How Patriarchy Saved Me From Feminism by Nicole Rosebrough

 

I have a confession to make: I used to be a feminist.

You’d never think that if you looked at me now.  I willfully submit to the authority of my husband, my pastor and the inerrant Word of God.  The thought of being a stay-at-home mother when my husband and I are blessed with children fills me with joy, and I am highly satisfied with the vocation that I have been called to fulfill.  So how in the world was I ever a feminist? 

Let’s turn back the clock a few years… 

It was the Fall of 2011, and I was entering my first year of college at a small Evangelical Christian University in the Midwest.  I was young, nervous and impressionable.  Never before had I been forced to defend my beliefs, my faith or even what I had in my lunchbox. To put it simply, I had grown up in a bubble of protection.  Due to this, I had never come into contact with the harshness of reality and its many challenges.  My goals and aspirations were filled with a zeal to help those around me.  I was majoring in Music Education with the goal of teaching elementary school students.  My hope was to help children discover the same comfort and healing that I had found through music.  Actually, it was my over-developed sense of empathy and compassion that became the very snares that entangled me in Feminism in the first place.

With the invention of social media my generation has ditched private journals in favor of exposing their hearts to the entire world.  So many of my friends and classmates created blogs to chronicle their struggles and triumphs at college.  I felt the need to do the same.  I chose the website Tumblr as my platform not knowing that I had just thrown myself wholeheartedly into a feminist stronghold.  As I fell down the rabbit hole of Tumblr I was introduced to ideas I had never heard before.  Shrodinger’s rapist, the gender pay gap, the evil patriarchy, rape culture, toxic masculinity, fragile masculinity, the glass ceiling, intersectionality, the male gaze, manspreading, mansplaining, the pink tax, safe spaces, LGBTQ+ rights and so on and so forth.

I was appalled at the perceived injustices that went unchecked.  How could these things happen in a civilized society?  How could I stay silent and not fight when my sisters were actively being oppressed?  I had to help. To my credit, I had never heard these arguments or issues before.  My parents had never taught me about such things because they weren’t issues we were faced with.  My bubble of protection had shielded me from such rhetoric a little too well, and I quickly found myself in an echo chamber.

While I was drinking from the ideological firehose of Tumblr I encountered a completely different sub-sect of feminism at college.  This is the hybrid known as Christian Feminism.  A majority of my friends at school were just as curious about Feminism and the siren song of Social Justice as I was.  In our quest to learn more, we found self-proclaimed Christian Feminists like Jory Micah and Nadia Bolz-Webber.  Through them, we learned about the fight to break the stained glass ceiling, the sexism of the Apostle Paul and the abusive men who barred women from the pastoral office.  I was hooked.  Aside from being pro-life, I considered myself fully aligned with the goals of feminism and nobody could tell me otherwise.  And then God sent two men into my life who challenged everything.

 

When I met Joshua Rosebrough on the dark and dreary night of November 17th, 2013, I had no idea what I was in for.  He was funny, charming, witty, handsome and a bit eccentric, but what stood out the most was how confident he was in his convictions.  While he showed me he was knowledgeable about Church history and Christian doctrine, he was not entirely familiar with Christian feminism.  I quickly realized that he was NOT a feminist, but I was dead set on converting him.  I didn’t know it at the time, but my beliefs drove him to plumb the depths of the internet for answers about feminist ideology. During the time we were getting to know one another, he began to ask questions about what it was I believed.

 

Feminists are not unfamiliar with controversy.  Oftentimes those who openly oppose feminism don’t hide their disdain and are usually vying for a fight rather than an open and honest discussion.  These interactions become less an intellectual conversation and more like guerrilla warfare.  I had become so battle hardened in the trenches of the internet that I had begun to believe that those who opposed feminism had no compassion or love for their neighbor.  It was this jaded mindset that left me utterly defenseless when Josh would ask me simple questions.  It wasn’t so much the questions themselves that disarmed me but rather the way in which he asked them.  He wasn’t trying to win an argument.  He wasn’t trying to destroy me.  He honestly wanted to know and understand my opinions.

As he continued to learn more behind the scenes his questions became more focused.  We had made it a habit of civilly discussing our ideological differences, but then he started asking follow up questions that called everything I thought I knew into question.  He had already won my trust and respect so I couldn’t openly dismiss his ideas.  I had to defend my ideology, but the more I tried the more holes he poked in it.  Before long the pillars of secular feminism began to fall one by one.  Yet, I faithfully clung to the tenants of Christian feminism.

As my relationship with Josh grew I found myself regularly joining his family for dinner.  I knew that his father, Chris, ran an online Christian radio station where he discussed popular preachers in the evangelical church.  However, I had never listened to it myself.  Much to my dismay, he would often joke about female pastors and openly refer to them as heretics.  I was scandalized.  What was worse was that he would quote the writings of the Apostle Paul.  Didn’t he know that those were just cultural norms that had long passed their expiration date?  How could he be so callous against women who had been called by the Holy Spirit into the ministry?  I reluctantly resigned myself to the idea that if I continued to date Josh I would just have to endure his father’s bigotry towards women in ministry.  I told myself that it was a small price to pay for a boyfriend who I really liked.

 

I began to do a little research on Chris Rosebrough and his infamous Fighting for the Faith radio program.  The stories he covered seemed so outlandish that I thought they couldn’t be real, but they were.  I was hooked.  Listening to FFtF became a daily ritual, and the more I listened the more I learned.  In the same way that my secular views had been shaken, I found my beliefs regarding Christian feminism being called into question.  Time and time again Chris would cite the writings of the Apostle Paul and make the claim that women who called themselves pastors were in direct violation of scripture. The cornerstone of Christian feminism is to forcibly separate the writings of Paul from the ministry of Jesus Christ.  Jesus never explicitly forbade women from assuming the holy office of Pastor, but Paul clearly does in 1st Timothy and 1st Corinthians.

Listening to FFtF forced me to question my interpretation of scripture. Was it truly “God-breathed” as Chris loved to claim by citing 2 Timothy?  Or was it merely a collection of antiquated writings that had long expired with their authors? The more I questioned certain passages, the more I found that reading to call the rest of Scripture into question as well. I had one of two options.  Either it was all true or none of it was true.  Chris kept dragging me back to the cross and pointing me to Jesus.  I quickly came to understand that the authority of scripture was built upon Christ’s claim to be God in human flesh,  a claim that He proved by dying and raising Himself from the grave.  Based upon this criteria the only logical choice I could make was to affirm the authority of all scripture.  Much to the chagrin of my feminist beliefs, this invariably included the writings of Paul. Since Scripture was inspired by the Holy Spirit, and Christ and the Spirit are part of the same Triune God, I could no longer claim that Christ was silent on the topic of female pastors.

My brain now knew that women couldn’t be Pastors, but my sinful heart continued to rebel.  Why would God allow women to feel the call of ministry if they were never meant to be Pastors?  How could He allow them to be hurt like this?  In my confusion and anger over this issue I decided not to ask either of the Rosebrough men for guidance.  I needed to discover the answer on my own.  I scoured the internet for resources on this subject.  Podcasts, books, articles and lectures began to consume my free time.  I was starving for the truth.  Eventually, I stumbled upon the doctrine of vocation as understood by Lutherans.  This was my breaking point.

So much of evangelicalism is built upon the idea that good works done unto neighbors must be a grand gesture.  People are constantly told to “change the world” through their works.  Dig wells in Africa, build houses in Mexico, feed orphans in India and so on.  What often ends up happening is that the immediate neighbors you’ve been called to serve around you are forgotten.  While digging wells in Africa is legitimately a good work for your neighbor, it is wrongfully conflated as the best work you can do.

It was in this same line of teaching that I was made to believe that your feelings dictated to you what your calling or “Purpose” in life would be.  I heard all kinds of lessons telling me that what you enjoyed and were naturally gifted with would show you God’s path for your life.  Conversely, the Lutheran podcasts were saying that your neighbors determined your vocation.  It went a little something like this.  Do you have parents?  Serve them respectfully and honor them as their son or daughter.  Do you have a husband?  Serve him faithfully as his wife.  Do you have a wife?  Serve her lovingly as her husband.  Do you have children?  Serve them by caring for their needs as their parent.

What’s even more beautiful is that the scriptures clearly outline what those vocations entail.  Suddenly the path before me was clear.  I didn’t have to travel to far off lands or magically pick the right career path to fulfill a shadowy dream destiny.  I could serve my neighbor every day in a million different ways because my neighbor was already in my home. 

Throughout my study of vocations I came to the realization that men and women have had very different vocations from the beginning of creation.  Nowhere was this more clear than in the account of the Fall.  When sin entered the world God did not give the same punishments to our first parents.  Adam, like all men to follow, was cursed with toil and work, but Eve was cursed differently.  Most people only remember half of Eve’s curse, namely the pain of childbirth, but she was also told that her desire would be to rule over her husband, but that he would be her lord.  This difference in curse opened my eyes to a new possibility that my feminist ideals had never allowed me to consider.  If men and women are cursed differently, then perhaps we are called differently as well.   

As Christians, we are all called to die to our sinful flesh and serve our neighbor, but with different curses the sinful desires of men and women are different too.  A man may sin against his neighbor and family by shirking his responsibility to teach and instruct them in the faith, but a woman can sin against her neighbors by taking that responsibility upon herself.  Not only does she enable the man’s sin when she usurps his place, she is also succumbing to her sinful desire to rule over her husband.  Instead, the woman who wishes to serve her neighbor dies to her sinful desire for power and influence, and then calls the men around her to fulfill their God-given vocation even though it is difficult.

Armed with this new understanding of vocation, I began to ask myself what the vocation of Pastor would entail.  Thankfully I found again that I could turn to the Scriptures for the clear definition.  1 Timothy tells us that a Pastor “must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.”  While there are many women today who could easily meet many of these standards, no woman could ever be the “Husband of one wife,”  regardless of what the world proclaims.  If this passage wasn’t damning enough to the ideology of Christian feminism then 1 Corinthians 14:33-35 mercilessly drove the point home:

For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.

This passage is nothing short of kryptonite for Christian feminist doctrine.  Rationally, this clear text should clear up any and all arguments on the matter, but the mental gymnastics of post-modernity knows no limits.  Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Paul easily refuted the modern argument that this mandate was nothing more than a cultural norm.  The one phrase that so many pastors conveniently skip over are the words “As in all the churches of the saints…”  This singular phrase was the final nail in the coffin.  My argumentation that a woman’s desire to be a Pastor was God given was obliterated.  A woman becoming a Pastor is nothing short of her succumbing to the curse in Genesis and blatantly disregarding Paul’s clear teachings.

Feminism claims that it doesn’t hate men but spent an awful lot of time telling me that everything wrong in the world was a direct result of their actions.  I was told to be independent, and in my independence show the world that I didn’t need patriarchs in my life.  I was told that they would domineer and control my life.  Yet, thanks to these two patriarchs, I was saved from Christian feminism.  They were kind.  They were gentle.  They lovingly told me the truth and showed me the grace and mercy of Jesus where I had none before.

 

Not a day goes by that I don’t thank God for this patriarchy.


Interview With Costi Hinn: Leaving Uncle Benny to (Really) Follow Jesus

Here's an absolutely fascinating interview with Benny Hinn's nephew, Costi Hinn. Costi went from being an insider in his world-famous uncle's ministry to being just a "regular" Bible-teaching pastor. Please listen and share this episode with your friends who need to hear the real Gospel message! 

Costi Hinn

Costi Hinn

Here is the website for Costi Hinn's church: Mission Bible Church 

Here is the media ministry website for Mission Bible Church: Equip the Saint

Costi Hinn's articles on Pulpit and Pen: Pulpit and Pen

His Twitter handle is: @costiwhinn


Todd White Flees Rebuke of Homeschool Mom, Threatens to Call Police

Read this amazing first-hand account from a homeschool mom who dared to confront the hyper-charismatic superstar, Todd White:

Todd White Flees Rebuke of Woman, Threatens to Call Police by Cindy McCann in Pulpit & Pen

 

 

Read more about this false teacher:

The Todd White Cornucopia of False Teaching

Todd White is part of the New Apostolic Reformation: The New Apostolic Reformation Cornucopia of False Doctrine, Dominionism, Charismania and Deception

For those who think it's mean, judgmental and un-loving to criticize Todd White (or any other popular teacher) here's something just for you: Shocking Stuff You're Not Supposed to Know.

If you're having a knee-jerk reaction to try and defend Todd White, check out: Confirmation Bias: Why You Are Protecting Your False Beliefs.

Finally, here's an article that will help you be more discerning and a lot less gullible: Defusing Demonic Dirty Bombs.

Getting Booted From Elevation Church

 

Our "fearless friend," Elliott Nesch, took two of his children and went to visit Elevation Church a few months ago; this is the article he wrote about that experience:

Our Recent "Worship Experience" at Elevation Church

 

 

 

For further reading and research:

The Steven Furtick Cornucopia of False Teaching, Egomania and Hair Gel

The Seeker-Friendly, Purpose-Driven Cornucopia of False Doctrine

True Stories from the Messed Up Church: Andy Stanley's North Point Church

This is the first in a new series of posts from real people who will tell their story of God's grace drawing them back to the Gospel.

Confessions of a Former Member of Andy Stanley’s Church

By Janine Jensen

When I was in my 20s, I lived in Atlanta and attended Andy Stanley’s church (this would be in the early 1990's). I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was a part of the "messed up church." 

Last year, Andy Stanley preached about the “Temple Model” and more recently said “you’re selfish if you don’t go to a big church.” Perhaps it would be interesting if I shared my experience of being a part of Andy’s church when it first got started.

Northpoint Church is a huge place. Services are held in three large rooms, simulcast with Andy navigating between rooms. We watch on the big multimedia screens.  It’s very exciting, and keeps you on your toes. Before the service starts, there is a huge countdown clock on the screen. The clock counts down the minutes and seconds until the service starts. It creates anticipation, like watching the ball drop on New Year’s Eve in Time Square. Yes, something is about to happen that will knock our socks off. 

Going to church is like “Black Friday” at the mall.  There are people in front of you, next to you, and behind you.  Everyone is trying to get into the sanctuary.  Ushers are everywhere, directing traffic and handing out bulletins, making sure that every seat is filled, with no empty chairs. They have an overflow room for latecomers. Children go to Sunday school while the adults attend the service. With the wall-to-wall multimedia screens, even the people in the back can see what’s going on. There is a live band on stage. The lights are cut low, and there’s a spotlight on the stage. It’s more like a rock concert or Broadway show, than a worship service. When the band starts playing, the crowd quiets down and focuses on the stage. There is a euphoric feeling in the air, like we’re all in this together.

Andy Stanley appears on stage, and opens with a “shout out” or personal anecdote.  It’s unclear whether he is in your room or another one.  He jumps between rooms, appearing on the stage like a rock star. Yes, Andy’s a rock star that everyone adores, and Christianity is his platform. 

Occasionally, the service features a drama skit.  It’s a spur-of-the moment thing that catches you off-guard. You never know what will happen next. One time, there was a heckler in the back, shouting, “This is no place for a Christian! You are the anti-Christ!”  I remember thinking, “You can’t fool me, and I know this is a skit!” But it turns out he was the real deal and the ushers grabbed him and escorted him out. 

I don’t know if things have changed since I left Northpoint church, but back then, Sunday school was set up like a night club. The room was dimly lit, with a disco ball on the ceiling. There were flashes of neon lights, and everyone hovered around the refreshment tables.   They had a dry ice machine cranked up, which made it to look like there was a cloud of smoke on the floor. That was our mingling time. There was contemporary Christian music playing in the background. Eventually, the program started. Someone jumped on the center stage, and shared the announcements. Then we’d go to Sunday school classes, usually sorted by topic. 

No one dared to say it, but the atmosphere was like a bar scene.  They assumed that’s what people wanted.  And surely, with so many people flocking to the church, a nightclub atmosphere is what works. It draws folks in and keeps them coming back for more.

When Andy Stanley gave his “temple model” sermons, he said that all trappings of traditional church should be eliminated.  He definitely practices what he preaches! He likes to play contemporary music instead of hymns, and sermons are more like stand-up comedy routines or motivational messages. 

But is it necessary?  Do Christian singles really need a night club atmosphere in order to feel comfortable? Do we need to follow a worldly formula, or everyone will pack up and go home? 

The Sunday school topical classes were interesting, some even provided in-depth Biblical teaching. That was a breath of fresh air, because the sermons (the ones preached in the auditorium) were mostly stories, anecdotes and musings about life, with a few Bible verses thrown in for good measure. The Bible was treated like a reference book. We rarely, if ever, were given chapter by chapter, verse by verse exegesis. The preacher (be it Andy Stanley, or one of the other pastors on staff) spoke about life principles, often extracted from movies, secular songs, or TV shows. 

I’m still trying to put the pieces together of what happened. Honestly, I had a really good time at Andy Stanley’s church; I met wonderful people and had a blast in Sunday School and church.  I enjoyed the uplifting music, and was exposed to mostly “light” Christian theology. 

 At the same time, I experienced a dumbing down of the gospel. Although it was never directly said, the implication was that the Bible is cryptic and complex. It is hard to understand and no longer culturally relevant. Everything needed to be re-positioned in a cool, hip and contemporary context.  The rationale: People love rock concerts and night clubs. That’s where people have a good time. Let’s make church like that. If people have a good time, they will come back for more.

Andy Stanley’s church also conditions its people to think of ministry in a secular context. You start to think that that’s the way people get saved. That is what attracts people. That is what leads them to Christ. You start to think that evangelism doesn’t work any other way. You start to think that people can’t relate to a minister wearing a suit.  And gosh, a minister wearing a robe or liturgical garments? No way, no how! That type of minister is considered unapproachable, out of touch with reality, and can’t relate to young people. Yes, contemporary is the only way to go. 

Andy Stanley contends that traditional church is what holds people back. It keeps them away.  In reality, it is the sinful heart of man that keeps people away from church. I eventually learned by listening to “Fighting for the Faith,” that the unregenerate man hates God. That’s why he isn’t interested in church. I never heard that taught at North Point Church; I never heard verses like Romans 3: 11-12 which says: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." 

Looking back, I wonder why I attended that church. Why did I stay there for so long? Short answer: It was fun, exciting and entertaining.  It was a great way to meet people and make new friends. That’s probably the case with most people. They may realize that they’re not getting much of out the sermons. They’re not learning much at all. But they keep coming back for the good times. The thrill of the band playing contemporary music, or their favorite rock tune. That rock concert experience can be so exciting. It’s fun being with all your friends. 

And there, I was, caught up in it all. I kept coming back Sunday after Sunday, month after month, year after year. And I didn’t even realize what I know now. I was spending all my time at the messed up church.  

I was a part of a church that used a worldly atmosphere to draw me in, and kept me coming back for more.  I now realize that hip and fun doesn’t necessarily mean orthodox and sound teaching.  

After listening to “Fighting for the Faith,” my attitude changed about contemporary versus traditional church.  As I became more discerning, I no longer want to be a part of a church that takes its cues from popular culture, movies, and rock music.  I became weary of scripture twisting that I experienced in church, particularly when verses are taken out of context. I find myself becoming irritated when the minister focuses more on personal anecdotes rather than Scripture itself.

It’s funny how my perspective and desires have changed.  I now crave a structured and historical worship service.  I love in-depth preaching, standing when Scripture is read, singing hymns, responsive reading, and heartfelt prayers.  I crave hearing Scripture read and preached in context. I want to understand who God is and how He operates. Yes, no more messed up church for me!

But getting back to my story: I eventually left Atlanta and North Point Church, but I still had more to learn. The worst was yet to come-this time at another hip new church; but this one was in South Carolina...

(To be continued. Janine Jensen is a pseudonym)

"When Did the Church Turn Into Amway?"

Photo by Jazmin Quaynor

Photo by Jazmin Quaynor

True Story

      In the 1990's my wife and I had three young children and we were in financial trouble; my income as an artist was very inconsistent. We were invited to become Amway distributors by a family member who knew we were the kind of "go-getters" who could really "make things happen." 

      I was very skeptical at first, but I eventually gave in to the promise of "multiple streams of residual income." In the late 1990's we heard (and fell for) "The Dream Destiny Thingy." This is years before it crept into (and devoured) much of the church. It's a bunch of assumptions that go something like this: 

"God brought you here today for a reason; it's not an accident that you're in this meeting today. The reason you're struggling financially is because you don't have a dream-it's not because you don't have money! Once you have a big enough dream, the money will follow. Amway is just the business vehicle; this is really about changing people's lives by getting them to pursue their dreams." 

They would pray in the meetings like this: 

"Thank you God that you've given each of us the ability to dream. Help us to chase our dreams, discover our destiny and make a real difference in people's lives. In Jesus name, Amen."

 We were taught about the power of using the right words to speak things into existence. We had to be positive-all the time-because being negative would attract negative results.

       Large Amway conventions are the ultimate gig for motivational speakers and other performers, and most of the really big guns were there, helping to prop up the illusion that Amway was a great opportunity for anyone willing to work hard and stick to it. Zig Ziglar, Robert Kiyosaki, John Maxwell and other big name speakers have all done the Amway gig; people would even write books praising the Amway opportunity because they knew thousands of distributors would buy them; it was a built-in audience of niche consumers. I tried not to notice how none of these people making money by praising Amway actually joined up and became Amway distributors themselves.

     But the best speakers in the Amway business weren't the "professional" speakers, they were the "regular folks" who worked hard and had made it to the level of Diamond (or higher). These "regular folks" would convince the socks off of anyone that you could make it happen! "You just need to really buy into the system and do everything your leaders tell you to do-your success is guaranteed!" "If your dream is big enough, the facts don't count!" The most convincing Diamond speakers would come from another organization and speak at your meeting to help you grow your business. "Wow, these people are so nice and giving of their time" you would think. Plus, they would always start by praising your leaders and telling you how lucky you were to have the leadership that you had in your own organization. 

     Eventually, I learned that all of these diamond (and above) speakers were getting giant speaking fees. They weren't giving their time, they were selling their time. If you were getting $10,000 for an hour and a half speech, do you think you could praise whoever was writing your check? On top of the very convincing speakers, they had amazing videos with powerful music and emotionally charged stories to tear at your heartstrings. The use of multimedia was incredibly effective-especially in a stadium full of like-minded people who all believed. 

We were even told that if you went to the next big meeting it "would really build up your belief." A more honest way of saying it would be "if you go to this big meeting you'll be convinced to stick around long enough for us to make money off of you for a little while longer, because you'll be emotionally convinced that this business is great!"

This Isn't a Dream, It's a Nightmare!

     In short, we spent 4 years trying to build an Amway business and lost about $40,000 in the process. We did everything we were supposed to do-everything!

I know all about mind control techniques because I experienced them first hand. I know what it's like to be emotionally manipulated because I experienced it first hand. I know about turning the Christian faith into a vehicle that promises to make your dreams come true because I experienced it first hand. On top of all that, we started going to a large "positive confession" charismatic church as a result of this new outlook on our faith. We prayed and prayed and prayed... and prayed: "God please help us build this great business so we can be financially free and help others..." 

     But God didn't answer. We had to figure out the hard way that we were being scammed. 

You see, in most Amway businesses, all of the emphasis is on "the system," which had 3 components (called "tools"): Books, CDs and Functions. We would buy and read the positive self-help type books (a new one every month); we would buy and listen to a motivational CD every week (or more if you were really committed like us), and we would buy a ticket to a different function every single month. 

No matter what. 

This is how they could build such large and compliant organizations. This is simply a type of thought-control. Some of the teaching was actually decent business/success type material, but overall, the system kept people in the business and in the dark. Sure there were always people quitting, but there were always new people to replace the quitters. And there was tremendous profit to be made on each and every book, CD and ticket; that's where the upline distributors were making most of their money. It was all in secret and a lot of it was cash under the table, so these hucksters weren't even paying tax on all their income. After the internet became popular, Amway's seedy underbelly couldn't hide so easily, and it has never gotten back to its original multi-billion dollar American heyday (much of Amway's growth has been in foreign countries in the past 15 years).

 

The Evangelical Industrial Complex has copied many of the very things that have "worked" so well in Amway:

 

  • Tell people that Christianity is all about getting your Dreams and realizing your Destiny. Check.

  • Tell people that having lots of money is a good thing that God wants for you (so you can help others, of course). Check.

  • Tell people to only listen to positive messages about success and prosperity. Check.

  • Tell people that they can speak things into existence because words have power. Check.

  • People continually quitting and leaving, but they get replaced by new and different people just as fast. Check.

  • Get people to "experience life change" by learning self-help and relationship-building techniques. Check.

  • The guy on the stage is making money off the people in the seats. Check.

  • The guy on the stage is promising you things you'll never actually get (in the name of God). Check.

  • After you don't get what you were promised you're told to have more faith and try harder (and buy the latest book). Check.

  • The visiting speaker (pastor) praises the local leader (pastor) and gets a fat speaking fee (plus sells his books in the lobby). Check. (handy tip: It's not a speaker fee if it comes from a "free-will offering")

  • Use music, lights and multimedia/video to emotionally manipulate like-minded people who desperately want to believe. Check.

 

Wait a minute, is this Amway or a Mega-Church we're talking about?? 

It's the SAME DAMNED (literally) THING!

 

FYI, Here is an excellent website with details about the Amway tool scam:

Stop The Amway Tool Scam

Also, just to be clear, I have no ill feelings towards those in my upline who were taken in by this "business" -and who probably lost more money than I did. God help us all. -Steven Kozar

Check out the new and improved: The Messed Up Church website!