Red Flag Churches: Distinguishing Protection from Control

By Marion Wiley

Abusive churches look great on the surface. But Satan masquerades as an angel of light and will come looking like a ministry full of light and life and all things wonderful. Abusive churches often aren't obvious. Many have a very slick veneer of spirituality that deceives those who attend into thinking they are in a solid fellowship. The truth isn't apparent until you've been there for awhile and start to see the junk that goes on underneath the surface. Scripture is twisted to meet the requirements of the assumed authority of the leadership, but just enough truth is preached to keep people hooked. The doctrines promoted in these churches place huge stumbling blocks in the path of those searching for the truth, deceptive doctrines that essentially pull people into seeking the honor of men rather than the honor of God. Abusive control is lurking under the surface, control masked as protection.

If you have been attending a church that leaves you feeling empty, confused and feeling guilty, and if you feel like something is wrong, but you just can't put your finger on it, you may be in an abusive church. This book will give you a quick overview of what to look for to identify an abusive church, how they are set up and why people get pulled into them so easily.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Marion Wiley
• Release date: Apr 11, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476474991

Marion Wiley

I have been born again since 1971 and was soon after pulled into the Word of Faith movement where most of my beliefs were formed. The next step was into a WoF church that proved to be abusive where I spent 12 years. My book Red Flag Churches recounts my experiences in there as well as what I have found out in my research into abusive churches since leaving. I wrote the book in hopes of bringing light into the darkness, giving hope to those who attend such churches, and perhaps hope to people who have friends or relatives caught up in them. It's been a trip.

Book preview

RED FLAG CHURCHES

Learning to Distinguish Protection from Control

by

Marion Wiley

Red Flag Churches: Learning to Distinguish Protection from Control

Copyright 2012 by Marion Wiley

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Digital edition by GoPublished, www.gopublished.com

Authority, Accountability, and the Apostolic Movement by Dr. Stephen R. Crosby. Copyright 2006. Pleasant Word Publishing a Division of Winepress Publishing, Enumclaw, WA. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.stevecrosby.org.

Breaking Unhealthy Soul Ties by Bill and Sue Banks. Copyright February 2000. Impact Christian Books (www.impactchristianbooks.com), Kirkwood, MO. Used by permission.

Charismatic Captivation by Steven Lambert, ThD. Copyright 2003. Real Truth Publications, Chapel Hill, NC. Used by permission.

The Culture of Cults by Kip Keith. http://pastorkip.blogspot.com/2009/10/culture-of-cults.html. Used by permission.

Exposing Witchcraft in the Church by Rick Godwin. Copyright 1997. Creation House, Lake Mary, FL. Used by permission.

Jezebel, Seducing Goddess of War by Jonas Clark. Copyright 1998, revised 2004. Spirit of Life Publishing, Hallandale Beach, Florida. Used by permission.

Spiritual Abuse by David Henke. http://www.watchman.org/profile/abusepro.htm. Used by permission.

The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse by David Johnson and Jeff Van Vonderen. Copyright 1991. Bethany House Publishers, Bloomington, MN. Used by permission.

Warning Signs of Spiritual Abuse by Mike Fehlauer. http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/biblestudyandtheology/discipleship/spiritual_abuse1.aspx Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked (AMP) are taken from the Amplified Bible, Copyright 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org.

Scripture quotations marked (GNB) are taken from the Good News Bible Second Edition. Copyright 1992. American Bible Society. Used by permission. www.americanbible.org.

Scripture quotations marked (CEV) are taken from the Contemporary English Version copyright 1995. American Bible Society. Used by permission. www.americanbible.org.

Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are taken from The Holy Bible English Standard Version copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

King James Version and Bible in Basic English are public domain.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter One- A Frog in a Pan- The Process of Seduction

The Early Years

The Bait

Tripping the Trap

Gifts vs. Fruit

Blindsided

Chapter Two- History

Mid-century Movements

The Ft. Lauderdale Five

Watchman Nee

The Nicolaitans

Chapter Three- Absolute Authority

Definitions

Who Is in Control?

Control 101- Submission Training

It Takes Two

The Psychological Point of View

Biblical Submission

Chapter Four- Absolute Authority Part Two

Delegate? What's That?

Accountability

Spiritual Covering Doctrine, Mediators and Another Gospel

Red Flag Number One

Chapter Five- Religion, the Stumbling Block

Acceptance by Performance

Having Begun in the Spirit, Are You Now Made Perfect by the Flesh?

The Wide Gate

Who Hath Bewitched You?

The Stumbling Block of Works

Red Flag Number Two

Chapter Six- Idolatry- Worshiping Men and Money

Apostle?

Titles

The Set Man and HIS Vision

Promotion by Loyalty

Loyalty or Idolatry?

Covetousness Which Is Idolatry

Idolatry Defined

The End of Idolatry

Red Flag Number Three

Chapter Seven- Secrecy

Information Control

The Code of Silence

Red Flag Number Four

Chapter Eight- Mind Numbed Robots

First Church of the Brain-Dead

Drunk on Power

The True Rest- the Holy Spirit

Red Flag Number Five

Chapter Nine- Is It a Cult?

Cult Defined

Heresy, Sects and Division

Seduced by Jezebel

Seduction through Love

Jezebel- the Quintessential Controller

The Depths of Satan

Seduction Exposed

Chapter Ten- Seek My Face

What You Don't Know Can Destroy You

Abide in the Vine

The Laodicean Church

Clue Phone

Chapter Eleven – Learning to Test the Spirits

The Love Walk

Love of the World

The Antichrist Test

Peace- the Final Test

A Church of Peace

The Fruit of God's Righteousness Is Peace

Peace Is Our Protection

God's Covenant of Peace

Simple No More

Chapter Twelve- Conclusion: The Diagnosis and the Decision

Checklist of Characteristics

Heart Motives

Making the Decision to Leave

The Bottom Line

Endnotes

Appendix

Bibliography

"Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumbling block out of the way of my people."

– Isaiah 57:14 KJV

INTRODUCTION

Except the Lord build the house,

they labour in vain that build it. Psa. 127:1 KJV

My church experience over the past thirty plus years has been an education if nothing else, having attended several different denominational churches as well as a couple non-denominational ones. After quite a few years of various churches and corresponding messes, you learn that in most of them people are just simply doing the best they know to do. No church is perfect and no church is run just the way you think it should be, so I learned over the years to accept the fact that my notion of how things should be done will never agree with anyone else. Beyond that, I learned that problems are inevitable, given the fact that churches are full of people, and people make mistakes.

But as it turned out, those other churches absolutely pale in comparison to the last mess I attended, and you could not have convinced me it was a mess for years. I stayed in there for 12 years, mostly because I was sick of church hopping, but also because I continually thought that things would change because I considered the pastor to be a nice guy with the best of intentions. Once out, it became patently obvious that the church was way over the edge in respect to its teachings and seemed also to be heading into full-fledged cult status. I have learned since leaving that this church had fallen victim to a deception that is quite common in American full-gospel churches, one that results in a church that practices what is now referred to as spiritual abuse. But at the time, I just continued to make excuses for the leadership and tried to stay, hoping for better things in the future which simply never materialized.

Abusive churches are never obvious. Such churches have a very slick veneer of spirituality that subtly deceives those who attend into thinking they are in a solid fellowship while leaving them with a vague sense that something is wrong. The truth doesn't really become apparent until a person has been attending for awhile and begins to see what goes on beneath the surface of what's falsely presented. Scripture is twisted to meet the requirements of the assumed authority of the leadership, but just enough truth is preached to keep people hooked. The doctrines promoted in these churches place huge stumbling blocks in the paths of those earnestly seeking the truth, deceptive doctrines that essentially lure people into seeking the honor of men rather than the honor of God, and therein lays the snare.

The spirits that operate in these churches succeed in building such strongholds in the minds of the people being subjected to their teachings and influences there that the situation makes it nearly impossible for some to consider leaving. Controlling spirits are the same in church and out, and a similar scenario is seen existing in an abusive household where an abused wife refuses to leave. Even if she does manage to leave, the draw back into that environment can be very strong and may take a great deal of time to overcome.

When I first began to look into this concept of spiritual abuse, I really didn't think that abuse would be an appropriate term; it just seemed too harsh. The term cult was another I kept running across and at first just dismissed from my thinking for the same reason. I also balked at labeling the leadership of these churches as false apostles and false prophets, mostly because God knows their true anointings and God is the only one that really knows their hearts. As Steven Lambert, author of Charismatic Captivation put it, the problem with being deceived is that you are deceived. [1] Nevertheless, when you begin to step back and really look at how these churches are run and why, the labels seem to fit.

The particular church that I had attended was being run according to the tenets of the shepherding/discipleship form of church government, something I discovered in my research after leaving. This is a system that is a complete perversion of what God intends for His Church, and a system that seems to be very pervasive in the body of Christ right now. In the following pages, I will try to explain how these churches are run, why the leadership falls into the deception themselves, and the process of seduction that draws in others. The gravity of the deception is huge, and the weight of it hit me not long after leaving the place, thereby driving my attempt to present my own version of what I have experienced. After spending all those years in a church that seemed to slowly go downhill and left me dreading the thought of another Sunday, it became important to me to share what I’ve since found out about this controlling form of church government. My motive is not to judge but to inform by presenting what I have found, thus equipping the reader to judge the fruit of his/her own church and make an informed decision from there.

Previous to attending services at this place, I had for several years amassed a tremendous amount of notes consisting of scriptures describing false prophets, false shepherds, false apostles and related verses that warn the believer about deception in the last days. At the time, I really didn’t understand why I was so drawn to these passages, but now that I’ve experienced the operation of this deception first-hand, it’s pretty obvious. All those notes I’d taken all those years ago now make sense to me.

False Christs (Messiahs) and false prophets will arise and show signs and [work] miracles to deceive and lead astray, if possible, even the elect (those God has chosen out for Himself). 23 But look to yourselves and be on your guard; I have told you everything beforehand. Mark 13:22-23 AMP

There are discourses with warnings about false prophets and false shepherds throughout the books of the prophets, and the New Testament is replete with them as well. After experiencing an abusive church, these verses tend to leap off the page with new meaning. For example, Jeremiah 23 is a chapter devoted to exposing false shepherds and false prophets with one verse in particular- verse 20- grabbing my attention: In the latter days, you shall consider and understand it perfectly (AMP). My understanding may not be perfect by any means, but it surely is much better than it was 12 years ago. But out of all those Bible verses that the Lord brought to my attention over the years, there is one verse in particular, the verse quoted at the beginning of this book, that has been literally in my face all this time:

Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumbling block out of the way of my people. Isa. 57:14 KJV

I felt like this verse was something God had given me as a mission, so to speak, but didn't understand what it really meant or how to go about removing stumbling blocks. Once I really began to get a handle on the kind of church I'd just left and how the deception works, this verse began to speak to my spirit fully. This book is at least one way I can help fulfill this verse; by making my experience available to others, I can help bring light into someone else's darkness that may be caught up in this deception.

Much of my information was taken from three books- The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse by David Johnson and Jeff Van Vonderen, Authority, Accountability and the Apostolic Movement by Stephen Crosby, and Charismatic Captivation by Steven Lambert, ThD. I highly recommend all these books to get an in-depth explanation of what the shepherding/discipleship form of church government is and why it is unbiblical. They all go into great detail in terms of Greek word studies and such, dissecting doctrine according to the Word to fully expose the error these churches promote. A couple of these books, due to the fact that they are rather complicated and long, may not be something your average person would either be able to or care to work through. So I have chosen to present my experience and what I’ve learned from these books in a simpler, easier-to-read version that will give the reader a quicker overview of how this deception can play out in abusive churches and what it does to your mind.

Quite a few of the phrases and expressions that are used in articles and books on spiritual abuse will appear in this one; where they came from originally I'm not sure, but all my references are listed in the bibliography at the end and there are footnotes for all direct quotes. There is an appendix at the