I read things that concern me – one of them being the underground work of some Assemblies of God churches and other pentecostal churches.
Recently I was reading a post on a new church that has grown up in Alaska that believes some things that don’t make sense.
Below are a few of their beliefs (my opin. in red)
The Bible is inspired by God, error-free in the original manuscripts, and the supreme authority in life.
I see this often, in evangelical churches as well, they believe the bible to be error free – in this case “in the original manuscripts”, yet they don’t read the original, they read the update, interpreted-by-humans version. Why even say something like that when you don’t read it that way?
…men and women alike can serve in any ministry as leaders, teachers, administrators, supervisors, coaches, lead coaches, and staff pastors. We do not believe any gift, skill, or function is confined to a particular gender.
Wonderful, equalness among the genders – but wait for it!
The office of an elder is assigned exclusively to men. God holds men responsible as servant leaders in their homes and in the church
I knew the other shoe would drop. Here it is, women can be equal among other men is the ‘lowly’ roles but they better not think that they can be an elder, that God would speak to THEM! They are just women and the same goes for the home, they have their place but they don’t have the deciding vote.
The next great historical event will be the personal return of Jesus Christ. Though the time of Christ’s return is a mystery known only to the Father, it is certain.
Two things about this statement of how they view the future:
1. To have your eyes ALWAYS on the skies waiting for Christ return means that you will miss the people who need your help now so that when Christ does return how will you answer the question, “What have you done for the least of these?” [Matt. 25.40]
2. Even though many christians say they realize that the return of Christ is a mystery they can’t help themselves to either determine a date or at the very least help out God a little bit to return faster.
You may think that I am going off to extremes by seeing a threat that isn’t there. I hope myself the threat isn’t there for a group of people who want to help God out and bring a theocracy to this country. I hope as well that we can keep this nation the way it has been for over 200 years – church and state separate. However, I think that these things are going to change if we keep our eyes closed and do not make ourselves and other aware of the possible danger.
I’m not talking about a sky is falling scenario, not yet, but when we stay observant and active against the bridging of church and state we will enjoy the continued freedoms that we have taken for granted. Specifically our 1st amendment freedoms – freedom of speech, of the press, freedom of religion, and of assembly and the right to petition. As long as Theocracy (dominionism) doesn’t have a hold in politics, local or federal, than we will be ok – otherwise we only need look at other theocracies to see the type of life we may lead
