Commercial Break: A Moment of Encouragement Through Times Such as These

Whatever your circumstances or concerns, needs and even fears,  whatever our differences, affiliations or lack of them, I believe we here on Banned can all take a moment to wish each other kind words of support as events unfold during these difficult times. 

In lieu of simple "thoughts and prayers", an offering of encouragement done well in song.

Celtic Woman

When You Walk Through a Storm

This too shall pass...

A reminder to the Churches
It's better to encourage and love your neighbor than to warn them.
A hug is only 18 inches from a kick in the ass.

And now we return you to your regularly scheduled postings...

Narcissists Ruin Everything: Part 3 Narcissists, Sycophants and Victims: The First Pyramid Scheme

Jesus was well aware of narcissists and psychopaths. He knew there were conniving liars who would play act their ways into positions of power and control over others. He argued with them regularly, calling them vipers and white-washed tombs. A large portion of Paul's warnings have to do with religious leaders whoring for money. The surest way to get into someone's pockets is to first convince them that they are beneath the leader and they need the leader for salvation. The trap is the ancient hierarchy, the first pyramid scheme.

So Jesus actually meant what He said in Matthew 20:20-28. Let's take a closer look.

A few years ago, Rod McNair gave a masterful example of eisegesis in a sermon titled, "Peter and the Key-Man Principle". It was a truly embarrassing attempt to try to prove Peter was the Chief Apostle who had 'final say' in decision-making for the church. I may post my evisceration of the whole sermon at another time. For our purpose here, I will just address what he said concerning Matthew 20:25-27. Here is the exact quote from his sermon:

“This is about attitude, not structure. (pause...confused look...furrowed brow) Actually, it does confirm the fact that there is structure because He is saying that the chief shall act like a servant. Those who are greatest among you shall serve. Sometimes, this is used to negate any structure of top-down and it’s just not there.”

I literally think he tripped himself up as he read it and tried to understand it the way he was trained to but the obvious nature and intent of the scripture dumbfounded him. Rod almost forgot to defend the structure, then he caught himself. So the teaching is that the structure is not in question, only the attitude of those in the structure. The church redefines servitude and slavery to mean the burden of feeding the flock and preaching the gospel as an authoritative duty over the people of God (Glad to articulate your doctrine for you, Rod). He was using the NKJV so I will quote it:

"You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them."

I don't see where 'attitude' comes into play. What I do see is Jesus describing a multi-tiered power structure. The "rulers" make up the bureaucrats that administer government policies at the local levels among the citizens. They "lord" their power over the masses. Then you have those who are "great". This must be the senators and the Caesar, himself. These are the lawmakers and they exercise authority over the bureaucrats.

This is exactly how the churches of God function. "You know the pastors of the church oversee the laity and those who are at HQ exercise authority over the pastors."

Here are two more translations we can tease more meaning out of:

"You know that the rulers of the unbelievers lord it over them and their superiors act like tyrants over them." (ISV)

This is interesting when you plug in the church's governments. HQ acts like tyrants over the ministry. I already know from my own research that many minister's lives were ruined by the heavy hand of Pasadena. These were often young kids coming out of AC at the age of 22 and expected to do much of the boots-on-the-ground dirty work of what headquarters wanted. How embarrassing it must have been for a kind-hearted minister to be told to show up at people's homes unannounced and raid their kitchens and medicine cabinets. Examples could get long here and much worse but I digress.

"You know that the rulers of the heathen have power over them and the leaders have complete authority." (GNT)

Again, there's no question the structure is exact. There is power in the ministry over members but "complete authority" resides at headquarters.

This has nothing to do with attitude because that wasn't the original question asked of Jesus. The concern was being 2nd in rank under Christ. They were assuming a hierarchical structure and Jesus responded by admitting that indeed, among the Gentiles, hierarchy is how things are governed but Jesus had a "however".

“Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave.”

Jesus juxtaposes two opposing ideas against one another to make his point very clear and He does so by doing it twice. He compares exercising lordship to being a servant and exercising authority to being a slave. These opposing concepts cannot exist as one in the same. A lord cannot be a servant and an authoritarian cannot be a slave. Servants and slaves take orders, they never give orders. What Jesus is showing is that there is no place to be a lord in the body and there is no position of chief in the body. The only chief or head that exists in the body is Jesus. Hierarchical control over men does not exist in the governance of the church.

Jesus offers Himself as an example in verse 28. He truly did not come to be served. He was not there as King of kings and Lord of lords. That will be at His second coming. He was there among them in the flesh as a teacher. Yes, He chose his students but none of them followed him out of compulsion. Many disciples stopped following after him when he spoke hard sayings that offended them. Anyone that followed Him was free to abandon Him without repercussions. He could have killed Judas but then that wouldn't have been acting as a servant.

So what is Jesus saying? He didn't say there was no way to be great or to be first. He said if you do want to be great or to be first, you must abide by the formula. What is the formula? The answer is timing.

“And whoever exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” -Matt. 23:12

You have to go back to the beginning of the exchange. It all started when two among them were seeking high rank in the Kingdom of God. Jesus answer to them in a nutshell was if you want to rank high in the Kingdom of God (in the future), you must BE servants and slaves in the church body now! The warning above is clear: if you choose to exalt yourself among God's people now, you will be humbled. And how would one exalt himself among God's people now? It's right in the context. Follow the pattern of Rome!

Matthew 23 is a scathing chapter excoriating the existing religious authority among the people. As you read through the behaviors and actions of the religious leaders described by Jesus, it is clear they are a class set above the laity in Jewish society. They have a top-down structure with the high priest. The Sanhedrin was a mutated and illegitimate continuation of their distant past. This chapter is a laundry list of horrible fruits that result from an oppression and compulsory control mechanism—a top-down government reliant on fear to maintain its relevance and existence.

“You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.” -I Corinth. 7:23

Jesus had already told them you are not to expect to be organized and function like the gentile world. He now gives them an ecclesiastical example with the same Roman model that they are not to seek as a template for the church in Matthew 23. It is clear Jesus is specifically dealing with governance because He turns His attention to His disciples in the middle of this attack on Rabbinical Judaism.

Christ tells His disciples that they are not to take on titles of Rabbi, Father and Master because they have One Rabbi, One Father and One Master in heaven.

Clarke’s Commentary says this about being called Father:

“Call no man your Father - Our Lord probably alludes to the Ab, or father of the Sanhedrin, who was the next after the nasi, or president. See on Matthew 20:21 (note). By which he gives his disciples to understand that he would have no Second, after himself, established in his Church, of which he alone was the head; and that perfect equality must subsist among them.”

Notice Clarke directs the reader back to Matthew 20:21 where James and John sought 2nd rank under Christ. Clarke goes on to say that these three titles are likely taken from the Hebrew titles of “Abbi, Rabbi and Mori” meaning “Father, Rabbi, Master.” They may very well have a relation to what we call, “Bachelor, Master and Doctor” in titled degrees or ranks today.

Clarke continues:

"...no man is implicitly to receive the sayings, doctrines, and decisions of any man, or number of men, in the things which concern the interests of his immortal soul. Christ, his Spirit, and his word, are the only infallible teachers. Every man who wishes to save his soul must search the Scriptures, by prayer and faith. Reader, take counsel with the pious; hear the discourses of the wise and holy: but let the book of God ultimately fix thy creed”

Jesus links what He is saying here right back to Matthew 20:20-28 when He concludes His comments directed to His disciples with,

“And whoever exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

The Scriptures below are probably the most powerful witness to the fact that hierarchy and tithing are not any part of the New Testament church.

"For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world right up to this moment.” --I Corinthians 4:9-13

Now I ask you: Would anyone in authority over others with a right to their money say this and not be laughed to scorn? Here is another question: would a narcissist or a psychopath, in a million years, ever be inspired to seek such a lowly state? To be honest, the average Christian would not want Paul's role. That was the point. Congregational government led by the Holy Spirit and not a man or a group of elites is the safest and growth-inspiring environment for brethren. If people truly understood what it meant to serve Christ as a servant and slave to His people, there would be very few indeed. In fact, it makes you wonder if you ever knew one in your life at all.

Stoned Stephen Society

Fake COG Prophet Claims Coronavirus Is Tool Leading Up To Rise Of 666

Always eager to milk a good natural disaster, earthquake, locust infestation, hurricane, tornado or the current coronapocalypse,  self-appointed Church of God wannabe prophets start their hysterical rants about the end times being at our doorstep.

The disappointing publicly rebuked and utterly embarrassing "son" of Rod Meredith is milking the current situation for all its worth.

He claims the fact that people are submitting to local, state or national government quarantine rules is a sure sign that people will allow the beast to control their lives and thus inhibit the one true chruch from proclaiming its message to Africa. The governments will soon stop access to all cash, censors will close down his Youtube and websites and much more.  Woe is me! Life is soooooo tough for COG prophets anymore.

Some snippets of his hysterics:

This is essentially unprecedented for the USA. And the ease that much of the population is accepting totalitarian controls is demonstrating that the biblically prophesied 666 control in Europe will not be as difficult as some have suggested.

Of course, not all are accepting such quarantines in the USA or Europe.

So, governments are having police and military officials ‘persuade’ people to do what they want.

Furthermore, in France a form must be filled out to travel and various travel limitations are to be enforced by 100,000 police and other officials...

Though the above likely will not last too long, please understand that more and more totalitarian controls will be put in place.

Plus, we are seeing societal changes reminiscent of George Orwell’s 1984 as well as Adolf Hitler’s reign.

As far as a ‘surveillance police state’ goes, this is something that Church of God writers have expected for some time.

The fake prophet then has to drag out an old article from the Plan Truth, a magazine that made a name for itself for getting hysterical over everything.

Decades ago, an article titled ENTERING THE AGE OF TERROR in the old Plain Truth magazine in June 1977 said that as a response to terrorism we may see “that the inevitable result would be a repressive, authoritarian police state and the loss of civil liberties.” This has been occurring. 

So what is this all leading to? The rise of Baron Karl-Theodore zu Guttenberg, the ultimate wet dream of prophet Thiel. Thiel has been obsessing over Guttenberg for years now as the soon-coming Beast to unite Germany and destroy America.

COVID-19 Leading to 666?

The novel coronavirus of Wuhan, China fame, is now called COVID-19. It has also been called the ‘Coronapocalypse.’ Does COVID-19 have any prophetic ramifications? What did Jesus teach about pestilences and sorrows in the Olivet prophecy in Matthew 24? Could COVID-19 be the ride of the fourth horseman of the Apocalypse? Why was this type of disease expected according to the Old Testament prophecies in Deuteronomy and Leviticus? What has the US Centers for Disease Control warned about? What has the CDC reported about the flu? Were there lessons about fear and infections in the 2011 movie ‘Contagion’? Because of COVID-19, the World Health Organization (WHO), nation of Iran, and certain French locations are telling people not to use cash, but instead electronic forms of payment. The US Federal Reserve is now quarantining money repatriated from Asia to reduce the potential spread of the coronavirus on US currency bills. Is COVID-19 worse than we have been told or could this all be a ‘false flag’ event to encourage people to move towards a cashless society? If the thousands of deaths associated with COVID-19 are pushing parts of the world towards cashlessness, how much more likely will the ride of the fourth horseman and over a billion human deaths motivate people to move to making electronic payments that can be monitored? The Bible tells of a soon coming society that controls buying and selling to force allegiance to a coming European Beast power, known as 666 (Revelation 13:16-18). Does the ‘great tribulation’ begin before ride of the fourth horseman or with the opening of the fifth seal of Revelation 6? Do the words of Jesus helps us better understand the sequence of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse and the start of the Great Tribulation? Will the ride of the fourth horseman help lead to the rise of 666? Is that ride very close? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more.