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Author Topic: Attack of the Pseudo Apostles  (Read 3747 times)
Janet Easson Martin
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« on: June 15, 2015, 01:18:25 pm »

ATTACK OF THE PSEUDO APOSTLES


"...if a man assumes control of your souls and makes slaves of you, or devours [your substance, spends your money] and preys upon you or deceives you and takes advantage of you, or is arrogant and puts on airs, or strikes you in the face..."
2 Corinthians 11:20  (AMP)


Many christians (like myself) bear and endure this extremely abusive treatment because they are deceitfully taught that it is a spiritual "fast-track", multiplying their humility and submission before God. How convenient!  Actually, the REAL WORDs of GOD say we are fools! We are clueless that we are being PLAYED. The devil uses such "christian" leaders as his agents, 'masquerading as special messengers of God'. Satan USES them to control, take captive, and nearly devour all the genuine faith we previously practiced.

Satan aims to downplay or psychologically deplete our most precious possession, our God-given armor. The Divine Protection we cannot live successfully without. None of which are of our own making or creation, they are GIFTS of God. They divinely provide all the joy, preparedness and usefulness we need. They  supernaturally empower the believer when they are PUT ON (or claimed through present active faith). Perhaps God warns of our defeat without them because these are the prime areas where the enemy (the devil) attacks us.

Similarly, over the course of time the GCx* church organization (warned about here on this site) I was prey to, also arrogantly controlled, took advantage of (both in substance and money), made slave of, and often abusively rebuked us for lack of committment, service, and faith (which was very much like being spiritually slapped in the face). The multiple weekly 'teachings', as they were called, were actually sessions of continual and subtle tearing down of the "underlings" to establish and maintain the vast gap between the leadership and its followers. This set up a very UNBIBLICAL fear of authority toward those in leadership; following the very arrogant example set by its top leader & "founder", Jim McCotter.

 It is interesting that the things in which we were attacked were the very provisions God gave us for protection.  There was indeed a satanic attack both on WHO WE WERE & WHAT WE POSSESED IN CHRIST. For instance, the criticism that we or others were not saved if one didn't possess particular characteristics identified by the GCx leaders. Our necessary assurance of salvation, our very hope; our helmet to protect us from doubting God's choosing and keeping us - was being twisted loose.

We were also constantly and consistently attacked on our righteousness or lack of it. "Holiness" or "spiritual ness" in our leaders eyes (rather than God) was of prime importance. It was how you were classified, acknowledged, and regarded. Putting it plainly, you were accepted into the elite if your were spiritual enough. Righteousness in this organization was a thing to be attained, not really a God-given gift. It's "class system" led to all kinds of pride from being accepted and depression from being rejected. It produced the dog-eat-dog worldliness and competition in a group of (mostly) believers, through its pressure chamber of man-made "righteousness". Our God-given Breastplate of Righteousness was essentially thrown away. Yes, the one bought with Jesus' blood. Do you see the demonic scheme at work here?

The Belt of Truth was exchanged without our clear notice. A new set of special truths with a twist here and there of scripture to support it was put in its place. Right and wrong were judged by new standards, no longer by the "law of love" written on our hearts by the Spirit. This primary teacher of Truth, the HOLY SPIRIT, now had a full-time substitute: "The Law of the Elders". They were to be held in higher regard than The Holy Spirit.

Please don't bear and endure such spiritual arrogance, robbery and abuse any longer. Pray that you will look at such leaders through The Spirit, who lives in you, so that you are able to SEE they are not truly serving our Savior of Grace and Truth. They are not operating under God's true authority. They are pseudo apostles.




* GCx has once again changed its name, now, most recently to Reliant Mission
« Last Edit: July 04, 2015, 07:23:25 am by Janet Easson Martin » Logged

For grace is given not because we have done good works, but in order that we may be able to do them.        - Saint Augustine
Janet Easson Martin
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« Reply #1 on: October 19, 2016, 08:29:16 pm »


Attack on Our Acceptibility and Approval

In my journal I found this note written on November 24th, 2010.  It had come out of my time alone with God and His Word.  Sometimes His spirit gently whispers words in our heart that reveal truth and put us on a path of healing.  Here's what it seemed God was saying that day: 'The cult you were in has caused the stronghold in disbelieving your cleanness in Christ.'

The REAL Gospel says I am totally accepted by God without condition.  Jesus paid for me to be eternally PLEASING to God which my works can never achieve.

God says without our day-to-day knowledge of our DIVINE Righteousness we will not be overcomers.  In GCx not only were we starved of this knowledge, but we were actually shamed and "beat up" continually for not performing their mandate of God's will, and constantly accused of 'not loving the Lord' with our whole heart.

It's a wonder that we (underlings) didn't ALL give up on God.

 
« Last Edit: October 20, 2016, 06:49:54 am by Janet Easson Martin » Logged

For grace is given not because we have done good works, but in order that we may be able to do them.        - Saint Augustine
Janet Easson Martin
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« Reply #2 on: May 15, 2021, 09:51:37 pm »

What did they do to your Joy?


This has been copied from a response to someone trying to make sense of their disappointing experience in GCx that I wrote a few years ago, but felt it was still applicable today.


It seems from Paul's sadness and fear concerning the spiritual welfare of young believers in Acts 20:28-30 (these verses are used in the post "How do recognize a wolf in sheep's clothing?"), that he KNEW false teachers would come from the outside and from the inside to rob them of their joy and freedom in Christ, to gain a following for themselves.  Apparently, they weren't then and aren't now as few and far between as we would like to think.  Recently Billy Graham's daughter, Anne, highlighted in her video series "Expecting to See Jesus", where she issues a wake-up call using the signs of Jesus' return, that she believes there are many false teachers in the pulpits today.  She discusses this as one of the signs outlined in Matthew 24.  So it might be easier than we realize to get involved with such teaching.  It demonstrates how much Satan hates God's child, and now that he IS SAVED, wants to ship-wreck his present faith and steal the reward he would definitely experience in this age and in the one to come.  Our ACTIVE FAITH is a greater act of COURAGE, and a greater FIGHT in a “BLOODY” BATTLE than we can now imagine!  

 So, Paul warns his friends with tears and prays for their faith.  And, for us, God's word gives us a record of what false "churches" do to believers.  It calls out the RESULTS OF FALSE TEACHING: the sheep's true loss of overflowing joy  A good friend and colleague who I tried so hard to get into my old GCx church finally said openly to me after several visits and meeting numerous members, "Why would I want to go somewhere where almost everyone seems to be crying on the inside, while smiling on the outside?"  Paul says point blank, "What has happened to all your joy?" (in Galations 4)  Having present active faith produces REAL JOY.

"what has happened to all your joy?"
Galatians 4:15


Do you know what a wise and reliable christian psychologist once told me?
Depression, if not from a chemical imbalance, is caused by LOSS,  it   is    grieving !.  
It hit me! - - That my loss, back then, was my saviour.
  

What does Paul say he feared would happen to those christians?  That they would be alienated (separated from sweet fellowship and dependence on their Saviour's deep unconditional love) by those who isolated them for their own use. The False Teachers had a grand plan to outdo OTHER CHRISTIAN LEADERS to make a "BETTER CHURCH" for personal showing.  The young believers would then slowly drift away as they attempted through their efforts to be acceptable (as they had been told by men) to be "good WORTHY christians". They exchanged their trusting in WHO they really were ALREADY in Christ for WHAT they have deceptively been told (by agents of Satan) that they must actually must DO to prove their devotion or "godliness".  Christ would certainly not forsake them because He NEVER GOES AGAINST His Word.  But that they would slowly desert Him, their HELPER, COUNSELOR, SHEPHERD, and FRIEND.  Because Christ is our only true source of joy, that begins to fade away and they are left with only the flesh to perform things only the SPIRIT through Faith can do.  

The twisted way of life they call christianity becomes a VERY heavy burden.  The very thing to help them, renew them, refresh them and strengthen them HAS BEEN CUT OFF like a separation from a beloved spouse and they experience a BEREAVEMENT.  Their dependence (Present-tense Faith or Active Believing) on Christ and His Word is the only access to the spring of GRACE (ability to obey God) they so desparately need .  Paul is worried they will fall away themselves from depending that very GRACE to live the christian life and thus, MISS OUT on all the joy and strength to actually live the miraculous God has planned for them.  

Anyhow, just wanted you to know that the deception we have experienced is not uncommon to get caught up in according to the scriptures, and we should not condemn ourselves.  But God does say to watch out for it and run for your VERY FAITH.  Perhaps The Great Commission (X=Whatever) Churches should be more appropriately called "The Better Commission Churches, since it is after all, a "better" (different) one than Jesus called us to.




« Last Edit: May 16, 2021, 01:15:29 pm by Janet Easson Martin » Logged

For grace is given not because we have done good works, but in order that we may be able to do them.        - Saint Augustine
Janet Easson Martin
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« Reply #3 on: May 16, 2021, 02:00:54 pm »

One poster here points out the strategy of a false “super-apostle” today against sound teaching which is not really different from what false teachers said about Paul. They said Paul was inferior in his teaching and practice of following God. That was the attack of Paul’s accusers which he referred to as wolves in Acts 20.  The wolf uses the “superior” and “more accurate” arguments to hustle sheep into his own pen; which is actually poor ground laden with thistles and thorns.  This successful deception produces sheep that are weakened and become unhealthy (which makes them easier prey for Satan’s attacks). The “super-saint” strategy that was bait to suck in young believers away from Paul and sound teaching thousands of years ago is the same one used by countless false teachers today. It promises the followers will also become “super-saints” if they join their ranks. Below is one of many witnesses to this strategy by McCotter.



It looks like Jim is using some of the same arguments. ‘The traditional Christian world doesn't have a clue. But by using the bible, Jim reveals the truth.’

From his book on House Churches and Leaders ... "This book explodes the myth of today’s churches and leaders being anywhere close to what we see in the New Testament. Most churches or leaders today are nowhere close to what they were in the New Testament. More amazing, most churches or leaders don’t have a clue how far they are from what Jesus and the apostles started.
-tmd




« Last Edit: May 17, 2021, 07:28:57 am by Janet Easson Martin » Logged

For grace is given not because we have done good works, but in order that we may be able to do them.        - Saint Augustine
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