Author: Lois | Page 64 | Spiritual Abuse Blogs

Veiled Threats In Sermons

Different ministers in the group I exited would use various stories that were intended to place fear in those attending services. It was always something bad with a person being killed in an unpleasant way. Or perhaps God smote them with an illness or disease, like my former pastor said of a son-in-law, who developed a brain tumor. Some recall stories of car accidents and train wrecks. I won’t even get into all of the rapture drills and end time scare tactics that really do a number on children.

There is one story that still remains partly in my memory, though all the details are no longer there. My former pastor knew Nathaniel Urshan, being from South Bend, Indiana. (Urshan was a long-time General Superintendent of the United Pentecostal Church.) One story was about young guys who were at some service where Urshan was speaking.

I believe they supposedly made fun in some way, may have been spoken to by Urshan and warned. They left the service and were killed in an automobile accident. The hidden message was that you do not come against a minister or God may kill you.

These stories work in a couple ways. The one I shared can be used to place fear in anyone, who would in any way, come against a minister. God will strike you down! I well remember the biblical story with the she bears from the Old Testament being told to also reinforce such a thought.

The scare tactics also help to manipulate people into doing whatever it is that the pastor wants, including following all the rules, attending every service and tithing. It can be made to feel like God is just chomping at the bit for you to mess up so that He can swoop down on you in His wrath and make you pay. Or perhaps instead, He will blow the trumpet and you will be left behind with all the unbelievers.

These stories also create an unhealthy fear of God and help to distort your image of Him. Here again we see the view of God as a harsh taskmaster, just waiting so He can somehow punish or kill someone who has upset Him. Get out of line, don’t follow the rules, leave this church, and God will see that you die in a nasty traffic accident (or some other way just as unpleasant). So much for a loving God, who isn’t willing that any should perish. That’s all over with now that you are a believer.

Fear, fear, fear, fear…….I will never stop saying it until it is no longer true…….fear permeates the teachings in unhealthy churches.

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For those who are not easily triggered, below is a great example of how some ministers use these scare tactics. It is the late L.E. Westberg, who was a well known United Pentecostal Church minister. In this sermon, he proclaims that in two separate incidents, people who had backslid died in fiery car accidents. According to him, God rejected those people, turning against them and he thinks when the preacher’s son was dying and calling out to God, that he heard God laugh at him. Tongues and interpretation are also used in an attempt to make it appear God is behind the fearful message, speaking for the last time to someone at that service. This is sick stuff.

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Does Salvation Come And Go?

The way some act in unhealthy churches, the salvation of a believer would appear to be so iffy and subject to change at any perceived wrong one might do or even think. Unhealthy churches are good at instilling this thought.

But is this the way the Bible portrays our salvation? I think not.

The Bible speaks about how intricately God knows us. He knew us even before we were formed in the womb. He knows our thoughts; he knows the number of hairs on our head.

The Bible teaches that NOTHING can separate us from the love of God.

The Bible teaches that NO ONE can pull us from God.

The Bible teaches that we are His, purchased with His blood. God has cleansed us, set us free and clothed us in His righteousness.

The Bible teaches He will NEVER leave or forsake us.

And if anyone does sin, believers have an advocate who pleads their case before the Father.

On and on it goes.

Yet if we leave a church group and their building, supposedly we’re backslid and lost and surely something bad is going to happen to us.

Do you see the picture I am trying to paint for you? Do you see how the fear that was instilled in you distorted your view? Change your focus to God and what the Bible records about Him. Therein you will find the truth to the situation and peace for your soul.

Jesus shed His blood for us- why then would He want us to cower in His presence? God is our Father- in that, He wants and invites us to come to Him. He is both the author and the finisher of our faith.

Fear permeates the teachings. That is why so many periodically question their salvation. It’s why people give up, thinking they just can’t live up to all that is expected. That is why so many live on a roller coaster ride and need to have the high from an ‘exciting’ service so they’ll feel OK for a day or so. It’s why some will follow certain standards because ‘we can’t be sure’ and they would rather be ‘safe than sorry.’

That is why when someone leaves, they often grapple with the fear of ‘what if they are right‘ or they are scared by foreboding communication from the pastor or church members.

When someone leaves a healthy church, they do not fear losing their salvation, nor do they worry that God will do something bad to them because they left. Oh, but those of use who have been immersed in an unhealthy church atmosphere encounter this fear. So much was attached to our salvation and leaving that church or group supposedly equated to leaving God and truth.

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Twisted Word Meanings: Shorn

One indicator of an unhealthy church is when the meanings of words are changed. By doing this, what they teach appears on the surface to be backed by scripture. However, when one discovers that the twisted meaning is not the same as was meant in the passage(s) they use as a proof text, it will help them break from these erroneous teachings.

For those who believe that the word shorn in the Bible simply means to cut without regard to how much, I share with you a great picture demonstration that shows a half-shorn sheep. It is the copyright of photographer Cary Wolinsky.

The word shorn in 1 Corinthians 11 is twisted by some in an attempt to prove a teaching that claims women are never to cut their hair for any reason, not even a fraction of an inch. Some take the teaching even further and claim a woman protects herself and her family by keeping her hair uncut. Ruth Rieder Harvey of the United Pentecostal Church (UPC), has taught that believers replaced Lucifer as the protector and reflector of God’s glory and women accomplish this through following such holiness rules as not cutting their hair. UPC evangelist Lee Stoneking lamented in a sermon, if only Christians knew what witches and New Agers know. If witches can double the power of spells by letting their hair down and shaking it in the wind, what could our [Apostolic] women do with power on their heads?

Oh what great lengths some people take in their efforts to prop up a teaching in order to convince others to believe in and follow their ordinance.

UPC minister Daniel Segraves, in his book Women’s Hair: The Long And Short Of It, attempts to change the biblical meaning of shorn in an attempt to persuade women to follow the teaching. After using three regular dictionaries and three biblical reference books, he states: “That, while ‘shorn’ can mean ‘to cut close,’ it is certainly not limited to that meaning. Indeed, the preponderance of dictionary definitions are on the side of interpreting ‘shorn’ as simply ‘to cut,’ without specifying how much! …While a minority of the definitions could possibly apply to cutting closely, the majority testimony is that ‘shear’ simply means ‘to cut.’

Someone from biblical times would not have related to this conclusion by Segraves. To them, and to Paul who is the author of Corinthians, shorn meant to cut closely, just like is demonstrated in this picture by Wolinsky. People then were very much acquainted with the practice. If anyone had removed an inch of the wool on this sheep and tried to tell people that it was shorn, the onlookers would have heartily laughed. They knew that a shorn sheep was one where almost all the wool had been removed.

Take care to independently search out for yourself what is taught. Check to ensure that the meaning given is actually what was meant in the passage. You may find a night and day difference between scripture and what you hear from the pulpit.

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