The Passover Parallel Paul Couldn’t Ignore that the Church Must Restore

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Image by Claudio Henrique Claudio from Pixabay

Each year as we celebrate Resurrection Sunday and Passover, it’s common to hear messages highlighting God’s merciful promise: “When I see the blood on the doorposts of the house” – now representing the blood of Jesus over our lives – “I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you.” (Exodus 12:13, 21-23)

While it’s always appropriate to meditate on this type and shadow from the original Passover, which provides such a powerful picture of the saving blood of Jesus, these messages typically present only part of God’s counsel to ensure His merciful deliverance.

The Less Popular Side of Deliverance

Tucked in between the promise of divine protection (v.13) and the instructions for applying the blood of the lamb (v.21-23), we find an additional Passover requirement that still applies symbolically for us today as well – the removal of all leaven (chametz) from their meals and homes, representing the removal of sin from our lives. (Exodus 12:13-23)

To this day, faithful Jews make a diligent and thorough search of their homes before Passover to remove every last trace of leaven (Bedikat Chametz), burn all that is found (Biur Chametz), and renounce any they may be unaware of that might unknowingly remain (Bittul Chametz). For the church, this symbolizes what should be our ongoing lifestyle of repentance and sanctification.

The omission of this part of the type and shadow from Passover, and the full implications of neglecting this side of the story, has resulted in the compromised and weakened condition of much of the church today, where sin (leaven) is tolerated while grace (the blood of the Lamb) is celebrated.

Faced with such compromise in the church at Corinth, Paul found it necessary to remind them of the rest of the Passover parallel. (I Corinthians 5) When addressing the willful, unrepentant sin in their midst, he prescribed a church discipline that many now reject as too harsh, unloving, and unkind, “…Drive out that wicked one from among you [expel him from your church].” (5:13) He instructed the church not to remain in fellowship with those who profess to be Christians, yet continue practicing willful sin. (5:9-13)

Was “the Apostle of Grace” Being Graceless?

Was Paul, often credited with having the greatest revelation of God’s grace, forgetting the grace and mercy of God? Was he violating Christlike love and misrepresenting the heart of the Father? Was he suddenly seized with a religious or legalistic spirit and returning to his former Pharisaical past? Did he not yet understand that it’s the kindness of God that leads to repentance? Was he being “anti-Christ”?
Or is it rather that modern-day teachings about the grace and mercy of God have drifted so far that Paul’s words and actions now seem at odds with the very revelation of grace he’s been credited with bringing?

Hopefully, we can all agree it’s the latter. Any time Scripture itself cannot pass the test of our theological conclusions, interpretations, definitions, and standards we’ve drawn from other parts of Scripture, something is wrong – and it’s not Scripture. It’s an indication that it’s time to realign ourselves to the Plumb Line of the whole counsel of God’s Word.

Paul’s Passover Parallel

Paul went so far as to say the man in this case was to be handed over to satan “for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.” (5:5) As he continued explaining the necessity of the painful discipline he prescribed, he pointed them back to the entire Passover parallel:

…Do you not know that [just] a little leaven will ferment the whole lump [of dough]? 7 Purge (clean out) the old leaven that you may be fresh (new) dough, still uncontaminated [as you are], for Christ, our Passover [Lamb], has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with leaven of vice and malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened [bread] of purity (nobility, honor) and sincerity and [unadulterated] truth. I Corinthians 5:6-8

Therefore, we see that his reasoning for this radical discipline was twofold:
~first, for the sake of the one living in sin – for the destruction of his flesh, that his spirit may yet be saved in the day of judgment. (v.5)
~ And second, for the sake of the church – to prevent the spread of sin (leaven) throughout the Body of Christ. (v.6)

By highlighting this less popular parallel from Passover, he gave us the key to understanding BOTH.

Paul’s latter reason is evident through his reference to the spreading nature of leaven (representing sin) until it has affected the whole. Therefore, the removal of the one practicing sin was for the protection and preservation of the entire church.

But to more fully understand his former reason – that this man might experience a painful enough discipline to hopefully cause him to return to a place of ultimately being saved – a closer look at God’s instructions in Exodus is needed.

A Physical Demonstration of a Spiritual Reality

God had warned that those who retained any leaven in their meals or even in their homes as they prepared for deliverance from Egypt would be cut off from His people and excluded from the congregation. (Exodus 12:15,19) Applying the blood of the lamb over the doorframes of the house didn’t overrule this commandment or override the judgment for failure to comply. Obedience to BOTH instructions was essential – the removal of the leaven and the application of the blood of the lamb.

By importing these instructions into his reasoning for telling the church to remove professing believers who have remained in or returned to lifestyles of sin, Paul revealed that the Passover command concerning removing leaven carries just as much symbolic revelation for New Covenant believers as does the sacrifice of the Passover lamb. In doing so, he affirmed that holding onto willful sin (leaven) in our lives (and the church) will truly cause us to be cut off. Claiming the grace of God through the blood of Jesus, our Passover Lamb, doesn’t overrule this command or override the judgment for failure to comply.

Both the command to cut off those found with leaven from God’s people in the Old Covenant, and its New Covenant application to cut off those remaining in lifestyles of sin after receiving Jesus, are meant to be physical demonstrations of a deeper spiritual reality. Being physically cut off from God’s covenant people, whether Israel (Old Covenant) or the church (New Covenant), was intended to awaken us to the deeper truth that holding onto willful sin cuts us off spiritually from covenant with God. This spiritual reality explains the first reason Paul gave for his severe discipline – to remove the man and hand him over to satan “for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.” In other words, this was not just a matter of preventing the man from spreading harmful influence on others in the church. Nor was it just a matter of wanting him to repent so he could live his best life now, to walk in all the blessings and benefits of God on earth (while believing his spirit was still ultimately perfect and securely saved). No – Paul’s Passover parallel to the New Covenant church revealed this was a matter of eternal salvation.

This is reaffirmed in II Corinthians 7, as Paul continued to address the situation in his follow-up letter:

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. II Corinthians 7:10

Salvation was at stake. Repentance was required.

Denying the Lord: When Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Adherents of “once saved, always saved” (OSAS) teaching – or its close relative, the belief that salvation can only be lost by renouncing or denying faith in Jesus with our mouths – will likely contend that the man was never truly born again. Certainly a case could be made for this in many situations where someone continues to practice willful sin after receiving Jesus, but I’m not convinced this applies in every instance. In this situation, we should acknowledge that Paul’s use of the Passover parallel implies that the man was formerly regarded as included within the covenant people of God, but was now to be cut off and excluded for holding onto the leaven of unrepentant sin. Paul rebuked the church for the sin among them (believers), stating it was a kind of sin even condemned by unbelieving Gentiles. (v.1-2) He didn’t claim the man himself was an unbelieving Gentile among them, but reproached them as believers for sin that even unbelievers know is unacceptable. Lastly, Paul admonished the church that he was not instructing them to judge those outside the church (unbelievers), but those within (believers) – those bearing the name of Christian brother or sister. (v. 9-13)

I realize it would take far more than one paragraph to adequately address OSAS and related objections, so for the sake of keeping this from turning into that treatise, I will just briefly reference something previously shared in The Spirit of a Magician and Apostasy – part 1 blog:

Those deceived by the error of lawlessness still claim faith in Jesus as their Savior, but these errors cause them to deny and disown Him as Master and Lord – in the sense that they reject His Lordship over their lives. It’s vital to understand that they don’t do so by purposefully denying or renouncing Him as Lord with words. Instead this denial and rejection occurs through their actions/sin (I Thess 4:1-8, Titus 1:16, Jms 4:4, Heb 10:26-39).

“Watch the actions (or life), not the words” and “Actions speak louder than words” are phrases we’ve likely all heard as wise counsel to help us determine the truth about others (or ourselves). The Lord affirms this wisdom by telling us we will know people by their fruit (actions, character). He warned that it’s not those who merely call Him “Lord” (words), or even operate in His gifts in His Name, who will be saved – if they also practice lawlessness (sin) – but only those who actually live under His Lordship (actions), obeying His Word and doing His will. (Matthew 7:13-29)

This truth is further established and confirmed in additional passages, where we’re told that people, through actions rather than words, have denied the faith and are worse than unbelievers (I Timothy 5:8), and that servants of the Master (believers) who don’t remain faithful to His will, but instead begin to live in sin, will be cut asunder (“cut off” in some translations) and assigned a place with unbelievers (the unfaithful) in punishment at His return. (Luke 12:42-48)

The Mercy of Discipline

Regardless of where one lands on this broader debate, hopefully we can all agree Paul clearly stated his goal was that this man’s spirit may yet be saved — a statement that would be unnecessary if his final salvation, as one professing faith in Jesus, was assured and unassailable. The painful discipline was intended to produce godly sorrow that would result in genuine repentance (turning away from sin and bearing the fruit of that change), and ultimately in salvation.

When we understand this, it becomes clear that this severe discipline was not un-Christlike cruelty, but a profound work of the kindness, mercy, and grace of God. Whether you believe he must never have truly been born again, or whether you’re willing to accept the Scriptures that indicate true believers can fall from their secure position and deny the Lord through willful sin (II Peter 2:18-22, 3:15-18, to name a few more), the bottom line is that Paul didn’t want this man or the church to be deceived about his salvation in his current condition. Being cut off was intended to prevent them all from persisting in the spiritual blindness and deception of believing he was still in right relationship with God while living a life of willful disobedience to Him. Applying the blood of the Lamb alone, by claiming God’s mercy and grace, would not make up for this. He needed repentance (removing the leaven/sin) as well as applying the blood.

Again, to be clear – This is NOT about a works-based salvation; it’s about the truth that we must receive Jesus as our Lord as well as our Savior, which involves turning from sin to follow Him and continuing (abiding, remaining, enduring) in Him. Continuing instead in willful sin is the fruit that reveals He either never was, or is now no longer, on the throne of our hearts and lives as our Lord.

Paul was actually not only looking for repentance from the one man in question, but also from the whole church for their part in tolerating sin, contributing to spiritual deception and danger, not only for the man in question, but for the rest of the church.

Thankfully, in this situation, Paul’s confrontation and the subsequent severing were successful in accomplishing the intended purpose – both the church and the man repented and were restored. (II Corinthians 2:1-11; 7:8-11)

Misguided Mercy Undermines True Mercy

But what about the church today? It seems Paul’s Passover parallel is just as much a call to repentance for us today as it was for the church in Corinth.

The error might not always be as blatantly clear. While there are certainly some congregations of professing Christians who now openly accept and celebrate sin in the name of grace, there are others who still claim to hold to God’s eternal Scriptural standards of morality, yet fail to follow Paul’s counsel for various reasons.

Recently, some internationally known leaders have cited their understanding and practice of the kindness, mercy, and grace of God as the reason they’ve neglected Jesus’ and Paul’s Holy Spirit-inspired instructions for church discipline. Some have framed their fault as being too merciful. But who exactly are we being merciful to when we disregard the clear teaching of Scripture about these issues?
~ It isn’t merciful to the person practicing sin, who’s allowed to persist in spiritual blindness and deception about their salvation, putting them in mortal and immortal danger.
~ Nor is it merciful to the church, who’s being negatively influenced and impacted in many ways.

While I can empathize with the thinking behind these decisions at times, since many have suffered traumatic church hurt where love was lacking in confrontation and discipline, this should not become an excuse to forego following Scripture in these areas. It should compel us to grow in applying these difficult truths in love. Failing to follow these Scriptural instructions has actually resulted in vast numbers more people experiencing traumatic church hurt in recent years. In trying to spare a few from painful discipline, many more have suffered far greater harm, even to the point of losing their faith. Our unwillingness to submit our understanding to the wisdom of God in these matters has ironically undermined His true kindness, mercy, love, and grace, in the name of His kindness, mercy, love, and grace. Hopefully, many are beginning to identify these as unScriptural versions of these virtues – what some refer to as unsanctified mercy, which I believe falls under the larger umbrella of hypergrace error. These strengthen the hands of those in error, so that no one turns from their sin. (Jeremiah 23:14)

May God help us reconcile that the same Paul who said it’s the kindness of God that leads to repentance also said godly sorrow produces repentance that leads to salvation (in this very context of painful church discipline). The two are not mutually exclusive or contradictory. When Paul said it’s the kindness of God that leads to repentance, surely he was including the kindness that is willing to lovingly confront sin – and where this alone is not successful, to continue the process of Scriptural church discipline from a motivation of love. As we broaden our understanding to encompass the whole counsel of Scripture, we find that whatever expression of love is required to bring someone to repentance, whether the way we prefer to envision God’s mercy – as with the woman caught in adultery, whom I believe already displayed the godly sorrow Jesus knew would produce the true repentance to “go and sin no more” (John 8:1-11) – OR through love that is willing to confront and discipline to bring conviction and motivation to change – as with five of the seven churches in Revelation (Revelation 2-3) – ultimately all are manifestations of His loving-kindness trying to draw us to repentance and a knowledge of truth that will set us free.

Passover Preparation as our Way of Life

May we all have the heart of the Father and the mind of Christ in showing God’s mercy to the repentant and His more challenging form of mercy to the unrepentant who claim to know Him. I know this is extremely difficult for us all. And we certainly need His wisdom, discernment, and the nuance gleaned from the whole counsel of His Word to apply this as we should.

But even if we’re not certain in every case when longsuffering and forbearance are in order vs. church discipline, or withdrawing fellowship, may we at least love people enough to do what we can to make sure they’re not deceived about salvation – so that all will understand the ultimate cutting off God warned of if we profess Jesus as Lord and Savior but persist in willful sin, rather than submitting to His Lordship. And may we do all we can to prevent and protect against the spreading nature of sin in our midst. These two priorities were at the heart of Paul’s instructions.

And lest we think Paul’s message is only about the leaven remaining in others’ lives, may we remember God’s Passover parallel is for us all.

Just as faithful Jews today still make a diligent and thorough search of their homes before Passover to remove every last trace of leaven, burn all that is found, and renounce any that they’re unaware of that might unknowingly remain, may this truly symbolize our ongoing lifestyle of repentance and sanctification.

May we continually invite the Lord’s supernatural help and insight in this process to search us and know our hearts, show us any offensive way within us, and lead us in the path of everlasting life. (Psalm 139:23-24) And as Paul described in the letters to the Corinthians, may we also remember we have an active role to play in this process. We are called to search and examine ourselves as well – to judge ourselves so we will not be judged by God. (I Corinthians 11:28-32, II Corinthians 13:5)

The Passover pattern remains. The blood still leads to life. The leaven still leads to death. And the God who warned Israel and confronted Corinth, is still calling His people to cleanse our lives and house, even as we also apply the blood of Jesus, our Passover Lamb.

May we return to the whole counsel of God — applying the blood and removing the leaven – holding fast to grace and repentance, mercy and holiness, salvation and sanctification. And may we see the same God who rescued from Egypt and restored in Corinth move mightily in our lives and in the church to rescue and restore again today.
May we hear His call, and with His help thoroughly search our hearts and homes to remove all that’s not of Him, so that we’re not cut off, but that when He sees the blood of Jesus, destruction will pass over and we will be saved.








A Beautiful Answer to a Simple Prayer

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Over the past few years, we’ve been especially fond of seeing indigo buntings in our backyard, in addition to the cardinals, blue jays, spotted towhees, and various other birds that visit. But Jesse had the pleasure of seeing a rare yellow bird once that I’d missed. Since some of the ways I delight in the Lord most are through His creation and color, I asked Him to please send the yellow bird(s) back to join our red, blue, orange, black, and brown feathered friends.

After this request, the thought came – why limit it to yellow? What I would really love to see are birds as beautifully and brightly colored as those found in the tropics. But I had no idea if that was possible in this part of the world. So I amended my original request and asked the Lord to please send us the most beautifully colored birds that are possible to see here.

Not many days later, Jesse noticed a new bird at our feeder. He looked it up and thought it was a painted bunting, and began pointing it out when it would show up. I could tell the bird was multi-colored, which I loved, but didn’t yet realize my prayer was being answered till last weekend, when Jesse handed me binoculars to take a closer look. What I saw took my breath away – a vibrantly colored bird, like something you could see in the tropics! At that moment the Lord brought my prayer to my remembrance and I was in awe!

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Last night my awe multiplied when I asked AI what the most colorful bird you can see in the Southern US is, and it responded, “The Painted Bunting is arguably the most colorful bird you can see in the South of the US. Male Painted Buntings are known for their vibrant plumage, featuring a blue head, green back, and red throat and underparts…. Females and young males are a more subdued green, but still quite striking.”

One of the links AI provided said, “Male painted buntings are so brilliantly colored they look more like a painting than a bird; indeed, they are sometimes called the “nonpareil,” French for “unrivaled.” …Painted buntings frequent brushy areas, woodland edges, and marshes all over the Southeast, though many migrate to Florida and the northern Caribbean for the winter.”

I was amazed at the specificity of this answered prayer for the most beautifully colored bird possible to see here, even down to the detail I didn’t know would be possible – that this same bird can actually be seen in the tropics!

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I know this may seem incredibly trivial or even silly in light of the severe struggles and serious needs people are dealing with (including ourselves). But I hope it might bless you, as it has me, with the reminders that

~ God hears us – every thought, desire, and whispered prayer

~ He cares – even about our requests that are insignificant and unimportant in light of so many other things.

~ And as our loving Father, He delights in blessing us with the desires of our hearts.

To be honest, if I were to rank the order of importance of which desires of my heart I’d most want God to fulfill and which prayers I’d most want swiftly answered, this would not have been high on the list. And the Lord knows that as well. If He’d given me the choice of which breathtaking answered prayer to receive that day, I’d be sharing a different testimony today. But when we’ve been clinging to God’s promises for many years, with wounded faith and wearied perseverance, awaiting the fulfillment of His Word in other areas of far greater significance, this kind of swift answer to another request can still be a sweet gift – a reminder of His constant Presence and His attentiveness and care about even the smallest, seemingly unimportant and insignificant, details and desires.

May this swift answer to something insignificant encourage us that He also hears the cries of our hearts and is at work in those weightier matters and needs, where we’ve not yet seen the answers and breakthroughs we need. May it inspire us not to give up when hope feels stretched thin, but to keep diligently and persistently asking, seeking, and knocking till we receive, find, and the doors open, as He’s promised. 🙏❤

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Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart. Psalm 37:4

Also [Jesus] told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not to turn coward (faint, lose heart, and give up)…. see Luke 18:1-8

Keep on asking and it will be given you; keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking [reverently] and [the door] will be opened to you. For everyone who keeps on asking receives; and he who keeps on seeking finds; and to him who keeps on knocking, [the door] will be opened. Or what man is there of you, if his son asks him for a loaf of bread, will hand him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will hand him a serpent? If you then, evil as you are, know how to give good an advantageous gifts to your children, how much more will your Father Who is in heaven [perfect as He is] give good and advantageous things to those who keep on asking Him! Matthew 7:7-11

We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.. Hebrews 6:11-12

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? see Matthew 6:25-34

Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive the glory and the honor and dominion, for You created all things; by Your will they were [brought into being] and were created. Revelation 4:11

O Lord, how many and varied are Your works! In wisdom have You made them all; the earth is full of Your riches and Your creatures. Psalm 104:24

#Hehears #HeCares #HeAnswersPrayers #dontgiveup #keeponasking #keeponseeking #KeepOnKnocking #FaithAndPatience #DelightYourselfInTheLord

When Jesus Comes With a Whip

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“And the Lord [the Messiah], Whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; … But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the priests, the sons of Levi, and refine them like gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord offerings in righteousness.” Malachi 3:1-3

I’ve never made this connection before, but this hit me so deep Sunday night at the end of The Chosen (Season 5, episode 1) as Jesus made the whip… It seems like the makers of the Chosen are rightly setting the stage for the seismic impact Jesus’ radical clearing of the temple would have played in His final week leading to the crucifixion. It’s no mystery that it would have served to further incite the religious leaders’ determination to kill Him. And we’ve probably also all imagined how it would have offended those whose tables were overturned and businesses were disrupted and driven out. But the realization that was hitting me so hard Sunday night, and what I’m wondering whether they’re going to portray in episode 3 and beyond, was the impact it might also have had in turning many of the previously adoring crowds against Jesus. We’ve heard references through the years to the fickleness of the crowd – how they welcomed Him with open arms in the Triumphal Entry in ways that indicated they’d rightly identified Him as their long-awaited Messiah – yet within days were so easily incited to reverse course and instead call for His crucifixion. I’ve often been perplexed by how this drastic shift could have occurred, but have never heard anyone connect it to potential offense that might have resulted from Jesus clearing the temple with a whip. But now, seeing this dramatic portrayal of this shocking event placed in the final week before Jesus’ death feels like it could be the possible missing link and plausible motive to “make it make sense.”

I was already amazed. But the Lord didn’t stop there; He took my amazement to a much deeper level.

As Jesus began making the whip at the end of episode 1, what came to my remembrance was something He’d showed us many years ago that I posted about October 31, 2012 – the parallel between Jesus clearing the Old Covenant Temple with a whip, and the New Covenant revelation that WE are now His Temple (both the collective church and each individual believer) – and how Scripture reveals He still uses “a whip” (His chastisement) to cleanse His temple (individual believers and the church) of what is not of Him. (I Cor 10:21-22; 11:31-32; Heb 12:4-12, etc)

Sunday night, the Lord added to this previous revelation from years ago by helping me properly place this event as a pivotal moment that potentially turned the adoring crowds who welcomed Him as Messiah, into the angry mob who demanded His crucifixion – and by making this connection, then highlighted the pivotal role His judgment and chastisement often still plays in turning those who were once unashamedly for Him into those who are vehemently against Him.

We love Jesus the Deliverer. We welcome Jesus the Healer. We’re inspired and challenged by Jesus the Teacher and Prophet. We cling to Jesus the Merciful and Gracious Savior. But Jesus with a Whip? Jesus the Judge? Jesus the Disciplinarian and Chastiser? …Not too many want Him. Yet all this is part of the Real Jesus. And if we try to reject these aspects of Him, we’ll end up with “another Jesus” – a counterfeit.

Like the Israelites of that day, we want Jesus to be all these less-than-pleasant things for our enemies (especially fighting our enemies in the spiritual realm) – just as they expected the Messiah to do for them against Rome. So imagine their offense when instead of swiftly using His whip against their oppressors and enemies as they expected – He first used it against them? Is it possible that Jesus’ whip, His rebuke, His chastisement, and His refusal to tolerate their desecration of His temple (now symbolizing our lives and the church), caused so much offense that it turned them from believers to opponents?

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Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever – and as many have been seeing in the past several years, judgment still begins at His House. (I Pt 4:17, Heb 13:8) The way we respond will reveal whether we’ve truly received the Real Jesus as our Lord, as well as our Savior, and will determine whether our faith will endure.

How often could offense with God be determined as a “primary cause of death” in an autopsy of faith? An interaction last week with an aggressively proselytizing atheist made me once again realize that for some (many?), if you dig deep enough you may discover that it’s not so much that they don’t believe in God as it is that they’re actually offended and angry with Him.

The propensity of offense that comes from tests, trials, tribulations, …even difficult teachings, to uproot our faith is a serious enough threat that the Lord warned us about it multiple times in His Word (Mt 13:20-21, Mt 24:9-10, Lk 7:18-23, John 6:60-66, John 16:1-3, II Tim 4:1-5, etc). Often such troubles are the result of afflictions and attacks from the enemy, for which God is then wrongfully blamed (Jn 10:10). Other times they could be the natural consequences of our own unwise decisions, which again, some may then hold God accountable for rather than themselves (Prov 19:3). But then there are also times when trouble could be the result of divine discipline. This is a vital reason we should never rely on faith formulas, but instead on intimate relationship with the Lord. We need to seek His wisdom about what’s happening in a situation and how we should respond. It would have done no good for the people Jesus issued severe warnings to in Revelation 2 and 3 to try to rely on faith declarations and principles to overcome the impending judgment He prophesied. They needed an accurate diagnosis of their sin and the accurate prescription and remedy of repentance.

How appropriate that these 2 episodes aired on Father’s Day. Again, we rejoice in God as Father – as long as we’re focused on the enjoyable aspects of a loving Father’s care. But how many still make room in their theology for the Father’s love to be revealed through discipline? (Prov 13:24, Heb 12, Rev 3:19)

I imagine the portrayal of Jesus angrily clearing the temple in episode 2 could regretfully be triggering for those who’ve experienced unloving, abusive fathers, if they try to envision this as a parallel to His discipline in our lives/the church. But in our worthy efforts to prevent God from being misunderstood as an abusive tyrant, many have lost the plot and deny His discipline altogether – or claim it only occurs through His Word. But this belief doesn’t pass the test of Scripture.

If we truly want the fear of the Lord restored, as many claim to desire – if we truly want the foolishness and abuses rooted out of leadership and the church, as many are now rightly demanding – it’s imperative that we restore a Biblical understanding of the discipline and chastisement, even the judgment of the Lord, to His House. It’s time we remember that WE, individually and collectively, are now His temple, and that He may still be grieved enough to cleanse out all that desecrates. Rather than turning against and rejecting Him when He comes with a whip, may all humbly submit to His discipline that we may live. 🙏❤

#restoringthefearofthelord #DivineDiscipline #JesusStillCleansesTheTemple

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“And have you [completely] forgotten the divine word of appeal and encouragement in which you are reasoned with and addressed as sons? My son, do not think lightly or scorn to submit to the correction and discipline of the Lord, nor lose courage and give up and faint when you are reproved or corrected by Him; For the Lord corrects and disciplines everyone whom He loves, and He punishes, even scourges, every son whom He accepts and welcomes to His heart and cherishes. You must submit to and endure [correction] for discipline; God is dealing with you as with sons. For what son is there whom his father does not [thus] train and correct and discipline? Now if you are exempt from correction and left without discipline in which all [of God’s children] share, then you are illegitimate offspring and not true sons [at all].

“Moreover, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we yielded [to them] and respected [them for training us]. Shall we not much more cheerfully submit to the Father of spirits and so [truly] live? For [our earthly fathers] disciplined us for only a short period of time and chastised us as seemed proper and good to them; but He disciplines us for our certain good, that we may become sharers in His own holiness.

For the time being no discipline brings joy, but seems grievous and painful; but afterwards it yields a peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it [a harvest of fruit which consists in righteousness—in conformity to God’s will in purpose, thought, and action, resulting in right living and right standing with God]. So then, brace up and reinvigorate and set right your slackened and weakened and drooping hands and strengthen your feeble and palsied and tottering knees, And cut through and make firm and plain and smooth, straight paths for your feet [yes, make them safe and upright and happy paths that go in the right direction], so that the lame and halting [limbs] may not be put out of joint, but rather may be cured.” Hebrews 12:5-12

“Those whom I [dearly and tenderly] love, I tell their faults and convict and convince and reprove and chasten [I discipline and instruct them]. So be enthusiastic and in earnest and burning with zeal and repent [changing your mind and attitude].” Revelation 3:19

The Psychology of Silence: Why Many are Mute in Response to Exposures of Church Abuse, Part 3

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(Continued from part 1 and part 2)

Blind Loyalty

BUT, IN ADDITION to ALL this, that day in early April, when I saw the silent dog, the Lord immediately brought to mind some criminal investigations we’d recently heard about. In these cases, the presence of a dog who made no commotion became a significant clue for the investigators, causing them to deduce that the watch dog knew the criminal. The problem of these mute dogs was not fear, but familiarity, even friendship. The dogs’ normal alarm responses were deactivated, resulting in no warning to alert others to danger, because they didn’t perceive a threat. The person was trusted, perhaps loved. Therefore, the perpetrator gained and retained unopposed access to his prey.

As Isaiah said of the ineffective watchmen and shepherds, “they are blind” – not due to a physical impairment, but spiritual and soulish ones. While spiritual blindness and diminished discernment can occur for many reasons, these cases highlight the times it can happen as the result of loving and trusting someone – believing in them and believing them. And what better place to find this than the church, where “blind” love, trust, and unfailing faith in others is often ingrained and overemphasized to the detriment, or even exclusion, of wisdom and discernment.

The enemy knows this imbalance provides a perfect environment for abusers and wolves to thrive – by leveraging believers’ desire to walk in faith and Christ-like love against us. We expect church to be a safe environment, full of spiritual family with godly values and motives. Therefore, our guard is already lower than it might otherwise be. Seizing this advantage, many with ulterior motives have been able to successfully groom the sincere through friendship, familiarity, trust, faith, and love to further deactivate their normal alarm system, making them easy prey.

“Love believes all things,” (I Cor 13:7) was the verse allegedly weaponized against one whistleblower to accuse her that by refusing to believe her leader’s gaslighting and denial, she was violating God’s love. Thankfully, she knew enough to recognize this well known Bible scholar was mishandling Scripture, and wisely responded – “Love doesn’t believe a lie.” This attempt to deceive by manipulating Scripture highlights not only that our desire to love can be used against us, but our desire to be submissive to God and those in authority as well.

Our tendency toward “Truth bias” is far greater with someone we love and believe we can trust. This can be all the more true for someone we respect as an authority, or are tempted to idolize – which has unfortunately occurred with many dynamic leaders. We should remember that Psalm 115:4-8 and 135:16-18 tell us that those who make idols become like them. In context, the Psalmist is saying they become (spiritually) blind, deaf, and mute.

“see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” Photo by denseatoms on Flickr. License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/

While this spiritual blindness and deafness does at times result in muteness, at other times it creates avid enablers and staunch defenders of the abusers. This may apply to victims before they see the light, but also encompasses the “ride or die” followers, fellow leaders, and more often than not the spouse of the abuser. Their persistent blindness and deafness to the truth, and even co-participation in “DARVO” (Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender) tactics – demonizing victims and defending the abuser – can be astonishing to those who can properly see and hear. Similarly, watchdogs who know and love a criminal will not only fail to recognize and warn others “their person” poses danger, but will fiercely fight anyone who comes to bring “their person” to account. They don’t realize they’re fighting to protect the wrong person; they’re operating in blind loyalty.

From Mute Dogs to Sheep, Serpents, Doves… and Lions

Though pop-Christianity teaches us that in order to love we should always “believe the best” of everyone, this is not the standard of Jesus, who instructed us,

..I am sending you out like sheep in the midst of wolves; be wary and wise as serpents, and be innocent (harmless, guileless, and without falsity) as doves. Be on guard against men [whose way or nature is to act in opposition to God];…  (Mt 10:16-17)

While this may sound like He was only warning of the wolves without, we know in other places He warned us (through His teaching and that of the apostles) of wolves within – both natural and supernatural enemies that would infiltrate the church – who would come in His Name as false apostles, prophets, teachers, brethren, angels of light, servants of righteousness, and even imposters of Him.  

“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. Matthew 7:15

Take care and be on guard for yourselves and the whole flock over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you bishops and guardians, to shepherd (tend and feed and guide) the church of the Lord or of God which He obtained for Himself [buying it and saving it for Himself] with His own blood. I know that after I am gone, ferocious wolves will get in among you, not sparing the flock; Even from among your own selves men will come to the front who, by saying perverse (distorted and corrupt) things, will endeavor to draw away the disciples after them [to their own party]. Therefore be always alert and on your guard, being mindful that for three years I never stopped night or day seriously to admonish and advise and exhort you one by one with tears. Acts 20:28-31

As always, Jesus tells us the difficult truths we need to hear rather than just the comforting things we want to hear. These dangers necessitate that sheep learn to adopt some new skills that might not come as naturally for them. So He pointed us to a dramatic dichotomy: the serpent, a Biblical symbol of satan – and the dove, a Biblical symbol of the Holy Spirit.

I believe drawing our attention to the serpent can indicate the importance of knowing our enemy and how he operates. The Greek word translated “wise” (“wise as serpents”) is phronimos , which can also mean “thoughtful, intelligent, prudent, sagacious or discreet.” (BlueLetterBible) In other places, this word is translated, “shrewd.” From the beginning, the serpent has been described as the most shrewd (Hebrew word – ʿārûm – shrewd, prudent, sensible, subtle) of the animals. (Gen 3:1) Shrewd can be defined as, “marked by clever discerning awareness and hardheaded acumen (keenness and depth of perception, discernment, or discrimination, especially in practical matters); acute in perception and sound in judgment;….” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) In contrast to the blindness we wish to avoid, shrewdness is synonymous with being clear-sighted or clear-eyed.

Snakes are shrewd, thoughtful, intelligent, prudent, and strategic in their abilities to scope out their environment, to discern potential threats and opportunities, and savvy in knowing when and how to act. If our arch opponent, who then embodied and is still symbolized by the serpent, is exceptionally clever, discerning, and intelligent in his strategies against us, how much more must we excel in these qualities as well, lest he “outsmart” or “outwit” us by our being “unaware of his schemes.” (II Cor 2:11)

In a perplexing passage, Jesus indicated that the children of this world (age) are often more shrewd and prudent than the children of light (Lk 16:8). God forbid! May the days be over that the comical point must be made that we’re supposed to be transformed by the renewal of our mind, not the removal of our mind. We cannot overstate our need for wisdom, intelligence, and discernment.

But lest we mistakenly think Jesus is telling us to emulate serpents in other ways associated with evil (sly, crafty, cunning, vicious, venomous, predatory, etc.), He then clarifies that we must also be innocent and harmless as doves. We need intelligence and innocence, shrewdness and gentleness, prudence and purity, brain and heart. We should match, or preferably surpass, our adversary in knowing how to act wisely, intelligently, and shrewdly, yet at the same time remain like Jesus in godly and righteous character. This brings to mind Paul’s similar instruction:

…But I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. Romans 16:19

The NLT says, “…be wise in doing right and stay innocent of any wrong.”

In order to succeed, we need to know and live the truth that it is God’s Word, precepts, commandments, as well as His Spirit, that will make us wiser than our enemies. (Ps 119:98) By God’s Word and Spirit, Daniel and his friends were empowered to have “ten times” more wisdom (ḥāḵmâ – wisdom, shrewdness, prudence) and understanding (bînâ – understanding, knowledge, discernment) than those operating by the enemy’s occult abilities! Whether “ten times” is to be taken literally, or symbolically (as some believe it was used in ancient Hebrew culture to signify many times or completeness), this impressive advantage over the enemy is something we should intensely desire.

I recently heard JonMark Baker wisely observe and lament that some circles of the charismatic church welcome every gift of the Spirit… except the gift of discernment. While these groups would actually claim to operate in the gift of discerning of spirits (I Cor 12:4-11), at the same time some may speak disparagingly against the kind of discernment every believer is called to operate in to test teachings, practices, gifts, ministers, messages, spirits, and fruit according to God’s Word (Mt 7:15-27; 24:4-5, 23-27, Acts 17:10-11, Rom 16:17-20, I Cor 14:29, Gal 1:6-9, I Tim 4:1-3, 16, I Thess 5:19-22, II Thess 2 , I Jn 2:3-6; 3:4-10; I Jn 4:1-4, Rev 2:2-6, 14-16, 20-23, etc.). Sadly, in some circles, those holding to this Berean-like standard are demonized and falsely labeled through ad hominem attacks for trying to exercise their God-given mandate to test and discern all things. These unScriptural attitudes attempting to shut down Biblical discernment should be a red flag that we’ve entered a wolf-friendly zone.

After all the exposures revealing how many wolves have been prospering among us, it’s time for the church to make discernment great again. In order to see the reformation that’s desperately needed, I believe we need to be not only wise as serpents, and innocent as doves, but also bold and brave as lions. (Prov 28:1) Thank you to those who have been courageously leading the charge. May God help us all.

Final Thoughts, Thanks, and Prayers

While I’m sure this 3-part blog hasn’t provided a comprehensive overview of the psychology of silence in these situations, I hope it’s been food for thought. If you’ve struggled with whether or not to speak, perhaps you see yourself or someone you know in one or more of these categories, or may want to prayerfully consider whether this could be the case.

For those already bravely speaking, thank you! What a tremendous impact you’ve made!
I hope to encourage your earnest prayer for those who’ve been “mute,” even as you continue to also admonish all to stand with you. Each one of these reasons listed (in parts 1-3), whether sincere or selfish, will likely require divine intervention for people to break free. As victims know, there can be a ferocious spiritual battle to overcome “muteness” and find your voice. But this battle is not solely reserved for victims. As someone who’s battled a “mute” spirit several times in my own life, I know it can take an act of God to finally speak again. So as you faithfully and fearlessly intercede and advocate for victims, please also continue to fervently intercede for the mute …. as well as for the unrepentant abusers and those fighting for them. Whatever the root cause in each situation, may God remove all scales and veils from all eyes, ears, hearts, minds – and mouths – and grant repentance and a knowledge of truth that sets free.

May God help all believers and leaders finally understand that sins of OMISSION can be just as injurious as sins of COMMISSION. May He continue to raise up faithful watchmen, good Samaritans, and shepherds after His heart to care for His people. May He continue to awaken, convict, and convert the abusers and their defenders, the “priests and Levites”, all slumbering and forsaking friends, the Matthew 25 goats, and the Isaiah 34 shepherds. May He make us all wise as serpents, innocent as doves, bold as lions, and His true sheep who know and follow His voice alone. May He continue to heal all, spirit, soul, and body, who have been victimized and traumatized through both sins of commission and omission, and restore us all to an accurate view and experience of Him and what He intended His church to be. And may He give us His heart and mind for ALL involved so that our Christ-like love will not grow cold due to increased lawlessness, but that it and we will endure to the end and be saved (Mt 24:11-13).  

Special Thanks

Special thanks to the brave advocates, including – Mike Winger, Ron Cantor, Joel Richardson, Julie Roys, Dr. Diane Langberg, Michael Rowntree, Josh Lewis, Michael Miller, JonMark Baker, Jeff Symons, Blaise and Cristina Forêt, Sarah Markman, Shane Winnings, Ray Curry, Stephen Powell, Wanda Alger, Laura Lynn Tyler Thompson, “the Advocate Group” from IHOPKC, and many more. As we’ve all been learning through your experiences, I cover all accounts shared throughout these blogs with “Allegedly, allegedly, allegedly.” 😉
And special thanks to all the tremendously brave victims and whistleblowers whose testimonies have been pivotal in bringing desperately needed awareness, accountability, and prayerfully, ongoing change.
Please forgive me if I’ve failed to mention you by name.
(For those I’ve quoted, I wasn’t always sure which interview/video I had heard things on, after hearing so many. I’d be happy to include your name with your statement if you want to send me that info with a link to the interview the statement came from.)

The Psychology of Silence: Why Many are Mute in Response to Exposures of Church Abuse, Part 2

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(Continued from part 1)

False Doctrine

Some undoubtedly remain silent because they suffer from errant indoctrination and imbalanced interpretations about “touching the Lord’s anointed,” speaking against a leader, gossiping, “sowing discord, division, and strife among the brethren,” being “an accuser of the brethren,” following “Matthew 18 protocol,” and maintaining “a culture of honor.” Here, Biblical principles have been distorted and weaponized by the enemy and abusive leaders to intimidate victims and would-be advocates into silence, bound by fear of grieving and displeasing the Lord, or even bringing curses upon themselves. Some leaders have even spoken curses over those who don’t blindly submit to their version of authority, directly violating the teaching of Jesus and potentially qualifying as a form of witchcraft.

Others have been trained through the proliferation of hypergrace theology to misapply God’s mercy, grace, and restoration in unBiblical and unwise ways. They’ve been wrongfully taught to conflate remorse with repentance, and forgiveness with restoration of trust (even immediate restoration to leadership). Here, God-given wisdom and discernment – needed to assess genuine repentance and establish proper processes for restoration of trust and position (when Biblical, wise, and safe) – are often misdiagnosed as unforgiving and uncharitable. This has resulted in not only disqualified leaders and wolves being wrongly restored to authority (or never even removed), but has further traumatized and endangered victims in other kinds of abusive situations where church counsel was sought.  

For those in these situations, perhaps it’s a sincere fear of the Lord or desire to love well that keeps them mute (or causes them to err in speaking) – even if rooted in misguided understandings of these things. “They are shepherds who lack understanding…” in these areas. (Is 56:11) Though they may have knowledge of the situation, their voice is captive by or distorted through strongholds of doctrinal error, which will typically require supernatural weapons and divine intervention to break through.

Certainly, we do need a proper fear of the Lord and desire to love well when called to confront or expose. These should compel us to speak the truth in love and help us guard against the temptation and tendency to fall prey to pride, sin in anger, and go beyond the heart and mind of Christ into corrupt communication. Scripture gives several examples of those God raised up to bring judgment on His people, who ultimately ended up being judged as well because they took His chastisement far beyond what He intended. Hopefully remaining aware of the ditches on both sides of the road will help us pursue the balance of having the courage to speak uncompromised truth, but in humility, gentleness, and love.   

Self preservation

For others it’s not the fear and love of the Lord, but the fear of man.
Since the abusers have often turned out to be the “gatekeepers”, the big-name, well known ministers in these circles (at least in the cases receiving the most attention), calling for their accountability and repentance can come at a very high and even dangerous price. Many whistleblowers and advocates have faced not only retaliation from big ministries, employing tactics that have earned them the titles of “Christian mafia” and “Christian illuminati”, but also backlash from their devoted followers as well. With so much at risk, those who are people pleasers, who are concerned for their reputation, job or financial security, or even safety at times, and those trying to amass favor and following within “celebrity Christianity,” in order to ascend the platform of success in that system, will often opt to “save their lives” rather than lay them down or lose them for what’s right (Mt 16:24-26). Like Ariel, in the Little Mermaid, they give up their voice in exchange for something they think is greater gain. Isaiah says these ineffective watch dogs are “greedy…; they have all turned to their own way, each one to his own gain.” (v.11)

Culture of Cover Up

Still others, as many of us have realized with increasing alarm, likely cannot speak out against sin they’re also guilty of and have been successfully hiding. As Blaise Foret recently astutely assessed– they have no authority to confront sin they’re also committing. Even if they’ve not been “predators,” they may still have a vested interest in remaining uninvolved, lest the floodlight of unwanted scrutiny turn in their direction, bringing their own moral failures to light. Case in point, some have confessed that it was Dr. Michael Brown stepping into the IHOPKC debacle as a mediator, then seeming to suddenly slink away, that caused some to question what he was hiding and emboldened others to finally come forward about him.

Isaiah also points to this issue of co-corruption among leaders as part of the “mute dog” problem. (Is 56:11-12)
Some rightly realize they’re disqualified from dealing with the plank in another’s eye while trying to conceal a similar dangerous protrusion in their own. Yet they somehow seem to fail to recognize that their plank has also disqualified them from the leadership they’ve been trying to illegitimately retain through subterfuge.

I’ve often cried out to the Lord about the “Saul” spirit He’s revealed is present in the leadership of many churches. The exposures of these last years have shed significant light on this, as it’s been made clear that some should never have been elevated to leadership in the first place, and others (like Saul), perhaps started well – truly called and anointed by God – but after committing disqualifying sins, have refused to adequately repent or relinquish their positions for many years.

Even more disconcerting, it’s seemed as though some have covenanted together to preserve illegitimate authority for one another – as if in some sort of “brotherhood” bound to keep each other’s secrets at all costs. The damage to believers has been exponential where it’s been discovered that leaders had sufficient evidence to determine another leader shouldn’t be trusted, yet didn’t “tell it to the church” (Mt 18:17) after unsuccessfully attempting to address it privately.

As much as the Matthew 18 protocol has been wrongly wielded against victims – by insisting even they must start by privately confronting their abuser, and by failing to acknowledge other exceptions where power dynamics exist – it could be rightly wielded against leaders for failing to carry the process through to completion when there’s not repentance – by informing the church, rebuking in the sight of all, and marking and avoiding those who persist in sin (Mt 18:17, I Tim 5:19-22, Rom 16:17-18).

Again, at times this seems to be the result of misguided ideas about mercy, grace, and “a culture of honor.” Wander Alger has referred to it as “unsanctified mercy.” We might also say it’s “unsanctioned” mercy and grace (proceeding from hypergrace error). When I read Mike Winger’s recent remarks about a “culture of cover up” (on X), I began to realize that the “culture of cover up” and “a culture of honor” (as described in the book by that title) seem like they might actually be one and the same. As I’ve started to scan that book for evidence of these faulty foundations, I believe a case could be made.   

Some wrongly reason that exposure would cause more harm than concealing. This defense was given earlier this year by a pastor who failed to publicly call out another well known minister who was manipulating and deceiving many, for fear the exposure would discredit their entire movement. Several leaders quietly distanced themselves from this minister they had platformed and promoted, but didn’t make known that they were doing so or explain why. This lack of public exposure left unsuspecting believers still vulnerable, and some suffered significant consequences as a result. These leaders were ultimately far more discredited when people realized they had prioritized protecting their movement (and the con artist) rather than protecting believers. They failed to realize that by concealing, they were complicit. They unwittingly, “shared in his sins”, and had “blood on their hands.”

At other times the decision to conceal rather than reveal may be due to fear that their own exposure could follow (if the “brotherhood” are bound by silence through blackmail – where testifying to the truth about one could result in their own sins being exposed as well). In one of the recent cases, the accused was reportedly threatening others who might try to hold him accountable with the fact that he had dirt on them that could be revealed too.

The threat of retribution as a motivating force in cover-ups also extends to cases where would-be whistleblowers, witnesses, or advocates have been compelled to sign NDA’s (Non-Disclosure Agreements). Thankfully, the fight is presently underway to make this illegal in some states. In the Texas Senate hearing for “Trey’s Law” (SB 835) to make NDA’s illegal in cases of sexual abuse, Elizabeth Phillips (advocate and sister of Trey Carlock) made the poignant point that,

“NDAs are for trade secrets, not trauma secrets.” 

Thankfully, this legislation passed the Senate in a 31-0 vote last Thursday (May 15, 25). Please pray it will now pass the Texas House and make it to Governor Abbott’s desk to be signed into law before June 2 (when the current legislative session ends). And let’s continue to pray it becomes law not only in Texas, but across the nation!

(continued in final part 3 here)

The Psychology of Silence: Why Many are Mute in Response to Exposures of Church Abuse, Part 1

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(“Free Me!” photo by Andrey on Flickr, license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ )

While out on a walk in the first week of April, as we passed one house, I noticed a dog standing silently, watching us go by. Typically as we walk through the neighborhood, a cacophony of canine alarms are triggered as dog after dog senses us approaching their homes. They appear at their fences, running, ramming, and at times nearly jumping them; they charge down their driveways – some into the street – to warn us away; they even pop up in their windows from inside to add their muffled noise to the outdoor uproar. And they keep up this vigil till we’re well out of sight. But this dog just stood, silently, watching. Was something wrong with this docile doggy? It was one of those moments when the Lord used a seemingly insignificant situation to begin downloading significant revelation that I’m still trying to unpack.

The leaders who are to guard the people [His watchmen] are blind; they don’t know what they are doing [lack knowledge; are ignorant]. All of them are like quiet [mute; or muzzled] dogs that don’t know how to [cannot] bark. They lie down and dream and love to sleep. Isaiah 56:10 EXB

As many are aware, the Body of Christ has been through shock wave after shock wave in the past few years as well-known leaders have been exposed. For some, the exposures have unmasked them as wolves who’ve preyed on the flock for decades. Others have engaged in decades long cover ups, evading the full confession, repentance, and accountability to victims and the church for past preying that should have taken place long ago. Impact after impact has left many shattered and sifting through the fallout, and a cry from the ashes has ascended from those bravely advocating for victims, “WHERE ARE THE TRUE SHEPHERDS AND LEADERS!? WHY ARE THEY SILENT!?”

I deeply empathize with their scandalization.

I’m sure many of us have been crushed by the silence, absence, and lack of care and prayer from others in the midst of crisis. In such times, the Lord has profoundly ministered to me from the accounts of the Good Samaritan, Jesus’ own test when faced with slumbering and forsaking friends in His time of greatest need, the sheep and goats of Matthew 25, and the unfaithful shepherds of Ezekiel 34. These accounts, among others, teach us that Jesus takes personally and seriously not only sins of commission, but also sins of omission – though this is something we may rarely, if ever, hear taught.       

Of course, most believe there’s not just one answer to this question of why many leaders have been silent; it’s complicated. One advocate I respect recently asserted that there are only two choices – either people are silent because they haven’t heard what’s happened, or they HAVE heard, but just don’t care. But I don’t believe it’s that simple. While I appreciated his passionate plea for people to stand up for the victims, it may be helpful to consider other reasons people may not speak.

Lack of Knowledge

The prophet Isaiah affirms this advocate’s point that ineffective watchdogs are at times mute because they lack knowledge or are ignorant. While this could mean they’re legitimately clueless about what’s happening, we might also apply this to those who have heard, but remain silent because they don’t have all the facts. Though more than enough information may be released, many don’t have time to sufficiently research, listen to all the testimonies, and read all the posts and articles to adequately assess and discern the truth of each situation. With so many simultaneous scandals, it seems like it would be more than a full time job to keep up with it all. So rather than rush to judgment and speak to things they feel ignorant about, some silently watch what they can from a distance… and hopefully pray.

Some declared this silence would only be temporary, stating their intent was to wait for the findings of the investigative reports (where available), hoping a professional could gather all relevant facts in one place and help discern their credibility. But even these lengthy compilations have been imperfect – leaving out important details, lacking comprehensive scope, and resulting in frustrations or disputes. When victims and advocates say these investigations understate the problems, and those protecting the accused say they overstate them (then reject the findings and rewrite their own), those trying to discern truth may still be left uncertain of what to believe. In some cases, this has provoked victims and advocates to release even longer, more comprehensive compilations of testimonies… but few have had time to read them all.   

While the victims and advocates invite all to stand with them and speak up for what’s right, I believe their primary call has been directed to those who are close to the situation, who personally know the leaders involved. It’s to those who have “laid hands” on these leaders and their ministries, whether literally or by platforming and/or promoting them, and who therefore “share in their sin” (I Tim 5:22) – especially if they continue to protect and promote them rather than protecting victims and the church. These leaders have a responsibility to pursue an unbiased knowledge of the facts “without prejudice” or “partiality” in order to help bring clarity, to promote proper church discipline and accountability, uphold the qualifications for elders, and hopefully offer help and healing for victims (I Tim 5:19-22). And sadly, the victims aren’t limited to those directly abused, but also include all who have been deceived – many of whom are deconstructing their faith and turning from the Truth (The Person, His Word, and church) due to disillusionment from being deceived by His supposed representatives.       

No Perceived Conviction or Calling

I heard one minister who was being encouraged to speak defend his silence by saying he doesn’t jump into such situations unless He believes the Lord specifically directs him to. That sounds like wisdom…. Yet I also wonder what the “priests and Levites“ told themselves as they passed on the other side of the road. We probably all have some idea, since we’ve likely all been guilty of it at some point.

“I don’t have time to get involved,” “I’m too busy with what God called me to do,” “This is none of my business,” “I don’t know that victim,” “This isn’t my jurisdiction,” “This looks messy,” “Getting involved would be too costly (in various ways),” etc.  

I’ve also heard advocates say they believe they were called to do what they’re doing. Some have even said they were called to stand up precisely because the leaders who should have spoken were silent. The parallels to the parable of the Good Samaritan should not be overlooked. While many well respected “priests and Levites” have not stopped and stooped to help the victims, a handful of “Samaritans,” looked down on, disregarded, and rejected by the elite ministerial class, have compassionately intervened.

Certainly it’s wisdom to ask the Lord what He would have us do or say. (I’m only speaking now because I’m persuaded He’s confirmed to do so.) And really, we should hope and pray it’s only those the Lord is actually compelling and calling who will stand and speak. This should be painfully apparent after witnessing others jump into the fray who don’t appear to have sincerely sought the Lord, nor possess accurate knowledge. We’ve likely all experienced and observed how zeal without knowledge can cause more harm than good (Prov 19:2). Interactions with “Job’s friends,” who offer ill comfort and poor counsel, can often end up in victim-blaming and adding insult to injury. Though I’m sure they meant well, I wonder whether Job would have ultimately preferred if those friends had just remained silent, as they had in the beginning, despite how hurtful silence can be. Here, lack of knowledge can apply to the lack of trauma-informed training and care still present in far too many churches.

I imagine victims and advocates would agree that it’s better for those who are “ignorant” and “lack knowledge” to stay seated and keep their mouth off the situation, rather than to jump in ill-informed and make a bigger mess of confusion and pain – as we’ve seen in tragic ways with those who’ve re-victimized the victims and defended the offenders. Ideally, though, the hope would be for all to seek wisdom, knowledge, and understanding and be able to offer appropriate care and prayer.     

For those who actually know enough to be responsible to help (In God’s estimation), but stand aloof like some in Job, or pass by the broken and bleeding and neglect to reach out to the least of these, the reasons could be many: Busyness – Self-absorption – Self-preservation – Indifference – Feeling Inadequate to Help – Deception – Prejudice – Misjudgment – Fear, to name a few.… Isaiah said, some are ineffective watchdogs because they lie down, dream, and love to sleep, representing apathy and complacency. This category is where the advocate’s assertion – that those who know yet remain silent must not care – may find merit in certain cases.

If you [profess ignorance and] say, Behold, we did not know this, does not He Who weighs and ponders the heart perceive and consider it? And He Who guards your life, does not He know it? And shall not He render to [you and] every man according to his works? Proverbs 24:12

But I believe others do care.

For those who perceive no calling because they feel they’re insignificant and their voice is inconsequential, we should learn a lesson from the little dogs in the neighborhood. They don’t sit silently by, leaving it up to the big dogs in the area to make enough noise to protect their house from threats. They are undeterred by their humble size and take their responsibility to sound the alarm seriously.    

“Speak up [ Open your mouth] for those who cannot speak for themselves; defend the rights of all those who have nothing [vulnerable/fragile people]. Speak up [ Open your mouth] and judge fairly [with righteousness], and defend the rights of the poor and needy.” Proverbs 31:8-9

(Continued in part 2 here)

When a Culture of Honor Becomes a Culture of Horror

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Since the beginning of the recent revelations about “clergy sexual abuse” at IHOPKC, I’ve heard some espouse the idea that the “Culture of Honor” in certain circles has contributed to abusers in authority being shielded and portrayed as victims, while the actual victims, whistleblowers, and advocates are portrayed as agents of satan/evil.

When I looked up “culture of honor” to provide a definition, I found drastic differences, depending on the group being discussed, ranging from

“a culture where people avoid intentionally offending others, and maintain a reputation for not accepting improper conduct by others.” (Wikipedia)

To “A complex set of beliefs, attitudes, and norms about the importance of personal reputation, and the necessity of protecting and defending one’s reputation and social image.” (Iowa State Univ. site)

Even “Cultures placing a high emphasis on the importance of a man’s willingness (and ability) to violently, and even lethally, retaliate against anyone who insults him or his family.” (Springer .com)

And more… I quickly realized that defining what I’m talking about is important! Where this phrase has been adopted in a Christian context, I believe the purported goal is to follow Scriptural guidelines about honoring our leaders, fellow believers, and all, with the respect and value due to all created in the image of God. Sounds like a worthy endeavor.

Unfortunately, according to the testimony of some, the execution of this concept at times more closely resembles definition 2 (above), with even some expressing concerns in line with definition 3 (Where celebrity leaders have an empire to protect from damaging truth coming to light that would threaten it).

Yesterday morning, I read a thread on X that highlighted how this same emphasis on honor is also being used as a shield to protect false teaching and prophecy, due to a refusal to allow God’s alleged “anointed” (minister or ministry) to be subjected to the Biblical criteria of testing, while those who try to test and discern all things according to Scripture are labeled as having critical spirits, offense, or religious spirits.

The man writing the thread said,

“That’s when I learned that ‘culture of honor’ was insulation against accountability.”

He went on to say,

“I’m very charismatic, but I can admit that there’s a ton of weird stuff being elevated as ‘prophetic’ or ‘apostolic.’ There are leaders who need to be questioned and answer for nonsense said and done. BUT, to ask those questions or admit things are weird is ‘dishonoring.’ “

“What is the reward for ‘honor?’ Elevation – invitations to secret networks and retreats. Access – if I had a dollar for everyone who’s told me they had __’s phone number (I redacted this minister’s name), I’d be a rich man. Result of ‘dishonor?’ (referring to voicing legitimate concerns about whether a teaching or practice really lines up with Scripture/Truth) Gaslighting, backbiting, and seclusion.” (@jordanevans_nc thread)

Other accounts revealed additional tactics that have been employed to silence, intimidate, and condemn those who have tried to raise legitimate questions or concerns. It’s amazing the lack of self-awareness occurring when those promoting unconditional respect and honor fail to show the same respect and honor that they demand.

It doesn’t escape notice that what’s happening is just another manifestation of the enemy’s “law of reversal” (discussed in “The Inception of Inversion” blog) that we’re seeing en masse throughout society. In this application of it, evil and injustice are being protected and rewarded and those who point it out or stand against it are being gaslit and punished.

In fact, after hearing such a story on the news the same day – where the whistleblowers who exposed inappropriate behavior were portrayed as the villains by mainstream media – I felt the Lord was confirming to write about this since it had come up multiple times within hours.

How distressing to find this reversal, inversion, and gaslighting not only taking place in the world, but at times even in the church.

I’ve heard others describing a culture of honor sometimes involving

  • a “mafia”-like system that surrounds and protects certain leaders,
  • leaders surrounding themselves with “yes” men and women, and removing anyone in an advising capacity who raises questions or concerns instead of falling in line,
  • and the concept of “servant leadership” being inverted into requiring congregants to serve leaders in inappropriate and unreasonable ways (to jockey for position and platform).

And we’ve personally witnessed how popular hype around certain ones causes individuals to be too self-doubting to acknowledge blatantly obvious issues, resulting in “The Emperor’s New Clothes” phenomenon.

As many at IHOPKC have already begun to do, there’s a time when we must seriously question whether certain elements of a CULTure have actually turned it into more of a CULT.

Of course it would be ridiculous to throw the baby out with the bathwater and determine that encouraging respect and honor for those in authority, and for one another, is dangerous or wrong. Clearly these are Biblical principles we should live by. Perhaps the idea of a culture of honor was originally instituted with noble intentions as a countercultural response to the pervasive dishonor and disrespect of this generation. But as with every other well-intentioned correction, we need to guard against the tendency to overcorrect so the proverbial pendulum doesn’t swing too far the opposite way to another error of extreme. It seems in certain cases, the call to respect and honor has been applied to the exclusion of other equally valid Biblical truths, not making allowance for what we’ve come to call “the two sides of wisdom” that are found by studying the whole counsel of Scripture.

The two sides of wisdom are best exemplified in passages that appear contradictory on the surface, but in reality are revealing two equally valid truths – two opposite sides of the same coin.

One of the clearest examples of this can be seen in Proverbs 26:4-5

4 Answer not a [self-confident] fool according to his folly, lest you also be like him.

5 Answer a [self-confident] fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes and conceit.

Because these two truths appear contradictory, they require us to receive the wisdom of God (word of wisdom) in order to know when we should apply which truth – which side of the coin. By holding the two apparent contradictions in tension, we’re much more likely to find a place of proper balance, rather than veering off into a ditch of error on either side of the road.

One of our pastors taught such a message on Sunday – trying to balance what are possibly Jesus’ most quoted words, “Do not judge”, with other passages in the NT that call us to make right judgments (including some found in the same chapter – Mt 7). These seemingly contradictory Scriptures, that give us guidelines for when, how, and who to judge, make clear that those who insist on applying Jesus’ “Do not judge” statement in every situation, as if it’s the totality of instruction He’s given us on this subject, err.

Likewise, when we try to apply the mandate to respect and honor our leaders and one another to the exclusion of other equally valid truths, failing to hold this truth in tension with other Scriptures that bring us into proper balance, we will err – and something intended to create a healthy, beautiful, loving environment will turn into an unhealthy, ugly, unloving one.

So when does the noble virtue of Honor turn into a vice of Horror?

I believe some examples would be (I’m sure this isn’t a comprehensive list):

  • When the call to honor leads us to abandon God’s instruction to test and examine all things, only holding fast to the good. (I Thess 5:19-21, I Cor 14:29)
  • When those who diligently search Scripture to see if the things being taught are in line with Truth are labeled and rejected for being dishonoring, subversive, critical, or having a religious spirit. (Acts 17:11, I Tim 4:16, II Tim 2:14-19, II Thess 2:15)
  • When honoring leaders supersedes our higher call to obey God rather than men. (John 12:43, Acts 5:29)
  • When honor prevents us from following the Biblical mandate to also hold leaders accountable for sin. (I Tim 5:19-22, Gal 2:11)

The reality is that discerning truth and confronting error in these ways is not mutually exclusive with respect and honor. When we respect and honor God and His Word above all, we’ll seek to follow these balancing Scriptures in love, even with respect and honor in every way possible, without compromising Truth. 🙏🙏

Referenced – The Inception of Inversion

Is Your Church Promoting Occult Practices?

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“…be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their (pagan) gods, saying, “How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same.” Deuteronomy 12:30

I imagine this will upset some people, perhaps even people I respect and love, but the occult and new age practices that have been creeping into the church need to be exposed and purged. I’ll post a video below that is doing just that, involving a popular internationally influential church.

Others have already given scathing reviews of the book “The Physics of Heaven”, calling this same church to repent for encouraging believers to find what they believe would be the supposed original Christian version of all new age teachings and practices – assuming they’ve been lost to Christians for centuries, stolen by other religions, and need to be reclaimed. Learning of these troubling teachings and others is part of what the Lord used in mid 2022 to catapult us back into studying occult infiltration in the church in depth again – more than a decade after He’d first revealed this issue to us in order to help us understand false teachings we’d encountered.

Though I do believe the enemy has counterfeit versions of all the gifts of the Spirit (I Cor 12), I believe it’s a misunderstanding to conclude that means that every practice found in the occult/new age has a direct equivalent in the Kingdom of God. For example, when we consider Tarot cards and divination, it’s correct to understand that those are counterfeits of God’s supernatural gifts of word of knowledge, word of wisdom, and prophecy by His Spirit. But I believe it’s incorrect (and dangerous) to conclude that, therefore, there must be a Christian version of Tarot. How can I say that with confidence? Because it doesn’t pass the most important of all “testing” (discernment) principles – determining whether or not something contradicts Scripture.

In addition to all the direct warnings in Scripture to stay away from such occult practices of the pagan nations, the Lord also told Israel not to inquire about how the other nations served their gods in order to imitate it – and not to learn their ways. (Deut 12:29-32, Jer 10:2). Yet some seem to be advising people we must do just that to rediscover and reclaim lost truths. Please take heed.

Last year, we heard a minister share that he was called in to do deliverance on a number of the leaders in a well known church (perhaps this same church ?) who were following that very guidance, and had ended up demonically oppressed.

When Paul said he became all things to all people in order to win some, He clarified that he didn’t mean he went to the extent of sin in his endeavors. (I Cor 9:20-21)

Even if someone could try to make a case that what’s being done is a modern day equivalent of urim and thummim or casting lots (which is addressed in this video), the instruction not to use the Name of Jesus or present the gospel in these attempts to minister should tell us everything we need to know. This is unfortunately not the first time I’ve heard of that alarming accusation in connection with some of this church’s outreaches. 😢

As a continuationist from a cessationist background, I’m zealous to see clearly erroneous things like this and many others, that bring such reproach on true continuationism (and Christianity in general), accurately identified and eradicated. It’s a hard enough hill to climb to accurately represent continuationism to our beloved cessationist brothers and sisters and the lost without having all these obstacles of occult practices, other spirits, other Christs, and other gospels thrown in the way. 🙏

(If you cannot see the embedded video, it should be available at the original site HERE )
The woman who made this video is a former internationally known new age teacher, who was saved and is now a cessationist. I believe her cessationist views cause her to reach some wrong conclusions and make some wrong assessments in most of her videos, so I can’t endorse all her content. But I appreciate that she involved some continuationists in the making of this video. I haven’t seen her do that before.

Referenced:
Mike Winger’s Review of “The Physics of Heaven” (others have done reviews as well)

Are You Ready for Your Secret Life to be Exposed? (revisited)

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One of the words I was led back to as I sought the Lord about the birthday blessing for 2024 was this word about secret lives being exposed. I originally posted it in FB notes (in 2011 or 12?), then here on this site in 2013.

Since these past several months have been marked by major exposures in the church and world, it’s been on my heart to share this word again – especially since the Epstein document releases have caused many to speculate about who all is nervously awaiting various degrees of exposure as a result. Though most of the nation and world aren’t experiencing this same stress over imminent exposure of things they’d rather keep hidden, it should still serve as a sobering reminder for everyone that an ultimate Day of exposure of all secret and hidden things is coming – and I believe relatively soon. But as discussed in this note, the Lord wants us to remember that this Day of exposure can provoke hope rather than fear…

May we pray that for those facing shameful exposures NOW – and for any wise enough to learn from seeing it happen to others – that this may serve as a wake-up call. While in one sense, it can be seen as a manifestation of God’s judgment (where the allegations are true), in another sense, if responded to properly, it can also be a manifestation of His mercy. It’s far greater for one to suffer the discomfort of exposure here, if they’ll seize the opportunity to be convicted of their sin, truly repent, and turn (or return) to Jesus as Lord and Savior, than to successfully hide a secret life and remain in sin here, only to face the ultimate Day of exposure with no further opportunity for repentance.

Hope this note (linked below) ministers to you and encourages us all to Live Ready!:

Are You Ready for Your Secret Life to be Exposed?

Are You Ready for Your Secret Life to be Exposed?

Surviving Seasons of Suffering to the Other Side

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I feel like the Lord’s been confirming to share this word from a few months ago… I pray it will find and minister to whoever needs it. I know many are grieving present and past loss.

During our trip to Nashville in October, we were praying for a friend who’s going through serious trials and, to make matters worse, was being attacked with suicidal thoughts from the enemy – one of his favorite counterfeit ways of escape he offers from seemingly unbearable suffering. The Lord had already led me to share some things to help her II Cor 10:3-5 these thoughts, but as we were driving to the conference one day, He gave more.

As I admired the trees that were changing colors, He began impressing on my heart lessons that we should learn from the SEASONS. I specifically felt like He was drawing my attention to the change and loss trees go through in Fall and Winter. I imagined what it would be like if a tree tried to assess its life in those seasons, without the knowledge that Spring and Summer would come again.

I thought about how we would counsel a distraught tree in this situation – that was looking at its life, feeling like everything was falling apart and that it was losing everything. What would we say to a tree that was looking at its circumstances and beginning to entertain lies of hopelessness and helplessness from the enemy – that nothing would ever change for the better, that promise and purpose were over, and that it was too painful to go on?

Armed with the knowledge we have about SEASONS, I knew that we would try to persuade the tree to hold on because better days are ahead. We would encourage the tree to have hope and believe that though this is indeed a painful time of change and loss, that new life, growth, beauty, increase and fruitfulness were on the way, if it didn’t believe those lies and give up in Fall and Winter.

Though this was certainly a moment when it felt like the Lord was speaking to me to the core of my being, I wasn’t 100% sure whether it was Him or just my own thoughts…

Several days later, we arrived back home and immediately listened to the replay of the message from our church we’d missed that morning (10-22-23). We were in awe as we listened to the guest speaker, Joel Stockstill, share a message entitled, “A Season of Burial”, inspired by his own tragic testimony of loss. He encouraged those who have been through disappointments, losses, and burials of different kinds, to recognize that God intends for these times to be A SEASON – relating this to the seasons of the year we experience in nature – and that if we’ll hold onto Him, and allow Him to walk us through the process, He wants to bring us through to resurrection and new life on the other side! It was a beautiful, timely confirmation of what I felt the Lord had spoken to my heart days earlier – and just what we needed to be fully persuaded it was truly HIM!

In case my friend, or others hearing this, would have been tempted to dismiss what I felt the Lord spoke to me as a nice analogy, but in reality just false, empty hope – I pray the swift confirmation He brought was profound encouragement that instead this was His genuine word of hope for her and us all.

For those who would like to hear this message, you can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZjMKonllM0&t=2506s – the sermon begins around 44:45 in. I believe it’s certainly worth hearing.

Our hearts go out to all who are suffering and grieving. We’ve heard of several more difficult losses in these past few weeks. Praying for all! 🙏❤🙏

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