[Vision2020] A Caution

Tue Oct 9 10:40:28 PDT 2007

Amen!

Giselle's thoughts on this are much appreciated, and I sincerely hope they touch the hearts of those who have been shattered by "pastors" who would usurp the autonomy of the believer in her/his relationship with Jesus Christ.  The Gospel is a message of reconciliation, liberation, grace, forgiveness, unbridled love and humility.  It is not a means by which to insinuate oneself into the lives and consciences of others.  And while community and fellowship are vital for the spiritual health of the believer, the intimate relationship of a man or woman to his or her Savior is the province of their Spirit-informed conscience, not a tool to further the controlling, aggressive and manipulative agenda of anyone who sees himself as the top rung of a hierarchy the Gospel intends to dismantle.

If I were confronted with the message and behavior of the leadership at Christ Church and didn't know Jesus Christ, I would run away as fast as I could.  It's not a picture of a savior I'd want to have anything to do with.  But I do know Jesus, and so I choose to stand toe-to-toe in opposition to anyone who would pervert the Gospel and misrepresent the One to whom I owe my very heart and soul.   I'm grateful for Giselle's voice and pray it will reach those who've been hurt by the tsunami of bigotry and pride that is Kirk leadership.

keely

Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2007 09:46:42 -0700
From: giselle.wilson.mccourt at gmail.com
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Vision2020] A Caution

Dear Friends in
Christ and Neighbors of Goodwill,

This short message is addressed to those of you from other
area churches who attended the Launch Service of Real Life Ministries last
Sunday and to those that might like to attend further services in order to see
if Real Ministries could become the church of your choice.

There are certain pastors in this area who look upon their
congregations as their personal property. 
They covetously regard members of their congregations as chattel to be
used as they decree rather than as souls to be lovingly guided into the
arms of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and into the way of righteousness, goodwill, and
eternal salvation.

These unholy pastors often resort to dire and to unchristian
measures to either persuade or to force members to remain shackled in the ungodly,
grasping jaws of their spurious ministries. 
Hence, I repeat the following from my first message (also
appended).  (If you know any trapped and struggling Christians caught in such
circumstances, please, please help them by forwarding this message. 

The choice you make of the Christian church to attend is a
matter between you and God, only.  You do
not need to ask or receive anyone's permission to change Christian churches,
nor do you owe anyone notice or an explanation if you do.  It is a decision between you and God
alone.  If your pastor or members of your
church attempt to coerce or to wheedle you in any way to remain in the grasp of
their church – persistent pressure, guilt, promises, visits, telephone calls,
threats, spying, extortive tactics, feigned sweetness, feigned concern for your
soul, etc, – you are not in a church which preaches the True Teachings of The
Lord Jesus Christ and who sincerely loves The Lord Jesus Christ.  If any of the above unchristian tactics has
been applied or is applied to you please let the good folks at Real Life
Ministries know:  askreallife at reallifeministries.com 

Reminder:  Great
news!  The fastest growing church in America, Real
Life Ministries, is now in Latah
 County.

http://www.reallifeministries.com/index.php

http://moscowreallife.com/home.html

 Come, join, and start to be united with the community and
God through Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Real Life Services

Sunday, October, 7th
9:00 and 11:00 AM, 3148 Tomer Rd.

Directions:

>From Moscow:  Travel east on Highway 8.  Turn right onto Carmichael Road.  Turn left onto 
Tomer Road.  Continue until you reach Palouse Hills
 Christian School.

>From Troy:  Travel west on Highway 8.  Turn left onto Lenville Road.  Turn right onto Tomer Road
.  Continue until you reach Palouse Hills
 Christian School.

Your neighbor and friend in Our Lord Jesus Christ,

Giselle
McCourt

This
message has neither been officially approved nor sent by the Boards of
Directors of Real Life Ministries, Inc., Real Life Ministries, Ltd., Real Life
Ministries, Cie. nor any member thereof.

************************************************************
Previous Message

Dear Neighbors and
Friends in Our Lord Jesus Christ,

Please pass this
message on to anyone it might benefit.

Regardless of the church you now attend, for the sake of your
own eternal salvation in Our Lord Jesus Christ, please take some time to
consider very carefully in your heart of hearts the following questions. 

Does your pastor unite the community or does your pastor divide
it? 

Does your pastor respect everyone equally or does your
pastor have favorites amongst your congregation? 

Does your pastor disdain or ignore the worth of any or many of
God's children? 

Does your pastor display way too much self-love? 

Is your pastor much too fond of rich foods, fine wines, and
other voluptuary pleasures? 

Is your pastor ever vindictive, spiteful, punitive, or dishonest
especially towards those with whom your pastor disagrees or those who have
chosen in God's name to leave the clutches of his ministry? 

Would you trust your pastor with your purse?  With your real estate agent?  With your wife? 

Does your pastor hold wacko ideas like the antebellum slaves
were a happy lot and lived in wonderful harmony with their masters? 

At your pastor's rigid insistence is your church music full
of dark, chilling, mournful words and music rather than raising a "Joyful
noise unto the Lord" as commanded by the bible?   Psalms
100 

Has your pastor engineered the purchase land for a new
church that is not only too small for a church and cemetery, but even too small
for a moderately sized church?  Did your
pastor pay about twice the market value for the land?  Is that land now known as "------'s
Folly?" 

Does your pastor demand, coerce, or wheedle so much tithe
that it hurts your ability to give what they need and they deserve to your
family and community?  Have you been
asked to sacrifice heavily and to tithe in God's name so that your pastor can
pursue his ambitious, mostly personal goals? 

Does your pastor's money management problems and love of his
pet projects that serve him more than God often lead to calls for further
tithing and sacrifices?  Does your pastor
try to con and to manipulate you by insinuating that the amount of your tithe
is directly proportional to your love of Our Lord Jesus Christ, champion of the
poor?  Matthew 19:16 - 30, Matthew 25:31
- 46 

Does your pastor pack the various parts of his ministry's
payroll with overpaid relatives and kowtowing friends and their relatives, thus
putting even more stress on church finances and leading to further demands for tithes? 

Does your pastor look at new members more as a source of
tithes and straw and mud with which to build his empire, rather than as souls
to guide into the loving arms of Our Lord Jesus Christ? 
Does
your church have a hidden missing funds problem?  If so, is it possible
that some of those funds have disappeared into off-shore accounts of
which your pastor is the sole signatory?

Does your pastor flout the civil law?  Romans 13:1 – 7 

Does your pastor ever direct members of your church to perform
illegal or sinful activities or to ignore illegal or sinful activities done by
church members? 

Does your pastor ever practice flagrant dishonesty in the
name of The Lord or in claiming to do the work of The Lord?  Is this something Jesus would do? 

Are your pastor's theological views so far out that were recently
rejected by over 96% of a very large body of his fellow Reformed Disciples that
carefully examined them? 
When
vehemently defending his version of The Word of God as the only
"correct one," does your pastor sometimes appear to be mentally
disturbed?

Is your pastor more interested in enriching himself and his
family then your pastor is in exhibiting himself as shining, living example of the
Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ, especially doing this by showing agape
towards all, showing humility, showing disdain for wealth and its trappings,
and showing great concern and charity for all the poor and unfortunate?  Matthew 19:16 - 30 

Does your pastor have a double standard when it comes to
adultery?  When it comes to rape and
adultery in church schools? 

Has your pastor encouraged divorces when it would benefit
him in a very personal way, or encouraged divorces with unchristian
vindictiveness to inflict great pain and sorrow upon certain critics of his
actions and claimed beliefs? 

Does your pastor ever appear to place himself on an equal
footing or above God? 

Does your pastor place himself as a barrier between you and
God?  Does your pastor blasphemously style himself/herself as a necessary conduit between you and God?

Does your pastor blame others for his shortcomings? 

After having made a serious mistake in judgment does your
pastor own up to it, or does your pastor sometimes claim he/she has a secret plan
and the congregation must "trust" him/her that eventually all will be
right? 

Does your pastor keep important church information secret
from not only the congregation, but from some of the elders and deacons too? 

Does your pastor unchristianly operate your church like a
secret society in the community rather than like the open arms of Our Lord
Jesus Christ? 

Has your pastor imported child molesters into the
community?  If so, is it possible that
your pastor knew something of their particular sinful proclivities beforehand,
but imported them anyway? 

Has your pastor written a letter supporting leniency for a
convicted child molester, one who did dreadful, despicable things to many
different children, who attended one of the ministry's schools, and one who
defiled the children of the church family with whom he boarded?   If so, was that letter hypocritically
contrary to your pastor's past preaching, and most important, blasphemously
contrary to the requirements of The Word of God? 

Does your business or relationships with your neighbors suffer
because your pastor has – with his outré views, unchristian actions, and harsh,
in your face, unchristian polemics – caused many of the community to shun your
business or avoid yourself and your family? 

Does your pastor use divisive tactics and polemics to
persuade you from listening to the words of your neighbors and dividing you
from them? 

Does the majority of your community regard your pastor as a
crook, clown, or perhaps even an anti-Christ? 

Does your pastor ever bring to mind the following passage
from Matthew 7:15 - 20?  

15 Beware of false prophets, who
come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.16 You will know them by their
fruits.  Are grapes gathered from thorns,
or figs from thistles?

17 In the same way, every good tree
bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.

18 A good tree cannot bear bad
fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.

19 Every tree that does not bear
good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

                20 Thus you will know them by their
fruits.

Does your pastor make up insulting, abusive names for those
that question his bizarre views and actions? 
Does your pastor belittle his critics and assassinate their characters or
take other vindictive, punitive measures rather than act like Our Loving Lord Jesus
would?  Matthew 5:38 - 48 

Does your pastor attempt to coerce and to wheedle your continuing
church membership rather than trust in your faith in God and God-given
conscience to guide you to make the right choice of church to attend?*** 

Does any answer to
any of the above questions about your pastor trouble you?  Does any answer trouble you especially considered
in the light of the Teachings of The Lord Jesus Christ and your God-given conscience?  If so, then perhaps it is time for the sake
of your immortal soul to consider moving to a true church of Our Lord Jesus Christ
in God, and away from a church that will only lead you away from the path of righteousness,
goodwill, and eternal salvation.

Great news!  The fastest growing church in America, Real
Life Ministries, is coming to Latah
 County.

http://www.reallifeministries.com/index.php

http://moscowreallife.com/home.html

Come, join, and start to be united with the community and
God through Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Real Life Launch Services

Sunday, October, 7th
9:00 and 11:00 AM, 3148 Tomer Rd.

 Directions:

 From Moscow:
 Travel east on Highway 8.  Turn right onto Carmichael Road.  Turn left onto Tomer Road.  Continue until you reach Palouse Hills
 Christian School.

 From Troy:  Travel west on Highway 8.  Turn left onto Lenville Road.  Turn right onto Tomer Road
.  Continue until you reach Palouse Hills
 Christian School.

I hope to see you there.

Your neighbor and friend in Our Lord Jesus Christ,

Giselle
McCourt

***The choice you make of the Christian church to attend is
a matter between you and God, only.  You
do not need to ask or receive anyone's permission to change Christian churches,
nor do you owe anyone notice or an explanation if you do.  It is a decision between you and God
alone.  If your pastor or members of your
church attempt to coerce or to wheedle you in any way to remain in the grasp of
their church – persistent pressure, guilt, promises, visits, telephone calls, threats,
spying, extortive tactics, feigned sweetness, feigned concern for your soul, etc,
– you are not in a church which preaches the True Teachings of The Lord Jesus
Christ and who sincerely loves The Lord Jesus Christ.  If any of the above unchristian tactics has been
applied or is applied to you please let the good folks at Real Life Ministries
know:  askreallife at reallifeministries.com

This
message has neither been officially approved nor sent by the Boards of
Directors of Real Life Ministries, Inc., Real Life Ministries, Ltd., Real Life
Ministries, Cie. nor any member thereof.

_________________________________________________________________
Help yourself to FREE treats served up daily at the Messenger Café. Stop by today.
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