Leading or Lording?

Multitudes of sincere and trusting believers are caught in the virtually invisible web of religious captivation in Charismatic and other Neo-Pentecostal churches, and don't know it. They are unaware victims of spiritual abuse and exploitation under the heavy-hand of hyper-authoritarianism. That is to say, the leadership of the church-group of which they are a part is dominating, controlling, and manipulating their followers, and exploiting them for their own personal gain and private kingdom-building.

Horror stories of authoritarian abuse and exploitation and psychological enslavement in certified Christian churches abound. From time to time, particular isolated incidents have erupted in highly publicized news stories. However, those high-profile cases really are only the tip of the iceberg. The truth of the matter is, I know from my twenty years of ministry, ecclesiastical enslavement and exploitation is widespread in certain sectors of Christendom in this country. And, it is vital to understand, I am not talking about radical, fringe religious sects and cults, but well-respected church-groups espousing orthodox Christian beliefs, whose membership is comprised of a cross section of average Americans, individuals and families, of every race, education level, station, and walk of life.

Charismatic Control!

Though religious predomination is certainly nothing new, and hyper-authoritarianism is by no means limited to the Neo-Pentecostal branch of the Church, it has, however, especially flourished in the Charismatic and so-called "second, third, and fourth wave" (i.e., Neo-Pentecostal) groups since it was infused into the very fabric, foundation, and functions of that branch of the Church in the early- to mid-seventies. Moreover, it is the Charismatic branch of which this ministry has been a part since its inception, which gives me not only the "right" but also the duty to bring reproof of error and errancy in that realm (2 Tim. 4:1-5, et al.).

This kind of "Charismatic captivation" is prevalent among Charismatic and other Neo-Pentecostal churches and groups primarily as a result of widely-taught and -accepted hyper-authoritarian doctrines and practices first introduced in the 70's by an alliance of five ministers who rose to prominence, and spawned what became known as the "Discipleship/Shepherding Movement." Those doctrines and practices remain an integral part of the governmental foundation of many churches and groups yet today.

This elite ministerial Quintumverate had somehow concluded that the newly-created and burgeoning branch of the Church generated by the Divinely-orchestrated Charismatic Movement birthed in 1960, was in disarray and needed to be "organized." Somehow they also determined it was they God had appointed to accomplish the task of "organizing" the Charismatic church. The purportedly inspired and Bible-based organizational structure they advocated and eventually instituted was virtually identical to the modern pyramid marketing structure so popular and prevalent today. The "Fab Five" placed themselves at the top of the pyramid of interrelated Charismatic leaders, which quickly expanded into a "down-line" of thousands of "submitted" ministers.

In the mid-seventies the entire matter of this "movement" erupted into a highly-publicized international controversy. The result of the maelstrom was that the relevant doctrines and practices were repudiated and denounced by many well-known church-leaders, and the ministers who invented and promulgated them fell into disrepute.

However, despite the controversy and the public chastisement, those ministers and their followers initially remained unbowed and undeterred. They defended themselves, as well as the hyper-authoritarian teachings and practices and philosophies of church-government they advocated. For many years afterward, they continued to teach those patently false and unScriptural doctrines, and to develop what came to be an expansive multi-level "network" of ministers and churches. Though, it was now done less overtly, and there was a concerted and deliberate effort to take the whole matter underground to lessen as much as possible the negative effects of the controversy and to give the appearance of repentance.

The unfortunate consequence of that move toward covertness and esotericism was that instead of being eradicated, those patently false doctrines and Scripturally-prohibited practices were infused into the very fabric and foundation of the Charismatic/Neo-Pentecostal Church at-large, and are still espoused and practiced by many churches and groups in operation today. This stems partly from the fact that many of those ministries are headed by leaders who were a part of that network, and adopted or adapted many of the doctrines and governmental philosophies advocated by its principals.

Many church-leaders themselves do not realize their leadership methodology is actually a hybrid form of hyper-authoritarianism, and amounts to domination and control. The proper role of human under-shepherds is to lead people to the Great Shepherd, Jesus Christ, and teach them how to be His followers, in submission to Him and His authority. Hyper-authoritarian leaders, instead, lead people to themselves, and indoctrinate them to be their followers, in total submission to them and their authority.

The mechanisms of psychological manipulation, domination, and control employed in these groups are virtually identical, to those employed by certified cults. Indeed, the stark truth is that many of the groups and churches who employ these techniques and mechanisms are themselves at the very minimum quasi-cults, and in some cases, bona fide cults.

So what are the consequences and effects we are talking about here, a scant few slightly disillusioned people with their feelings a little hurt? FAR FROM IT! We are talking about an immense number of broken and destroyed families, marriages, and friendships, multitudes of unpretentious, formerly trusting people who are now psychologically traumatized and marred, and spiritually shipwrecked, potentially for life. Added to that are substantial numbers of failed businesses, bankruptcies, lost fortunes, nervous breakdowns, contracted health maladies, suicides, and premature deaths by various related causes, and the like, just to name some of the consequences experienced by victims. Indeed, the details of the havoc and decimation wreaked upon victims' lives is far too extensive and, frankly, morose to possibly be able to relate here, but suffice it to say it is sweeping, mind-boggling, and, sadly, in some cases, barring the miraculous, irreversible.

Click here to read the full article

If you would you like to know more about this matter of spiritual abuse in the church, I have written a book, entitled, Charismatic Captivation, that has already been read by thousands of people as a source to help them understand the "schemes of the devil" and how he is able to gain control over their lives and severely limit their power over him.

Charismatic Captivation answers scores of the most frequently asked questions people have this matter, including the signs and symptoms of spiritual abuse, and the steps victims of this dastardly scheme of Satan need to take in order to recover from the psychological and spiritual damage they experience. I have published an entire page on what the book contains which I urge you to read right away. And, perhaps, the best news is that the book is available in E-book form for IMMEDIATE DOWNLOAD.

Click here to discover what's inside this amazing and anointed book that is setting the captives free!

Visit Our Website

There's also a new book I wrote, Dunamis! Power From On High!, that is all about the mighty power available to every believer through the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. All my books are available in print and E-book form, and are listed on the Catalog Page.

If you enjoy these posts, there are likely some other people in your life who would enjoy them as well. If so click on the "Forward Email" link below to forward this message and the recipients will also be given the opportunity to join our mailing list, if they so desire.

I invite your questions and comments. Simply click on the email link below and send them in an email. If you would like to speak to me by phone about these teachings or want me to speak prophetically into your life, include your request in your email with your comments, and I will reply.

Peace On Earth?

One of the things I love about the Christmas Season is that for a few days and weeks at the close of every year virtually the entire world is confronted with the belief held by millions throughout time that two-thousand years ago a Baby was born in a lowly manger who was the long-awaited Messiah of Israel and the Savior of all Mankind. "You shall call His Name, Jesus," the angel of God instructed His human parents, which means Savior, for He would save the world from their sins. His Name would also be Immanuel, which means, God with us; and that He is! for all those who receive Him, are infused in their human spirit with His very Life, His Being, His Spirit, the Divine Nature.

There are some other aspects of the Christmas Season that still make it a very special time of the year, despite its annoyingly overt commercial exploitation. For one, it is by far the most protracted of all the holiday seasons, and with its proximity to the turn of the new year, it has become not just a day of celebration as with Easter and Thanksgiving, for example, but several weeks of celebration. Another aspect that distinguishes it from the others is the fact that it is the only holiday season that is celebrated to some degree in virtually every country of the world by at least some of its citizenry. Then, one of the most unique aspects of the Christmas Season is that it is celebrated with its own extensive and ever-expanding collage of season-related music playing almost ubiquitously in the background in both public and private venues for days and weeks as people throughout the world go about the events and traditions that have become a part of the landscape of the season.

As grating and even offensive as the super-commercialization of the Christmas Season increasingly becomes, in a sense, I can see that in the end, God being Sovereign as He is, it is He and His people who have the last laugh. What an irony it is that the season that has been set aside to celebrate the birth of the Savior of the world, is the most crucial, and in many cases, pivotal financial period for retail merchants great and small around the world. It is its commercial value that undergirds the global tradition of Christmas celebration and commemoration. Our sovereign God, even uses the root of all evil—the love of money—for His own purposes, commandeering each year even the secular system to dramatically proclaim to the whole Godless world that He so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to die in their stead in order to redeem "whosoever will" from the sin that separated all humanity from Him. Throughout the days and weeks culminating each year, the message of redemption, reconciliation, and restoration is conveyed in word, song, and various art forms. The sovereignty of God is truly awesome and awe-inspiring.

Perhaps the most familiar refrain of the master-collage of Christmas-related narratives, poems, songs, melodies, tunes, and orchestral odes is that of "Peace On Earth and goodwill to men."

What a pious-sounding adage and noble longing—"Peace on earth and goodwill to men!" Who in his right mind could be opposed to the prospect of goodwill among all men and greater peace in any segment of human relations than that which currently exists?

But, if "peace on earth and goodwill to men" was the primary purpose of the Christ-Child’s birth two-thousand years ago as the Christmas carols proclaim, why has so little of it transpired on Earth since then?

This never-fulfilled proposition of peace on Earth has for ages been prime fodder for the naysayers and critics of the Gospel, who point out the very obvious fact that to this day wars and all manner of conflict among men have not only not ceased, but rather have increased. Indeed, the fact is that Man has never achieved peace anywhere, at any time on the Earth. There has never been a time in the history of the world when peace was ubiquitous on Earth, i.e., the absence of all conflict among nations or peoples. Rather, nations have always been at war, either against one another, or against themselves in the form of civil wars or internal conflicts.

The fact is, as annoying as the question of why peace on Earth has never existed in the history of mankind is to many Christians, it is nonetheless a valid and fair one. Why hasn’t there been peace and goodwill in the affairs of men through the last two millennia? Is the prospect of peace on Earth really even a scriptural concept? Even more pertinent to our real lives, is it a viable possibility?

Well, to uncover the answer to those questions, we must separate the holy from the profane, the true from the fictitious, and the mythical from the factual. The short answer is: there is a genuine peace that is spoken of repeatedly in Scripture and is an underlying theme of the Gospel of Christ. But then there is also a fallacious and counterfeit peace the Godless seek that is a deception and false hope.

To read the rest of this article, click on the link above.

Charismatic Captivation

Multitudes of sincere and trusting believers are caught in the virtually invisible web of religious captivation in Charismatic and other Neo-Pentecostal churches, and don't know it. They are unaware victims of spiritual abuse and exploitation under the heavy-hand of hyper-authoritarianism. That is to say, the leadership of the church-group of which they are a part is dominating, controlling, and manipulating their followers, and exploiting them for their own personal gain and private kingdom-building.

Horror stories of authoritarian abuse and exploitation and psychological enslavement in certified Christian churches abound. From time to time, particular isolated incidents have erupted in highly publicized news stories. However, those high-profile cases really are only the tip of the iceberg. The truth of the matter is, I know from my thirty years of ministry, ecclesiastical enslavement and exploitation is widespread in certain sectors of Christendom in this country. And, it is vital to understand, I am not talking about radical, fringe religious sects and cults, but well-respected church-groups espousing orthodox Christian beliefs, whose membership is comprised of a cross section of average Americans, individuals and families, of every race, education level, station, and walk of life.

Though religious predomination is certainly nothing new, and hyper-authoritarianism is by no means limited to the Neo-Pentecostal branch of the Church, it has, however, especially flourished in the Charismatic and so-called "second, third, and fourth wave" (i.e., Neo-Pentecostal) groups since it was infused into the very fabric, foundation, and functions of that branch of the Church in the early- to mid-seventies. Moreover, it is the Charismatic branch of which this ministry has been a part since its inception, which gives me not only the "right" but also the duty to bring reproof of error and errancy in that realm (2 Tim. 4:1-5, et al.).

This kind of "Charismatic captivation" is prevalent among Charismatic and other Neo-Pentecostal churches and groups primarily as a result of widely-taught and -accepted hyper-authoritarian doctrines and practices first introduced in the 1970s by an alliance of five ministers who rose to prominence, and spawned what became known as the "Discipleship/Shepherdship Movement." Those doctrines and practices remain an integral part of the governmental foundation of many churches and groups yet today.

This elite ministerial Quintumverate had somehow concluded that the newly-created and burgeoning branch of the Church generated by the Divinely-orchestrated Charismatic Movement birthed in 1960, was in disarray and needed to be "organized." Somehow they also determined it was they God had appointed to accomplish the task of "organizing" the Charismatic church. The purportedly inspired and Bible-based organizational structure they advocated and eventually instituted was virtually identical to the modern pyramid marketing structure so popular and prevalent today. The "Fab Five" placed themselves at the top of the pyramid of interrelated Charismatic leaders, which quickly expanded into a "down-line" of thousands of "submitted" ministers.

In the mid-seventies the entire matter of this "movement" erupted into a highly-publicized international controversy. The result of the maelstrom was that the relevant doctrines and practices were repudiated and denounced by many well-known church-leaders, and the ministers who invented and promulgated them fell into disrepute.

However, despite the controversy and the public chastisement, those ministers and their followers initially remained unbowed and undeterred. They defended themselves, as well as the hyper-authoritarian teachings and practices and philosophies of church-government they advocated. For many years afterward, they continued to teach those patently false and unScriptural doctrines, and to develop what came to be an expansive multi-level "network" of ministers and churches. Though, it was now done less overtly, and there was a concerted and deliberate effort to take the whole matter underground to lessen as much as possible the negative effects of the controversy and to give the appearance of repentance.

The unfortunate consequence of that move toward covertness and esotericism was that instead of being eradicated, those patently false doctrines and Scripturally-prohibited practices were infused into the very fabric and foundation of the Charismatic/Neo-Pentecostal Church at-large, and are still espoused and practiced by many churches and groups in operation today. This stems partly from the fact that many of those ministries are headed by leaders who were a part of that network, and adopted or adapted many of the doctrines and governmental philosophies advocated by its principals.

Many church-leaders themselves do not realize their leadership methodology is actually a hybrid form of hyper-authoritarianism, and amounts to domination and control. The proper role of human under-shepherds is to lead people to the Great Shepherd, Jesus Christ, and teach them how to be His followers, in submission to Him and His authority. Hyper-authoritarian leaders, instead, lead people to themselves, and indoctrinate them to be their followers, in total submission to them and their authority.

In essence, these dominating shepherds teach they are the church members' Lord, Master, and Savior. They indoctrinate congregants to believe the spiritual leaders of the church themselves are the members' "spiritual covering," and any member who ever leaves the church will be "out from under" their "covering," be without any covering, and experience terrible curses and consequences as a result. This false hypothesis of "absolute submission," with which subjugatees are incessantly indoctrinated, is the bedrock of such authoritarian doctrines. That, coupled with the enslaving organizational authority structure in place in the groups where these unBiblical doctrines are espoused, is primarily what makes these techniques and mechanisms effectual and effective. And, it is chiefly the spiritual and psychological needs and problems of attendees of these groups that makes them vulnerable to such unauthorized domination and control as well as exploitation.

The mechanisms of psychological manipulation, domination, and control employed in these groups are virtually identical, to those employed by certified cults. Indeed, the stark truth is that many of the groups and churches who employ these techniques and mechanisms are themselves at the very minimum quasi-cults, and in some cases, bona fide cults.

The abuse and exploitation occurring in groups where these hyper-authoritarian systems of governance are instituted come in various shapes and shades. In a nutshell, the "dumb sheep" are taught they cannot trust their own judgment or ability to receive direction from the Lord for even the most mundane decisions of their lives, but must rely instead upon the supposed transcendent wisdom and superior spirituality of their human "Shepherds." Typically, submitants must obtain the approval of their group-gurus regarding virtually all domestic matters and decisions; matters of romance, such as who members date and marry; health and insurance matters, employment and career matters, and most of all, regarding every detail of members' personal finances, which requires their leaders' approval for practically every significant expenditure.

Relentless programming with this premise along with constant bombardment with belittling derision leads to spiritual and psychological paralysis for submissive adherents. Gradually, as the hidden web of religious witchcraft is woven, and their natural resistance to such domination and control is dissipated, docile submitants eventually become the unwitting and helpless psychological slaves of self-aggrandizing church-leaders and their grandiose plans for the building of their private, personal, earthly kingdoms.

In these groups, the "authority" of the "shepherds" is absolute, sacrosanct, and inviolable, that is, without reprisal. Any semblance of anything other than total and unquestioning obeisance to the desires and counsel of the chain of leaders is considered rebellion and insubordination, and simply is not tolerated. Members live under the constant threat of being branded with the Scarlet Letter "R" for "rebel," openly denounced and shamed from the (bully-)pulpit, and consequently shunned by their "covenant-community" as well as the threat of excommunication (which is rarely exercised except in the case of the most outspoken dissidents, because they don't want to lose the members and their financial support). Moreover, members are indoctrinated to accept the leadership-set agenda and mission of the group, regarding which they have little real say, as their personal burden and responsibility, and to commit their time, talent, and, most importantly, their tithe to its successful completion. The oppressive maltreatment and mistreatment to which members of these cult-like groups are subjected seems to me to be the spiritual equivalent of the hard-taskmastery of the Israelites during their centuries of captivity under the Egyptian Pharaohs.

Remember the call of Christ Himself, "If therefore the Son shall make you FREE, you shall be FREE indeed!" (Jn. 8:36); as well as Paul's echo of Christ's call, "It was for FREEDOM that Christ set us FREE; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery" (Gal. 5:1).

It is my deepest desire and heartfelt prayer that all those who name themselves among the Brotherhood of Christ will give heed to the reproof and admonitions presented herein, and take the actions necessary to liberate the Children of God from the oppressive captivation of men, for all believers are called to be SONS of God, not SLAVES of men (1 Cor. 7:23).

[Click on the article title above to read the rest of this article and a list of related articles.]

[This article is adapted from the book, CHARISMATIC CAPTIVATION, by Dr. Steven Lambert. The book exposes the widespread problem of authoritarian abuse in Neo-Pentecostal church-groups, and explains how it became infused into the very fabric, foundation, and functions of the Neo-Pentecostal church arising out of a false movement known as the Discipleship/Shepherding Movement (1970-77).]