you?" "Why did you allow this?" "Why didn't you protect me?" etc.)
Unable to understand God's love
Unable to feel God is really there
Believing God has placed you under a "curse" whenever any problem or disaster occurs
Feeling God does not approve of you or accept you
Problems integrating the God you knew in the group and the God (or Jesus) you think you are supposed to know now.
Feeling you lost God (i. e., the God you knew and especially if you were a prior Christian)1
Unable to understand what God or Jesus are really like

Difficulties with the Bible:

Unable to read the Bible (inability to concentrate, fear of being triggered back into the group mind set, reminding one of study in the group, etc.)
Feeling too tired to study the Bible all over again (after years of feeling you found its truth)
Guilt over not studying the Bible
Much confusion with Scripture (especially concerning law and grace)
Questions of whether the Bible is entirely true, part true, or has been changed over time

Difficulties with Churches:

Feeling "Where do I go now?"
Fear of all churches
Guilt for not attending a church
Wanting to replace everything you felt you lost in the group
Anxiety in attempting a mainstream church or Bible study group
Religious addiction (desire to immerse oneself in as many Bible study groups, church activities, etc. as possible)
Anxiety when reading Christian literature that reminds you of the group's teachings or control
Wanting to reject all forms of belief
Wanting to be free of all churches

Difficulties with Ministers & Other Christians

Fear or deep lack of trust
Fear of being controlled or deceived
Feeling alienated or different in thought and practice
Feelings of inferiority or inadequacy
Feeling shame and humiliation for having been in a "cult" and afraid to bring it up
Feeling no other Christian could ever understand
Great hurt when other Christians don't understand
Feelings of sin for worshipping the way you did in the group

Difficulties with Prayer

Feeling God does not hear your prayers anymore
Depressed or pressured feelings (especially when attempting to pray in same position as in the group)
Feeling guilt (for not praying fervently enough, long enough, regularly, etc.)

Difficulties in the Area of Beliefs:

Desperation for "the truth" again
Very confused (not knowing who or what to believe)
Blaming yourself for being deceived
Blaming yourself for being disfellowshipped or kicked out
Fearing the Lake of Fire
Fearing a loss of salvation
Searching out various non-orthodox belief systems
Spiritualizing everything (magical thinking)
Feelings of pain, betrayal and grief at how the group took the true Jesus away from you
Wanting to drop out of religion

Other Difficulties

A compulsion to talk to everyone about your group experience (is a hold-over from the group-instilled confessing behavior)
Wanting to immerse yourself in a round of activities (to avoid thinking and feeling)
A need to feel "used by God" (or to be a part of something "important")
Not feeling a part of the human race (this can be a part of Complex Post Traumatic Stress)
Wondering if it was a mistake to leave the group (thinking of returning)

Spiritual Abuse Books Christian Books About Abuse and Legalism

2012-01-11T18:19:00.000+09:00

Christian Books Relating to Spiritual Abuse

South Korean Society Korean Culture Emotional Abuse Verbal Abuse

2012-01-10T12:54:00.003+09:00

Are you being abused? Trust your gut feeling

South Korean society is an emotionally abusive and verbally abusive society. Korean culture is a shame-based, emotionally abusive and verbally abusive culture. Shaming and emotional/verbal abuse are considered normal in South Korea. People who have a hard time dealing with shaming and emotional/verbal abusive are criticized as being "weak" and "over-sensitive"

Verbal abuse is psychological and emotional battering. Verbal abuse and emotional abuse kill your spirit. Verbal abuse and emotional abuse cripple your self-esteem and your sense of self-worth. In many ways, this type of abuse does far more damage and long-term devastation than do physical blows.

Discounting: Does the abuser ignore or disparage your feelings? Do they put down your feelings? Do they dismiss you with statements such as, "Why are you getting upset over something like this?" or "You're too sensitive" or "You don't have a sense of humour" or "You're just taking it wrong"?

Trivializing: Does the abuser belittle what you say? Do they dismiss your feelings or accomplishments? Do they insult you when you express pride in your own abilities? Do they act as if your work is no big deal?

Withholding: Does the abuser stop speaking to you when they're displeased? Do they ignore you? Do they withdraw affection in order to punish you?

Judging and Criticizing: Does the abuser find fault with everything you do? Do they tell you that you "ought to" or "should" do things a certain way?

Countering: Does the abuser tell you you're wrong if you don't agree with them? Do they argue against your every thought? Do they tell you your feelings are wrong? Do they tell you that you don't know what you're talking about? Do they forbid you from having your own opinions?

Ridicule [Verbal Abuse Disguised as Jokes]: Does the abuser make fun of you? Do they ridicule you regarding subjects about which you are particularly sensitive? Do they seem to enjoy it? Do they accuse you of not being able to take a joke? Do they use sarcasm to put you down?

Blocking and Diverting: Does the abuser change the subject when you try to bring something up? Do they divert serious discussions by accusing you of various things?

Accusing and Blaming: Does the abuser blame you for everything that goes wrong? Do they accuse you of hurting them when you tell them your feelings?

Under-mining: Does the abuser squelch your enthusiasm with insensitive comments such as, "You wouldn't understand", or "You'll never make it"? Do they sabotage your ideas by pointing out all the ways in which you might fail? Do they interrupt you when you need time alone?

Ordering: Does the abuser order you to do something instead of asking? Do they demand things?

When a Spouse Does Not Submit, When a Person Refuses to Submit

2012-01-10T11:51:00.004+09:00

What should we do when a person refuses to submit to someone that he/she should be in submission to, in a biblical sense?

How should we react?

Taken from Taking a Second Look at Submission (1 Peter 2:13 - 3:7)

Christ is the model for our leadership. How does He deal with our failure to submit? Does He immediately use force to compel submission? I think we can see He usually does not deal with us this way. He has placed His Spirit within us, and He works patiently to bring us to what we should be.

Biblical submission enables us to give up our drivenness to be preeminent. Biblical submission recognizes our dependence on others and surrenders independence. Satan acted independently of God and urged Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:1-7) as well as the Lord Himself (Matthew 4:1-11) to do likewise. Biblical submission emphasizes our inter-dependence on one another (see Romans 14:7; 1 Corinthians 11:11; 12:1ff.). Submission makes us a servant to others; thus submission is the surrendering of our independence.

Biblical submission is often evident in the silence which accompanies innocent suffering. Do you notice how much emphasis Peter places on silence in these verses on submission? Slaves are urged to suffer silently as Jesus did (2:18-25).

Submission is not synonymous with obedience. One can still be in submission to one’s authority without always blindly obeying every command. In other words, one can submissively disobey. Daniel and his three friends illustrate this. True submission is not always making the one we submit to happy, but seeking his or her best interest at our own expense. True submission is not building up the ego of another with flattery, but building up another with truth, truth that is proclaimed and practiced in love. True submission is not a guarantee that we will thereby avoid pain and suffering, but an attitude and outlook which can govern our attitudes and actions when we are suffering innocently for Christ’s sake.

When a wife refuses to submit to her husband, the husband should turn in faith to Him who can change hearts. We should not seek to bring our wife to her knees in submission, but should fall to our knees in prayer. Christ brought about our submission through His own sacrifice on the cross; we should seek to bring others to submission by faithfully serving them, by God’s power and grace.

Submission is the basis for servant leadership. J. Oswald Sanders wrote an excellent little book on spiritual leadership in which he speaks of three key elements in leadership: suffering, servanthood, and the sovereignty of God. He is absolutely right. I would also suggest that the one word “submission” is fundamental and foundational to these three concepts. Peter speaks of submission as the proper response to suffering. We have already seen that submission is foundational to servanthood. We should also see that we submit first to God and then to others because we know God is sovereign, He is in control, and He will fulfill all of His purposes and promises.

I submit to you that a man cannot truly be a spiritual leader until he has come to submit himself to those whom he leads. He does not follow those whom he leads, but he does subordinate his interests to the interests of those whom he leads. When he seeks to further his own interests, he will do so at the expense of others. When he subordinates his interests to those of the ones he leads, he sacrifices his own selfish interests for the interests of others. And here the paradox of Christianity becomes evident. When we die to self, we live; when we give up our lives, we find them; when we abandon our pursuit of fulfillment, we are fulfilled. And so submission is the path to blessing as Peter is about to demonstrate in verses 8-12.

Small Group Curriculum for Christians and Churches

2012-01-09T11:12:00.000+09:00

Second Presbyterian Church small group curriculum resources

South Korean Church and Serious Problems Legalism, Legalistic Practice, Judgemental Critical Condemning Attitude

2012-01-09T10:34:00.006+09:00

I have been reading the Bible almost continuously for the last 5 months or so. Yesterday, one of my own family members said to me - "You shouldn't read the Bible to gain knowledge. You need to be transformed by grace." While these words are not incorrect, when these same words are used to judge the motives of a Christian believer....

I told this family member that my motive for reading the Bible was not to gain Bible knowledge or "mere head knowledge" of Biblical facts and information. It was useless. This family member of mine is convinced that I am reading the Bible solely to gain head knowledge of Biblical information.

My pastor also recently told this family member that I have not been transformed by grace.

[In the Bible], the Corinthians were filled with a sense of their own importance. The Apostle Paul says to them, "You are prudent and wise. You reign as kings. You are sleek, fat, and satisfied with yourselves. You make fun of those who do not know the Lord and look down on those who are younger in Christ than you are." (from Steve Zeisler)

My family member and my pastor both seem to be ignoring the power of the Holy Spirit to work in the lives of individual Christians. My pastor expressly says that the Word of God is not at home; he says that God's Word is only at church. My pastor says that we must pray at church. He says that praying at home is not true prayer. He says that everything must be centered around the church.

There is a subtle discouragement of private, individual Bible reading in my church. When he saw me reading the Bible voraciously, my pastor said - "We can't be changed by our own effort." Yet at the same time, my pastor pressures us to come to every single church worship service and my pastor puts pressure on us not to miss 5:00 AM early morning prayer. I see an inconsistency in the things my pastor says.

Why We Need to Read the Bible

How do we get the Holy Spirit to dwell richly in us? We start by reading the Word of Christ, by meditating upon it, dwelling upon it; talking to ourselves about it and by talking to other people about it. We must immerse and soak ourselves in Scripture, for we can never read it too much. The more we read it, the more it will be in us. The more the Word of Christ is in us, the more we will not want to grieve the Holy Spirit in our words, our actions and our thoughts.

When the Holy Spirit is doing His quiet work, there is a desire to read the Bible, a desire to pray, a lessening desire for things of the world.

The South Korean church is suffering from religious legalism. This, perhaps, is the most serious problem of the South Korean church.

Many South Korean church leaders and church people take the following view of grace:

Many people may consider the Korean church to be legalistic and they might be right to some extent, but these same people may actually have a wrong understanding of grace. Grace properly appropriated leads to passionate devotion and service, not the lack of it

However, something is horribly wrong when the theology of a church becomes: "Sincere believers, faithful believers will come to every single church service. Sincere, faithful believers will serve loyally at church (by cleaning the church building on Saturdays, etc). Sincere, faithful believers will obey God by obeying the pastor, because the pastor speaks for God as God's spokesman (목사님은 하나님의 말씀을 대언하는 자). Sincere, faithful believers will serve the pastor. Believers who do the above things will be rewarded by God. People who "oppose" the pastor and who do not do what the pastor says are disobeying God. People who disobey the pastor and who disobey God will receive punishment."

Grace-less, legalistic dogmatism in the South Korean church is very useful in "protecting the church" against the enemies who are inside the church as well as enemies who are outside the church (non-Christians).
The increasing spirit of dogmatism and exclusivism is rooted in the conviction that each one’s belief is absolutely right while the views of others are false and heretical.

Does God Punish Christians for Sin and Wrong-doing?

2012-01-08T20:47:00.006+09:00

from got Questions?org

In order to answer this question, we first need to distinguish between punishment and discipline. For believers in Jesus, all our sin – past, present, and future – has already been punished on the cross. As Christians, we will never be punished for sin. That was done once for all. “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Because of the sacrifice of Christ, God sees only the righteousness of Christ when He looks at us. Our sin has been nailed to the cross with Jesus, and we will never be punished for it.

The sin that remains in our lives, however, does sometimes require God’s discipline. If we continue to act in sinful ways and we do not repent and turn from that sin, God brings His divine discipline to bear upon us. If He did not, He would not be a loving and concerned Father. Just as we discipline our own children for their welfare, so does our heavenly Father lovingly correct His children for their benefit.

Discipline, then, is how God lovingly turns His children from rebellion to obedience. Through discipline our eyes are opened more clearly to God's perspective on our lives. As King David stated in Psalm 32, discipline causes us to confess and repent of sin we have not yet dealt with. In this way discipline is cleansing. It is also a growth catalyst.

from Get Christian Answers

God will not punish the Christian for sin after physical death in eternity. This is the beauty of the Gospel in that the blood of Jesus Christ covers the believer's sins for the past, present (today), and the future. For the believer, it's “almost” as if we are sinless because Jesus already took the punishment for our sins. Judgment day for the Christian is much different than for the unbeliever. In eternity, the Christian will have his or her works or actions while on this earth examined to see if they were done with the right motives. 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 (NIV) tells that the works or actions done during the life of a Christian will be put to the “fire” test. This means that, on the day of our judgment, good works or actions (with good intentions) will be rewarded, but bad works or actions (including good works with bad intentions) will not count. Furthermore, this means that although the believer will still be saved, they will lose their “could-have-been” possessions, accomplishments, or rewards (due to bad works) like a person will lose their possessions if their house burns down from fire.

Absence of punishment for sin does not mean the believer is without consequences in this life. Many people accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and become Christians after their lives are damaged by their sin. It's usually at this time that a person seeks God because nothing else has worked. But accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior will not free you from all punishment you might receive for your sin. For example, if you injured someone while driving intoxicated, you will still have to pay the penalty for that crime. Matthew 5:25-26 (NIV) gives an example of how one should settle adversarial matters quickly, or they'll risk being thrown into prison until every last penny is paid. This passage appears to deal with the topic of owing someone money for so long that the matter has been taken to court, but the point is that the penalties (getting thrown into prison) cannot be reversed.

The Reformed View of Divine Punishment for Christians

(from the Canadian Reformed Church)

In the face of calamity, the Christian will examine himself to ensure that he’s not left particular sins unconfessed. That, says Calvin, is the proper default Christian response to trouble; it’s self-examination. Have I failed to repent of particular sins? Are there things happening in my life that I know are wrong but I just assume that God is OK with those wrongs? Am I through hardness of heart preventing God’s blessing and attracting God’s curse? Calvin is insistent: the pious Christian knows his own sinfulness and stubbornness, knows there can be no blessing from God today if one does not today turn away from every sin he knows of, and so is quick to re-examine whether he has in fact repented of all sin.

John Calvin says there can be a second reason why the Lord may chastise us. It’s also possible, he says, that God “imposes a penalty upon us – not to punish us for past sins, but to correct us against future ones” (Institutes, III.4.33). Calvin quotes Augustine, “What you suffer, what you complain about, is your medicine, not your penalty; your chastisement, not your condemnation. Do not put away the scourge if you do not want to be put away from the inheritance.” But I may not, says Calvin, jump lightly to the conclusion that God is simply pruning me so that I grow in holiness. That may well be God’s motive, but given my abiding sinfulness I need first to examine myself carefully.

Read the Bible for Change and Transformation Scripture is Alive

2012-01-08T18:42:00.011+09:00

Campbell Morgan told an audience the entire Bible could be read through in 80 hours at the SLOW READING RATE pastors use in the pulpit. A lawyer challenged him, admitting that he had never read the Bible through. Morgan told him to read the Bible through before presenting a public challenge. The lawyer read the Bible through IN LESS THAN 80 HOURS!

George Muller read the Bible through every 90 days (3 months) or 4 times a year for 25 years, and said, “I am a happy, happy, happy man.” In his writings he tells of some problems that came up in early morning prayer hours. He decided TO READ THE BIBLE FIRST each day - his regular prayer time followed and the problems vanished!

Alvy Ford, blinded in World War 2, says, “I have the Bible on records, but in reading I turn it up (faster) because I find the thought easier to follow and keep the thought fresh in my mind. In reading the Bible one must exercise SELF DISCIPLINE. If I skip several days, I HAVE TO START OVER AND FORCE MYSELF TO READ. I have set a DEFINITE SCHEDULE - through every 3 months or 4 times a year. I DECIDED TO SEE HOW QUICKLY I COULD READ THE BIBLE THROUGH - 4-1/2 days! QUICK READING GAVE ME A MUCH CLEARER CONCEPT of God's dealing with people and how God would like to deal with me. I RECOMMEND THIS RAPID READING, AND PLAN TO DO IT AGAIN SOON.”

Ravenhill, in his book “Meat For Men” tells of Dr. Sung who was placed in the state hospital in White Plaines, New York. He requested a Bible AND READ IT THROUGH 40 TIMES IN 6 MONTHS, and received a working knowledge of all 1189 chapters in the Bible - EVERY 4-1/2 DAYS FOR HALF A YEAR. He was dismissed, completely recovered, from the hospital!

A blind man heard the Bible read through every 90 days (3 months or 4 times a year) and once in 4-1/2 days. A mentally ill man read the Bible through every 4-1/2 days or 40 times in 6 months. What would happen in our lives if we listened to audio recordings of the Bible or read the Bible for an hour every day?

How to Master the Bible

1. Choose a book of the Bible.

2. Read it in its entirety.

3. Repeat step #2 twenty times.

4. Repeat this process for all books of the Bible.

Read One Book of the Bible for 30 Days

Thirty Days In a Book - John MacArthur recommends reading a single book every day for thirty days and suggests 1 John as a good one to start with. I guarantee that by the end of the thirty days you still will not know everything there is to know about the book. For longer books, divide them into sections of 7 or 8 chapters and read each section for thirty consecutive days. (Taken from Challies Dot Com)

Professor Grant Horner's Bible Reading System

(Ten Chapters a Day)

13 Different Bible Reading Plans

Reading the Bible in 90 Days Changes Lives

Read more about the Bible in 90 Days

South Korean Church and Legalism Performance-Based False Religion

2012-01-08T17:51:00.007+09:00

Even when my failures are 100% my fault God still uses them for good in my life when I give him the pieces.
- Rick Warren

God calls his children to obey, but we are made his children not because we obeyed, but because Jesus did perfectly for us.

- Paul Tripp

"the most dangerous form of religious flesh is spiritual pride" -Richard Lovelace

Any spirituality that focuses more on what we DO for Jesus, rather than on what JESUS HAS DONE FOR US is broken, bankrupt & blasphemous FAKE FALSE CHRISTIANITY

One of the most serious problems facing Christian church today is problem of legalism. It takes away the joy of the Lord from the Christian. True Christianity is living under submission to power of the Spirit of God and the grace of God. We are acceptable to God because of the internal change God brought about when we were born again to a living hope. Some Christians say if you want to be "spiritual" then don't smoke, don't drink and don't spend time with people who smoke or drink.

The Apostle Paul says don't let someone come along and say you need to keep certain rules and laws, even "good" rules. Keeping rules like "You must not miss 5:30 early morning prayer" won't make you any more acceptable to God. You are already "complete in Christ" The false teachers in the Book of Colossians taught and preached a false religion that depended mostly on self-control & self-discipline. Any “religion” that combines human effort with God's divine accomplishment in salvation is wrong. Human rules cannot and must not be added to salvation.

I pray that the LORD will grant repentance to the South Korean church just as He did in 1907. I pray that the church leaders of performance-based South Korean churches will realize their need for repentance.

Read more about the Korean Revival of 1907

Difference Between Legalism & True Desire to Please God

2012-01-07T20:46:00.002+09:00

Is it Legalism or a Desire to Please God?

Although my pastor denies that he is legalistic and Pharisaical, my church shows signs of being a legalistic, performance-based church. My church is characterized by a critical spirit (criticizing other Christians for their behavior). My church is characterized by an uptight, rigid attitude and pressure (You must come to every church worship service. You must serve at church. You must obey and submit to the pastor. Even if you DO come to every single church worship service, if you are being disobedient to the pastor...you are wasting your time).

Responding to God in worship and obedience to His Word is evidence of our gratefulness for His gift to us. (But responding to God in worship should NEVER become "You must come to every church worship service to be a sincere, faithful Christian")

Legalism is focused on a system.
Desiring to please God is focused on a relationship.
Legalism is focused on what is required.
Desiring to please God is focused on love from within.
Legalism asks How can I meet the requirements?ÿ
Desiring to please God asks, “What is the Lord telling me about His desires through His instruction?”
Legalism is horrid, for if it were possible to earn a relationship with God, in and of ourselves, Christ’s death was pointless.
Desiring to please God is obeying His commands to love Him with all out hearts, minds, and souls. Loving God can never be legalistic!

A Fruit Test

Are you are being controlled by legalism or a desire to please God? It is easy to find out if something is legalistic examine the fruit produced.

If it is from God the fruit will be patience, joy, peace, love, kindness, gentleness and self-control. The fruit of legalism is easily recognized arguments, selfish ambition, unreasonable behavior, deceitfulness, and envy. The fruit of legalism is judgmental finger-pointing, a self-righteous unforgiving attitude and a hard, unyielding attitude of stubbornness.

Inexplicable Joy in the Midst of Suffering, Pain and Trouble

2012-01-07T18:26:00.014+09:00

Although I have been a church attender my entire life (30+ years), I only recently began to experience a sense of joy in the midst of my pain (I want to call this inexplicable joy).

My life is far from perfect. I struggle with low self-esteem, (mild) depression, anxiety and panic attacks. I have difficulty controlling my emotions. The pastor of the church that I currently attend is convinced that I am disobedient, stubborn and rebellious. My pastor says that people who disobey and oppose the pastor are disobeying God and rebelling against God. Although I have been married for almost 5 years, my family life is far from perfect.

I still don't know where God is leading me in terms of career path/vocation. I thought God had called me to full-time vocational ministry as an ordained minister (I'm not sure anymore). At this point in time, I have taken 2 years of seminary courses.

I feel that God is drawing me to intimacy with Him through Scripture. I have never read through the entire Bible before, so I recently began participating in the Bible in 90 Days Challenge. Time after time I have opened God’s Word and been enveloped in my Heavenly Father’s loving arms. It’s a marvelous experience! I have been reading parts of the Bible almost continuously since the summer of 2011 (last year). Even though I didn't expect it or anticipate it, God has been showing me how much he loves people despite their disobedience and rebellion. God has been showing me that although He is a holy God of justice, He is also loving and merciful. God wants to be our God. Since I started participating in the Bible in 90 Days Challenge 6 days ago, God has continued to heal me through the grace, love and mercy that I find in Scripture.

If you examine the Word of God, you will see that the Holy Spirit gives us gifts and abilities that enable to us to have inexplicable joy in the midst of painful circumstances.

The Joy of Suffering (Eddie Snipes - Exchanged Life Outreach)

When we suffer, the glory of God rests upon us. This passage flies in the face of what most of us have always been taught. Scripture teaches us that when we become partakers of His suffering, His Spirit and glory rests upon us. When someone suffers, they have a special place in God’s heart. It may feel like we are enduring a long road alone, but in reality, God is carrying us through it. When I am in pain, I am honored by becoming the bearer of God’s glory. Instead of seeking a way out, I should be enduring and placing my trust on Him all the more.

What most Christians don’t realize is that the comfort and promise offered through suffering are not available any other way. If I avoid suffering by refusing to follow God through the darkest times of my life, I don’t just bypass the suffering, I also bypass the glory of God in my life. If I endure out of necessity but become bitter against God or bitter against those who cause me pain, I have exchanged the glory of God in my life for self-pity and anger. Pain only is a tragedy when we are looking at it from our temporary circumstances. Suffering is not intended to singe my soul, but to refine me into a vessel of immeasurable value. I am only burned when I am taking control. When I am trusting Christ, then He shapes me and my trouble becomes a trophy of God’s grace.

The hardest thing you will ever do in this life is suffer wrongfully. The person who mistreats you does not have the right to do so. Yet the Bible says, if you suffer wrongfully and take it patiently, God will reward. We must commit ourselves and the wrong done to us to God who is the righteous Judge. He alone has the right to judge. When we are enduring hardship at the hand of another person, this should always be in the front of our thoughts. Are we committing ourselves to God our righteous judge? Are we taking matters into our own hands, or are we allowing God to work in our lives and use suffering for our good?

Discern Between Biblical and Unbiblical Preaching

2012-01-05T09:43:00.000+09:00

Learning to discern between biblical and unbiblical preaching

HOW TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE:

Unbiblical preaching condemns.

Biblical preaching convicts.

Unbiblical preaching brings despair and confusion.

Biblical preaching brings hope.

Unbiblical preaching leaves the listener feeling degraded and despised.

Biblical preaching leaves its listener feeling valuable to God.

Unbiblical preaching flows form a self-righteous and haughty heart.

Biblical preaching flows from level ground (and love/true concern for the people that God loves)

Unbiblical preachers are far from the cross. They know little of God's mercy.

Biblical preachers stay close to the cross. They have experienced God's mercy, and know their need for God's mercy at all times.

Unbiblical preachers think they are obeying God.

Biblical preachers are obeying God.

Unbiblical preachers do not wait on the Lord.

Biblical preachers wait on the Lord.

Unbiblical preachers rely on their natural senses.

Biblical preachers rely on Sprit revelation (regarding sins, disclosure, etc)

Unbiblical preaching is controlling.

Biblical preaching respects the freedom of the sinner to choose and think.

Unbiblical preaching flows from hidden roots of bitterness.

Biblical preaching flows from a heart that has forgiven all their past offenders.

Unbiblical preaching has an abrasive tone.

Biblical preaching has a tender tone.

When unbiblical preachers preach sermons, it feels like they are picking a fight.

Biblical preachers are for you They want to walk with you and want to do their best to guide you.

Unbiblical preaching flows from a calloused heart.

Biblical preaching flows from love at all times.

Love covers over a multitude of sins. It preserves dignity. It restores. It gently leads the sheep to the shepherd.

Unbiblical preachers cannot empathize with their listeners. They preach AT sinners.

Biblical preaching flows from empathetic identification.

Unbiblical preachers shoot the wounded.

Biblical preachers sense the wounds hidden under the tough overlay. They promote healing

Galatians 6:1-5 Do not burden others?

2012-01-05T08:42:00.000+09:00

Bearing Burdens

1. The Call for Self-Examination: Each one must examine his own work (6:4).

There are some people who will try to use these verses on burden-bearing as an excuse to dump on anyone who will hold still.

A man was walking through some woods and he came to a wooden bridge spanning a deep chasm over a rushing river. As he approached the center of the bridge, he saw a man there with a rope. "Here, hold this rope," said the man and then jumped over the railing. The first man found himself holding the full weight of the jumper who hung suspended over the river. "You are responsible to me. If you let go of this rope, I will fall into the river and drown."

The man holding the rope called down, "Climb back up. I can't hold you much longer." Back came the answer, "You are responsible to me. If you let go of this rope, I will fall into the river and drown."

Finally the man holding the rope said, "Look, I will hold you for another 15 seconds so that you can climb back up and then I am going to let you go." The other man repeated, "You are responsible to me. If you let go of this rope, I will fall into the river and drown."

"One... two... three..." He made it to 15 and the other man never made the attempt to climb back up, so he let go and the jumper fell into the river with a splash.

The man continued on his way. Six months later he happened by this same bridge. And standing on the middle was the same man standing on the center span and holding a rope.

The point of the story is that there are some people that merely want you to stop everything you are doing and just sit there and hold their hand through life. That is not what burden-bearing is all about. And this is what Paul means when he says that each man shall be called to bear his own load.

2. The Promise of Divine Examination: Each one will bear his own load (6:5).

The call to burden-bearing will serve as no excuse on the day of judgment. No one will be able to say, "It's not my fault, Lord. I just didn't have enough people helping me to bear my burdens."

Bible in 90 Days Falling in Love With the Bible

2012-01-04T11:37:00.010+09:00

(this is a post in progress and is being updated at the moment)

Bible in 90 Days reading schedule

Bible in 90 Days online tools to help you

Bible Read Throughs

Even though I have been spiritually abused, the LORD God is faithful and He is sovereign. God has been helping me to grow in my desire to immerse myself in Scripture - slowly but surely - since 1995, when I was a high school student.

Although I had been attending church since birth, I had never read through the entire Bible. In 1995, I read through the entire New Testament for the first time (I would read for 30 minutes to 1 hour every day before starting my homework).

In December 2010, I got a Korean audio Bible as a Christmas gift. Soon after I got the audio Bible, I started listening to the New Testament in Korean (focusing on the Pauline Epistles and the Book of Romans).

In the summer of 2011, I read parts of the Old Testament that I had never tried to read before. I read through Isaiah. I also read through other parts of the Old Testament that had been difficult for me to finish reading (specifically Leviticus and Numbers).

To make a long story short, I have been reading the Bible almost continuously since last summer (Summer 2011).

While I was surfing the Internet and looking for Bible reading programs, I stumbled on the Bible in 90 Days Challenge sometime last year. I was really disappointed because the Mom's Toolbox Bible in 90 Days Challenge had ended. I found out that Bible in 90 Days was starting again in 2012 and I signed up. I have been participating in the Bible in 90 Days Challenge since Monday, January 2nd. Reading the Bible in large chunks has been a healing experience for me.

Listening to an Audio Bible While Reading the Bible

The perfect tool to help you remember more of what you are reading is a quality audio Bible. The audio Bible can be used after you’ve read a book of the Bible to help you recall what you’ve read and assist in building deeper memories of Scripture.

For example, if you are on Day 3 of the "Bible in 90 Days Challenge" - Genesis 28 to 40 - then you first read Genesis 28 to 40 in your Bible. Then follow up by listening to Genesis 28 to 40 via your audio Bible while driving to work the next day, or while working out, or going for a walk.

(Assuming that you have a regular portable mp3 player - not an audio Bible - and that you have downloaded all of the mp3 files for your preferred Bible version, you can take the following steps to help you remember what you have read in the Bible. If you have the time and patience, you can use a free software program to combine or merge the mp3 files for Genesis 28 to 40 into one mp3 file. After you have combined Genesis 28 to 40 into one mp3 file, you then transfer the mp3 file to your portable mp3 player. If your portable mp3 player has an automatic repeat function, you can set your portable mp3 player to continuously repeat the Genesis 28 to 40 mp3 file so that you listen to that portion of the Bible while you commute to work. Listening continuously to what you have read really helps you to remember the day's Bible reading).

Spiritual Abuse Korean Pastors & Old Testament Priests Prophets

2011-12-29T23:07:00.001+09:00

Spiritual Abuse: Why Are Pastors Silent About the Real Reason People Are Leaving?

Leading in Spiritual Formation

Some of us have a faulty view of Christian leadership which can hinder recovery from spiritual abuse.

We look to Barbara Orlowski’s groundbreaking book, Spiritual Abuse Recovery for some insights into this phenomenon. She says that many Christian have an inability to differentiate a flawed leadership model from a legitimate leadership model.(p.9). She elaborates “In the context of the contemporary Christian church, a deficient Old Testament leadership style can easily be developed by the fusion of a Mosaic model with that of the Aaronic/Levitcal priesthood. The New Testament model of leadership, which was taught and demonstrated by Christ, demonstrates an egalitarian servant leadership model.” (P.10)

The modern-day pastor is not the same as an Old Testament priest, prophet or king. The modern pastor is supposed to be a servant leader.

"A trick used to keep leaders firmly perched on Moses' chair and above accountability is to refer to them as 'the Lord's anointed.' This supposedly means that they have been especially chosen and gifted by God and so should be treated with special reverence. The Old Testament command 'Touch not the Lord's anointed' is employed to protect these leaders from examination or criticism. This phrase, which comes from 1 Chronicles 16:22 and Psalm 105;15, is taken out of context and twisted to meet the need. When David uttered these words he was warning his men not to kill King Saul, whom the Lord himself had anointed with oil and the Holy Spirit."

Pastoral ministry is - and should be - an ongoing ministry involving teaching and leading disciples in the process of spiritual formation (that is, people being formed into the image of Christ). As people are formed into the image of Christ, the words and deeds of Christ will come forth and the ministry of Christ replicates and continues.

Pastors cannot shape the ministry of the church to re-present Jesus to the world if the pastor has not met and been shaped by the risen Lord. Before a pastor can replicate the ministry of Jesus, the pastor must be a replicate of Jesus.

Leaders who have narcissistic traits have achievement-based orientations requiring constant approval in order to maintain self image. What does this mean in reality? These leaders cannot accept what they perceive to be negative comments because they must be the ones who are always right.

Self-Righteousness is the Greatest Danger Facing the Christian Church

2011-12-29T20:31:00.002+09:00

The greatest danger facing the Christian church today comes from within the church. The greatest danger facing the Christian church - the greatest enemy of the Christian church - is self-righteousness (self-righteousness and spiritual pride).

Any time a person, a man or a woman, invents a system of morality, they then become the judge that sits on the throne of that system and [they] determine whether anybody else qualifies or not.... They[the Pharisees] were unmerciful and unforgiving, unkind, lacking grace, in their constant, carping criticism of everybody who didn't come up to their own standard. ~ Pastor John MacArthur

"Our tongues... show us how spiritually proud and self-righteous we are. For example, my critical tongue often reveals a heart that is sadly out of touch with how much I have received grace, love and forgiveness. I know this because it is not loving things that are overflowing through my tongue, but instead a spirit of being better and knowing better than others. I am right and they are wrong, and I need to point it out so everyone is clear about it. I complain because I know that I am right and everyone else is wrong. Likewise, my instinctive defensiveness and inability to apologize sincerely and quickly demonstrates that I am not really trusting in Christ to be my reputation and righteousness."

Pastors and church people who care more about their own reputation than about serving the church and its people should be honest and stop calling themselves Christians because they have in fact created a new religion that is not to be identified with Christianity. Pastors and church people who constantly criticize other pastors and churches should be honest and stop calling themselves Christians because they have in fact created a new religion that is not to be identified with Christianity. Pastors and church people who are domineering, unforgiving and unmerciful should be honest and stop calling themselves Christians because they have in fact created a new religion that is not to be identified with Christianity. Pastors who are defensive and who are unable or unwilling to sincerely apologize should be honest and stop calling themselves Christians because they have in fact created a new religion that is not to be identified with Christianity. Pastors and church people who are quick to point others' faults, shortcomings and sins...but who rationalize their own faults, shortcomings and sins should be honest and stop calling themselves Christians because they have in fact created a new religion that is not to be identified with Christianity.

How to Make Godly Decisions and How to Know the Will of God

2011-12-26T16:11:00.000+09:00

Dr. George Wood How to Know the Will of God

God is not nearly as concerned with what we’re going to do and where we’re going to go as with what kind of person we are going to be. The major concern of God is ―Are you becoming the person God wants you to be? Thus, knowing the will of God is no talisman, no magic coin flip in the air, that somehow we say the magic numbers or recite the magic prayer or get the right person to pray for us or give us a prophetic word and thereafter, we know God’s will.

If you want to find passages of Scripture to concentrate on deeply on knowing God’s will, I would suggest three passages in particular that always speak to us about God’s will as it relates to our personality formation—the beatitudes in Matthew 5, the love chapter in 1 Corinthians 13, and the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5.

There are fundamental qualities of personality development the Lord seeks in our life. If you and I are being that kind of person, we probably have a lot of options about where we can go and about what we can do. We’ll be the right kind of person that God may choose to play us like a piano with all sixty-four keys and send us out in any number of different directions, because that’s where God’s concern is.

It’s really critical that we have those personal times, on a daily basis, when we give specific time personally to seeking the Lord and to prayer. God also may speak to us through, not only a prayer—as He did with Peter—but through reading the Word on a personal level, which is also an aspect of worship. Sometimes we may get guidance through reading the Word, although, as a general rule, that guidance from the Word will be general in character.

God will never turn the governance of your life over to someone else. You are in the cockpit with the Holy Spirit. It’s up to you to have the final veto authority, no one else. Not even your parents, ultimately. You’re responsible before God for the decisions you make in life.

We’ll probably often find that our circumstances don’t directly guide us so much as they put us in places where we make the direct decisions. They put us in a convenient matrix, where the decision-making is possible. ―When all things are considered and all other means of guidance haven’t indicated a clear direction…what’s in my heart? What stimulates me the most? In regard to making that decision, we need to keep in balance what do I want to do and what ought I to do.

We can pray, "If You don’t want me to make this decision, then in the next few days, block me. Throw something in my path." The Lord is directing us even when we think we’re being misdirected. He’ll use the funniest ways to guide us. If you’ll get up and keep going, God will establish His will in your lifetime. You may get very frustrated. But don’t give up. Keep walking.

Unhealthy Grace-less Churches in South Korea and Spiritual Abuse

2011-12-23T10:03:00.012+09:00

click for more about grace-less churches and grace-filled churches

People in the church (including pastors and church leaders) are extremely good at pointing out the sins of others but many times church people are blind to their own sins or church people rationalize and explain away their own sins.

Organized church has become a hospital that asks people to be healed before they come to church.

Today's world is full of grace-less, grace-impaired churches. In a grace-less church, people spend a lot of energy comparing each other and rating who measures up and who doesn't. In a grace-less church, church people assume the worst about each other. They are critical and judgmental. They hold grudges against those who have wronged them, even if it wasn't intentional. The church leaders and church members who are loyal to the church leadership only accept people who prove themselves "worthy" and make newcomers earn their way into the inner circle by living up to external standards.

In a grace-impaired, grace-less church, pastors and church leaders leaders pile on the guilt and shame in order to pressure church members into more church involvement and more "serving at church." The church comes first, before the needs of its people. The church comes first, before family. The church must be protected from people who complain about the pastor or the church. The church must be protected from people who "oppose" and "disobey" the pastor.

Praying at home is not "really praying." You must pray at church. Family worship services in the home are not "real worship services." You must come to every church worship service. You must not miss church. Your life should be centered around the church. People are shamed for what they are not able to do or give. In grace-impaired and grace-less churches, pastors and church leaders treat failure as a disgrace.

In grace-less churches, the pastor says that when you have hurt or offended someone, God will not listen to or answer your prayers until you have asked the person you have hurt for forgiveness. In grace-less churches, the pastor does not practice what he preaches. In authoritarian grace-less churches, the pastor acts as if he is above questioning or correction. In grace-less churches, the pastor preaches AT the church members and does not apply the sermon to himself. In grace-less churches, a double standard exists.

I have been attending my current church for the past 3 years...

This past summer, the pastor of our church asked me "Are you pretending to believe? Are you pretending to be a Christian?" Around the same time, the pastor's wife called me crazy (because I had been coming to the pastor about the same, recurring problems for one year). The pastor's wife later apologized and then - in the same breath - claimed that she had been joking when she had called me crazy.

Church isn't a safe place to fail. Church leaders and "devoted Christians" have received unbelievable grace, but they don't want to offer the grace of God to anyone else, especially when other people fail, mess up and screw up.

The pastor of the church I attend rebukes us and says we are deliberately being stubborn when we repeat the same mistakes and when we continue to commit the same "sins" again and again. When we don't change as quickly as he would like, the pastor becomes frustrated and asks us if we are pretending to believe...he asks us if we are pretending to be Christians.

How to Discern Spiritual Religious Abuse in the Church How Do I Know?

2011-12-22T08:25:00.003+09:00

Has your pastor ever said any of these things?

Being critical of the Pastor is disloyalty to God.

Disobeying the Pastor is the same as DISOBEYING GOD.

If you disobey the Pastor, YOU ARE DISOBEYING GOD.

Disobedience to the Pastor equals DISOBEDIENCE TO GOD

Spiritually abusive fellowships and spiritually abusive churches tend to view almost everyone who leaves "our church" as a backslider and these spiritually abusive churches/fellowships view most other Christians as "Christians" who are not truly saved or not truly committed. The pastors of some conservative Calvinist/Reformed churches in South Korea are judgemental of pastors who belong to other Christian denominations and view pastors of other Christian denominations as "unbiblical preachers" or as "church leaders who are building their own kingdoms instead of God's Kingdom."

In spiritually abusive churches, independence in personal affairs is scorned. All areas of life are to be exposed to the Pastor -- even those that do not touch moral issues. This is called "being open." Loyal church members are strongly encouraged to consult the Pastor and ask the Pastor for advice INSTEAD OF asking one's husband or wife EVEN IF the husband or wife is a Christian.

Non-abusive pastors and church leaders rebuke church members only for grave public sins, as a last resort (Matthew 18:17). Spiritually abusive pastors and church leaders often publicly rebuke or ostracize members who simply disagree with leaders' opinions. Spiritually abusive pastors usually publicly rebuke "disobedient" "rebellious" "stubborn" church members through sermon illustrations or applications, etc.

In healthy fellowships we are encouraged to love and bless our enemies. In abusive fellowships showing hatred for our enemies and speaking defamatory of them is acceptable.

Reformed Faith How Do I Know If I am Included in THE ELECT?

2011-12-21T15:31:00.005+09:00

From a practical standpoint, there is a problem with the Calvinistic/Reformed view of election, ESPECIALLY in authoritarian Presbyterian/Reformed churches where the Pastor is constantly analyzing and judging the hearts/motives of church members. In Presbyterian/Reformed churches that are characterized by authoritarian leadership where the Pastor is the Leader, the Pastor sets himself up as the Judge, and frequently acts as if he can distinguish between THE ELECT and THE REPROBATE among the members of his church.

How can one know whether he or she is included in THE ELECT? Jordan Cooper says the following regarding the Reformed view of election:

One cannot point to the objective work of Christ, because it was only done for the elect. Thus, before I can have assurance that Christ died for me, I must look to my works as evidence of the Spirit. Once I have this assurance, I can look to the cross. Whether or not it is intended, I am ultimately pointed to my works.

Father Alvin Kimel - a Catholic priest - writes the following about the problems with the Calvinist/Reformed doctrine of election/predestination:

Who are the elect? How do I determine whether I am one of them? Am I truly regenerate, truly born again? My faith looks and feels genuine; but counterfeit faith always remains a possibility. Yes, I’m doing good works, but they are never enough to satisfy the condemning conscience.

Puritan and Reformed theology has struggled with this for four hundred years, to no resolution.The Reformation didn’t solve the problem of assurance. It accentuated it. The Reformation only succeeded in turning the sinner’s gaze around into the black abyss of the human heart. The anguished conscience remains.

Sovereignty of God and Human Suffering

2011-12-21T15:05:00.000+09:00

From Human Suffering, Human Liberation, and the Sovereignty of God by Shirley C. Guthrie, Professor of Systematic Theology at Columbia Theological Seminary

Most of the time, they[ancient Israel and the early Christian community] saw scant evidence of the victorious power of God in their present experience. Little, weak, threatened, and oppressed, like the Psalmist and Jesus himself, they often experienced only the distance, silence, and absence of God. But even in the depths of their god-forsaken weakness and suffering, the people of Israel remembered the power of God that delivered them from slavery, and the church remembered the power of God that raised Jesus from the dead, victorious over the powers of sin and death. They therefore confidently looked forward in hope to the time when they would see and experience the victorious love and power of God in their own lives and in the world `around them. In the meantime, as they lived between their memory of the sovereign power of God and their hope for it, three things happened:

(1) They counted on and experienced the comforting and sustaining presence of a God who was there to share their weakness and suffering.

(2) Now and then, here and there, once in a while, even in the present, they experienced what Barth calls little, provisional, temporary but real evidences of the liberating power of God at work in their lives and in the world: a few lives saved and restored to health where only death had reigned, a little more justice where there had only been massive injustice, moments of reconciliation where there had only been hostile alienation, little signs that their memory and hope were not in vain and that there was more to come.

(3) And that gave them the confidence and courage, despite all opposition, setbacks., failures, and defeats, to keep up an active struggle for the wholeness, justice, freedom, and peace of the kingdom of God they were sure was already on the way and would surely come-not because of what they might be able to accomplish but because of what the sovereign God in whom they believed can and will accomplish with or without their puny little help.

That is what it means to be Christians and a Christian church in our time also. Dependence upon and witness to the self-giving, suffering love of God for suffering people in a suffering world? Yes! But also the certainty that we and all people everywhere come from and go to meet a life-giving, liberating, reconciling, life-renewing triune God of sovereign power who is not only present but present and at work (and who invites God's people to be not only present but present and at work) moving toward the new humanity in a new heaven and earth that are on the way and will surely come.

Spiritual Abuse and Narcissistic Church Leaders in South Korean Church

2011-12-20T15:02:00.010+09:00

Spiritual Abuse is the misuse of Scriptures to manipulate, control, or demand submission. "Enthusiastic faith" - obeying/serving the pastor, attending every church worship service and "serving at church" - is necessary to attain (or maintain) a good status in the church. This is performance-based and gives a false sense of righteousness and holiness. Spiritual abuse leaves us spiritually discouraged and emotionally cut off from the healing love of God. Spiritual abuse is "the mistreatment of a person who is in need of help, support or greater spiritual empowerment, with the result of weakening, undermining, or decreasing that person's spiritual empowerment."

Narcissistic Personality Character Traits

If your pastor or church leader can be characterized by these traits,

you may have a major challenge on your hands.

No remorse for mistakes or misdeeds. Will not offer heartfelt apologies or ask for forgiveness.
Projects his faults on to others. High blaming behavior; never his fault
Insensitive to needs and feelings of others
Low stress tolerance. Easy to provoke into anger
Rationalizes easily. Twists conversation to his gain at other’s expense. If trapped, keeps talking, changes the subject or gets angry
Conversation controller. Must have the first and last word
Is very slow to forgive others. Hangs onto resentment
Lacks ability to see how he comes across to others. Defensive when confronted with his behavior. Things are never his fault. "How could you betray me? After all that I have done for you, how could you?"
Will not want to share his pulpit/platform with others
Spend long hours ‘doing church’

Traits of a Spiritually Abusive Pastor or Church Leader

Using our spiritual position to control or dominate another person. Spiritually abusive pastors demand obedience and submission "If you disobey the pastor, you are disobeying God"

Overriding the feelings and opinions of others.
Using spiritual authority defensively to bolster the position and “needs” of the leader.
Considering oneself above questioning.
Labeling the person who questions us as wrong and rebellious, thus subtly shifting the focus and blame. Questions are assumed to come from a wrong spirit, not simply from an honest attempt to have give-and-take dialogue. The worst is assumed of the other; the best is assumed of oneself.
Labels can include accusations such as, “You’re rebellious and disobedient.” “You’re disrespectful.” “I detect a pattern of anger and a critical spirit.” “You are unspiritual and emotionally immature.” Such labels heap condemnation on the recipient, rather than offering wise counsel and constructive feedback.
Interpreting our spiritual authority to mean that my thoughts and opinions are supreme. "The pastor is the spokesman of God. The pastor's sermons must not be heard as the words of a person. The pastor's sermons must be heard as the Word of God."

Spiritual Abuse Movies About Spiritual Abuse or Related to Spiritual Abuse

2011-12-20T14:08:00.001+09:00

The Apostle Delusional preacher. Great psychological parallels with our own apostle.

Blast from the Past A guy born in a bomb shelter in his parents back yard in the days of cold war paranoia, comes out into the real world after 35 years. Heads up, AK's.

Elmer Gantry Con-man preacher

Fireproof Saving a marriage

The Hiding Place Forgiveness in impossible circumstances.

Join Us 2007 independent documentary follows four families in real time as they leave their South Carolina Bible-based abusive church and are counseled by Dr. Paul Martin at Wellspring. Film Baby has a good synopsis. Here is a statement by Ondi Timoner on how she became interested in making films about mind control. She is also interviewed on YouTube about her film-making: Webisode 1, Webisode 2, Webisode 3, Webisode 4, Webisode 5. John Fischer commented on "Join Us" in a Los Angeles Times article.

Elitist Churches in South Korea and Spiritually Abusive Pastors

2011-12-19T16:31:00.002+09:00

The church culture and prevalent atmosphere in elitist conservative Reformed churches is a church culture that is characterized by arrogant, haughty judging of pastors, churches and Christians/church-goers who do not hold to conservative, Reformed doctrine(5-point Calvinism). The pastors of elitist conservative Calvinist/Reformed churches in South Korea criticize and judge pastors, churches and Christians who belong to the South Korean Methodist, Sungkyul (Holiness) and Pentecostal denominations. The South Korean Methodist, Sungkyul (Holiness) and Pentecostal denominations are criticized and denounced for being Arminian in theology. The pastors of elitist conservative Calvinist/Reformed churches in South Korea criticize and judge the pastors, churches and Christians who belong to the Tonghap and Kijang denominations, the two relatively liberal Presbyterian denominations in South Korea. The afore-mentioned elitist conservative Calvinist/Reformed pastors frequently criticize and judge other pastors, churches and Christians publicly from the pulpit while preaching sermons. Spiritually abusive pastors who lead elitist, conservative Calvinist/Reformed churches rationalize gossip and harsh criticism/rebuking of others. Spiritually abusive pastors claim that church members who hold incorrect/wrong opinions or views must be corrected (and "set straight") through God's Word. Spiritually abusive pastors rationalize and spiritualize their hurtful/wrongful actions. These spiritually abusive pastors claim that they must "protect the church" from heresy, complaining and dissension.

Church members who are obedient to the pastor are encouraged (directly or indirectly) to be haughty and judgemental of people outside the fellowship. Church members who do not serve the pastor are constantly judged and rebuked. Christians who do not adhere to conservative doctrine and 5-point Calvinism are denounced as "religious people who are not true Christians."

In elitist and spiritually abusive churches, there is a culture of blindly believing/following the pastor's teaching without using any critical thinking. Spiritually abusive pastors redefine the concept of faith. Church members who want to show that they are true Christians must prove that they have "enthusiastic faith." This "enthusiastic faith" is proven by (1) attending every church worship service, (2) being obedient to the pastor and serving the pastor, (3) actively and enthusiastically serving at church (example - helping to clean the church building on Saturdays).

In elitist and spiritually abusive churches, faith ("enthusiastic faith") is redefined. "Enthusiastic faith" keeps "true Christians" from sin. Persevering in "enthusiastic faith" is the way to receive the blessings of God. In elitist and spiritually abusive Calvinist/Reformed churches, "enthusiastic faith" and spiritual striving are the means by which a "true Christian" proves that he or she is worthy of being included in "the elect."

South Korean Church and Pastor Submission Doctrine

2011-12-17T18:24:00.003+09:00

Spiritual Abuse - Fifteen Years Later :
My spirit was so disturbed by things going on and the way the pastor addressed the congregation (forcefully scolding them for an extended period of time because they were not worshipping “correctly”) that I had to get out of there. I felt an overwhelming sense that I had to flee...

This is precisely what the pastor of our (South Korean) church does...except that the pastor of our church targets a few people or just one person (the other church members who are not targeted for rebuking and scolding don't even seem to realize that spiritual abuse exists in our church).

Check this out - All About Authority: The Popularity of Submission Doctrine :

Another trait that many of these groups shared was a devotion to submission. Unfortunately, people became less discerning and began to rely upon the decision-making and opinions of others under the guise of wisdom, but many forfeited their own reasonable sense of responsibility and authority in the process.

Questioning authority, either to honor that authority or to learn, would be noted as a lack of submissiveness and a type of rebellion. Disobeying your pastor amounts to spiritual insubordination.

Spiritual Abuse and Abusive Christian Groups

2011-12-17T18:12:00.001+09:00

Biblical Correctives for Spiritual Abuse

Aberrant Christian groups take Scripture out of context, mistakenly apply it, and use it to justify wrong conclusions (prooftexting). Sound Bible teaching on the Gospel, sanctification, and proper church authority corrects this twisting of Scripture that underpins spiritual abuse.

Married the Wrong Person? God is Sovereign

2011-12-17T00:15:00.007+09:00

My spouse is very active in church, seems to think that she is a devout, faithful Christian and respects our pastor very much BUT she does not respect me. She is very stubborn and - sometimes - I can't help thinking that she stubbornly REFUSES to respect me.

Judges 21:25 (GNT)

²⁵ There was no king in Israel at that time. Everyone did whatever they pleased. Read other translations/versions

Did You Marry the Wrong Person? Tim Challies

God is in control not only of the locations in which you live, but also of the influences that have shaped you as a person. He has not only written the story of you and your spouse and determined that your stories would intersect, but he has controlled all the things that have made you different from one another.

As you struggle, you must not view your marriage as bad luck, or poor planning, or a mess that you have made for yourself. No, God is right smack-dab in the middle of your struggle. He is not surprised by what you are facing today. He is up to something.

This is comfort in the sovereignty of God, that God has ordered all things and that he means to work in and through you. Your marriage to this person at this time falls well within the scope of his sovereign plan. God simply won’t allow you to entertain thoughts of regret or of escape.

But here is what we need to see: The wrongness of our spouse is one of the great formative influences on us. The wrongness and the apparent incompatibilities are the very things God uses to mold and shape us. A few years down the road you will look back on all of that wrongness, all you declared to be wrong about your husband or wife, and find that God was not wrong at all. He knew exactly what you needed.

According to author and speaker Mark Gungor, “God wants to kill you. Not the physical you, but the selfish you. Jesus taught us that if we don’t die to our selfish nature, we will never be able to experience all the blessings that God wants to bestow on us. Well, if there was ever an institution designed to kill the selfish you, it’s marriage. In fact, it is virtually impossible to succeed at marriage if you don’t learn how to let the selfish part of you die.”

Have You Ever Wondered If You Married The Wrong Person?

Can I Marry the Wrong Person?

An excellent blog about the sovereignty of God (Marianne Lordi)

Disobeying Pastor Same as Disobeying God and You May Be Excommunicated from Church

2011-12-15T05:46:00.001+09:00

better clearer photo here

Rebellion is bad as the sin of witchcraft (1 Sam 15:23). The Bible correctly says so. Many (South Korean) pastors and church leaders preachers and leaders however, incorrectly apply this to anyone who dares to disagree with or criticize them. Many Christians are afraid to question the teachings of their leaders and prominent ministers for fear of "touching God's anointed."

South Korean Pastors' Authoritarian Controlling Domineering Church Leadership

2011-12-13T15:09:00.013+09:00

See Matthew 22:36-40 , Matthew 23:23 , Amos 5:21-24 and Micah 6:6-8

In many Christian churches, our burning desire to be biblical has blinded us to the need to love our neighbor. Our burning desire to be biblical has convinced us that it is ok to harshly rebuke and criticize those whose opinions differ from our own opinions. (See 2 Timothy 2:24-25).

Authoritarianism in the church and abuse of authority in the church is one of the most serious (unacknowledged) problems in the South Korean church (and to a lesser extent, in the Korean-American immigrant church). In some South Korean churches, the pastor’s prominence and "obeying the pastor" are more important than the legitimate needs of the congregation. If you disobey the pastor, you are disobeying God and being disobedient. The spiritually abusive Pharisaical pastor has a long list of rules and demands and little grace for church members who don't do everything that the pastor demands of them.

In some extreme cases, South Korean pastors deliberately place themselves between a husband and wife and use pastoral authority as a means of manipulating them both into personal loyalty to himself (the pastor). If either the husband or wife becomes in any way critical of the church or the pastor's ministry, the pastor "counsels" the obedient church mouse to put pressure on the disobedient, rebellious husband or wife to repent. This is done on the ground that "your mate's soul is in danger" because they are daring to question God's "duly authorized" pastor. Church members should never question their pastors and should never complain about the church because the pastor is "the spokesman of God."

Authoritarian church leaders are unbiblical. Authoritarian, controlling pastors/church leaders bypass the checks and balances that should be placed on church leaders and are frequently in danger of taking a church in an unbiblical direction.

Authoritarian leadership (also known as autocratic leadership), is a leadership style characterized by individual control over all decisions and little input from group members. Authoritarian, autocratic leaders typically make choices based on their own ideas and judgments and rarely accept advice from followers.

_________________________________________________

The Korean church is organized in a vertical, male dominated, hierarchical structure, headed by a male pastor who wields considerable authority and power. South Korean pastors are perceived as "God's mouthpiece" and "God's spokesman." South Korean pastors are viewed as "the messenger who is speaking God‟s message to the people.” In many South Korean churches, pastors threaten that God will punish people who oppose the pastor. Opposing the pastor includes confronting the pastor when he preaches or teaches something that is clearly unbiblical.

Age shapes both the structure and hierarchy in the Korean church. In the Korean culture, the elderly person is respected to the point of becoming idolized, exercising complete authority over younger people. Age-based hierarchy is most noticeable between first generation and second generation Koreans. Authoritarianism and gender/age hierarchy at the church level is an extension of the ethnic values that are present in the Korean home.

Unwritten rules and codes of behavior such as respect, obedience and submission are passed down from generation to generation so that the Korean church is characterized by authoritarian (sometimes spiritually abusive) leadership because Korean society is an authoritarian society. Why is Korean society an authoritarian society? Korean society is an authoritarian society because Korean families are characterized by authoritarian parenting. A lot of emphasis is placed on Obedience and Submission. The Korean family, Korean society and Korean church is characterized by a "Do what I say or be punished for your disobedience" leadership style.

God and His Followers are Angry and Judgemental - How People View God and Religion

2011-12-12T13:47:00.000+09:00

Americans Undecided About God (New York Times Sunday Review)

Many of us don’t view religion so generously. All we see is an angry God. He is constantly judging and smiting, and so are his followers. No wonder so many Americans are enamored of the Dalai Lama. He laughs, often and well.

Precious few of our religious leaders laugh. They shout.

Unquestioning Loyalty to a Pastor is Unbiblical and is the Sign of a Cult or Abusive Unhealthy Church

2011-12-10T21:41:00.010+09:00

See UNQUESTIONING LOYALTY TO PASTORAL LEADERSHIP THE MARK OF A CULT and

Legalism, Cultism, and the Abuse of God’s Authority

Psalm 152 (Of one suffering from Spiritually Abusive Pastor)

The pastor is my boss man, but he don't feed me much,
He keeps me in constant motion serving him,
and all the church is in a frenzy;
He does not ask about my soul-- ever,
And I have to tell my kids not to talk like the pastor,
When I am sick, he never shows up,
but he sure gets into a rage when I mess up;
When our family was broke,
he never helped us, just said, "keep prayin', brutha."
The pastor pours oil on my head all right, but it is on fire;
When I go home Sunday night after church, my cup is pretty much empty.
But, I know he will follow me until I die,
screaming-- "GET RIGHT !" and "GIVE !"
You know, I can't wait to die and go to heaven to be with Jesus.

According to Henry T. Blackaby, "Unquestioning loyalty to a pastor is not a biblical principle; unquestioning loyalty to Christ is (a biblical principle). Mutual submission, esteeming others more highly than yourself, servant leadership, and being willing to put your life on the line for your brother or sister are biblical principles. For a leader to be upset because his staff questions his decisions (not publicly, but privately), for clarification or accuracy discounts everything God has placed in companions to help sharpen the leader."

According to Ronald Enroth, "...experience with authoritarian leadership is, unfortunately, not unusual for people who have been a part of spiritually abusive groups. Control-oriented leadership is at the core of all such churches. These spiritual power holders become strong role models, and their dogmatic teaching, bold confidence, and arrogant assertiveness become powerful forces of influence. They use their spiritual authority to intimidate the weak and those who consider leaving their flock."

If a pastor or church leader is upset because church members have honest questions about the content of the pastor/church leader's sermon, the pastor or church leader may be an unbiblical, authoritarian, controlling pastor/church leader.

Loyalty is good if it is based on truth, unquestioning loyalty to any person or church leadership is the mark of what a cult is made of. When you have people that follow what the one behind the pulpit says without checking the Scriptures to see if he is speaking the truth, disaster is soon to follow. Paul commended the Bereans who checked on the Scripture to see if what he was teaching is correct.

Biblical characteristics of proper and godly pastoral authority

FIRST, THE PASTOR’S AUTHORITY IS A MINISTERING AUTHORITY--the authority of a shepherd (Mark 10:42-45; Acts 20:28; 2 Cor. 1:24; 13:10; Titus 1:7; 1 Pet. 5:2). The authority of a pastor is strictly for building up and protecting God’s people and work. It is not for his own pleasure and design.

SECOND, THE PASTOR’S AUTHORITY IS A SUBMISSIVE, HUMBLE AUTHORITY--the authority of a steward (Acts 20:28; 1 Cor. 3:9; 4:1; 12:7; Tit. 1:7; 1 Pet. 4:10; 5:3-5).

The pastor is to rule under the direction of the Lord Jesus Christ, not by his own mind or will. The church is God’s property; the people are God’s people; the work is God’s work. The pastor is merely a steward or caretaker.

Contrast this with the ministry of proud, willful Diotrephes (3 Jn. 9-10) who lorded it over the flock and who quenched the spiritual ministry of men of whom he did not approve even though their ministries were scriptural.

Diotrephes demands unquestioning loyalty and does not teach the people that his authority is restricted. He emphasizes certain passages that refer to one aspect of pastoral authority (such as Hebrews 13:17), but he ignores the passages that limit his authority (such as Mark 10:42-45; 2 Cor. 1:24; and 1 Peter 5:2). This is the way that all false teachers misuse the Bible.

THIRD, THE PASTOR’S AUTHORITY IS A KINDLY, LOVING AUTHORITY--the authority of a father (1 Th. 2:7-11).

The pastor is to have a godly, loving, tender, sacrificial consideration for the welfare of the people. His rule is not to be an overbearing, self-serving type of rule.

One of the marks of a cult is the way people are treated when they refuse to follow the leadership unquestioningly. People are only treated kindly and lovingly if they submit to the doctrines and “authority” of the cult’s leaders. As long as people unquestionably submit to the pastor, they are treated kindly. As soon as they question his leadership and leave, the kindness is removed and they are treated unkindly.

FOURTH, THE PASTOR’S AUTHORITY IS A LIBERATING AUTHORITY--THE AUTHORITY TO BUILD UP NOT HOLD DOWN (2 Corinthians 10:8; Ephesians 4:11-12)

How to Discern Spiritual Abuse in the Church

2011-12-09T15:44:00.000+09:00

Two days ago, during early morning prayer, our pastor said that we should not idolize our husbands or wives. Our pastor also said that the things the husband says is not God's Word. Our pastor and the pastor's wife frequently say that the pastor's sermons should not be heard as the words of a person, but that the pastor's sermons should be heard as God's Word. Our pastor says that his sermons should be heard as God's Word despite the fact that he preached a sermon in which he said immigration is unbiblical (moving away from one's ancestral homeland is unbiblical) and refuses to show me the Biblical basis for his assertion that immigration is unbiblical. When I asked him to show me the Biblical basis for his assertion that immigration is unbiblical, he demanded that I repent.

The husband needs to take the helm and lead the family in spiritual matters because the husband is the head of the household. Our pastor has taken away my role as the head of my own family. My wife seldom listens to or trusts the things I say. She goes to the pastor for advice/instruction about most of our family decisions.

See 1 Peter 3:1-5

1 Peter 3:1-2 (NLT)

In the same way, you wives must accept the authority of your husbands. Then, even if some refuse to obey the Good News, your godly lives will speak to them without any words. They will be won over by observing your pure and reverent lives.

1 Peter 3:1-2 Amplified Bible (AMP)

1 IN LIKE manner, you married women, be submissive to your own husbands [subordinate yourselves as being secondary to and dependent on them, and adapt yourselves to them], so that even if any do not obey the Word [of God], they may be won over not by discussion but by the [godly] lives of their wives,

²When they observe the pure and modest way in which you conduct yourselves, together with your reverence [for your husband; you are to feel for him all that reverence includes: to respect, defer to, revere him--to honor, esteem, appreciate, prize, and, in the human sense, to adore him, that is, to admire, praise, be devoted to, deeply love, and enjoy your husband].

Marks of a Controlling, Authoritarian Leader

(1) The command is to "submit to me," rather than "I will serve you."

(2) The method of leadership is to "order" people around, rather than to appeal for them to do the right things.

(3) There is a dominating, "pushy" drive instead of a dependence on God to direct.

(4) There is a sense of control, rather than a sense of support.

(5) There is an inflexibility - "don't question me" - "don't touch the Lord's anointed."

(6) There is more concern for maintaining the authoritarian structure than there is for caring about the people in it.

Marks of an Abusive Group (Abusive Leader)

* A lack of tolerance for disagreement with the leadership.

* Squelching of members freedom of thought when it differs form the leaderships.

* Instilling a belief that disobeying the pastor's "advice" is disobedience/sin.

* Relentless judging of members’ hearts or motives

"YOU ARE DELIBERATELY BEING STUBBORN. You are lying/You are a liar!"

*Subtly teaching that you need to follow everything the pastor "suggests" so you can please God even when you don’t feel right about it.

* Exercising discipline or correction upon anyone who will not do what the pastor says to do (Endless rebuking/correction from the pulpit)

* Cause members to feel they are going against God when they hold views/opinions that are different from the pastor's views/opinions.

* Cause members to feel they are rebellious when they question any of the pastor's words or actions.

* Pastors ‘lord’ it over the flock and continually rebuke and scold church members instead of lovingly leading them.

* You begin to feel guilty and ashamed, unworthy as a person.

* The group speaks in a derogatory way about your past religious affiliation.

* Your parents and friends are defined as unable to understand and unable to help you with religious matters.

* Doubts and questions are seen as signs of weak faith. You are shunned if you persist in these doubts.

* Prohibition of critical analysis and independent thinking.

Many so-called Christians profess to have true faith but have never truly repented

2011-12-05T08:49:00.000+09:00

How many "Christians are truly believers, disciples of Christ? There are many that have a false profession of faith and no true repentance. Unrepentant "Christians" have found a home in our churches. In the Bible, repentance always comes before true faith. Many "Christians" profess to have true faith but have never truly repented. Profession of faith without true repentance, however, is an embarrassment to the church and to all true Christians.

Spiritual Abuse in Korean Church and Authoritarian Pastors

2011-12-02T15:14:00.002+09:00

For more on spiritual abuse in Korean churches The New Believers, Gracepoint Berkeley Yelp Review

Spiritual abuse is a spiritual role-reversal where a shepherd, instead of clinging to and emulating the Great Shepherd by shepherding God’s people (Acts 20; 1 Peter 5; 1 Timothy 3; Ephesians 4), subtly demands that members exist to meet the shepherd’s needs (James 4:1-4). Rather than relating as a servant leader, the pastor “pulls rank” and “lords it over others” (Matthew 20:20-28; 1 Peter 5:1-6), not for the benefit of the flock, but for the benefit of the pastor. Rather than speaking the truth in love and rather than ministering grace and truth (Ephesians 4:11-16, 29; Colossians 4:3-6; Titus 2:10-12), the spiritually abusive pastor intimidates, judges, condemns, shames, and blames the sheep without regard for the spiritual wellbeing of the sheep (Jeremiah 23:1-4; Matthew 23:1-39).

One characteristic of a spiritually abusive church leader is that the leader forgets he is to serve the church, and instead uses the church members to serve him.

Many pastors in South Korea demand (both indirectly and directly) that church members must serve the pastor.

Churches in South Korea (South Korean churches)

Some South Korean pastors are building churches - personal kingdoms - that are not based on the love of God, but that are based on fear, intimidation and mind/behavior control. The tactics used by these authoritarian, tyrannical pastors are simple: use guilt to reshape thinking and follow-up with scrutinizing accountability checks to restructure lifestyles. The subversive leadership style of these authoritarian, tyrannical pastors leads to church people - mindless drones - who serve the pastor and idolize the pastor.

Symptoms of Spiritual Abuse

There are “symptoms” that we can identify that might point to a heart moving toward spiritual abuse. These might include actions and attitudes such as:

Using our spiritual position to control or dominate another person.
Overriding the feelings and opinions of others.
Using spiritual authority defensively to bolster the position and “needs” of the leader.
Considering oneself above questioning.
Labeling the person who questions us as wrong and rebellious, thus subtly shifting the focus and blame. Questions are assumed to come from a wrong spirit, not simply from an honest attempt to have give-and-take dialogue. The worst is assumed of the other; the best is assumed of oneself.
Labels can include accusations such as, “You’re rebellious.” “You’re disrespectful.” “I detect a pattern of anger and a critical spirit.” “You are unspiritual and emotionally immature.” Such labels heap condemnation on the recipient, rather than offering wise counsel and constructive feedback.
Interpreting our spiritual authority to mean that my thoughts and opinions are supreme.

Spiritual Elitism (I'm Right, You Are Not)

Many spiritually abusive churches and spiritually abusive pastors are characterized by the "I'm right, you are not" complex.

An unfortunate reality, the “I’m right” complex is seen when Christians feel superior to other Christians with differing denominational affinity, theological leanings, or ministry practices. They believe their perspective is correct and all others are wrong.

Spokesmen of God who speak for God?

There is perhaps no more gripping human motivation than the fear of displeasing authority figures. In many cases, these authority figures - these pastors are accountable to no one. These church leaders and pastors say that they are speaking for God when they preach from the pulpit. Basically, church leaders and pastors who say they speak for God when they preach are saying they are spokesmen for God.

South Korean pastors (and some Korean-American pastors) say that they are to be obeyed and submitted to since their guidance and direction is aimed at caring for the spiritual welfare of those they are to watch over. Opposing and resisting the pastor - and refusing to serve the pastor - is a sin that can lead to divine punishment. Pastors in South Korea have an absolute authority inherent in their position which is to be respected without question. This leads to a spiritual authority that is authoritarian and domineering.

In the book of the prophet Ezekiel is recorded one of the most gripping indictments of Yahweh himself upon the rulers of Israel whom He addressed as "the shepherds" of his own people. It stands as probably the most detailed divine insight given in the Bible as to how followers, referred to as sheep, are abused by spiritual leaders:

Ezekiel 34:1-4

Ezekiel 34:4 (NLT) You have not taken care of the weak. You have not tended the sick or bound up the injured. You have not gone looking for those who have wandered away and are lost. Instead, you have ruled them with harshness and cruelty.

Ezekiel 34:4 (GNT) You have not taken care of the weak ones, healed the ones that are sick, bandaged the ones that are hurt, brought back the ones that wandered off, or looked for the ones that were lost. Instead, you treated them cruelly.

The prophetic utterance of God as delivered by Ezekiel sternly rebukes Israel's leaders for their vicious exploitation and manipulative control of the people of God. God's divine perspective misses nothing as He reveals how Israel's population were systematically being neglected due to the self-centered interest shown by these errant "shepherds", and promises them that their rule will be cut short by the extension of His judgment upon them.

Free Online Biblical Training

2011-11-30T13:40:00.000+09:00

The classes that make up the BiblicalTraining Institute offer you a free education of unparalleled quality. Our world renowned professors come from a variety of denominational backgrounds and are all firmly evangelical. The mission of BiblicalTraining is to help followers of Christ become effective ministers of the Gospel by providing world-class, Christ-centered educational resources for discipleship

Online Minister Pastor Ministerial Preparation Ministry Training

2011-11-30T13:01:00.000+09:00

Spurgeon's College Online

Nazarene Bible College Ministry Preparation Program

Wesleyan Church Ministerial Preparation

Global University Berean School of the Bible (Assemblies of God)

Healing from Spiritual Abuse (Resources)

2011-11-29T15:53:00.002+09:00

Surviving Spiritual Abuse (Exit and Support Network)

Healing from Spiritual Abuse (futuristguy2)

Controlling Personalities in the Church (Wittenberg Gate)

Church Exiters (Dr. Barb Orlowski)

Spiritual Abuse Within the Church (Rich Damiani)

Emerging from Broken

Prayer for Those Who are Ignored Lonely and Rejected

2011-11-28T12:50:00.000+09:00

Lord God, grant Your living hope to all the people who are suicidal. Give Your living hope to all the people who are ignored by others and rejected by others. Lord God, grant Your living hope to all the people who are depressed and lonely, all the people who are social outcasts, all the people who are friendless. Grant Your living hope, Lord God, to all those who have no hope.

Lord God, bring to a swift end the power of those who ignore and reject people for whatever reason. Bring to a swift end the arrogance, pride and self-righteousness of those who ignore and reject other people (see Luke 6:24-26)