APOSTASY AND MISUNDERSTANDING GOD’S LOVE

By on Oct 13, 2012 in Current Issues, Features

I’ve pointed out many times now that as a general rule, and a courtesy, we do not publish email without the permission of the sender.

At the same time, all email sent to AM and Christian Research Network is considered the property of Apprising Ministries so we may indeed publish unsolicited email for the purposes of edification.

Such is the case here. Out of respect, I have changed the name to protect privacy:

On Oct 13, 2012, at 9:08 PM, World Wide Web Owner wrote:

From: “Jan”
Subject: Unconditional Love

Message Body:

Hey…Just stumbled on your site and was pretty shocked at the lack of Unconditional Love you seem to have for fellow brothers and sisters that are on a Journey with God that may seem to be a little different than yours…

It’s sad how man made Religion hates Freedom and always loves to put God in a box.. But I’m sure you may have noticed a mass exodus of people leaving the Institutional systems they call church…Do you ever wonder why???

I was deeply involved in the pentecostal,charismatic, etc ,religious system for over 20 years and began to question why  people were getting abused and hurt , and I wondered why we do things the way we do and seeing that it often was a lot of lies spoken boldly from the pulpit by control freaks who taught fear based theology to control the masses…

8 years ago I was Graciously led away from all that and began a Freedom journey into His Unconditional Love and Grace …Now I don’t have the “Us -Them” mentality anymore, and I now see all people as much loved by God, not the “god made in mans image” but the Real God…So refreshing and Freeing!

I think you need a little of this…relax, trust and enjoy Him and the 1000 different and unique ways He speaks to us all… thanks for your time..

—
This mail is sent via contact form on Apprising Ministries https://www.apprising.org/

Hello Jan,

Thank you for contacting Apprising Ministries. Please know there was no offense taken and I received this as written from a point of sincere concern. I’m responding in the tone of two people talking about issues over coffee. I just put all of this up front due to the coldness of the written language, which lacks the ability to distinguish inflections, etc.

Below you asked: “I’m sure you may have noticed a mass exodus of people leaving the Institutional systems they call church…Do you ever wonder why???” No, actually I don’t; the Bible speaks of the great falling away before Jesus returns. You say you: “wondered why we do things the way we do and seeing that it often was a lot of lies spoken boldly from the pulpit by control freaks who taught fear based theology to control the masses…”

What you’re confusing is the church visible, made up of all professing Christians, and the invisible Church universal aka the Body of Christ made up of regenerated believers in Christ. It shouldn’t surprise us when foolishness goes on within Christendom because God allows tares to grow along with the wheat. Since we can’t know for sure who is regenerated we leave that to Him and judge actions, teachings, etc. by the Bible.

Sadly, what you’re describing in your letter is falling into apostasy and exiting the narrow gate in order to merge back onto the broad path. Remember, Jesus clearly tells us:

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7:13-14)

Jan, I encourage you to read the above and then reread your email. I think you’ll see Jesus isn’t allowing any “1000 different and unique ways” of following Him on the narrow road. By the way, I’m not the least fearful of people in apostasy, nor am I angry at them. 1 Corinthians 15:10 tells me that, but for the grace of God, I would still be among them myself. Please repent, stop listening to human mythology, and get back to what God has said in Scripture.

May God open your eyes that you may recognize the time in which you live.

Sincerely,

Ken Silva, pastor-teacher

President
Apprising Ministries
Ezekiel 3:7-14

Gen. Ed.
Christian Research Network
2 Corinthians 11:12-15

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