Christsfreeservant said:

On May 26, 2023, the Lord led me to write a short (29 page) book on the subject of church abuse. Yesterday I shared the introduction into the book’s content, and in the video portion of that I shared some of my background. And I will tell you here that I am almost 76 years of age, a teacher of the Scriptures for over 50 years, and called of God 21 years ago to write down what he is teaching me each day from his word and to post these writings on the internet, and that is what I have been doing the past 21 years.

In summary, what is being called “church” today is largely not the universal body of believers in Jesus Christ, but it is a conglomerate of institutions of human making which are incorporated (merged, joined, partnered) with the state (the government) and with the world. They are businesses of human origin which are being led by marketing goals and plans for how to “grow your churches,” i.e. businesses. And so they have altered the gospel and compromised with the world in order to attract the world to their gatherings.

The Church Under Fire

Chapter Two

Be Aware

May 26, 2023

“When it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. There were more than forty who made this conspiracy. They went to the chief priests and elders and said, ‘We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food till we have killed Paul. Now therefore you, along with the council, give notice to the tribune to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his case more exactly. And we are ready to kill him before he comes near.’​

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Now the son of Paul's sister heard of their ambush, so he went and entered the barracks and told Paul. Paul called one of the centurions and said, ‘Take this young man to the tribune, for he has something to tell him.’ So he took him and brought him to the tribune and said, ‘Paul the prisoner called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, as he has something to say to you.’ ​

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The tribune took him by the hand, and going aside asked him privately, ‘What is it that you have to tell me?’ And he said, ‘The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more closely about him. But do not be persuaded by them, for more than forty of their men are lying in ambush for him, who have bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they have killed him. And now they are ready, waiting for your consent.’” (Acts 23:12-21 ESV)​

Now I am going to relate this story to our lives and world and church today. For what was going on here was deceptive. It was trickery. It was a trap. For they wanted to kill Paul in order to shut him up, and possibly also in hopes that the movement he was leading would then disperse. It is kind of like what they did with Jesus, hoping that by killing him it would silence not only his voice, but that his followers would disperse and that they would not have to deal with them anymore.

But I want you to be aware that this kind of trickery is going on within the gatherings of the institutional market-driven churches of today, and it is being done by some pastors and other church leaders as a method of controlling people and situations to go the way they want them to go. And even many pastors are being trained in deception and trickery as a way to make things happen the way that suits their marketing goals and purposes.

And my husband and I were church planters twice, so we went through some of this training. And at one of our training sessions we were taught that we are to use (take advantage of) “needy people” in order to get our church plants up and running. But once our church plants were well on their way, we were instructed to get rid of the needy people, for they would weigh us down. Wow! The people in our tiny congregation were needy people. For we were ministering to the hurting, and the rejected, and the neglected.

Also my husband and I had a ministry to college students and to college-age adults out of our home for 7.5 years, from early 1999 to mid-2006. And there were times when we tried to connect this ministry to a local institutional church, because we thought that was the right thing to do. And so from 2002-2003 we partnered with a local IC (institutional church). We provided the college ministry for their congregation, and they provided us with a facility where we could meet. And at first it went well.

But Then…

I was doing some volunteer work at the church office one day when the pastor called me into his office to talk. He asked me, “Would you say that your praise band would draw in large crowds of people from the world?” I knew exactly where he was going with this, and I also knew that this was contrary to our partnership agreement. For we told him our goal in ministry, at that time, was to provide a place for young people where they could feel included, and where they could feel valued and needed and wanted.

What he said he wanted to do was to replace our band with another band, and he wanted me to talk about that with our ministry team. So, I did. And we decided to all meet with him, and we did. And when we met with him, I asked him to tell the group what he told me. But all he would say was, “I would never do that.” So I asked him, if he would never do that, then why did he ask me to ask our ministry team about doing that. But his answer remained, “I would never do that.”

So, what he was doing was a non-denial denial. He neither admitted to saying it nor did he deny saying it. He just said he would never do that. So, afterwards he and I talked more, but he still would not answer my question as to why he said what he did if he never intended to do that. And then their “Session” (of the Presbyterian Church) called me to a meeting. But they made it a prerequisite that I must admit I lied about the pastor before I could come to their meeting. But I didn’t lie. I am not the one who was being deceptive. And I had been totally submissive.

So I asked the Session if they would remove that requirement and they refused. So, I could not attend their meeting, because I would not lie. And so they put me on church discipline, which is totally against the Scriptures and the whole purpose for church discipline. But what they did, and a lawyer was one of the ones involved in this, would be like if someone accused you of a crime, but before they would give you a fair trial to determine guilt or innocence, you would be required to admit guilt. If you could (or would) not admit guilt, then to jail you went, no trial at all.

Do you see how absolutely evil what they did was? That lawyer knew better than that, and so did that pastor. I think the Session did not really know what was going on, in my opinion, but they were just acting on the word of the pastor and of the lawyer. But they had to know that what they were doing was wrong. For you don’t make someone admit guilt before you even give them a chance to be heard. That is criminal! But so many of these ICs are being taught to use deception and trickery in order to get people to do what they want them to do, and/or in order to get rid of the undesirables.

Bottom line, we pulled our ministry out of that IC, and we took it back to our home, which is where I believe the Lord wanted it to be anyway. And the reason the Lord is having me share this with you is so you will be aware of the kinds of trickery and deception and manipulations which are going on in many of these ICs which are market-driven and which are trying to draw in large crowds of people from the world. Since I was not on board with what they were up to, they found a way to silence me. But they lost access to our ministry to college students as a result. So, keep your eyes and ears open.

P.S. January 29, 2025: This (above) took place 22 years ago. Recently I had the occasion to ask this same pastor if I came to his church if he would welcome me. At first he "beat around the bush," so I asked him again, and there was no response. So, the answer to me was "No!" I would not be welcome if I came to his church.

Link to the whole book:

The Church Under Fire Book (edited).pdf

Video Recording of the Above:

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The Church Under Fire Pt 2
An Original Work / November 4, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

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reddogs said:

Christ constantly rebuked, Satan, his minions and those who helped the devil...

Mark 8:33
But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.

Mark 9:25
When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.

Luke 4:35
And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not.

Luke 9:42
And as he was yet a coming, the devil threw him down, and tare him. And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the child, and delivered him again to his father.

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Danthemailman said:

NYC just dug it's grave now lie in it!

View attachment 372692

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jmldn2 said:

I totally disagree with you. This administration is trying to bring others to the table to support their fair share. It is time America takes care of America first and for others to do their part.

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Michie said:

No it doesn’t but I know you like the last word so I’ll leave it to you.

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JimR-OCDS said:

Yeah, but Ghandhi had some issues that are rarely mentioned. One was that he slept naked with naked
young girls to test his strength against temptations. He was criticized for this and other acts by Christian
leaders.

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keras said:

You all will after it happens,

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tampasteve said:

This is good, IMO. It will certainly be one less thing to debate with Protestants about. While the underlying theology was sound, the effort to debate and explain it caused major issues.

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Cosmic Charlie said:

Ok.

This is just...

odd.

Perhaps it is just one of those Internet deepfakes we hear so much about.

I will take a closer look (so you, dear reader, don't have to)

{Time passes}

Yeah,

no, these guys are real, and it's worse than you think.

They make keepsake jewelry out of all manner of human based things: breastmilk, placenta, umbilical cord, ashes.

It's a thing.



It's also not really expense.

If you're interested.

(Although these guys are base in Australia, and 50% Tariffs may apply, or not, who can tell, it changes daily)

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1. What cracks in my life have allowed God’s light to shine through?

1. How has my weakness revealed His strength in unexpected ways?

1. What areas of brokenness am I still trying to hide, and how might

1. What scriptures remind me that fragility is part of God’s design?

1. How can I encourage others who feel broken, reminding them of the

Written by From My Heart to Yours - by God's Grace​

eleos1954 said:

Psalm 119:160
The entirety of Your word is truth, and all Your righteous judgments endure forever.

John 17:17, Jesus prayed for the sanctification of His disciples through truth, saying, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.”

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NewLifeInChristJesus said:

So you are saying that every sinner is completely lost?

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• A person can be "permanently lost" if they persistently reject the Holy Spirit's guidance, which is considered the unforgivable sin (blasphemy of the Holy Spirit). This is a deliberate, willful, and ongoing rejection of the path to salvation.

essentialsaltes said:

The IG review was completed in September, but it's a secret. People are suing to release it.

American Oversight Seeks Release of Pentagon Inspector General’s Report on Secretary Hegseth’s Signal Use - American Oversight

We filed a FOIA request for the DOD watchdog’s review of auto-deleting messaging app use for official business.

americanoversight.org

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A Devil's Advocate said:

In all my years of being a Christian, something has become glaringly clear.
There are two kinds of Christianity. The first is the religious version—the one most people have come to know. The second is the Christianity revealed in the Bible itself, which, sadly, few ever come to recognize.

We’ve all been taught that our behavior—our sin—is what separates us from God. That sin directly caused death, and that getting our sins forgiven equals salvation. But that’s not what Scripture actually teaches.

Yes, if you only read the Bible at surface level, that’s exactly what it seems to say. But Scripture can’t just be read at surface level. It wasn’t written recently, nor was it written to us. It was written to a people who lived in a completely different culture and time. Their understanding of words, life, and God was shaped by their world. Ours is shaped by ours. To read Scripture as though its meaning automatically transfers across time and culture is not only naive—it’s a mistake.

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Let’s start with the belief that sin caused death. This is a perfect example of why surface-level reading will only lead to confusion.

Sin didn’t directly cause death. In fact, sin has no power at all to cause any kind of death. Physical death has always been a natural part of being human. If it were caused by sin, then what God says in Genesis 3 wouldn’t make sense. There, God says the tree of life can give everlasting life even to sinful people. That would be impossible if sin eventually leads to death. The only way that statement makes sense is if physical death was already a natural part of human life.

Sin doesn’t cause soul death either—that would be no different than physical death. The soul is what gives life to the body. So that leaves spiritual death.

But, if spiritual death were automatically caused by sin—if sin had built-in power to destroy spiritual life—then salvation would be impossible. No amount of grace or forgiveness could stop such an automatic effect. The moment someone received new spiritual life, their very next sin would simply kill that life again.

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A Devil's Advocate said:

So while spiritual death entered the world through sin, it wasn’t automatically caused by sin. There’s more going on than that.

Scripture teaches that it is our condition that separates us from God, not our behavior. This is something so obvious that we've somehow missed it. If I was to ask you, "Why is it that we sin?" What would your answer be? Whatever your answer is, it should be glaringly obvious that if your answer is what causes us to sin, then sin itself is the symptom, not the cause.​

We are all born spiritually dead. That’s our condition. We inherited it—passed down from generation to generation—all the way back to Adam and Eve, who received it from God as a consequence of disobedience. When they ate from the tree, God separated Himself from them. That separation was spiritual death.

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A Devil's Advocate said:

From that point on, humanity bore a new image. Genesis 5:3 says Adam had a son “in his own likeness, after his image.” Humanity was created in God’s image, but now we are born in Adam’s. Spiritually dead plus spiritually dead will always equal spiritually dead. That’s why Romans 5:12 says we all share in Adam’s condition.

Our behavior—our sin—is simply the natural result of being separated from God. It’s the symptom of our spiritual condition.

Even though we’re born spiritually dead, we aren’t guilty of sin until we choose to sin. A newborn infant, for example, hasn’t wilfully sinned. If that child dies, it has the grace of God upon which it will be saved. But given enough time, however, that child will eventually sin.

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A Devil's Advocate said:

Now, if spiritual death is our condition and our sin is merely a symptom of that condition, then logically, it is not our sin that separates us from God, but our condition. And if our sin isn't what separates us from God, then getting our sins forgiven isn't going to save us. Our salvation, and the forgiveness of sin, are two uniquely separate events.
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Forgiveness was accomplished more than 2,000 years ago and applied to all humanity. Every person born since the cross has entered the world already forgiven. There isn’t a soul alive today who isn’t already forgiven.

Imagine you’ve committed a crime deserving life in prison. A friend—completely innocent—offers to take your punishment in your place. The judge agrees. The moment your friend takes your penalty, you’re considered innocent and free to go. Do you need to ask for a pardon? Of course not. The price was paid, and justice was satisfied.

That’s exactly what happened at the cross. The moment Christ paid the penalty, the world was forgiven. And it’s because we’re forgiven that salvation is even possible.

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A Devil's Advocate said:

This is why God tore the temple curtain—to show that anyone can now enter His presence for salvation. If forgiveness only happened at the moment of salvation, then no one could approach God to receive it, because they’d still be guilty. But since forgiveness was already given, salvation became possible for all.

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A Devil's Advocate said:

In modern Christianity, the focus is too often on behavior. But every major religion in the world is about behavior—about doing better, trying harder, sinning less. It’s easy to judge others when we measure faith by conduct.

It’s like judging someone with Alzheimer’s for forgetting things—then scolding them to “try harder” to remember. The problem isn’t their behavior. It’s their condition.

We’re all born in the same condition: spiritually dead. Do you have the right to judge another based on that? Of course not. You were no different. The true question is, can you love someone regardless of their symptoms?

That’s what true Christianity is about.

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hedrick said:

The negative ratings of Democrats is kind of interesting. See Trump's disapproval rating rises in new poll, but Americans also call Dems 'out of touch' for documentation. It's real. People think Democrats are out of touch. Still the same poll says slightly more would vote for a Democrat than Republican.

I think there may be a difference between the national leadership and the candiates. A lot of Democrats are upset at the party for not reacting well to Trump. I agree. I think we need a generation change in national Democratic leadership. But that doesn't affect my evaluation of specific candidates, where often the Democratic candidate is better.

Personally I blame Biden for not dropping out sooner. He left the party with little alternative to the VP. She is not someone who would have been picked in a proper convention. Her campaign of joy was completely wrong for a nation where many people rightly feel left out. Out of touch indeed.

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