Leave the Church! She’s Dangerous!

An autobiographical non-fiction book, in “Come Out of Her, God’s People,”  I interpret my 3 decades of churchgoing primarily within the title’s context. The facts of what happened to me within a mainline denominational African-American church remain constant. However, my interpretation has changed over time.  For the first 25 years, I believed that God sent me  to the Denomination to be an integral part of bringing repentance to that particular bureaucracy.  In this hour, I  believe that a counterfeit religious entity  sent me to church in 1979, in hopes that through much trial and testing, I would lose my salvation and curse God for allowing me to be  both rejected, spiritually abused and   deceived.  The devil  failed miserably.

My own ministerial life is merely presented in the book  as a tiny iota of a huge puzzle—a microcosmic illustration of  a much broader, worldwide, endemic problem that really began in the 4^th century, once Christianity became “organized”.  The book is less about me and much more  about the words of Jesus, as recorded in Revelation the 18^th Chapter, verse 4:  “Come out of Her, My People, that you be not partakers of Her sins,  lest ye receive of Her plagues.” In the final analysis, the truth of this book is based upon whether or not I have rightly interpreted who the Lord is referring to as “Her.”

Some Christians have interpreted the metaphorical pronoun of  Revelation Chapter 18  as a nation, with America as the prime candidate.  In fact, I know of American eschatologists who are now ex-patriots, having re-located to Canada.  On September 11, 2001, I too made a wrong assumption, as I watched on TV the destruction of the World Trade Center. With the fall of both towers in an hour, my bible was opened to Rev.18,  verses 8 to  10, specifically “for in ONE HOUR is thy judgment come.” So I  first interpreted the feminine pronoun as symbolizing New York City.  I told quite a few of my friends to “come out of Her,” and move to either upstate NY or another state.

So I know firsthand that it is a lot easier to make a wrong interpretation of a symbol than it is to make a correct one.  In my case, as time unfolded over the  next  9 years, especially  with the publication of  my 4^th book, “the Fake Jesus: Fallen Angels Among Us,” I began to have some serious doubts about my original interpretation that “Her” was a geographic location like a city or a nation.

My spiritual awakening was both  gradual and sudden simultaneously. Gradual, in that for 25 years, I knew there was a reason why “church was not working,” but I rationalized that “anything that humans are involved in will be imperfect, and that includes the church.” Yet suddenly,  the truth hit me like a bright light in the face of a deer. I was in shock.  Then I shook. With the final tremble,  I quickly regained my  spiritual equilibrium. I have put decades of delusion and deception behind me, and I continue to press on to deeper levels of truth which I share herein.

The interpretation of biblical metaphors and other symbols is certainly not an exact science.  It is so easy to wrongfully assume that the literal is meant to be  symbolic and in reverse, that the allegorical should be  taken literally.  Quite frankly, it hit me  real hard that the “Her” could be  the entire organized church–not Catholicism alone–but the entire thing.  Protestants are quick to point their fingers at the  religious idolatry of Catholics, presenting ALL of  itself as the one true church. Yet, let’s face it.    Catholicism is the tree and  its fruit is Protestantism including  all of its  various branches and sects. The bible confirms that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.  For as Jesus Himself taught, if the tree is corrupt or evil, so is its fruit. (Matthew 7:18,19)

With each chapter of the ebook “Come Out of Her God’s People”, I am  metaphorically  standing outside of a burning church building shouting, “Come out! It is on fire!”  Therefore, those with an open, rational mind will at least perceive  how I arrived at  the conclusion that attending church in the endtimes is a dangerous thing to do.  Certainly, if we are not living in the last days, perhaps today’s churchgoers are safe.  Nevertheless, when you finish this book, I will be satisfied if at the least you have asked yourself “do I really want to take that chance?!!!!!”