Hebrews 11:17-31 As we continue our travels through the Book of Hebrews, underline or circle the phrases looking at or looking towards. Faith always looks at the eternal rather than the temporal. We can see the temporal, but we cannot usually see the eternal. In this chapter we see more stories from the Hall of Faith, and each story has one thing in common. These heroes of our faith were able to see the unseen by faith. We see the faith of Moses in the following passages: “By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible” (vv. 24-27, KJV).

Moses saw Christ with his spiritual eyes. He even saw the rewards Christ would give him on that great day when Jesus will reward the saints for their deeds and words on earth. Moses, like David, Job and Isaiah, saw Jesus Christ in the Spirit even though it was years before Jesus would be born on earth. These heroes of our faith were able to look into the unseen realm of the Spirit.

When Moses asked God to show him His glory, I believe Moses at that time saw much more than God the Father. I believe he saw the Trinity. He could only see the backside of God, who does have form even though He is a Spirit. He also saw Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The Spirit was represented by the fire in the burning bush, as the Spirit is often represented by fire. The golden candlestick in the tabernacle of Moses represented the sevenfold Spirit of God. I believe Moses also saw Jesus. God honored Moses’ faith by allowing him to see Jesus not only in the Spirit but also in the flesh. This happened on the Mount of Transfiguration when Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus on the Mount.

If we want our lives to display the same kind of faith Moses and these other Bible heroes displayed, we must wear our spiritual glasses every day. These glasses correct our nearsightedness and allow us to see into the realms of God’s glory.

Are you wearing your spiritual glasses today, or are you still blinded by the problem and trials of this world? Put on your glory glasses this morning and see into the unseen by faith. You will never be the same.

Lord, show me Your glory.

READ: Ezekiel 27:1-28; Hebrews 11:17-31; Psalm 111:1-10; Proverbs 27:15-16

Last week was a milestone in modern American political history. The election results (New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races) and the battle over healthcare show that the nation’s interest in social issues has not waned. New coalitions are forming around the pivotal legislative concerns of our day. From my vantage point, I am noticing a passion among individual citizens to engage in the political process – whether the topic is the economy, healthcare or gay marriage. The average citizen not only wants to express their opinion, but also has become savvy in engaging the powers that be. The insight of these new activists is shown in their ability to organize and get results. Over 20,000 people came to D.C. last week to voice their concerns about healthcare.

On Tuesday, I was personally focused on the battle for marriage in Maine. It’s old news that heterosexual marriage proponents were outspent by their adversaries who sent thousands of volunteers to wage “political war” in the tiny state. Considered intensely liberal and the most likely place where same-sex marriage advocates had a chance of winning, the nation was shocked at the resounding defeat of gay marriage advocates.

Like California, Maine upheld the common sense definition of marriage after same-sex “marriage” was forced into law against the will of its people. The vote on Question 1 upheld marriage by the exact same margin as the vote on Proposition 8 (5 full percentage points), even though the pro-marriage campaign in Maine was outspent by millions.

The victory of traditional marriage proponents was very convincing with success in 75 percent of Maine’s counties (12 of 16). More Maine residents voted for marriage (266,000+) than voted for Governor Baldacci (209,927) when he got elected in 2006. In Augusta, the state’s capital, the definition of marriage was upheld by marriage advocates (53 percent to 46 percent).

The press repeatedly asked me what the implications were of the Maine marriage victory. First of all, the victory shows that the gay marriage activist projection of “inevitability” is false. The inevitability argument has been levied so that marriage defenders would quietly give up. Further, the inevitability argument has given many legislators cover, as they vehemently oppose the will of the people. State senators or city council members often have been led to believe that someday their stand will be seen as heroic instead of socially destructive. If the inevitability argument were correct, there would be no political consequences to voting based on pressure from powerful, well-financed gay marriage activists.

Fortunately for the nation, same-sex marriage is not a done deal. The concept is not gaining real ground among the common people. The famed Pew Research Center made the following observation last month, “An August 2009 … survey finds that 53 percent oppose allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally, compared with 39 percent who support same-sex marriage, numbers that are virtually unchanged over the past year.”

The fact that the nation has not changed its mind about same-sex marriage during the last year is very revealing. Same-sex marriage advocates have made a lot of headway during the last few years in convincing a small number of powerfully positioned judges and legislators that same-sex marriage is a civil rights issue. Their arguments among the elite have been effective, while the average citizen is not willing to endorse changing the institution of marriage as an expression of civil rights.

This is especially obvious when one considers the history of the Maine same-sex marriage advocacy efforts. Legalization of same-sex marriage has been intensely pursued for at least five years in this state that is bordered by Canada and Massachusetts, both who have legalized same-sex marriage. Same-sex marriage foot soldiers put everything they had into their effort – they developed 20 field offices manned by 30 paid staffers and raised substantially more money than traditional marriage advocates. Their efforts were supported by both national and local grassroots support. The pro same-sex marriage team was sophisticated and well trained. The hallmark of their sophistication was that they recruited an elaborate network of phone volunteers that interacted with Maine citizens, thinking that a personal sales call would close the deal. Despite the time, money and energy spent, Maine residents did not buy the marriage pitch. Ironically, exactly the same percentage number of voters opposed same-sex marriage in Maine as the national research said opposed it – 53 percent.

Specifically what does this mean for the D.C. struggle concerning marriage? It’s no secret that the city council has vowed to act without consulting the citizens.  Their reasoning is simple. They have read the same polls everyone else has, yet they are so beholding to gay marriage lobbyists that they must make this issue their most pressing policy concern …more pressing than healthcare, the economy, the horrible disorganization of D.C. public schools and a host of other ills that plague the nation’s capital. The council realizes that if a vote on same-sex marriage will not fly in Maine with its predominately white, liberal residents, there is no chance for it to prosper in the District of Columbia where 56 percent of its citizens are black.

In the near term, gay activists have already started attacking President Obama because he did not come to their aid in Maine. This is an unwise move because of the president’s openness to the civil rights claims of gays. Further, it was their strategy that failed in Maine and no one else is to blame.

The pro traditional marriage groups in D.C. are encouraged by the grassroots efforts which have led to reversing a bad law that was passed by an out-of-control group of legislators. They will undoubtedly attempt to increase voter registration in the District, recalling willful council members and electing new political leaders. Pro marriage groups in D.C., under the banner of the Web site, , have already built one of the strongest, most diverse religious coalitions in the city’s history. Last summer a large number of secular and community leaders also awakened to the call to stop the advance of same-sex marriage.

It may take a year or so, but there will be a vote to recognize only marriages between a man and a woman in Washington, D.C. When that vote occurs the people will reject same-sex marriage – once and for all.

Harry R. Jackson Jr. is senior pastor of 3,000-member Hope Christian Church in the nation’s capital. Jackson, who earned an MBA from Harvard, is a best-selling author and popular conference speaker. He leads the High-Impact Leadership Coalition.

An e-mail from an old college friend got me thinking. She had reconnected with a high school classmate on FaceBook and her friend, a passionate, self-proclaimed gay rights advocate, was constantly posting statements and articles on the subject for all to see. My friend, knowing that I work with a ministry that helps those dealing with unwanted same-sex attraction, asked, “How, in your opinion, do you even begin to talk to someone like this? Obviously she doesn’t have the same worldview … so what talking points would even register with her?”

My initial thought was, “Maybe none.” As I prayed about how to respond, God reminded me of two incidents that changed my own thinking and more importantly, my heart. Some years ago, I was working for a Christian ministry that was hosting a conference on biblical sexuality. Sounds somewhat innocuous, but as it turns out saying that people can find freedom from a life dominated by same-sex attraction through Jesus is rather controversial. The press heavily covered the event and so news of a protest from the gay community came as no surprise. The day of the conference arrived and so did a noisy group of around 200 young people carrying signs and chanting through a bullhorn, “Hey, hey, ho, ho, homophobia’s got to go” and “Two, four, six, eight, stop the lies and stop the hate.” As the day wore on and the chanting subsided, I pushed past my fear and walked up to a group of young people at the picket line. I had no idea what I was going to say or do. My head was reeling with arguments and sound bites to defend biblical truth to these poor, misguided souls.

Looking every bit the straight-laced, non-denominational conservative that I was, I began to ask questions about their lives. “Do you go to college? What’s your major? Where are you from? Do you like living here?” Though suspicious, they humored me and responded. Eventually, one 20-something student and I began to connect. I sensed a lost yet hungry look in his eyes as he told me about the classes he was taking and the goals he had for his life. We talked for quite awhile and I still wanted to know more, but the group leader yelled through the bullhorn that it was time to move on and he shuffled past me in compliance and reticence. I was truly sad to see him go. I’ve thought of him many times since then and wonder where he is now. For a moment, God allowed me to see this young man through His eyes. And in that moment, while my body was on one side of the picket line, my heart was most certainly on the other.

This past summer, I was at another conference, an annual event our ministry puts on to offer support to those whose lives have been impacted by the issue of homosexuality in some way. Nearly a thousand individuals from across the country and around the world came to Chicago to hear messages of hope and freedom, but more than a hundred came for another reason – to protest us for “preaching hate.” It was an angry group as protests go. As I stood there, surveying the police perimeter and sizing up the situation, an unusually tall man, dressed as a transvestite with gaudy makeup, matted hair and statement-making clothes, caught my eye. He would have stood out anywhere, but amid the throng of protestors and abrasive signs, something more jumped out at me. It was the years of inner torment and woundedness that were etched on his face. It melted my heart and I began to cry for him and for this group of hurting men and women. I had to turn away so they could not see my face. When the dust settled and they began to leave, I went out to talk to the police officers. One of the more vocal members of the group began to look for a trashcan. Sheepishly, she said to me, “I guess I shouldn’t just leave this here.” This was my moment to connect. I could have told her that she had it all wrong, that we didn’t believe in hate, that Jesus loved her, but instead, I held out my hand and said, “I’ll take it for you.” She looked at me with surprise, handed me her Starbucks cups and her “Hate is not a family value” sign and shuffled off.

Sometimes what you don’t say is more important than what you could. For the heart that is hurting, the best sound bites and the most articulate arguments may not help at all. While politics and social issues do matter, they matter only because people do. I pray often that God gives me eyes to see beyond the rhetoric to the condition of the hearts of those around me – whatever life they may be living, whatever political or social positions they may hold, whatever opinions and beliefs they may happen to have. Love is what defines a believer and sometimes modeling it may not include talking points at all.

Julie Neils is the Senior Director of Media Relations for Exodus International, the world’s largest ministry helping those conflicted by their sexuality to live a life that reflects the Christian faith.

The desire for comfort has created much of life as we know it. Air conditioners were invented to keep us cool during hot seasons. Roofs were installed to shelter us from rain, snow and insects. Electricity is used for many purposes including the provision of light in the midst of darkness. Commercials for new automobiles tout the latest amenities that you supposedly cannot live without. Although the desire for comfort may be one of life’s priorities, comfort can also be a hindrance to achieving your goals.

T. Harv Eker, president of Peak Potentials Training went from zero to a millionaire in only two and a half years. He says: “the only time you are actually growing is when you are uncomfortable.” Being comfortable may give you warm fuzzy feelings. Yet, these feelings do not usually cause you to grow. Successful people have learned how to live by becoming comfortable in the uncomfortable zone. The desire for comfort causes you to shrink back from your fears. The need for comfort keeps you from developing new relationships. You can see from these statements that comfort can be your enemy.

The next time you are uncomfortable, congratulate yourself. Say to yourself, I must really be growing. Now embrace those uncomfortable feelings. You have just entered your new season of being comfortable in being uncomfortable.

A former executive for one of the world’s largest computer companies says the World Wide Web is revolutionizing evangelism.

“This is the Internet moment in human history,” said Walt Wilson, a former Apple Computer executive and one-time senior vice president at Computer Sciences Corp., a $16 billion company with 600 offices worldwide. “We have the technology to reach every man, woman and child on the Earth. We’re the first generation in all human history to have this capacity.”

Wilson, founder of Global Media Outreach (GMO), partnered with Campus Crusade for Christ in 2004 to create one-page Web sites that present the gospel using the Four Spiritual Laws evangelistic resource.

Today, Wilson says GMO has more than 100 Web sites, including five dedicated to the U.S. military. The sites receive at least 7 million visitors monthly from every nation on the globe, with at least 1 million people reporting decisions for Christ each month since June.

Through partnerships with churches nationwide, GMO has mobilized some 3,600 “online missionaries” to respond to questions and comments posted at the sites. The missionaries share personal stories, Scriptures and prayers.

“The people who come to us are in desperate need,” Wilson said. “They’re not people who want to argue with God or stick their finger at His eye. They’re people in desperate need saying: ‘I need help. Tell me about Jesus.'”

Difficult theological questions are referred to a team of pastors. But Wilson said too many Christians think they have to be theologians to share their faith. “Just tell them your story,” he says. “Life is about stories.”

Wilson said a grandmother in South Carolina shared Christ with a Muslim in the Middle East who told her he couldn’t stand the violence any longer. A stay-at-home mom evangelized while baking cookies. Residents in retirement homes minister to people in Pakistan and Tora Bora.

In a statement, North Point Baptist Church in Phoenix said that after working with GMO for four years, its missionaries saw 14,000 people report decisions for Christ. Forestville Baptist Church in Greenville, S.C., has mobilized roughly 70 online missionaries who minister worldwide every day.

“Forestville families minister together, reaching out from their home computers, to the world that Jesus loves and died people who are hungry and seeking Jesus,” senior pastor Rob Jackson said. “I truly believe that technology through computers and cell phones (and who knows what will come next) is the ‘front porch,’ and the main and most effective entry point and communication port, to the people of this 21st century world.”

Wilson developed the idea for GMO more than 15 years ago while meeting with business leaders and professors at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

While the group was discussing ways to monetize a new thing called the Internet, Wilson says God began to speak to him through a series of questions. He began to see the Internet as one of the most significant ministry tools in centuries-not unlike Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press, which made the Bible more accessible, and the ancient Roman roads that ultimately helped spread the gospel across Europe.

“We believe God is doing something very dramatic in these late days, and we believe everybody’s going to have an opportunity to know Jesus,” Wilson said. “Nobody will be able to say I didn’t know. … We can reach the world.”

Hebrews 11:1-16 We recently purchased some beautiful oil paintings painted by some Israeli art students. These students were temporarily in the United States selling their paintings to earn money for their art school in Jerusalem. They went door to door and also had a few shows in the U.S. The paintings were not framed, but we had the promise of these students that a fellow student would call us who could give us a good price on framing the pictures for us. We waited and waited for this call. Meanwhile our beautiful pictures were gathering dust while they were stored under our bed. No one knew we had such beautiful paintings because they were not framed yet and we could not display them on our walls.

Our reading in Hebrews today describes the beautiful lives painted through history by men and women of faith. As we read about those heroes of our faith, we can picture in our minds the scene of Noah who by faith prepared the ark; Abraham who by faith left his homeland to go to a strange land; Sarah who by faith gave herself to Abraham when she was ninety because of the promise of a child; and on and on the scenes pass through our minds.

We learn in Hebrews 11:3 that there is a very special frame for these pictures of faith: “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.”

Through faith the Word of God framed the worlds. God sees to it that when we are presented with His artwork there is already a frame for each masterpiece. Just as our paintings could not be displayed until they were framed, these scenes of great faith painted by our Bible heroes could not be displayed without the Word of God framing these scenes. It is through the Word of God that we are able to read these wonderful stories that inspire us to greater faith. In every scene of faith conveyed in chapter 11 of Hebrews, we see how these men and women of faith received and acted upon the Word of God. They attached themselves firmly to the frame of God’s Word and then displayed His Spirit, character, power and works to the world. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. God has framed the masterpiece of your life in the golden frame of His Word. Without His Word, we could never display the faith that works by love and moves mountains to the world.

Lord, help me to attach myself firmly to the frame of Your Word so that my life will display the beauty of Your character and love to others.

READ: Ezekiel 24:1-26:21; Hebrews 11:1-16; Psalm 110:1-7; Proverbs 27:14

A former executive for one of the world’s largest computer companies says the World Wide Web is revolutionizing evangelism.

“This is the Internet moment in human history,” said Walt Wilson, a former Apple Computer executive and one-time senior vice president at Computer Sciences Corp., a $16 billion company with 600 offices worldwide. “We have the technology to reach every man, woman and child on the Earth. We’re the first generation in all human history to have this capacity.”

Wilson, founder of Global Media Outreach (GMO), partnered with Campus Crusade for Christ in 2004 to create one-page Web sites that present the gospel using the Four Spiritual Laws evangelistic resource.

Today, Wilson says GMO has more than 100 Web sites, including five dedicated to the U.S. military. The sites receive at least 7 million visitors monthly from every nation on the globe, with at least 1 million people reporting decisions for Christ each month since June.

Through partnerships with churches nationwide, GMO has mobilized some 3,600 “online missionaries” to respond to questions and comments posted at the sites. The missionaries share personal stories, Scriptures and prayers.

“The people who come to us are in desperate need,” Wilson said. “They’re not people who want to argue with God or stick their finger at His eye. They’re people in desperate need saying: ‘I need help. Tell me about Jesus.'”

Difficult theological questions are referred to a team of pastors. But Wilson said too many Christians think they have to be theologians to share their faith. “Just tell them your story,” he says. “Life is about stories.”

Wilson said a grandmother in South Carolina shared Christ with a Muslim in the Middle East who told her he couldn’t stand the violence any longer. A stay-at-home mom evangelized while baking cookies. Residents in retirement homes minister to people in Pakistan and Tora Bora.

In a statement, North Point Baptist Church in Phoenix said that after working with GMO for four years, its missionaries saw 14,000 people report decisions for Christ. Forestville Baptist Church in Greenville, S.C., has mobilized roughly 70 online missionaries who minister worldwide every day.

“Forestville families minister together, reaching out from their home computers, to the world that Jesus loves and died people who are hungry and seeking Jesus,” senior pastor Rob Jackson said. “I truly believe that technology through computers and cell phones (and who knows what will come next) is the ‘front porch,’ and the main and most effective entry point and communication port, to the people of this 21st century world.”

Wilson developed the idea for GMO more than 15 years ago while meeting with business leaders and professors at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

While the group was discussing ways to monetize a new thing called the Internet, Wilson says God began to speak to him through a series of questions. He began to see the Internet as one of the most significant ministry tools in centuries-not unlike Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press, which made the Bible more accessible, and the ancient Roman roads that ultimately helped spread the gospel across Europe.

“We believe God is doing something very dramatic in these late days, and we believe everybody’s going to have an opportunity to know Jesus,” Wilson said. “Nobody will be able to say I didn’t know. … We can reach the world.”

Find helpful discipleship tips. 

• Practice spiritual disciplines. Read the bible daily, confess and repent of your

  sins and pray for the lost. Your relationship with Christ is a priority and the key to effectively discipling others.

• Remain conservative in your ethics. Remember that pride can be dangerous. Pride may imply that you are judging others falsely, and is said to be the mother of all sins, because pride resides in each one of us.
• Lead by example. “Do as I say, not as I do” is not an effective way to disciple someone. Make sure your life is worthy of emulating.

• Be patient with people who anger you. Forgive those who may have hurt you. You must learn to love your enemies and teach others to do them same. God loves everyone, and we all need to, also. Say farewell to selective loving. If you have a hard time loving your enemies, pray to God for help. Teach anyone you are discipling the importance of forgiveness.
• Be there. Many times the simple act of letting someone know that they can call on you for help, advice and prayer at any time can make a difference in their life. Be sure to use wisdom and discernment to keep healthy boundaries. But letting someone know you care and are there, can go a long way.
• Admonish with grace. Being harsh, rude and “in your face” only tear people down. Be understanding and try to help people through their struggles and faults with love and wisdom. Remember you, too, were once a sinner saved by grace.
• Be a humble servant. We read in Mark 10:43-44 “Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all.” Our attitude should be that of a servant of Christ and we should live this out by serving those around us.
• Put Christ first in all things. As disciples of Christ we need to be set apart from the world. Our focus should be on our Lord and pleasing Him in every area of our lives. We must put off self-centeredness and put on Christ-centeredness.
• Try to see the perspectives (point of view) of others, even if you personally disagree with them.
• Be accountable. Have an accountability partner you can turn to for encouragement and wisdom and to discuss any weaknesses you may be encountering. Accountability is being responsible for one’s own actions. You may not be able to share everything with your disciple, even though they may share a lot with you, but you should find someone you can discuss your struggles with to help maintain your integrity.

The current economic situation has affected every area of our lives, including our elaborate Christmas budgets. Find creative, sentimental and inexpensive do-it-yourself gift ideas. Sometimes the best gifts cost only a little time.

• Create a recipe booklet with a collection of all your favorite homemade recipes that have been passed down for generations. Click here for instructions.
• Make homemade Christmas ornaments that can be used on Christmas trees year after year. Click here to find different designs and instructions on how to make your own ornaments.
• Make homemade jam and jelly and put them in decorative jars for a nice gift. Click here for holiday recipes.
• Homemade magnets are a great gift idea for a teacher, friend, neighbor or a family member and they are so simple to make. Click here for instructions on how to create your own Christmas magnets.
• Bake some homemade cookies and package them in a creative and festive way. Click here for ideas.
• Gel candles are very popular and a great gift idea. Click here for instructions so you can make your own.
• Make a Christmas gift basket. Click here for ideas for making your own gift baskets on various Christmas themes.
• Play dough is a great gift idea for children. You can even make the dough in holiday colors and add Christmas cookie dough cutters for a more festive arrangement. Click here on recipes for play dough and an instructional video.
• Gift an ‘Herb Garden’. Grow various herbs like Thyme, Rosemary and Basil in small pots. Place these pots in a long plastic flat-bottomed basket or a clay pot and give it to someone that loves to cook. Click here for instructions on how to plant your herb garden.
• Make a homemade Christmas wreath that they can hang on their door or as home décor. Click here for instructions on how to make a traditional Christmas wreath.

Here are six ways to identify an unhealthy leadership style in a church or ministry.

My world was shaken 20 years ago this week. On Nov. 10, 1989, one day after German protesters tore down the Berlin Wall, a Christian ministry I had been a part of for 11 years also fell apart.

Maranatha Campus Ministries was a vibrant outreach to college campuses. It was founded in Kentucky during the Jesus movement by a passionate charismatic couple, Bob and Rose Weiner, who eventually started churches on more than 50 American universities. In its heyday in the Reagan era, students from Maranatha took the gospel around the world.

But with all our good intentions and youthful zeal for evangelism, the ministry did not survive. We had a flawed, authoritarian leadership model, which was made worse by a lack of mature advisers. When Maranatha’s young pastors grew up and realized the ministry had an unhealthy and oppressive structure, they voted to disband. The churches either went independent, merged with other groups or closed.

Meanwhile, the many young people who had been discipled in Maranatha had to deal with their own unique form of post-traumatic stress disorder. They woke up and realized that Maranatha had been influenced by the Shepherding Movement, which taught that all Christians should be submitted to personal shepherds who dispense advice and approve all decisions.

The Shepherding movement, which had broad influence in many charismatic churches, collapsed around the same time. Because I lived through that era, I am hypersensitive to the way a spirit of control works in a church. And I can assure you that controlling attitudes will destroy a ministry. Here are six obvious signs that a spirit of control is at work:

1. Little or no accountability. There is safety in the multitude of counselors (see Prov. 11:14). There is much less safety—perhaps even danger—when a leader does not bother to seek counsel from a diverse group of his peers, as well as from gray-haired men and women who have the wisdom that comes with age. If a pastor or church leader isn’t open to correction, he is headed for a train wreck.

2. Spiritual elitism. If there is a spirit of control in a church, people are usually told that their group is superior. Supposedly they have special spiritual privileges from God, along with “exclusive” revelation. If people choose to leave, they are shunned or branded as renegades. Sometimes, in extreme cases, people are even cursed if they leave. (Last week when I was in Hungary I learned of a charismatic church that publicly curses people when they quit the congregation.) This cultic behavior inflicts unimaginable emotional suffering and also divides families.

3. An oppressive atmosphere. Authoritarian leaders know how to control people through manipulation. In some cases, this control may simply take the form of subtle suggestions and persuasion. In the most abusive situations, it may come in the form of threats, legalistic demands, unreasonable requirements or false doctrines. In some cases, especially in charismatic circles, it can come through misguided personal prophecies or mystical visions.

In such a church no one is allowed to ask questions. Spiritual heaviness lies like a thick cloud over the congregation, and few believers manifest genuine joy because they are overburdened by feelings of guilt and fear.

4. Angry domination. Tyrants are surprisingly similar. Because they want to control their surroundings, they often blow up when people do not conform to their demands. Yet the Apostle Paul taught that church leaders should not be “violent” or “quarrelsome” but “self-controlled” and “gentle” (see 1 Timothy 3:2-3). Later he instructed Timothy that the Lord’s servant “must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone” (2 Timothy 2:24). You will always find lots of anger wherever there is a controlling spirit.

5. Individual guidance is discouraged. The Bible teaches that every Christian has direct access to God through one mediator, Jesus Christ. Every believer can hear God’s voice personally and should expect to receive God’s guidance.

In authoritarian church situations, however, members are not encouraged to seek God’s guidance themselves. Rather, they are urged to conform to the preferences of the leader or the group. In some cases, leaders have actually taught their congregations to seek counsel and specific approval from a pastor before making major decisions. Thus church members develop an unhealthy dependence on a man in order to function spiritually, and their ability to trust God is diminished.

This kind of control is emotionally crippling. For many who submitted to the philosophy behind the Shepherding movement, it took years to recover from the loss of decision-making ability. They relinquished their wills and lost their identities because they viewed absolute obedience to their spiritual leaders as a Christian virtue.

6. Women viewed as inferior. Some churches today permit the ordination of women, even as senior pastors or bishops, while others maintain that Scripture does not permit women to hold these positions. Apart from these differences of opinion on biblical interpretation, it should be noted that authoritarian churches usually discourage women from pursuing any genuine role in ministry. Women are viewed as useful only in their functions as wives and mothers, and they are not encouraged to step beyond these confines to pursue ministry opportunities.

Such a low view of women leads men to treat them as God-ordained sex objects or drones equipped to perform only menial tasks. Women who have leadership gifts are branded rebels or “Jezebels.”

When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, similar walls of communist control fell in rapid succession until the entire Soviet Union broke apart. Yet walls of spiritual bondage still exist today in so many parts of the church—and the ghosts of the Shepherding movement still haunt us. We are called to be emancipators, not enslavers. As we seek to build healthy churches, let’s remember these words from Galatians 5:1: “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery” (NASB).

J. Lee Grady is editor of Charisma. You can find him on Twitter at leegrady.