Paul's Passing Thoughts

….and your children, your name, your job, and supposedly your very salvation. In  my case, they got all but 1.5. Today’s American church is awash in spiritual tyranny. In the 16^th century, the Pastor Kings  could cut out your tongue, cut you in half, burn you at the stake, hang you, or cut off your head. Calvin, the pastor king of the Reformation, had people decapitated when he was in the mood to be compassionate, or was having people executed for non-capital offences. Today’s pastor kings can’t do that, so they improvise.

American churchianity needs to be educated, advised, and warned.  A new criteria needs to be considered when seeking a church: who owns me? A pastor, or….. In most churches of our day, if you will not be owned by the pastor or elders, it is simply not going to turn out well. “I will just keep my mouth shut and mind my own business” Sure you will, until the elders come calling about how much you tithe. And if you want to keep the peace, you will tithe what they tell you to tithe. And then later, it will be something else, until eventually you are owned to the point where if you are told to drink the Kool-Aid—you will, and many have.

It starts with the preaching/teaching, and then methods for bringing people into subjection accordingly. Ministries are geared to gain control. At a pastor’s conference during a time when I had less understanding, I debated a pastor regarding cash-in-the-plate tithing. Arguing for the con, his concern was “accountability.” Recently as I reflected back on that conference, I now realize the whole conference was about how to control parishioners. In fact, looking back now on my seminary and Christian college experience, I now understand why I was never on the same wave length with most pastors—they saw parishioners as a different class of believers to be controlled. All of my Christian life, when in the presence of other pastors, I always sensed the us against them mentality and the personal disconnect. It explains much:

1. Why pastors don’t teach theology/doctrine to their parishioners ( knowledge empowers).

2. Why they buy into simplistic gospel centeredness as a way of life.

3. Why they don’t counsel—even when they say they do (it’s not really biblical counseling).

4. Why they suggest inviting the lost to church instead of encouraging evangelism outside of the church.

5. Why they make in-depth discipleship the same as works salvation.

6. Why they fuse justification and sanctification together (#5).

We will see these totalitarian elements in “Paul’s” testimony. Much thanks for his willingness to take a stand.

Here is the first part to the interview. There are four 15 minute segments: