Victimizing Christians

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Martin Bobgan

Psychological counseling theories and therapies have given Americans a new way of thinking and have turned our country into a therapeutic culture of the self—where the self and how it feels about itself are at the center of meaning. People from coast to coast have embraced a psychological mindset that puts emotional deprivation and woundedness as the root cause of nearly every personal and social problem. This mindset has the potential to make everyone into a victim needing the services of the ever-expanding mental-health system. Fifteen years ago Charles Sykes wrote a book titled A Nation of Victims: The Decay of the American Character, in which he says:

The ethos of victimization has an endless capacity not only for exculpating one’s self from blame, washing away responsibility in a torrent of explanation—racism, sexism, rotten parents, addiction, and illness—but also for projecting guilt onto others.1

Sykes also says, “The impulse to flee from personal responsibility and blame others seems far more deeply embedded within the American culture.”2 In fact, he declares, “The National Anthem has become The Whine,” and explains, “Increasingly, Americans act as if they had received a lifelong indemnification from misfortune and a contractual release from personal responsibility.”3

Psychological Mindset

The psychological mindset evolved out of the fairly recent development of clinical psychology (including psychotherapy, counseling psychology, and marriage and family counseling), which was birthed in colleges and universities around 1950 and expanded through politics and money.4 Since that time, it has exploded to the extent that Dr. Ellen Herman describes psychology’s popularity and impact on the Western world this way in her book titled The Romance of American Psychology:

Psychological insight is the creed of our time. In the name of enlightenment, experts promise help and faith, knowledge and comfort. They devise confident formulas for happy living and ambitious plans for dissolving the knots of conflict. Psychology, according to its boosters, possesses worthwhile answers to our most difficult personal questions and practical solutions for our most intractable social problems

Herman also says:

In the late twentieth-century United States, we are likely to believe what psychological experts tell us. They speak with authority to a vast audience and have become familiar figures in most communities, in the media, and in virtually every corner of popular culture. Their advice is a big business.6

The kind of psychology that carries this power to turn people into victims is psychotherapy with its underlying psychologies, such as Sigmund Freud’s theory of the unconscious and Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, along with an estimated 500 different counseling systems and their theories. After all, who has a perfect life, certainly none of the theorists, all of whom developed their systems out of their own personal lives and creative imagination?7

In her book Manufacturing Victims: What the Psychology Industry Is Doing to People, Dr. Tana Dineen reveals what the so-called caring profession has become. She begins her book with the following words and the rest of her book proves her point:

Psychology presents itself as a concerned and caring profession working for the good of its clients. But behind the benevolent facade is a voracious, self-serving industry that proffers “facts” which are often unfounded, provides “therapy” which can be damaging, and exerts influence, which is having devastating effects on the social fabric.8

Dineen also says:

It is not news to say that psychology has become an influential cultural force or that society is becoming more and more filled with people who consider themselves victims who are psychologically needy in one way or another.

What is news is that psychology is manufacturing most of these victims; that it is doing this with motives based on power and profit (emphasis hers).9

While, indeed, there are real victims, the psychotherapeutic mindset has trivialized the horrors that some people have experienced by so expanding the meaning that now everyone qualifies if they want to. The role of victim can actually be quite enticing. Besides qualifying for sympathy from friends, engaging in endless psychological therapy centered on self, and gaining exoneration from responsibility and guilt, being a victim provides a new identity of being the hero or heroine in one’s own drama of overcoming horrendous obstacles in the grand quest for psychological healing. Rather than having to face the ugly fact of their own sin without excuse or reason or blame-shifting, they choose to be victims. Dr. Carol Tavris and Dr. Elliot Aronson describe the usefulness of victimhood that comes from recovered memory therapy in their book titled Mistakes Were Made (but not by me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts. They say:

Why would people claim to remember that they had suffered harrowing experiences if they hadn’t, especially when that belief causes rifts with families or friends? By distorting their memories, these people can “get what they want by revising what they had,” and what they want is to turn their present lives, no matter how bleak or mundane, into a dazzling victory over adversity. Memories of abuse also help them resolve the dissonance between “I am a smart, capable person” and “My life sure is a mess right now” with an explanation that makes them feel good and removes responsibility: “It’s not my fault my life is a mess. Look at the horrible things they did to me.”10

Psychological Mindset Christianized?

Yes, we are surrounded by a nation of victims with a therapeutic mindset, but wait—we are Christians! How does this affect those of us who have been given new life through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross? What does this have to do with the Gospel and with living the Christian life? Plenty!

Almost as soon as the romance of psychology took hold of Americans, it was embraced by Christians who believed psychological counseling theories and therapies would be useful for helping Christians. These psychological counseling ideas were brought into pastoral counseling classes in numerous seminaries. Next came the “Christian psychologists” who devised a plan to integrate counseling psychologies theories and therapies with Christianity, both for counseling believers and for instructing the saints about how to live the Christian life. And now, what is the advice people hear when they are struggling with emotional distress and problems of living? “You need counseling.” And, what they mean is professional counseling, psychotherapy and its underlying theories of the self. Why? Because they believe a lie that, in essence, says that the cross of Christ, the Word of God, the work of the Holy Spirit, and the fellowship of believers are not enough for people with emotional or relational problems of living and that Christians need what only psychological theories and therapies can do. This is because of what Sykes calls:

The triumph of the therapeutic mentality … which insisted upon seeing the immemorial questions of human life as problems that required solutions. The therapeutic culture provided both in abundance: The therapists transformed age-old human dilemmas into psychological problems and claimed that they (and they alone) had the treatment.11

This lie about the Word of God, the work of the Holy Spirit, and the fellowship of the saints not being sufficient for dealing with so-called psychological problems of living is promoted by numerous leaders and believed throughout the church. One of them is Dr. Bruce Narramore, Distinguished Professor at Rosemead School of Psychology at Biola University, who says: “I think the critics [of psychology] need to ask, ‘Why are people so interested in psychology?’ The thought is that we ought to go back to the old way. But the old way wasn’t working.”12 Narramore says this without proof or evidence and thereby implies that for nearly 2000 years God failed to supply His children with the means of dealing with problems of living.

The integration of the theories and therapies of counseling psychology has succeeded in turning the body of Christ into a bunch of victims. If this were a book title, the subtitle could be “The Demise of Biblical Ministry.” In its eager embrace of this kind of psychology, the church has left its first love and fallen for the wisdom of man and “philosophy and vain deceit” (1 Cor. 2; Col. 2:8). That this kind of psychology is now regular fare in churches across America can be seen in the observation of Dr. Frank Furedi in his book Therapy Culture, in which he says: “A study of ‘seeker churches’ in the US argues that their ability to attract new recruits is based on their ability to tap into the therapeutic understanding of Americans.”13 He sees this as a preoccupation with the self, and, indeed, that is what it is all about—self!

All About Self

The focus of psychological therapy is on self and its problems from the perspective that the self is essentially good, but wounded emotionally by circumstances and other people. Therefore more and more Christians are seeing themselves as innocent victims with their “mistakes” and problems of living being due to other people and circumstances beyond their control. Worse yet, some, who have been convinced that the source of their problems is what happened to them as young children, spend months and years in therapy and/or in so-called inner healing. Some are trying to gain insight by remembering real events and some are searching for supposedly forgotten memories of abuse and neglect. Others are encouraged to see a figure of Jesus add something to the memory to heal or change it, but, since this is all in their imagination, they end up with a false Jesus. The idea in all of this kind of counseling and inner healing is that self has been harmed in some way and must be helped and healed.

Psychotherapy thus attempts to fix the self so that its so-called essential goodness can be experienced and expressed. The psychological mindset sees the problem as on the outside. The solution is found within the self, albeit with the help of those who have special psychological knowledge. Self is central and must be nurtured with self-love, self-esteem, and self-worth, all of which are supposed to lead to self-fulfillment, but which generally increase self-absorption, self-centeredness, and self-indulgence.

In contrast, the Word of God presents the truth about mankind, that we are sinners by nature and therefore not essentially good in ourselves. Romans 3:10 says: “There is none righteous, no not one” and verse 23 says, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” The problem of sin comes from within and the solution comes from outside ourselves, from God Himself through the cross of Christ, who bore our sin, and purchased our new life, which is received by grace through faith and lived by grace through faith.

Victim or Sinner?

One of the main goals of much counseling psychology is to relieve guilt so that individuals can feel better about themselves and thereby supposedly handle their lives more effectively. Helping an individual see himself as needy, emotionally wounded, and having been harmed or disappointed by others is one convenient way to sidestep personal responsibility, sin, and guilt. This is the opposite of the Bible, which provides the true remedy for sin and the only remedy for the human condition through Jesus Christ and all He accomplished to rid one of sin and guilt.

The whole of Scripture points to the Lamb of God slain before the foundation of the world. Its focal point is Jesus Christ satisfying God’s wrath against sin and procuring forgiveness and new life for believers. Christianity is all about living the new life and reckoning oneself dead to the old life. Christianity is not about focusing on problems and on other people’s sins and shortcomings, and it is not about dredging up the past to fix the present. The Christian life is about confessing one’s own sin, walking according to the new life in Christ, and “forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before” towards the goal of the “high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13,14).

The early church had the one remedy for everyone’s present problems and past circumstances: the cross of Christ! The magnitude of each person’s sin against God from the cradle to the grave is more than anyone could bear to imagine, but Jesus took it all upon Himself so that he could give every believer new life. He, who knew no sin, died in the place of those who were by nature sin. He did not just come to fix the flesh (the old nature). He came to put it on the cross so that believers, by identifying with Him, could reckon themselves dead to the old and alive to the new.

Everyone has been adversely affected by the sins of others to some degree, but the adverse effects or the sinful tendencies from parents or sinful ways learned from them reside in the flesh (old nature). Our flesh is therefore the problem, not something outside ourselves, either past or present. Therefore, the Bible does not teach people to nurture their so-called “inner child” or to develop self-esteem or to probe their early childhood years to look for ways that adults failed them in any way. The Bible does not advise anyone to remember and re-experience past pain, disappointments, or even abuse for the sake of personal or spiritual growth. The Bible does not suggest that people must be healed emotionally before they can believe God or before they can grow spiritually.

Considering the grievous circumstances and the childhoods of many of the Gentile Christians, the early church had plenty of potential “victims” (many born and raised in slavery with the accompanying sexual and physical abuse and being treated as less than human). But, did the church treat them as victims needing to heal their emotional wounds or to remember the pain of the past in order to know God and to grow spiritually? No! The Bible does not portray mankind as victims, but as sinners. Jesus died for sinners, not victims!

The Way of the Cross

The way of the cross is a totally different way of dealing with serious life issues and problems of living. Rather than trying to remember the past and somehow rework painful memories through therapy or so-called inner healing, Christians need to reckon themselves dead to the past by identifying with Christ’s death and to live according to their new life in Christ. Everything needs to be taken to the cross instead of relived and talked about. Nevertheless, many of the people who promote this senseless return to the past agree that Christ died for our sins, but insist that many Christians still need healing from the past. However, digging up old memories for the purpose of changing one’s present life is counterproductive to the cross and in effect denies the finished work of Christ.

Jesus said, “It is finished.” So we say to fellow Christians: Identify with those words when you bring sin to the cross, your own sin and the sins committed against you. Recognize that Jesus suffered the pain and eternal consequence of those sins. He felt the pain and agony of every sin you have committed and the pain of every sin committed against you. He took it all and said, “It is finished.” If a memory with its pain comes back, treat it as a temptation from the enemy, who wants to rob you of the truth of what Christ did and to undermine your identification with Him, both in His death and resurrection. Satan always works to keep Christians struggling in the flesh, because that is where they are the most vulnerable and because he hates the life of Christ in every believer. He is most pleased when Christians walk according to the flesh or their old nature. Therefore, the devil is pleased with all forms of psychological therapy and related forms of inner healing, including Theophostic Prayer Ministry.14

Think Biblically, Not Psychologically

Christians need to think biblically when they read books about how to live and deal with problems of living. They need to guard their thinking when watching or listening to believers or unbelievers talking about how to deal with the issues of life and about what it is to be a Christian. They need to be alert to such expressions as: felt needs, rejection, broken lives, repression, denial, defense mechanisms, inferiority complex, sublimation, projection, transference, maladjustment, low self-esteem, the unconscious, hidden reservoirs, hidden memories, emotional wounds, emotional healing, codependence, addiction, compulsion, trauma, stress, identity crisis. Every behavior imaginable has the possibility of a psychological maldescription.

Utilizing psychological therapies or inner healing blinds Christians to the glory of the cross and the great love that was poured out for them. Those who are willing to face their own depravity and the sins they continue to commit after they have received new life and who honestly look at what Jesus bore in their place have a greater realization of God’s love. Jesus said, “To whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little” (Luke 7:47). Thus, by seeing the magnitude of what Christ forgave them, believers know His love, and by knowing and receiving His love, are enabled to love Him back and His love in them flows out to others. The cross is the answer to all the pain of the past, and Jesus is the answer for every present problem of living. Here is the victory won by Christ and worked into the fabric of believers’ lives as they reckon themselves dead to their old life and alive unto Him. No wonder the enemy of our souls has invented such an enticing trap into victimhood!

Believers do not transform their lives through looking at the sins of others or by revisiting the past, but by confessing their own sin and believing that Jesus took it all. Believers need to leave their own sin and the sins committed against them on the cross and not try to remember, reconstruct, fix or transform the so-called inner child, which is actually the old nature or flesh. They are to live by the new life Jesus has procured for them, the new life that stretches forward into eternity. Colossians 2:6-10 says:

As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.

The Word of God continually calls believers back to their source of new life, back to faith in Christ and all he accomplished for living the new life. Believers are not called to be victims of their present circumstances or their past or of a powerful motivating unconscious supposedly formed during early life. They are to be walking by faith, growing in faith, and “abounding therein with thanksgiving.” That does not sound like the whine of the victims.

Furthermore, Paul warns believers not to be robbed of what they have in Christ through “philosophy and vain deceit” that turns them into victims. Psychological counseling theories are not science. They more aptly fall into Paul’s category of “philosophy and vain deceit.” Indeed, they resemble religion more than science. Dr. Thomas Szasz states the case very clearly in his book The Myth of Psychotherapy: “Herein lies one of the supreme ironies of modem psychotherapy: it is not merely a religion that pretends to be a science, it is actually a fake religion that seeks to destroy true religion.Ó15 Psychological counseling theories are collections of human opinions arranged in theoretical frameworks. They are human inventions based on the perception and personal experiences of the theorists themselves. They are “profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: which some professing have erred concerning the faith”(1 Tim. 6:20-21).

Even when Paul was beaten and left for dead, he did not see himself as a victim, but as a recipient of the very life of Christ by grace through faith. Therefore he declared: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). Rather than victims forever seeking to be healed of emotional wounds, Christians are new creations in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17), fully equipped for challenges, trials, disappointments, dangers, and all sorts of calamities. Christ has won the victory and “ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.”

Victimization shifts the attention away from one’s own responsibility for what is thought, said, and done. Victimization shifts attention away from one’s own sin and onto the sins of others committed against them. Victimization diverts believers away from the cross of Christ. Victimization robs them of gratitude for God’s unspeakable gift and thereby robs them of a close walk with Him. Turning Christians into victims weakens their faith and stunts spiritual growth. Every choice to walk according to the Spirit by grace through faith brings spiritual maturity. The choice is up to every believer, whether to be a psychologically defined and created victim or to be a biblically defined sinner saved by grace and growing into the likeness of Christ.

(PsychoHeresy Awareness Letter, May-June 2008, Vol. 16, No. 3)

“Just read your article on victims (PsychoHeresy )…

I used to feel like everything that I went through was not my fault. I was angry at God. My mom had mental illness, I was raped by 3 men, abused in my first marriage, boyfriend killed in accident, and blah blah blah. But one day that outlook changed. What was it? I took responsibility. I put myself in bad situations. I made poor choices that led me to those circumstances. I ignored God’s voice. I…I..I….I was the reason. Not God. Once I realized that, God was able to come in and take care of business. My relationship with God was mended. God was merciful and he blessed me beyond what I deserve. He is in control. Not me. Being the victim puts you in the driving seat—I was driving around in circles. That’s all being a victim does. Gets u nowhere in a hurry. I want God to be my driver. I don’t want the control. Let Him take me where He will.

But there are sooo many people who can make anything an act of victimization! They twist innocent words or events to make themselves the victim. It’s toxic for the soul. It eats away at the victim and seeps into those around them. It’s all about the rush. The attention. People can be quick to feed these lions with the food they seek. Dangerous.” anonymous

Endnotes
1 Charles J. Sykes. A Nation of Victims: The Decay of the American Character. New York: St. MartinÕs Press, 1992, p. 11.

2 Ibid., pp. 14,15.

3 Ibid., p. 15.

4 Rogers H. Wright and Nicholas A. Cummings, eds. The Practice of Psychology: The Battle for Professionalism. Phoenix, AZ: Zeig, Tucker & Theisen, Inc., 2001.

5 Ellen Herman. The Romance of American Psychology. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1195, 1996, p. 1.

6 Ibid.

7 Harvey Mindess. Makers of Psychology: The Personal Factor. New York: Insight Books, 1988; Linda Riebel, ÒTheory as Self-Portrait and the Ideal of Objectivity,Ó Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Spring 1982.

8 Tana Dineen. Manufacturing Victims: What the Psychology Industry is Doing to People. Montreal, QB: Robert Davies Multimedia Publishing, 1996, 1998, 2000, p. 15.

9 Ibid., pp. 17,18.

10 Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson. Mistakes Were Made (but not by me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts. New York: Harcourt, Inc., 2007, p. 94.

11 Sykes, op. cit., p. 34.

12 Bruce Narramore, Christianity Today, May 17, 1993, p. 26.

13 Frank Furedi. Therapy Culture: Cultivating Vulnerability in an Uncertain Age. New York: Routledge, 2004, p. 18.

14 See Martin and Deidre Bobgan. Theophostic Counseling: Divine Revelation? Or PsychoHeresy? Santa Barbara, CA: EastGate Publishers, 1999.

15 Thomas Szasz. The Myth of Psychotherapy. Garden City: Anchor/Doubleday Press, 1978, p. 28.

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Abiding

“A Land Flowing with Milk and Honey” [podcast]

DADDY’S IN THE HOUSE!

There will not be even one rebel in glory …. The LORD loves and calls you to Himself today….. to settle down humbly in true repentance …. asking God to forgive your sinful stubbornness, rebellion, and self-idolatry, self-adultery. Ask Him to give you a heart of flesh and to take away every trace of a stony heart in you (Ezekiel 36:24-26).

If you had a real dad growing up, you know HE was large and in charge in his house…. and so is God!

He’s Large and in Charge!

He’s Daddy, “Abba Father”! (Romans 8:15).

He’s Your Father – yet only if you endure His chastening! (Hebrews 12:5-12)

“A land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8) is a biblical phrase that describes a place of great abundance and prosperity, symbolizing the fulfillment of God’s promises and the richness of the Promised Land. It emphasizes a land that is fertile, nourishing, and provides an abundance of sustenance, with milk and honey serving as symbolic representations of this richness.”

“For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba (Daddy), Father. 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” Romans 8:15-17

Growing up in daddy’s house, you did things his way, right? Not your way but his way…. he was the man of the house, not you. You abode under his provision and his care and love for you, as your daddy, right? Well, that’s how it is with God. He loves you beyond measure and yet you must simply humble yourself and do things His way. When you do, the blessings will flow, will overwhelm you, will consume you, will flood your life! BAM. Memorize Matthew 6:33 today.

Let’s get something straight …

NO DOUBT: There’s no doubt that God wants to bless your life! Yet, you must do it His way beloved. He wants to bless you and yet, you must ask yourself if you really want Him. Are you truly hungering and thirsting for more of Jesus, more of His righteousness?

“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” Matthew 5:6

The Old Testament summed up: In dealing with His people, His transactions, our LORD’s business concerned their salvation and restoration – promised land blessings! Read Numbers 13-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13. And, we are now “the Israel of God” (Galatians 6:16). All these things were written and are on record for us – for our learning, comfort, peace, and blessings (Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 10:11).

As was the case with Old Testament Israel, God brought you out of a life of sin in this fallen world (Egypt) in order to bring you IN – into His land of abundant blessings, walking victoriously in a cross-abiding relationship with Christ (John 15).

“And he brought us OUT from thence, that he might bring us IN, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers.” Deuteronomy 6:23

There’s a promised land of blessedness, of abundant fruit, the likes of which we have not even begun to taste. Yet, appropriating, walking into this treasure house, this field, this gold mine of blessedness, requires that we closely, diligently trust and obey the Giver of “every good gift … every perfect gift” (James 1:17).

HE BROUGHT YOU OUT OF SOMETHING FOR GOOD REASON – TO BRING YOU INTO SOMETHING MUCH GREATER – WHICH HE PURCHASED WITH HIS OWN BLOOD ON THAT CROSS!

Many who read these words are seeking to get and to live out what God alone can provide – as you abide in a real relationship with Him, loving Him with all you are, wholeheartedly.

“Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” Psalms 37:4

Delighting in the LORD assures that we will be possessed with His desires and they will be granted!

Truly Trusting and OBEYING God

Are you forgetting any of His “benefits” – the ones Jesus died to give? Are you neglecting to appropriate them by a real walk with Him? “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits” (Psalms 103:2).

Jesus was the perfect example of delighting in God. In the days of His flesh, Jesus toiling as He faced going to that cross for us, cried “not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). Have we cried out to the LORD today with a “Not my will but thine be done”?

“First” means First, not Second. Putting God where He Belongs in Your Life – “First”

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33

If you are out of Bible order, you are out of Bible blessings!

If your life is not in Bible order where Jesus is literally FIRST, you will not walk in the blessings of God – the blessings Jesus died to give you!

“IF”

“If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: 20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.” Isaiah 19-20

GOD DESIRES TO BLESS YOU – to bring you into “A Land Flowing with Milk and Honey.”

The phrase “milk and honey” appears 20 times in God’s Word and in every case, refers to God’s desire and declaration to bring His people into His land of rich blessings, flowing with the bounty of His goodness!

“And I am come down to deliver them (salvation) out of the hand of the Egyptians (the world), and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites” (Exodus 3:8).

In other words, “I’m going to bring you into a land flowing with milk and honey right in the middle of your enemies!”

The LORD brings us OUT of sin, “OUT of darkness INTO his marvellous light”!

“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar (special) people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you OUT of darkness INTO his marvellous light:” 1 Peter 2:9

“Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way.” Exodus 33:3

The LORD brings, saves us out of the world and into His kingdom family and blessings!

“And I have said, I will bring you up OUT of the affliction of Egypt (sin; the lost world) unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey (salvation).” Exodus 3:17

The “Milk and Honey” of Christ’s Salvation!

God brought His beloved people OUT of Egypt (represents the world) to bring them INTO the promised land He ordained for them! In the same way, God has brought you and me out of sin, out of the kingdom of the world, in order to bring us IN to His promised land of blessing in Christ! Read Ephesians 1 afresh beloved of God.

“Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet (fit) to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: 13 Who hath delivered us FROM (out of) the power of darkness, and hath translated us INTO the kingdom of his dear Son: 14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:” Colossians 1:12-14

God never brings you OUT of something not to bring you INTO something much better! safeguardyoursoul.com

He made us to bless us and yet – will only do so as we walk with Him on His stated terms.

“That I may perform the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day. Then answered I, and said, So be it, O LORD.” Jeremiah 11:5

“And that ye may prolong your days in the land, which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land that floweth with milk and honey.” Deuteronomy 11:9

God Sent His Son to Bless Us – His People

“Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.” Acts 3:26

Repentance Always Leads to Refreshing from Heaven!

“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; 20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: 21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” Acts 3:19-21

God Requires Repentance and Faith in All Who will be His and Receive His Ultimate Blessings

¨I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: 20 That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.¨ Deuteronomy 30:19-20

¨Numbers 14:8 says if He delights in us, then He will give us a land flowing with milk and honey. This means in order to receive a land flowing with milk and honey He must delight in us. This notes a condition of obedience and faith. We have to embrace and conform with His ways (the cross) to receive the spiritual blessings and to receive eternal life.¨ Karen Cochran

¨And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying, 18 The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. 19 Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.¨ Numbers 14:17-19

PRAYER: Heavenly Father thank You for being so unimaginably loving and benevolent to Your creation, to all those You made in Your very image. I love You LORD Jesus and here and now give You praise and thanksgiving for coming to die for my sins and then buried and raised again for my justification. Now dear LORD, please make me whole, from the inside out. Please pour out Your Holy Ghost on my life now and use this vessel to bring eternal glory to You. Bless Your people to abide in You Jesus, to have vital union with You and thereby the abundance of fruit, more fruit, and much fruit. In Jesus´ name. Amen.

Fresh Start with God

You can Have a … Jesus is the Great Shepherd of His Sheep (Heb. 13:20; Lk. 15) A FRESH START WITH GOD (First, if you are not certain that you are genuinely born again, please go here first) Let’s get something straight…. the disciple, the mere man writing this message is more in need of JESUS than anyone who ever lived! No one needs Jesus more than I do and yet, we must do things HIS way, not our own (Ephesians 3:8). “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Proverbs […]

Conditions and Consequences: Beware of False Prophets

God is not getting ready to bless any person who has not repented and put their lives in the hands of the nail-scarred risen Savior Jesus Christ. Beware of the promise peddlers who indiscriminately dish out promises and never mention the necessity of meeting the conditions. We’d better begin noticing the “IF“‘s in God’s Word – the conditions, the things God requires. Here you go, let me assist…. “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be […]

"Fruitful in the Land of My Affliction" [podcast]

FORGETTING AND BEING FRUITFUL ! God’s Word speaks about forgetting the things that are behind us (Philippians 3:13-14) and also speak volumes about abiding in Christ and being fruitful (John 15). Forgetting leads to fruitfulness. Let go and let God. “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14 G1950 ἐπιλανθάνομαι epilanthanomai ep-ee-lan-than’-om-ahee Middle voice from G1909 and G2990; […]

Articles

Nicolaitan Nightmare [podcast]

The Scourge of Beguilers

Controlling, Gaslighting, Manipulating Operatives of Satan Exposed

Conquering and controlling people by deceit has long been the work of deceivers and “There is no new thing under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). In fact, in this last hour, the Bible tells us that “Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse” and “Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time” (2 Timothy 3:13; Revelation 12:12).

“While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome (by lies), of the same is he brought in bondage.” 2 Peter 2:19

Why did Jesus say He Hates the Deeds and Doctrine of the Nicolaitans?

“But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” Revelation 2:6

“So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.” Revelation 2:15

Jesus told us that He hates the “doctrine” and “deeds of the Nicolaitans” (Revelation 2:6, 15). When we simply break down this word Jesus uses here – “Nicolaitans” – we gain insight into its meaning and what our LORD says He hates. Nico means “to conquer” while laitans means “the laity” which is the people. So, “Nicolaitans” simply means, “to conquer the laity.” This is the doctrine of control that the Master addresses here. In fact, this doctrine and the deeds that accompany it, so infuriate the LORD that it is the only thing that Christ ever went on record to say that He “hates”! Selah!

Beware of this usurpish witchcraft demon that seeks to bring believers under its control through false ministers.

JESUS CHRIST IS YOUR LORD AND SAVIOR! NO MERE MAN, NO SINNER DIED FOR YOUR SINS – TO PURCHASE YOU TO HIMSELF! THE DECLARATION OF EVERY ONE OF CHRIST’S TRUE UNDER-SHEPHERDS is – “Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand.” 2 Corinthians 1:24

The fear and nightmare of nicolaitan wolves is that they will be seen for who they really are. Their nemesis is informed and discerning believers who quickly identify them and mark and expose them as the Bible says to do (Romans 16:17-18).

“For though I should boast somewhat more of our AUTHORITY, which the Lord hath given us for EDIFICATION, and not for your DESTRUCTION, I should not be ashamed:” 2 Corinthians 10:8

“Authority” from the LORD is “given us for edification, and not for your destruction.”

The Holy Ghost would never anoint any of His servants to control or destroy but rather to edify.

YOU BELONG TO JESUS CHRIST: He made you (Colossians 1:16). Then He came for you. JESUS alone died for you – on that cross where the Son of God bore, carried away your sins with His own life blood (Isaiah 53:5; John 1:29). Then He found you when you were a lost sheep. He brought you into His family. You don’t belong to some church or pastor. You belong to the LORD Himself. He is jealous over you (Exodus 34:14; Beware of the controllers, the pastors who are operating in witchcraft and seek to assert undue control over your life.

The apostle Paul espoused the members of the body of Christ to CHRIST Himself and not to Paul!

“For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband (JESUS!), that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 11:2

Wolves are very cunning and manipulating. They deceitfully conflate you submitting to them with submitting to God Himself. Not.

Sign up for free email devotional HERE… The Moments with My Master email devotional is sent out for the edification of the body of Christ.

MESSAGE RECEIVED:

“Good morning brother! I’m troubled by this statement I am being told …here it is: ‘You need to submit to leadership and learn humility and not rebuke an elder or pastor or any leader, no matter what you should always go with the direction of leadership.'”

REPLY:

God gave us a Bible in order to grant us discernment… and that our faith and trust and obedience would be in HIM….and in that Bible He warns us repeatedly to beware of such false Nicolaitan (means to conquer the people) wolves (Rev. 2:6, 15). The LORD primarily leads His New Testament church through the Holy Scriptures which were given by the Holy Ghost (2 Timothy 3:15-17, etc.). “THY WORD is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalms 119:105).

The LORD applauds His disciples at Berea for not taking even Christ’s apostle Paul at his word but rather searching the Scriptures daily to see if what Paul was saying was divine truth (Acts 17:10-1; 2 Timothy 3:15-17). 1 John 4:1 says “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”

Any man or men saying that you must obey THEM no matter where they lead or what they say are diabolical wolves. Read 1 Corinthians 2:1-5.

There are 2 chapters in the book Deceivers and False Prophets Among Us dealing directly and in detail on this Nico-Laitan (means to conquer the people) leadership which Jesus says He hates (Revelation 2:6, 15).

THE DEEDS AND DOCTRINE OF THE NICOLAITANS (Part 1)

(Excerpt from the Deceivers and False Prophets Among Us book) “But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes (means conquer the laity), which I also hate…So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate.” Revelation 2:6, 15 Some years ago, after being found and apprehended by God, and saved by the grace of Jesus, I lived in a city where there was a cartel of eight volatile and controlling pastors. These men organized and operated a control ring where they tracked church attendants and their movements and dealings. This intelligence system was […]

Witchcraft in the Pulpits [podcast]

“…that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another.” 1 Corinthians 4:6 People become deceived when they refuse to seek God and read His Word themselves, study it diligently (2 Timothy 2:15). Instead they listen to someone else, some mere man or men to tell them about God instead of studying God’s Word for themselves. They’ve openly rejected Christ and will be damned (Hosea 4:6; 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12). —- BEWARE of the manipulation, schemes, and deceptive methods used by those in […]

The Truth about Fellowship and Going to "Church" [podcast]

The Simplicity of Fellowship that Exalts and Glorifies Christ “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. ” Acts 2:42 MANY today peddle the importance of fellowship because they hear it from their pastors on a regular basis. Yet, much more important than man to man fellowship is God to man, and man to God fellowship. This is little spoken of. And, what passes and is pawned off as “fellowship” today doesn’t fit the biblical description, the prescription for fellowship (Acts 2:42-47; Colossians 3:16, etc.). It’s not even a faint […]

Articles

A PLACE CALLED HELL [podcast]

How does God’s Word describe hell?

A PLACE CALLED HELL ….. Below is a detailed list of the unending realities of eternal damnation!

Hell is the ultimately judgment of God upon all who refuse to repent and receive Christ and therefore die in sin.

“Let death seize upon them, and let them GO DOWN quick (alive) into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.” Psalms 55:15

Details about hell revealed in God’s Word, the Bible:

A place of complete consciousness (all feelings)…..Lk. 16:25
Torment with fire and brimstone…………………………Rev. 14:10
Weeping and gnashing of teeth……………………….…..Matt. 8:12
A place of eternal remorse (devastating regret)…..Luke 16:25
A place of torments…………………………………………..…Luke 16:23
No rest day or night forever (eternal misery)……….Rev. 14:11
A furnace of fire with wailing…………………………..….Matt. 13:42
A place of everlasting burnings…………….…………..Isaiah 33:14
A lake (ocean) of fire……………………………………..…….Rev. 20:15
Unquenchable fire (ferocious flames)………..…….……Mark 9:45
Outer darkness (blinding loneliness)………………….Matt. 22:13
No 2nd chance to escape (utter hopelessness)……Luke 16:26
A place of sorrows (seething remorse and despair)….Ps. 18:5
A place of everlasting destruction……………………..2 Thess. 1:9

Even though sinful man is still looking for life on mars and the moon….. there’s only 3 places, locations that men exist:

“And no man in HEAVEN, nor in EARTH, neither UNDER THE EARTH, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.” Revelation 5:3

1. “in heaven”
2. “in earth”
3. “under the earth” which is where hell is (Matthew 12:40).

Jesus used the words “eternal damnation” to reveal to us that hell if forever, unending (Mark 3:29). The fires of eternal damnation shall feed upon the eternally conscious helpless souls of all who die in sin (Mark 9:43-49).

The reason people preach hell fire and brimstone is because they’re trying to save your eternal soul from hell fire and brimstone. Love!

PREACHING the biblical doctrine of hell, which is the eternal judgment of God, puts a fire behind believers, convicting them to forsake their lives in this world, to deny self, take up the cross and to follow Jesus, to press toward the mark for the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, to “lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2) Are YOU preaching hell – the eternal judgment of God in the domain of the damned reserved for all who die in sin? Please hit share. | Hell

“The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath.” Proverbs 15:24

Heavenly Father, please grant to Your children an eternal perspective, in Jesus’ name. Amen dear LORD.

If you don’t think hell is divinely designed to be a loving deterent (motivator) from a merciful God, go read the words of the only Savior recorded in Mark 9:43-49 in the King James Bible. Satan’s new “bibles” removed this all-important passage.

ALL who don’t slow down, take the time to seek and listen to God’s Word, to hear His voice, will have all eternity in hell to burn in conscious misery, in utter fury and remorse to sulk on how they sinned away their day of grace. Going to hell is a choice. It’s irrevocable. There are no do-overs. If you sinned your whole life away, sinned away your day of grace, you will pay for your own sins in hell forever. If you reject the only sacrifice for your many sins – the blood of the LORD and Savior Jesus Christ – the domain of the damned will be your eternal abode. If you aren’t washed in the blood of Jesus and presently serving God, abiding in Christ, you are going straight to hell if you die today. …Don’t you dare share this, unless you want people to be saved…. from eternal hell.

“And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.” Luke 16:23

“And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.” Revelation 14:11

“And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.” Matthew 25:46

“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish (in hell), but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9

You soul is eternal and will be conscious for all eternity – either in the bliss and comfort of Heaven or in hell.

“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? 37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Mark 8:36-37

What’s more important to you than the LORD? Who? What? What organization? What affiliation? What religion, religious affiliation? What family member? What friend? Is it really worth your eternal soul? Is Your Sin Really Worth Going to Hell for?

“So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:33

Denying that hell exists changes nothing….

MESSAGE RECEIVED:

“Rational and educated people realize that our sun will not last for ever and will self destruct at the end of it life. When that happens it will most likely also destroy all of the planets in our solar system. Sense Hell has always been considered to be located deep within the bowels of the Earth….yeah, right…. it too will be destroyed. So Hell really isn’t for ever. And you’re just making stuff up.”

REPLY:

Hell is forever. Jesus died for our sins. Rational and educated people know basic science reveals that a molten mass is in the middle of the earth which only confirms that God’s Word is truth. God’s Word repeatedly speaks of this reality.

How to be forgiven and saved:

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Romans 10:9-10

“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:13

Hell | Making Peace with God – Now, before it’s too Late

ALL who seek to hide/cover their sins instead of repenting and forsaking them, will perish. (Proverbs 28:13).

“He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” Proverbs 28:13

There are no “secrets” with God because He sees all.

“In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.” Romans 2:16

“The secrets of men” are hidden from other men and yet nothing is hidden from God.

MAKING PEACE WITH GOD [podcast]

MAKING PEACE WITH GOD (Spanish version here) Are you ready to Pass from Death to Life? God desires to pardon you – before it’s too late. Jesus beckons you to “Come unto me” — while you can (Matthew 11:28-30). “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 GOD sees all sin and will either […]

Bride of Heaven vs Harlot from Hell [podcast]

How Do We Know, Right Now, Who will be Seated at the at the Table, at the Great Supper of the Lamb? (Matthew 22; Revelation 19) The remnant, those who will be present at the Great Supper of the Lamb in Heaven, are ALREADY feasting at the banqueting table of His Word. All others whom Jesus has saved in the past, are not fueled or flourishing but are rather famishing, fainting, and falling away. The “little flock” of Christ desires to be with Him both now and forever, not just forever (Luke 12:32). They’ve been born again and present “abide” […]

Fresh Start with God

Hell’s Menu

The Bible’s Vivid Description of the Domain of the Damned Violent flames rage like endless waves that roar in a fierce ocean tossed to and fro by hurricane winds. Deafening voices shriek, hopelessly tormented in the turbulent fire that dominates their defenseless souls. One million years have passed and yet there is not a trace of relief from the horrifying torment that has enveloped their helpless souls. Vivid memories of their earthly life, when they had precious opportunity to escape this horrible fate, torment their bitter and remorseful beings. Welcome to the world of departed souls who died after refusing […]

Is Hell Forever or Temporal? [podcast]

The original Gospel prominently includes the judgment of hell coming to every person who dies on sin (Mark 9:43-49, etc.). EVERY preacher not preaching hell is a false prophet who is preaching “another gospel” and is “accursed.” (Galatians 1:6-9) Jesus and His holy apostles taught it and there’s no excuse for not doing the same. Repent now self-serving coward. Are Hell and the Lake of Fire Eternal or Temporal? As an eternal memorial of the holiness of God, the pit of hell will be an open, visible display of what happens to those who do things their own way instead […]