**(This is Not directed at Anyone, or any community specifically, this is something I have been studying & I believe is vital to everyone everywhere) LIFE. We are called to live full, free lives in God, filled with Joy and filled with hope & purpose. Yet, Religion-legalisim is often a subtle influence that serves to remove these great gifts from Gods people & replace it with man-made doctrines that hold people back in fear, anxiety, bondage & delusion. One thing I have been studying lately is the history of the Shepherding Movement that began back in the 1970s. This movement brought in an Authoritarianism type of leadership, that emphasized doctrines such as being undercover, authority, submission & took it out of its Biblical context and served as subtle control over the people. Guilt, fear & Shame were used as motivators instead love & sincere desire for God. The Shepherding Movement was an over-correction to a lawless society. Its important to note, there is nothing in the Bible that states man is to be our covering or mediator to God. In actual fact it is clear that God is our covering. People that ask, Who is your covering? have sincerely neglected the power of being a Berean, to search to see if these things are so. Again the Bible is very clear that God is our covering. Many sincere people give the title of father or covering, to fear-driven, power-hungry men who carry agendas that are not heart-filled to see the believer walking in freedom before the Lord. Used as tools to further organizations & placing an emphasis on doing for the Lord, the 2nd Commandment is in 1st place. If we are going to have a whole, healthy community the 1st Commandment needs to be emphasized & in 1st Place. The 2nd Commandment in 2nd Place. This is called Divine Order and is rock Solid Biblical. So.. These men are often sincere, but they are sincerely wrong. There is a healthy honour that we are to carry for leaders and it is vital we understand the difference. The difference is your freedom. If we dont get this, we will continue to be ensnared in unhealthy communities and our relationship with God is actually on the line. So in this Shepherding movement, People were suddenly afraid to leave their congregation. These people were in fear of being in rebellion. Although many thousands of people did leave these unhealthy environments, they were told they were out of Gods will, they would go around the mountain, they would incur judgement on themselves, and that things wouldnt go well for them as a result of leaving these environments. For a community to ever imply that they have the corner on Gods anointing and they are the only ones in town that are actually preaching the Gospel, is dangerous. Language such as God said, is often taken completely out of context. Our call as believers is to love the brethren, to honour all men and to work together. I believe the Word says that one day all the streams will flow as one river. Beautiful... So where do people find freedom? Knowing their Bible, loving Prayer, Really knowing & loving God and loving His kids. It is vital we find a healthy community to thrive. Never should we catch ourselves carrying a critical heart or being dishonourable towards anyone, or any community, however its vital we know the difference between a healthy & unhealthy environment. Environments & communities affect us, no matter how strong we are & our lives before the Lord depend on it. #HealthyandWhole #StrongCommunities #LibertyinChrist
Posted on: Sun, 23 Nov 2014 23:22:03 +0000
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