Charismatic Captivation

12 REASONS “SPIRITUAL COVENANTS” ARE NOT OF GOD AND UNAUTHORIZED
By Steven Lambert

Fourteen years ago, almost to the day, I wrote and published in an article titled, The Curse of Unauthorized Covenants, a strong warning against engaging in so-called “spiritual covenants” relative to what some Christian leaders refer to as “Covenant Relationships,” which we subsequently published on this site as well as various other websites we maintain. In that article, I referenced and quoted from a portion of one of the last books world-renowned international Bible Teacher Derek Prince authored prior to his death on September 24, 2003, Blessings and Curses. Prince, as I stated in that article, was one of the originators of what became known as the Discipleship or Shepherding Movement, transpiring in the 1970s. To his credit, when the doctrines associated with that movement were challenged and repudiated by numerous prominent church leaders in the mid-‘70s, the highly-respected Bible scholar was the very first of the “Fort Lauderdale Five” to publicly acknowledge the teachings were patently erroneous, recant them, personally repent of propagating them, release everyone who had submitted themselves to him, and ask fellow believers for forgiveness from the spiritual harm he had been instrumental in wreaking upon the Body of Christ.” (more…)

Posted in: Absolute Submission, Covering Doctrine, Curses, Discipleship Movement, Doctrines of Demons, Domination & Control, False Teaching, Leadership, Nicolaitanism, Personal Pastors, Spiritual Abuse, Spiritual Idolatry by admin / Tags: Abuse of Authority, authoritarian abuse, Biblical Authority, ECAL, Hyper-authoritarianism, ICA, ICAL, Spiritual Abuse, Spiritual adultery, Spiritual Covering, Spiritual Idolatry, USCAL

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I believe in and covet unity among believers—wholeheartedly. I grealty prefer unity over disunity, harmony over disharmony, accord over discord, concord over controversy, agreement over disagreement, amity over animus. There are numerous Scripture passages stating God’s desire for unity among the Brethren. Genuine unity of the Spirit is vital to the Body of Christ in order to accomplish the purposes and plans of God on Earth. Unfortunately, however, the notion of unity that many in the Church today have been indoctrinated with is not true unity at all, but rather a convoluted counterfeit that is used by some unscrupulous and unaware leaders as a subtle mechanism of manipulation aimed at predomination for self-aggrandizing purposes. (more…)

Posted in: Doctrines of Demons, False Teaching, Nicolaitanism, Unity by admin /
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In the 1980s a spiritually perilous trend began developing in the Neo-Pentecostal realm, which was the human appointments of certain leaders into the supposed office of “bishop” by groups claiming ” Petrine apostolic succession.” This vogue has become especially popular and common in an increasing number of so-called Neo-Pentecostal “networks” that have emerged since the 1980s, comprised of affiliated though purportedly autonomous churches. One prominent Neo-Pentecostal organization¹ in 1982 formed what it called “The International College of Bishops,” comprised of ecclesiastical leaders upon whom the organization had conferred the title of “Bishop,” which they purported positioned the conferees in the bimillenial hierarchical system of bishops of the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) supposedly leading back in unbroken “succession” to the Apostle Peter, who the RCC regards as the first “Pope.”

This trend has developed despite the irrefutable fact that no such “office” or “position” is established anywhere in Holy Writ (The Bible), but rather in fact is undeniably antithetical and subversive to the governmental offices God has established in His Word, namely, the Fivefold Ministry Offices (Eph. 4:11). Nowhere does Scripture establish or even vaguely support the notion of a spiritually efficacious “office” of bishop or hierarchical lineage of ecclesiastical surrogates appointed by Christ, the supreme Head of the Church. (more…)

Posted in: Covering Doctrine, Discipleship Movement, Doctrines of Demons, Domination & Control, Leadership, Nicolaitanism by admin / Tags: Apostolic Succession, Bishops

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[CLICK HERE to read Part 1 of this article.]

In the Revelation He communicated by the Holy Spirit to the Apostle John, Jesus issued a terse but severe warning to the Early Apostolic churches expressed His utter disdain for both the deeds and the doctrines of the Nicolaitans. He commended the Ephesian Church for being in accord with His own hatred for the deeds of the Nicolaitans: “Yet this you do have, that you hate the DEEDS of the Nicolaitans, WHICH I ALSO HATE” (Rev. 2:6). Conversely, the Pergamum Church Jesus condemned for the fact that, “you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.” Further demonstrating His contempt for the Nicolaitan false teaching, He followed this indictment with the command, “Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.” (more…)

Posted in: Absolute Submission, Covering Doctrine, Discipleship Movement, Domination & Control, Leadership, Nicolaitanism by admin / Tags: Abuse of Authority, Nicolaitanism, Shepherding Movement, Spiritual Abuse

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One of the common denominators of false cults, false religions, and the occult is that their doctrines and practices are predicated upon the “isms” of vain, humanly invented philosophies. The same is true of the heretical hyper-authoritarian Discipleship/Shepherding doctrines, dogmas, and practices that were infused into the fabric and foundation of the Neo-Pentecostal church, which fact is further corroboration that they are all of the aforementioned characterization: cultic, false, and occult. One of the most significant “isms” of the Discipleship heresy is one that is specifically mentioned and condemned in the Bible—Nicolaitanism. (more…)

Posted in: Absolute Submission, Discipleship Movement, Domination & Control, False Teaching, Leadership, Nicolaitanism by admin / Tags: Abuse of Authority, Nicolaitanism, Shepherding Movement, Spiritual Abuse

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Multitudes of sincere and trusting believers are caught in the virtually invisible web of religious captivation in Charismatic and other Neo-Pentecostal churches, and don’t know it. They are unaware victims of spiritual abuse and exploitation under the heavy-hand of hyper-authoritarianism. That is to say, the leadership of the church-group of which they are a part is dominating, controlling, and manipulating their followers, and exploiting them for their own personal gain and private kingdom-building.

Horror stories of authoritarian abuse and exploitation and psychological enslavement in certified Christian churches abound. From time to time, particular isolated incidents have erupted in highly publicized news stories. However, those high-profile cases really are only the tip of the iceberg. The truth of the matter is, I know from my twenty years of ministry, ecclesiastical enslavement and exploitation is widespread in certain sectors of Christendom in this country. And, it is vital to understand, I am not talking about radical, fringe religious sects and cults, but well-respected church-groups espousing orthodox Christian beliefs, whose membership is comprised of a cross section of average Americans, individuals and families, of every race, education level, station, and walk of life.

(more…)

Posted in: Absolute Submission, Covering Doctrine, Curses, Discipleship Movement, Doctrines of Demons, Domination & Control, False Teaching, Leadership, Nicolaitanism, Personal Pastors, Spiritual Abuse by admin / Tags: Abuse of Authority, Hyper-authoritarianism, Shepherding Movement, Spiritual Abuse

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