WHEN GOD CALLED MARY, SHE ALONE DECIDED.

When God chose a teenage girl to be the mother of His Son Jesus, He did not inform or consult Mary’s father, her fiancé, a priest or the elders of Mary’s synagogue.

...the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. Luke 1:26-27 (ESV) 

God did not send the angel to Joseph or Mary’s father but directly to Mary, a teenage girl. 

And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. Lk 1:31

God did not ask Mary’s parents or fiancé for permission. 

And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. Lk 1:38 (ESV) 

Young Mary made one of the most important spiritual decisions in the history of the world without consulting any man or older person.

What about Mary’s father? The Holy Spirit did not mention him.
What about Mary’s fiancé, Joseph? God told him after Mary was already pregnant. 

Mary’s response was magnificent. She made perhaps the most important spiritual decision in history all by herself, even though it meant losing her reputation for chastity, risking the loss of her fiancé and her prospects of marriage and making her a social outcast.

Perhaps you have been trained to submit important spiritual decisions to elders, pastors, fathers or your husband. Mary did none of these things and the Bible story commends her for her bold faith and her sacrificial obedience, obedience to God alone.

Suppose God is challenging you to make a decision which could lead to rejection by your church or even your family, is it possible the Holy Spirit wants you to follow the example of Mary? 

If God is really calling you and you know your parents or church leaders would not agree, asking these same people to discern or confirm your call is not obedience, as you may have been taught but actually disobedience to God.

Sometimes it helps to discuss a decision with friends or wise elders but there are times when you have to step out in raw faith and suffer the consequences as well as reaping the blessings.

GOD GIVES SIGNS TODAY

Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, "Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you."

• He answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. Matthew 12:38-39 (NIV) 

What a strange thing for the Pharisees to say! They had been witnessing the most amazing miracles day after day but they asked for a sign from heaven as though they had seen nothing unusual at all.

In the Gospel of John, we read that the many miracles of Jesus were signs from God.

Of course the Pharisees knew all about miracles that Jesus worked but they refused to recognise them as signs from God. 

However, even amongst the religious leaders there were some who were humble enough to recognise the hand of God at work.

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 

This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” John 3:1-2

So it is today that many Christians who believe in the Bible are like the Pharisees who saw themselves as the defenders of Biblical truth. 
When evangelists today pray for the sick, many are healed but quite a number are not healed. There are also some who are apparently healed but then get sick again or go back to their wheelchairs. Then there are others who are healed but not converted.
So many pious Bible believers today point out these apparent failures and accuse men and women with miracle ministries of being fakes and frauds.

However if they sought out the many people who really were healed and stayed healed they would change their minds but clearly they don’t want to change their minds.

I was privileged to hear a wonderful man of God preach in Germany. He was a pastor and evangelist from West Africa. He leads a church in Düsseldorf where there are over 750 baptised members who converted from Islam, mostly because they had received miraculous healings or seen their friends healed by the power of Jesus. 

But the critics are not interested in success stories. They are only looking for evidence to discredit miracle ministries and prove themselves right, just like the Pharisees.

• Please don’t think I am an arrogant and aggressive Pentecostal. I dislike this brand of Christianity myself. I am not against non-Charismatic Christians in general but I will not tolerate the negative unbelief of the people who are completely anti Charismatic and do nothing but criticise and attack.

Years ago there was a pastor in a very conservative denomination who was taught not to pray for miraculous healings. 

He was called to minister to a little girl who was terribly sick with a terminal condition. He was moved with compassion, just as Jesus often was. The pastor prayed for the little girl to be healed and to his astonishment God raised her up and healed her completely. 

The conservative pastor was very confused and troubled. Was the doctrine of his church right after all? Had he done the right thing?
When the pastor attended a preachers’ conference he told his story to the famous evangelist, Oral Roberts. He asked Oral Roberts: “How can I know if I did the right thing?”

God gave Oral Roberts a supernatural inspiration in the form of the “word of wisdom”. He said to the confused pastor: “If you are not sure if you did the right thing, why don’t you ask the little girl?”

The revelation was a like turning on a light. The pastor went around the conference telling everyone the story and repeating the wise words of the evangelist: “Why don’t you ask the little girl?”

GOD MAKES YOU FREE TO BE DIFFERENT, TO BE YOU.

You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Mt 5:14 (NKJV) 

When you travel through the night, whether by car or by plane, you can see a city far ahead as a blaze of lights.

Jesus says his followers are like a city filled with light. This is a representation on earth of the City of God in the glorious Kingdom of God which is to come.

And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. Rev 21:10-11

What is a city like? It is a community filled with diversity, different kinds of businesses and trades, different kinds of organisations. There are government offices and private companies, big businesses and small family businesses. In a healthy city the government does not own or control businesses and big businesses do not totally dominate small businesses. 

So it is with the people of Jesus. There are big churches and denominations and there are house churches and informal prayer groups. There are fellowships where believing business people meet to pray and bring their faith into their work. There are missions to the homeless and prayer groups in colleges. These are just as important as congregations which meet on Sunday. 

In a secular city there are very creative people who are self employed writers, artists, architects and consultants. No company boss or government official controls their lives. Their free creativity keeps the society open to new ideas. 

So it is in the Kingdom of God. CS Lewis was a great Christian writer but he did not hold a senior position in his church and he did not have a church leader telling him what to write or what not to write. 

Some of the most influential Christian leaders have not been church leaders. 

Bach and Handel wrote worship music that moved the hearts of millions. Bach was a humble church organist and music director in a local church. Handel was a commercial composer who wrote operas and music for public occasions.

God does not want all his people to be the same. 

He wants different kinds of churches, different kinds of ministries, different kinds of people doing different kinds of things to demonstrate His own glorious creativity. 

Maybe you are copying other Christians or trying to fit in with what your church, your leaders or your family expect of you.  

Stop, look around and listen to God. What did HE put you on this earth to do? He will show you and your life will never be the same.

For centuries we have been locked into a narrow stereotyped idea of church and the Kingdom of God. God is now saying: LET MY PEOPLE GO!

WHERE DID CHURCH HIERARCHY COME FROM?

In New Testament times, local churches were led by teams of elders, and there was no one man in charge. 

The words PRESBYTER (elder) EPISCOPOS (overseer) and SHEPHERD (Pastor) were used interchangeably. 

The ministry of Pastor is mentioned only once in the entire New Testament.

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the SHEPHERDS and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. Ephesians 4:11-12 (ESV) 

• There is no New Testament text indicating that one preacher dominated the ministry of a local church. 

Ephesians 4:11-12 does not define a pastor as an office holder who governs a congregation or dominates its teaching and preaching ministry.
The Apostles were missionaries, evangelists, teachers and church planters. When the Apostle Paul planted a church, he stayed for a while and then moved on without appointing office holders or official leaders. Later he would return and appoint elders. These pioneer churches were small networks of house churches. 

• No text tells us that Paul put one man in charge. 

When Paul wrote 1 Corinthians, he addressed serious problems of sin and disorder but he did not address his letter to a leader or leadership group. 

1 Corinthians 1:1-2 (ESV) Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes, 

• To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: 

Paul addressed his letter to the whole community of believers. 

It was up to the community of believers to work out how to make decisions, who should be delegated to exercise leadership, how to manage their affairs. 

• Paul was very conscious of his spiritual authority but he was clearly against authoritarian hierarchy and micro management. 

Some years later, some preachers had set themselves up as religious rulers over the Corinthian church. The Corinthian believers submitted to the domination of these leaders and Paul was not happy at all.

2 Corinthians 11:19-21 (NIV) You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! 

• In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or pushes himself forward or slaps you in the face. 

• To my shame I admit that we were too weak for that! ....

Paul calls dominating preachers FOOLS and he sharply criticises the Corinthians for submitting to them.

Paul’s approach to leadership was very different and he ironically calls his own leadership “WEAK”. 

• But today we see many churches ruled by a rigid patriarchal hierarchy. Many leaders are like the FOOLS and BULLIES described by Paul in 2 Corinthians 11.

Where and when did the church abandon the free brotherhood and sisterhood of Paul’s time? 

Between 100 AD and 250 AD, bishops became the absolute rulers of the churches. They claimed to inherit the absolute authority of the first Apostles but unlike Paul, they practised extreme authoritarian micro management. 

• Only a bishop or an ordained priest was allowed to celebrate the Lord’s supper or baptism. 

Cyprian was Bishop of Carthage from around 248 to 258 AD.

• “He taught that a bishop had no superior but God. He was accountable to God alone. Anyone who separated himself from the bishop, separated himself from God.” (Pagan Christianity. Viola and Barna p.114)

But Jesus said to the first Apostles.

• "But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. 

• And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 

• Nor are you to be called 'teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the Christ. Matthew 23:8-10 (NIV) 

In Paul’s farewell address to the church leaders in Ephesus, he gave this warning:

I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. Acts 20:29-30 (NIV) 

Are all senior pastors wolves or dictators? Far from it. Many are wonderful men or women of God and some lay down their lives as the first apostles did.

Nevertheless, a good pastor must remember he may be a leader but he is above all a fellow disciple, a brother or sister in the Church.

CAN WOMEN BE PRIESTS?

It is often said that the husband and father is, or should be, the priest of the family. 

What biblical foundation does this have? 

It may be based on the Jewish family rituals of Shabbat and Passover, where the male head of the house lead the family in prayer.

However, the New Covenant was ushered in when Jesus died on the cross. The apostles had run away except for John, the youngest, who was standing with Mary, the Mother of Jesus. 

Therefore the soldiers did these things. But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He *said to His mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" John 19:25-26 (NASB) 

It was the women who returned to the tomb of Jesus on Sunday morning to embalm His body. 

• It was the priests who were responsible for the sacrifices under the Old Covenant.

The priestly function of women is clearly demonstrated even before the cross.

Mary (the sister of Martha and Lazarus) therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. John 12:3 (ESV)

When Judas objected, Jesus defended her.

But Jesus said, Let her alone. It was [intended] that she should keep it for the time of My preparation for burial. [She has kept it that she might have it for the time of My embalming.] John 12:7 (AMP)

Under the Old Covenant, it was the High Priest who sacrificed the unblemished male lamb for the sins of Israel at Yom Kipur (The Day of Atonement) every year. 

• He entered into the Holy of Holies and killed the lamb. 
• Then he would come out to tell the people that God had accepted the sacrifice.

To whom did God give this office, to announce that God had accepted the sacrifice of His Son for our sins? 

• Certainly it was the Apostle Peter who preached on the Day of Pentecost but this was a prophetic office. 

When He returned alive from the tomb, Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene. Two angels appeared to her and then she saw Jesus Himself.

John 20:15-18 (NASB) 

15  Jesus *said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" Supposing Him to be the gardener, she *said to Him, "Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away." 

16  Jesus *said to her, "Mary!" She turned and *said to Him in Hebrew, "Rabboni!" (which means, Teacher). 

17  Jesus *said to her, "Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.'" 

18  Mary Magdalene *came, announcing to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord," and that He had said these things to her. 

• It was the women who were given the high priestly privilege of being the first to announce that God had raised The Lamb of God from the tomb.

Sadly, the Apostles did not take the women seriously, just as many ordained men today dismiss revelations given to women who live close to God.

• Jesus was not impressed.

Afterward He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen. Mark 16:14 (NASB) 

• In the Old Testament, only men were priests but Jesus died and rose again as our Lamb of God to restore men and women to the high calling that God intends us all to enter into.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light. 1 Peter 2:9 (HCSB) 

The ROYAL PRIESTHOOD of the New Testament includes all believers, not just ordained preachers and it also clearly includes women.

BULLYING, THE WORST SIN OF ALL?

I am feeling quite distressed at the moment. I hear and read so many stories about Christians who have been bullied by other Christians or are actually being bullied right now. 
For many years I was bullied by Christian pastors and leaders and I am ashamed to say I became part of the system and I became for a time a harsh and punishing step-father. 

Jesus spoke very harsh words against the sin of Christian bullying.

But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, 'My master is staying away a long time,' and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. Matthew 24:48-49 (NIV) 

• There are also religious bullies who don't get drunk or indulge in sins of the flesh but is Jesus suggesting that bullying is just as bad as getting drunk and indulging the flesh? or worse?

Bullying does not happen by accident or by chance. It is often an expression of a legalistic religious mindset.

What is legalism? It is an attempt to prevent, correct of punish real or imagined sin by human means using human thinking and human rules. 

You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: "'These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'" Matthew 15:7-9 (NIV) 

Religious legalism usually leads to outright bullying. Jesus spoke more strongly against these two sins than any other sin.

• I am not against pastors. There are wonderful pastors and I know some as personal friends. Pastors too can be victims of bullying. I have seen this several times and it is horrible.

The Apostle Paul was also very strong in condemning bullying. In his second letter to the Corinthian church, Paul rebukes the Corinthian believers. Why? Because of sex sin? No. He dealt with that in his first letter.
He rebukes them for submitting unconditionally to pastors and preachers. Maybe you have read the letter but missed that point. Here it is.

You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or pushes himself forward or slaps you in the face. 2 Cor 11:19-20 (NIV) 

• Any pastor or preacher who demands unconditional and total surrender to himself is a false shepherd. 

• Any pastor who becomes angry, intimidating or threatening towards anyone who criticises or disagrees with him is a false teacher and a false shepherd. 

• Any pastor or leader who imposes his will on people to the point that his word is law, that pastor or leader is a false shepherd.

There are many Christians who feel uneasy, resentful or secretly angry towards over confident, controlling leaders but they believe they must not resist because that would be the sin of rebellion.
This is a false understanding of scripture.

• When King Saul tried to kill David, David fled for his life.

• If you are bullied in church, you are entitled to leave the church. 

It is more than an entitlement. In many circumstances it is you duty before God. 
If you are bullied in church, you face an impossible choice. Either you can follow Jesus, who is totally kind and good and on your side, or you follow a nasty arrogant bully who disguises his cruelty and pride with pious words.

You cannot serve two masters.

Supposing you are imprisoned by religious parents or a ruthlessly controlling husband who will not let you escape from a legalistic church. You could be thrown out into the street or lose your children.

• You must be like Joseph in prison who cultivated a secret relationship with God.

He heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds. Ps147:3 (NIV) 

"The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; 

He has sent Me to heal the broken hearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; Isaiah 61:1 (NKJV) 

• It is good if you can talk back to bullies and it is not a sin but sometimes a soft answer is the best policy.

• In extreme cases, the strongest answer is a stubborn, determined silence, especially if you are expected to agree, express submission or apologise when you believe you are not in the wrong.

When Jesus was on trial for his life, He answered many aggressive questions and accusations with SILENCE. 

• His SILENCE was the strongest answer. 

DON'T LIMIT GOD. HIS BEST IS FOR YOU

Psalm 103:2-4 (NIV) A Psalm of DAVID

• Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-
• who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, 
• who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, 

Here David is encouraging himself my meditating on the promises of God for himself. We all need to do this when we are down or in need. 

• If you tell me you are never down or you don’t have any unmet needs I don’t believe you.

Clearly David believes God’s promises are comprehensive. 

• He is saved from the pit of despair and damnation. 

• God forgives all his sins and also heals all his diseases. 

ALL is a bold word. 

• If you believe for ALL these things, you have a very bold faith, and rather controversial because many people want to believe for forgiven sins but not too much more.

You might say David was a specially chosen prophet and king, a special favourite of God. Maybe he is just talking about his own special privileges with God.

• So is David just talking about himself and a few specially chosen ones?

The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. Psalm 103:6 (NIV) 

Here is this word ALL again but this time it is not only ALL sins forgiven and ALL diseases healed but God’s miraculous power and favour available to ALL who need help.

Who is included in God’s favour?

He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel: Psalm 103:7 (NIV) 

In the Old Testament, God worked mighty miracles for Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and many other heroes of faith but God also forgave, healed, protected and saved ALL the people of Israel when they escaped from Egypt and crossed the Red Sea.

He also brought them out with silver and gold, And there was none feeble among His tribes. Psalm 105:37 (NKJV) 

But is God’s mercy and power only for the sons and daughters of Jacob, the people of Israel. David gives the rest of us words of hope.

For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; Psalm 103:11 (NKJV)

A Syrian general was suffering from incurable leprosy. He had a captured Hebrew slave girl who told her about the prophet Elisha in Israel. When General Naaman found Elisha, the prophet sent him a message.

Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, "Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed." 2 Kings 5:10 (NIV) 

The general was angry but he reconsidered and did what he was told. When he came up out of the dirty river for the seventh time, he was healed. 

God wants to forgive all your sins and heal all your diseases but are you willing to honour God with your simple trust and humble obedience?

If you respect and trust God, if you revere and love Jesus, God’s promises are also for you.

But there are always some people who want to believe in a theology that limits God. God healed the Jews and some other people in the Old Testament but what about today?

Matthew 8:16-17 (ESV) 

• That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. 
• This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.” 

When did Jesus take our illnesses and bear our diseases? On the cross. 

This is a quote from Isaiah 53, which is a prophecy of Jesus suffering on the cross for our salvation.

Surely our sicknesses he hath borne, And our pains--he hath carried them, And we--we have esteemed him plagued, Smitten of God, and afflicted. Isaiah 53:4 (YLT)

Here Young’s Literal Translation accurately translates Isaiah and agrees with the Greek translation in Matthew 8:17.

Jesus died to pay the price for your complete salvation, to take away your sin, guilt and condemnation and also to deliver you from the consequences of sin, which include sickness.

GOD TRANSFORMS YOUR SHAME INTO BLESSING

"Fear not, for you will not be put to shame; And do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced; But you will forget the shame of your youth,  Isaiah 54:4 (NASB) 

God remembers everything in your life, the good, the bad and the ugly. 

But doesn’t the Bible say that God forgets your sins when He forgives?

God decides not to remember your sin as sin. But God keeps a record of everything in your past and in your history for another purpose. 

 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 (NIV) 

God keeps a record of your entire life for the purpose of healing the wounds in your soul. 

• Better than that, God uses the wrong things that have happened in your life to bless you and others.

When Moses died, Joshua took over the leadership of Israel. 
Before the Israelites miraculously crossed the Jordan River, Joshua sent spies into Jericho. 

• They narrowly escaped capture when they took refuge in a brothel. The prostitute Rahab protected them because she believed in the God of Israel. 
• When the city of Jericho fell, Rahab’s house was preserved and she was welcomed into Israel as a convert to the true God. 
• She became the grandmother of the grandfather of King David. 
• Rahab is one of only four women listed in the family tree of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. 

Jesus said to the self righteous Jewish religious leaders:

 ... Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. Matthew 21:31 (NIV) 

How many prostitutes have been encouraged to respond to the love of God by the story of Rahab? 

• God uses the record of our past lives to bless us and bless others.

I once heard a very interesting missionary preacher. He told a story of a church made up mostly of converted ex prostitutes. They were wonderful street evangelists. 

• As prostitutes they had hunted for men with shameless boldness. God used this same shameless boldness to make them wonderful evangelists. 

God forgets the sinfulness of your sin but He uses your sinful past to do wonderful things.

A quite different example is the Apostle Paul.

Paul’s sinful past was not adultery or witchcraft but self righteous religious pride. 

• Paul’s religious ambition drove him to be an outstanding biblical scholar but there was not humility of love in his heart. His religion led him to persecute and murder followers of Jesus. 
• Paul became an enemy of Jesus and an enemy of the God he thought he served. Then came the day when everything changed.

Acts 9:3-6 (NIV) 

As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 

He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" 

• "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." 

God never forgot Paul’s sin. It is recorded in the Bible, the Word of God.

• Paul also remembered his sin.

1 Timothy 1:15-16 (NIV) 

• Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst. 
• But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. 

Paul was a living example of the mercy and grace that was at the heart of his message and his ministry.

If there is extreme shame in your life, be encouraged. 

"Fear not, for you will not be put to shame; And do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced; But you will forget the shame of your youth ... Isaiah 54:4 (NASB) 

BULLYING IS NOT LEGITIMATE AUTHORITY

There is a doctrine which makes “brokenness” the supreme virtue. It is supposed to be the mark of humility and absolute surrender.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Psalm 51:17 (ESV) 

I still do not fully understand this doctrine. 

• I suspect that like many extreme and dangerous doctrines, it contains important elements of truth which are taken out of context and twisted until it no longer faithfully represents the character of our loving God.

The LORD is near to the broken hearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18 (ESV) 

If you live a life of cruelty and perversion and God reveals His goodness and holiness and His willingness to forgive, your heart may well be broken by the realisation of the harm you have done and your sorrow for sin. 

• This is a healthy reaction to the goodness of God but it is not supposed to be an ongoing way of life.

On the other hand, there are ultra zealous holiness preachers who are obsessed with sin and rebellion even more than with the love and goodness of God. They see it as their duty to lead their congregations into a chronic attitude of brokenness. They actually try to break the will of their people. 

• It is cruel perversion of spiritual authority. 

There are parents who think they must break the will of their children to train them into obedience. 

• This is not what David meant when he wrote about the broken spirit of the repentant sinner.

A son or daughter, an employee or soldier whose spirit is broken by cruel authority figures is a broken human being. 

This is not the will of God for His children. God is LOVE.

• If you are a wife and you are taught you must give your husband total, unquestioning, unconditional obedience, you are being abused, oppressed and potentially deceived.
• If you are a young adult and you are told you must unconditionally obey your parents, you are being misled.
• If you are a church member and leaders tell you that you must never leave one church to join another, you are hearing a man made doctrine. Look for it in the Bible. It is not there.

I heard of a church which taught that everything that happens is the will of God. If you die of cancer, it is the will of God.

• A boy was timid and felt unable to evangelise his friends, so he prayed God would give him cancer, so he could die bravely and people would believe in Jesus because of his faith. After he prayed, he really did get cancer. Four people were converted to Jesus at his funeral.

So did God answer his prayer? Did God give him cancer? NO! NO! NO!

• God is good and the devil is evil.

• Dark spirits also listen to your prayers.

Jesus said:

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. John 10:10 (NKJV) 

If you listen to harsh, negative preaching, you may not pray to get sick and die but you may pray to be broken. As a very young man I was a new convert in a very fanatical and authoritarian church. I was taught that I must be broken, so I prayed that God would break me.
I was mistreated by church leaders and I had a nervous breakdown.

Negative authoritarian religion is terribly dangerous.

I once asked a young Muslim wife how she hurt her face. She said a door hit her. I didn’t ask her if she reported the door to the police. 

So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual up building. Romans 14:19 (ESV) 

God is love. God’s purpose for his children is to build us up, not to break us down.

I thank God that I escaped from this perversion of Christianity. I now count good and gentle pastors amongst my friends