If The Son Sets You Free: You Are Free Indeed; Do not become re-shackled by anything.

 This verse of scripture should be very familiar to most Christians.  Jesus, freed us from just about anything you can think of in terms of our nature of sin and the binding that the devil had also accomplished in his descent into our earthly realm.  He is the "Prince of the Power of the Air and so controls just about anything in this domain, that is until Jesus came and reversed it for all time and eternity to come.
     When salvation was finally revealed to me and I accepted it in the doctrinal stance that Jesus atoned once and for all (men)  on earth it was a miraculous day for me.  It was totally freeing to know that God had me reconciled to himself thru his only Son.  My guilt and all of the things that are wrapped up in us in not only bodily for but also spiritually was broken for all my time on this earth.  The gift of grace that Paul so eloquently speaks of often was poured out on me.
   I was fortunate to hear the preaching of the word that broke down barriers effectively making the way for me into God's kingdom here on earth.
     What was unfortunate was that it came wrapped up in a single man's vision of what Church should be and was part of the Shepherding movement of the early 70's and 80's.  In earlier blogs I attempted to explain what exactly this was. For 15 of those years I never questioned the movement or the numerous counselings that went on in this "Body of Christ."  But with eyes, I saw both the beautiful and the destructive nature of this particular expression of the Church.  Top down leadership was unquestioned and rules of legalism crept in over the years and so did the micro-managing of people's lives.  It was no less than bondage itself, disguised in a very lovely outward expression. If one were to have the ability financially then one could become part of the "inner circle" and those who seemed to struggle (like many and myself included) then you were not really part of the movement and had little say in the many changing directions of the Church over the years.  It seemed that every two years or so a "new revelation" was given to leadership and we followed along as good sheep.
     Those who excelled continued to do so and those who started to ask valid questions about these directions were counseled and leadership abilities taken away.  For example:  One family I know of started to have marital struggles and so one was counseled to split away from their spouse.  This was totally wrong.  Every marriage has struggles at one time or another and it does not mean divorce.  Another family was devoted for 10 + years, lead in music abilities and gave abundantly to the church.  HOWEVER when they began to see inequities of the structure or wanted to "teach in another way" they were expelled quite fast and were marked as "fallen away."
     Repression was not part of the Gospel of The Good News.  And we do not live in a 1960's cold war state of mind with suspicions arising at every dark corner of our lives.
     When Paul and any one of the disciples ministered it was with tremendous grace and love.  Peter who had denied Jesus, repented and transformed those around him and became a Pillar for others to lean on and a leader in the early church to be admired and emulated. John wrote such beautiful words in the beginning of his gospel.  How then do men get ahold of such "revelations" and use them to gain control of others so easily?  It's because we want to hear truth and when it is presented with the truth of the gospel mixed with men's ideas it can be deadly.  Think Waco, Jonestown or today's\ Elizabeth Smart trapped and bound for years and there are valid objections that should be raised when we see these things:
                         A.  A cutting off of Family relations with those who are "unsaved"
                         B.  New and revealed revelations often and changing too fast to implement
                         C.  An inner circle and and outer circle
                         D.  Bypassing those who have labored faithfully and responsibility given instead to                                    family members of the inner circle.
                         E.   Refusal of those in leadership to hear others ideas or questions of concern in                                        directions planned.
                         F.  Splitting of families
                         G. Inability to build with other Christian churches, isolated, insulated and                                                 introverted.
                         H. Being left behind financially when things are tight and are given no help when you                                have tithed faithfully for many years.
                         
                          These are just some of the earmarks to watch for that will put you firmly in bondge again in the midst of a seemly good Church.  Works will not get us into the kingdom only grace thru Jesus Christ.  More and more it is God who draws near to us when we draw near to him.  He wants us to be free and stay that way.  So be wary about what is presented to you and by all means think about what you enter into....I stayed in this for 17 years slowly cooking until it was time for me to be free.  I still have my salvation and I have also spent the last 15 years undoing my thoughts and re-orienting myself to the Gospel as it should be.    I finally have found the grace and because of this I blog about it so others can see as well.  Don't get cooked....