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Have You Been Deceived?

Pimppreacher.com 2/18/15

de·cep·tion : the act of making someone believe something that is not true : the act of deceiving someone : an act or statement intended to make people believe something that is not true.

Deception is at its greatest when it purports itself as the truth and goes unchallenged for centuries. Far too many believers are being deceived by what is now being called "The Church".

THE SYSTEM

"The Church" is NOT the body of Christ; it is a religious INSTITUTION, a "SYSTEM". Just like the Healthcare system, the school system, the prison system, etc...if you've been to one hospital, you've been to them all, and by that I mean in EVERY hospital, you'll see doctors making rounds or seeing patients in clinics, nurses assisting doctors and patients, patients being seen for whatever reason, clerks checking in patients and making follow up appointments, cleaning staff cleaning, I.T. people keeping the technology going, kitchen staff cooking...you get the point. While each hospital may do things differently, some better than others, they all have the same "basic" set up.

And so it is within "the church". No matter what church you go to (in general), there will be a lead or senior Pastor(s), leaders (ministers, elders, etc.) UNDER that pastor, different "ministries", etc. You'll usually have an elevated pulpit with nicer chairs than the congregation, pews or chairs, an alter (podium), communion table, ushers, a youth department, choir, an order of service (liturgy), and even if there is no "church bulletin" every Sunday, you KNOW what is coming after the prayer. Most "church services" (which cannot be found in scripture) run along these lines, but not necessarily in this order; Opening song, opening prayer, scripture reading, meet and greet for 2 minutes (but this is SUPPOSEDLY fellowship right?) praise and worship and or choir, announcements, tithes and offering collection, then one or more of the following: praise dance, mime, alter prayer, youth choir, senior choir, regular choir, poetry, etc. Next comes the most important part of the service "THE WORD OF GOD", (given by the exact same person 90% of the time) followed by an alter call, that may or may not add 30 minutes to the service, (sometimes, the pastor gives the congregation a verbal tongue lashing and veils it as tough love), then comes the benediction...sound familiar? Sure it does.

THE PASTOR

The pastor is the figurehead of "the church" (but no one in "the church" will admit this) while CHRIST is the figure and the HEAD of the BODY OF CHRIST. We have built an entire institution around a word that is only mentioned ONCE (in English) in the entire NT scriptures. (Eph 4:11, KJV). It is MY opinion that "most" pastors are good upstanding people who love God's people and are sincere in their work, However, the institutionalized church (or I.C. for short) system corrupts good people and draws corrupt people in (think Bishop Eddie Long and Ephram Taylor). No matter how good your pastor is, (or how good you are as a pastor), if you are involved in the I.C., you will eventually begin to do things and fall in line with the system. This is especially true if a pastor receives a salary. Not all pastors are in “the church”. There are a few who actually stand against the corrupt system known as “the church”. I know of one man who actually “pastors” but does not consider himself a “pastor” in the I.C. sense, but he FUNCTIONS as one. “Pastor” is not a title, nor is it an office.

The "office" of a pastor is revered in "the church" ("offices" are NOT biblical, but i will not get into that in this article). As I’ve stated before, most pastors are good, upstanding folk who love God's people, but they themselves have been deceived, and no matter how good and upstanding that pastor is, sincerity is no defense against deception! In fact, it is one of deceptions greatest tools. The unsuspecting pastor will fall in line sooner or later, or leave the system entirely once the scales have been removed from his eyes, and if he is a true pastor, he will continue to function as one.

NO WONDER

It's no wonder the church is in the state it's in. If the leadership in "the church" is deceived, the rest of "the church" will be deceived. Congregants believe they are doing God's work, building His kingdom (which has already been built and established), when in fact they are building a man's kingdom, the pastors kingdom, HIS (the pastor’s) church. They are taught to defend their “MAND OF GAWD” as if he were God Himself, after all, he is God’s mouthpiece, right?, Not only do his congregants defend him, they do it with vigor, regardless of what he does or teaches. Anyone speaking negatively about "their pastor" is going to get dealt with! How about defending the faith like that? Most congregants can't defend the faith. Why? They have been deceived into thinking that the “pastor” will take care of all their spiritual growth. They refuse to test all things. They refuse to become like the people of Berea (Acts 17:11) and search the scriptures for themselves, to see if what their pastor is saying is true. They refuse to "study to show themselves approved unto God, rightly dividing the word the truth.” They don't know how because they have not been taught by the pastor how to properly study scripture because a lot of pastors themselves are deceived and don't know how! He cannot teach what he does not know. What a lot of congregants do is take what the pastor has preached and study in order to back up what the pastor has said, not to make sure what he has said is true. They will study from the viewpoint of the pastor, and this in turn continues the cycle of deception going on in churches.

CHRIST AND THE APOSTLES AS OUR EXAMPLES.

The Greek word "Planao" (G4105-to cause to stray, to lead astray, lead aside from the right way, translated as deceive, to err, etc.) appears 51 times in the Greek NT. "And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive (planao) you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive (planao) many." My interpretation of these verses is that Christ was not talking about people "claiming to be HIM", (although he could be) but he was warning of people who actually use His name to draw people unto themselves. (...if I be lifted up...). How many people in "the church" do you know that have said that Jesus is not the Christ? None right? Becasue if they did, they would not be in "the church", but outside! Acts 20:30 says "Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them." How can they do that if they don't preach that Jesus is the Christ? Paul is not talking about those outside the camp, like the Mormons, or Jehovah's Witnesses. Paul is talking about those that claim the name of Christ drawing disciples after themselves, instead of making disciples of Christ.

"The Church" owes its modern structure and its hierarchal system of management to the world's systems, both political and business. If anyone denies this, they are only deceiving to themselves! Can you imagine Peter, Paul, James, or John doing the things that you see some of today's church leaders doing? Of Course not! They loved their lives not unto death! They were true defenders of the faith, willing to die for the gospel, but not these days. Church leaders of today can't even take criticism, and will banish anyone who questions or threatens their power!

Deception is real ladies and gentlemen. I pray that I planted some seeds or watered some. I pray the Lord removes the scales from the eyes of His people. I am not telling anyone to leave their "church". That is something that you must decide for yourself. The things I have said may seem scary, if you are considering leaving your church, but can you imagine what the Jews of Christ's day must have gone through? 4000 years of tradition, all changed by one man. Your entire way of life is now completely different. Christ lives inside us and He has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind....Speaking of a sound mind. Don't be fooled by religious leaders using spiritual jargon and philosophy, to scare you into staying in something that you know is wrong, but you just can’t put your finger on it. The reason you can’t put your finger on it is because the truth is hidden from you, but that little inkling you get when you see something, that’s the Holy Ghost inside of you. Use the good common sense the God gave us. We are always using our critical thinking skills when it comes to everything else except "the church". It's high time to awaken out of sleep!

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