Category Archives: parables

Charlottesville, Va: The Church And Racism

By Gloria

The recent event in Charlottesville, Virginia is one of the many examples that show we do not live in a post-racial society. Racism seems to be one of the many social ills that has continued throughout the centuries without a clear end in sight.

What happened?

A “Unite the right” rally was planned for Aug 12 in protest to removing the statue of Robert E Lee, a confederate icon. A day before on Aug 11, a march was held at the University of Virginia where the crowds chanted “white lives matter” & “blood & soil”.

The protesters showed up on Aug 12 and clashed with counter demonstrators. The rally turned deadly as a speeding car killed one person and injured 19. Trump held a press conference days later which left many stunned and drew a lot of criticism as he stated that both groups were to blame.

The Church’s Stand

What has been the response from the church leadership not only over the racial divide which seems to be deepening but also where is the support from the leader of the free world, President Donald Trump who clearly stated that there are many good people in neo-Nazis & white supremacist groups?

For the most part, the Institutional church herein referred to as the I.C. hasn’t raised a strong, united voice indicating where they stand on the issue. Consequently, the silence in itself is both telling and deafening by comparison,for when business advisers have publicly stepped away from Trump, by contrast, the Nation’s evangelical leaders have made no or little noise over the issue and they remain steadfast and committed to Trump.

As an example, here are some quotes from various church leaders:-

Robert Jeffries, one of Trumps advisors said this on his twitter account,
“Pray for peace in Charlottesville and across our nation,” and “Let there be no misunderstanding. Racism is sin. Period,”

Paula White on her twitter account wrote about the event mentioning that there is a need for renewal of grace and for God to help us.

Franklin Graham defended Trump on his Facebook page stating that the shame should be on politicians that want to blame Trump.

Joel Osteen on his Facebook page wrote that, “…When somebody doesn’t agree with us or not doing what we like, it’s easy to get in conflict with them, to argue, to try to straighten them out, to prove our point. No, you have to be the bigger person. Just because they’re doing wrong doesn’t mean you have to engage.” 

The bottom-line is that many mega church leaders haven’t said anything at all.

This mixed reaction where some leaders condemned what happened, others spoke vaguely and others have remained completely silent shows the lack of unity in the I.C.

We live in troubling times; it is not the time to panic! But it’s time to get your life in order and prepare yourself mentally, spiritually, emotionally & even learn several survival skills should any disaster happen. Leaders in the I.C. are not preparing their congregations to understand the times and many unsuspecting churchgoers will be caught off guard when the rapture they are waiting for doesn’t happen and they are faced with the tribulation.

This post is not to analyze the racial divide that is deep in America. It’s to simply shed light on the fact that the I.C. is unable to give proper guidance to their church goers and one of the reasons is due to the fact that she is divided.

Jesus predicted the division that would happen to the Institutional church. He did this using the parable of the mustard seed.

Matthew 13:31-32
31 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, 32 which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”

In order to understand this parable, you have to look at the history of the church:-

The Seed -The church had very humble beginnings with the disciples who symbolize the mustard seed.

The huge tree – From 312 AD when Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, Roman practices were mixed with Christian beliefs leading to the creation of the Roman Catholic Church that grew far and wide, virtually unopposed for centuries.

Branches – The protestant reformation that opposed the many false doctrines of the Catholic church occurred in the 16th Century. The church split as many denominations were created.

Birds nest in its branches – demons infiltrated the churches, bringing false doctrines with them. (in Matthew 13:4- birds represents demons).

Clearly the Lord Jesus warned our present generation with this parable prophesied over 2000 years ago.

A clear and simple analysis is that the I.C. is infiltrated by demons and that is why she is weak. All she has is a form of godliness but no power. The early church with the apostles was relatively small but moved with great power but the Laodicean church of today is large but weak & lukewarm, unable to make any significant impact.Clearly, the Spirit of God is no longer in the I.C. The Lord warned you with the parable of the mustard seed. If you seek direction from her, you will be led into more confusion.

The Lord Jesus said on the other hand that HE will build his own Church and the gates of hell will not prevail. Matthew 16:18. He was not referring to the Institutional Church, but to all the believers throughout the centuries that have remained faithful to Him because he has kept them. From every generation, God always has HIS remnant who remain faithful to him.

If you want to understand why the I.C. is the way it is and get a clear understanding of who the Body of Christ is, get a copy of

The Church of the End-Time Zombies. 

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TCOTEZ pic

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Filed under churchfolk, demons and devils, Jesus, Joel Osteen, leave the church, parables, rapture, religious demon, salvation, scriptures, the institutional church, tribulation

How To Witness To Religious Churchgoers: Who Are the Birds?

One of the reasons that makes  witnessing to churchgoers both difficult and unpleasant  is because  they have not yet heard from the Lord in a revelatory way.  Most of the religious  believe that if your argument is not bible-based, then it is not worth listening to.  So, a way to get through to them is using the scriptures in red.  In other words, “What did the Lord Jesus say?”  Use the Lord’s own words to reveal the truth to them.

The Lord  Jesus presented a group of kingdom of heaven parables, most of which He did not explain, but he left some clues. One of the clues as depicted in Matthew 13, is the birds. Therefore, when you’re keeping things very general, your focus is to  rely on what the Lord said, what the Lord shared. Consequently,  ask your religious churchgoer,” what do you think that parable means?”  Listen to what they say. You also  ask questions. First of all  Ask them, “what do the birds represent?”  They won’t know.  So remaining focused and patient, you highlight   the verse which most people know by taking him, her or them  to the parable of the mustard seed  that grew into a large tree.

The trunk of that tree is the Catholic church, and the branches of that tree that come out of that trunk are the plethora of Protestant denominations and non-­denominations that have been formed since the 1500’s. . Protestantism  are the branches of that tree. There should be no argument that the tree is  the system of the Institutional Church. So in this context, you can also clarify that the Body of Christ is not the Institutional Church where believers gather together for Sunday morning worship. So it will be relatively easy  to distinguish the difference between the Body of Christ and the Institutional Church. It follows that  you should be able to get agreement that  the body of Christ consists of every born again person who ever lived, who’s living now, and who ever will live. Clearly,  the body of Christ and  the institution of church and religion are not the same.

Once these matters are clarified, then continue to interpret  the mustard seed  parable.  Next consider the birds, nestling in the branches. Now you can make the point  that the non-Catholic denominations have the devil as well as the Catholics.   The trunk is the Catholic church! The people who started the Protestant churches were  themselves  originally Catholics,  believers  who left Catholicism who started a whole new branch of religion. Your major point is this.   the Catholics are the trunk of the tree and  Protestants are the branches. . In the Protestants we have the denominations and the non-­denominations. Simple. Keep it simple.

Now, some believe  that the Catholic church is of God , but it’s the branches that spoiled things. Others believe  that God set up the branches , therefore  it’s the Catholic church that is demonic.  “Oh, forget about the Catholics, they’re all  about witchcraft, with their worshipping the saints and all that, they bigtime got the devil. But the denominations, I mean, these are the ones, this is the true church.” No. Make it plain that one comes out of the other. In fact, there is a movement going forth today to unite the Protestants back with the Catholics.

Then ask the question, ” who are the birds?”  THE ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!!!!

  Once  Jesus used a symbol, it makes sense that the symbol  will have a similar meaning when  He uses it again. In Matthew 13, known as the parable of the Sower,  the Lord is metaphorically discussing the reasons why some hearers of the word do not become  born again.  Jesus shared that the one who hears the word by the wayside do not become born again because the birds come and eat the seed.  Later on in that chapter, the Lord interprets His parable to the apostles, revealing that the birds are wicked beings. They are evil spirits: fallen angels and demons.

So, go back and look at the mustard seed parable concerning the birds in the branches of the institutional church system. Keeping things simple, if the birds were demons in the parable of the Sower , than Jesus is  giving us a clue that the birds up in the branches of the mustard seed parable are evil spirits  also. So if the birds up in the branches are demons. believe me, the Catholic church is also run by fallen angels. In other words, in His office as a Prophet,  the Lord revealed that Fallen angels and demons would one day be  in control of  the Institutional Church.

Perhaps you will be asked if you believe  God ever been involved with Institutional  Church? To answer this question  refer to the  first two or three chapters of the book of Revelation, where a message is sent from the Lord , not to the church, but to the angel of the church. Clearly,  God’s  angels play an important role in the operation of the Institutional Church, and seeing as it was a Roman emperor–Constantine— who started the Institutional Church in 313AD, it doesn’t take too much common sense to realize that the angels who are in control of the Institutional Church today are fallen, they’re not God’s angels.

From the book of Revelation, God’s angels were involved in the churches at  Ephesus, Smyrna, and Philadelphia.  For example,  point out that the Churches at Pergamos and Thyatira   reads a lot like the Catholic Church as Laodicea clearly represents the Protestant churches of  our times. So it would be beneficial if you spent with those seven letters.

 Churchgoers, both traditional and charismatic tend to leap from topic to topic.  In this case, you must stay focused by making only a few points. .  The major point you should make is God’s relationship to the institutional church according to the words of Jesus in His parables and in the book of Revelation. The average committed churchgoer is going to defend THEIR local  church and their pastor., with defenses like  “oh, well my church doesn’t do what these charismatic churches do, they don’t ask for tithes, they don’t teach this, they don’t teach that.”

You have to point out that certainly there are righteous, sincere people in some of the churches, both pastors and laity. The question is “Do you want to be in a church that regardless of how committed and faithful the people seem, their organization is run by fallen angels and demons?”  The birds in the branches is the bottom-line to consider!  Until a religious, deceived person comes to the realization that Satan, the god of this world, is in control of their beloved church edifice and system , is it really safe to worship there?  The next question to address is “what about the plagues that the Lord mentions in Rev 18:4 when He warns “Come out of Her My People, less you partake of Her sins and receive of Her plagues.”

In fact, where are God’s people for the most part?  Let the churchgoer answer that question.   The very first place even an atheist will think of is “the Institutional Churches. “

This is all very simple.  The enemy keeps the confusion complicated so that churchgoers will protest with all kinds of explanations, rationalizations  and excuses for continuing to do what the Lord has warned them not to do.

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