I have been a believer in Jesus Christ for as long as I can remember, and first publicly confessed this belief at about the age of seven in a Nazarene Church in Nebraska. I have grown very slowly, coming from a home with parents who were not believers. I rode the church bus (before the age of 5) and attended church by myself, attended when I lived with other relatives during several rough years, attended with step grandparents, walked myself to church across the street, and sometimes relied on youth groups for my spiritual learning as I did not know what church to attend. My faith has been my own all along, and I am thankful to God that He gave me my faith. Due to weak spiritual leadership and models in my life, as well as my lack of self discipline and study, I believe I have remained immature much longer than I should have. However, my faith is very strong. I rely on Jesus for my strength. I may be imperfect, but I am so happy to tell you that my God is perfect, full of grace, truth, and mercy. I have been blessed with a wonderful husband and many children I do not deserve or own, and do adore.
The following was first written August 18, 2008., Today is November 30, 2009 and this is not about the current church I attend. We have found a church we feel is preaching straight from the bible, and so this references the church we left behind:
Recently, I have opened my eyes to the fact that my church is not just one that “went through” the Purpose Driven books, but has fully plunged itself into the global P.E.A.C.E. plan of Rick Warren. Our church is like a ship that has changed from true north to a slightly different point on the horizon. This small shift initially has been growing further away from God. As we leave the way we were going, I am personally feeling starved and low on nutrients spiritually speaking. I am heart broken to see our church mingling so openly with both program/book driven ministry as well as cozying up to a local emergent church (that is not at all ashamed of itself). I feel the pastors and elders have already decided where we’re going, and the only way out is probably to leave or die. However, I do have some hope that through prayer, repentance, and a seeking after the truth, our church can have a chance to change and go back to a true confession of Christ.
I am not a “little Christ” nor am I only a Christ follower. I am a CHRISTIAN and refuse to give away this title because many died in the early church bearing the name Christian. These many Christians believed wholeheartedly in the Lord Jesus and that His death on the Cross saved them from their sins. I will not trade the name for a trendy “make em feel better” name. I will also not claim to be a “little Christ” as our pastor has said Christian really means because, in English at least the term “little Christ” implies I think myself equal with God, which I do not. I am a person who does confess Christ and believes in Him, believing that Jesus is Lord.
I belong to the Father through Christ Jesus and have the Holy Spirit as a deposit and counselor.
I am a C...I am a CH...I am a CHRISTIAN 
hi!! what’s your name?? im a Christian too. =)
its so encouraging to see how faithful you are, and how you proclaim it!! =) keep it up..
I just go by Christianlady here…
To a wise Christian Lady with truth seeing eyes. It’s really confusing to see the direction Purpose Driven has taken the church because it had seemed to be a motivating force. Keep speaking the truth so others will see also.
The great need of the hour is revival and reform that produces true churches where God is the center, the glory of God is the focus, and the Bible is the authoriative and sufficient manual!!
Ike,
I couldn’t have said it better. “God is the center, the glory of God is the focus, the center, the Bible is the authoritative and sufficient manual…”
Yes, what Ike said great didn’t he? I just focus on the Word of God. When i pray before i read my Bible, the Lord always shows or teaches me something.
Thank you for putting out on the internet that you are not afraid to let others know you are thankful and accept what our Lord Jesus Christ gave you so freely. The opportunity for you and anybody willing to accept His grace to become a son/daughter of the one living God. God’s light still shines in you and others like. Keep the faith. I’m praying too, and I believe God is still alive and He is in control.
As A faithful christian, I must admit that your point of view is shockingly true. But you must also realize that the flock is only as trained as the sheppard trains them. I agree that we have to first look to our father and then to external forces. As for me as i emerge myself in his words I hear his voice from others even outside the pulpit. Thank you for standing up for our dad and united we stand and divided we can’t.
Dear sister in Christ,
I clicked on your name from Mike Ratliff’s web site. I read most of your entries. How wonderful that the LORD gave you wisdom and discernment to realize that things were not Biblical and that there was a serious change in your church that was giving cause for alarm. One of the results of what has happened is that you have come to realize how much we need the LORD Jesus Christ to guide us and to teach us through His Word. I have come to the same conclusions and how I can not put my trust in any man including my own pastor and church leadership. I, too have wanted to be wrong about the changes I have been seeing and hearing and have spent many hours on the laptop my husband gave me. He has noticed it and wondered about it. I explained that there are many new words and phrases that I had never heard before and needed to research them to know what they mean. The sad thing is that my research is bringing me to emerging church web sites and also to reconstruction web sites. I am thankful to the LORD for a Bible to read and that He has taught me to test all things against His Word.
I wondered about your comments regarding the Warren P.E.A.C.E. plan. Are the words “missional” and “incarnational” part of that format? My church put out a booklet one year ago with a vision statement and how everyone needs to keep their eyes on the vision. There is a comment in the booklet that the church should not use “insider jargon.” I really wondered about what it meant. The church has to be missional and incarnational, not inwardly focused but turned outward to the community and to serve the community is another part of the vision. Another comment in it is that we should make our church a place that is not a fortress but a place that unbelievers will feel welcomed. I put the booklet in a drawer and decided to wait and see what would happen. My husband was having a spinal problem at that time and it was too much to deal with in worrying over the church.
Then I read the book that we were asked to read by the pastor. It is Tim Keller’s Ministries of Mercy. Many alarm bells went off. I was newly part of a weekday Bible study/small group at the church. I started looking uo many of the phrases in the book and had deep concerns and told my group teacher. I realized later that those concerns and questions were repeated to the leadership when all of the Bible study/small group leaders got together once per month. I started to pay closer attention to what was being said.
I had read The Purpose driven Life 4 years ago and realized it was wrong at that time. I told that to some family members and they thought me to be crazy. One simple verse “Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.” That verse was changed so that Noah was the center and what he did pleased God. Not the actual truth, that we are saved only by God having mercy and grace upon our souls. Crossroads is one of the web sites that I looked up 4 years ago when looking up Rick Warren in an internet search. I was still a very new Christian at that time. Bob DeWaay is another pastor who had warnings on line then against the false teachings coming into churches through the Purpose Driven books.
I looked for a church that was Biblical in my area which is not that easy to find. I visited many. I started going to one almost 4 years ago and that is where I was baptised 2 years ago and became a member. It is a church that has preached the 5 solas. Not that I had ever heard of any of that before going.
I did speak against Warren and his book with a new friend there to a woman at the church. She had read it and gone through the 40 days at another church but had not realized it to be wrong. She went to the pastor and asked him about Rick Warren. She later told me that he had personally met Warren and that he believed that Rick Warren had a genuine concern for the lost. That was 3 years ago and I was still new at the church. That should have been a warning sign to me. The only way my pastor would have met Warren would have been to go to a conference at his church.
Anyway, things have changed in many ways. The music leader has been let go and the guitarist leads (actually no leading) in music along with singers next to him. The drums are louder. Hymns have been dropped including the contemporary hymns and there is mostly choruses sung 3 times over. Yes, that song “You are beautiful” is one of the new songs from last month. I felt uncomfortable about the wording since it does not seem the least bit reverent towards a holy God. There is a new song almost every week. As of one month ago, a series of sermons started and the first one was the pastor explaining that there are emerging churches and emergent churches and that there is good and bad in both camps. He had said he went to a conference and met with Keller and people from Acts 29 Network. I was concerned even more. He started quoting Tim Keller in the sermons. He did mention how we need to contemplate on God’s Word and that certain people had given that a bad name. I was listening closely. The words “missional” kept coming up in the sermons. He said that the church had to be like the church in the first century and that we were “incarnational.” I had never read that term in the Bible. words like missiology were coming up. All of these words were in Keller’s book and on his web site from Redeemer Church in N.Y. I had seen in research that Keller and Warren went to the same conferences and I was wondering what all of it meant. I, too, wondered about the connections. Sad….
Anyway, I wanted to write you to say that I prayed for you. I have learned a lot from reading articles and sermons from John MacArthur (gty.org) So far, everything I have read is Biblical. I also read phil Johnson who works for Pastor macArthur.
Another web site with excellent articles including book reviews is Pastor Gary Gilley’s svchapel.org
I learned a lot also from Oldtruth.com
I saw that it is off line part of the day but it is worth doing some researh on it when you can. I did see the videos that he posted.
I read some of Dwayna Litz regarding warnings against Warren and Keller. That web site is Lighting the Way. You can google search to get it.
Well, I need to go. I hope the LORD leads you to a Biblical church. It is a strange time that we live in. He did warn us that these things would happen. I just didn’t realize it was in my life time and that it was with in the Christian church. He does promise to guide us and keep us by His power in faith unto salvation. Remember that God is in full control of what is going on.
with love in the LORD Jesus Christ,
Katharine
Hello ! Found your blog listed on ” Okie Preacher “— I met Randy some years ago and heard him preach.
By the looks of the sites you feature on your blogroll, I can see that you have a discerning eye (and ear !)
Keep up the good work ! Feel free to check out my blog where I also try to share the Truth.
God Bless !
Bob Hanks
http://www.bobhanks.wordpress.com
Dear Sister,
Glad to find a fellow believer in Christ who loves God’s Word enough to stand for truth!
Thanks much for including my classroom, the red pen, among your links. I appreciate all of the students God sends my way, and those who faithfully send them my way!
To God be the glory,
Chris
PS I appreciate what I’m reading on your blog, especially the details of how God delivered you from your old church.
One private word of advice: longer paragraphs are tough to read on-screen. You may promote more regular readership if you break your text into smaller, bite-sized paragraphs. (Try it out first, and see for yourself how differently it reads.)
I’m sorry about your problems, CL. We recently left our church behind, for some of the same reasons, in addition to a lack of fellowship, which I perceive wasn’t a factor for you. We tried another church for a while. It just didn’t seem to be what God was doing with us, and now we’re part of a “simple” or house church, which I truly love. I think leaving the institutional church, forcing us to start “feeding” ourselves was probably the best thing that’s ever happened to our spiritual lives.
God’s blessings on your journey,
Cindy
I stumbled upon your site when searching for stuff about Awana (which I have strong misgivings over) and found that you are also struggling with the PDL stuff….Our new pastor (of about 6 months) is about to start Awana and is leading us down the Church in a box approach (Warren himself has used the term) without actually calling it that….sermonetes with fill in the blank sermon notes and now I find out were going to go through this finding your gifts nonsense we went through at another church….A life in the Lord is something glorious, exciting and different for each person…..each church should have it’s own call from God….this church in a box nonsense is going to keep me home…..would appreciate a correspondence as I fee very alone in my quiet objection….God bless…
Doug
Doug,
Please check some of the side sites. Listen online to Pirate Christian Radio…
Most of all, read your Bible!
Praying for you!
And Doug,
I understand how it is to feel alone. I did have my husband, and we found a couple who would listen to us who had left the church for similar reasons.
Sites I recommend are the Pyromaniacs site…Lighthouse Trails….check those first. Pirate Christian Radio is a good listen, Slice of Laodicea…check those on the side…
I’ll give it a listen and check out the sites…thanks….
dougb
Katherine,
I was especially encouraged by your post and would love to connect with you. Please read my testimony at
http://kimolsen.wordpress.com/2008/12/07/i-fell-for-a-satanic-trap-testimony-from-valerie/
and I would love to hear from you. My email is posted at the end. Any other ladies out there too who need encouragement are welcome to contact me as well.
Most of my fellowship right now is online. My husband and I are going to a church that is not biblical, but my husband does not see the danger and I am submitting to his authority. Needless to say, no fellowship at my local church. We are not members and before Oct. 2008 we were members of a PCA church for 14 years. It was hard to leave. The whole missional ,christ follower ,purpose driven scheme and don’t question the books like Brother Lawrence Practicing the Presence and Promotion of Priscilla Shirer.
I hope to hear from you so we can encourage one another as we see the day approaching faster and faster.
By His grace,
Valerie
I’ve read this and your current post. I look forward to reading more. Your story tugs at my heart.
Blessings,
Jennifer
Dear Christian lady,
I appreciated you story and thank you for your authenticity and openness.
I am an ordained minister in the COTN and currently serve overseas in a predominately Muslim nation. The situation and changes being faced in the American church in general and the COTN specifically are issues that those in cross-cultural ministry and living overseas in non-Christian context have been dealing with for years.
The necessary and beneficial part of this change that is taking place is that it if forcing us to rethink HOW we do church. Better said, it is reminding that church is not something we can do, but something we are. The COTN, like all denominations, is not a thing that exists for itself but rather only exists as part of the body of Christ.
We must be willing to put aside anything that is not Biblical and/or contrary to Jesus’ teachings. I could go to lots of places to show clearly that we have a responsibility to be the body of Christ before the non-believers in our world, we have the responsibility to be the church in ways that do not UNNECESSARILY offend.
The gospel is offensive in and of itself–we have not right to further offend through our cultural, linguistic, lifestyle (etc, etc) preferences. Even the way we conduct our worship, according to Paul, must have in mind the non-believing observer. We cannot become a stumbling block (as many become in their attempts to be Biblical or faithful to the Word of God).
We absolutely are the body of Christ. We absolutely are “little Christs” (like it or not, the Bible is clear that we are partners with God, heirs WITH Christ, etc). We are not God, and this term does not imply this. Our life is a life of following Christ, which is why people were given the name “Christian.”
“Christian” is not a name Christ gave us. It’s not from the Father, either. There is not Biblical injunction to carry this name and certainly we cannot let this “label” become our true identity. Our identity is found in Christ, not in a label.
In our context we avoid the word Christian, not from shame or embarrassment but because the word itself has been soiled by many Christians throughout the history of Christianity. For many non-believers in our world (even in the USA), “Christian” means violence, hatred, judgmental, unloving, murder, genocide, wealth, selfishness, injustice and on and on I could go.
I do not identify with any of these labels, nor does Christ. I will not allow his name to be soiled by allowing myself or his followers to continue using this term that identified him as anything that he is not.
We, the church are the people who confess Jesus as Lord–you are absolutely correct in this–but so many of the other things that we try so hard to hold onto are not of ultimate importance, and certainly ought not be used to tear one another down.
I am not a “little Christ” nor am I only a Christ follower. I am a CHRISTIAN and refuse to give away this title because many died in the early church bearing the name Christian. These many Christians believed wholeheartedly in the Lord Jesus and that His death on the Cross saved them from their sins. I will not trade the name for a trendy “make em feel better” name. I will also not claim to be a “little Christ” as our pastor has said Christian really means because, in English at least the term “little Christ” implies I think myself equal with God, which I do not. I am a person who does confess Christ and believes in Him, believing that Jesus is Lord.
D E I L,
While I know the term “Christian” has been tagged with people not acting the way Christ would have them act, there is also a revisionist problem with history. Lies can also be used against any name, and no matter what label…the fact is that those who do believe in Christ will always be looked upon as hated or dreaded by many in the world. Christ himself, his very name does offend. He is tagged with a lot of things he did not ever do. Yes he is still so named.
Fact is, it is noted that in Antioch, they were first called Christian. I am not going to disassociate with these early believers because of the person tagging them with this name. I believe “little Christs” is loaded in the church I came from because the minister was not just talking about immitating Christ…I believe it was alluding to us becoming a part of a “god” thing. I don’t know how to explain it exactly, but my sense is that the church was teaching about being the “Imagio Dei” or image of God and also being a “little Christ” not just in the sense that we’re heirs, but that we have a little piece of God in us somehow…in a more New Age way than Christian way. I wish I could explain more clearly…
I understand your concerns about “little Christian” and how that might have been taught in your particular organization. However, with regard to the use of “Christian” I continue to maintain that it is Christ who should offend–not any actions, attitudes, or histories associated with those that used the label “Christian.” There is a huge difference.
Not using the term is, in my opinion, not a denial of Christ but rather a denial of the non-Christlike actions of those who called themselves “Christian” but in no real way followed Jesus Christ.
In the place where I live this is a daily concern and a daily issue that we deal with. When my neighbors (Muslims) hear “Christian” they do not think of Jesus Christ first–they think of people who hate them, who have waged war against them, people who do not know God…etc. I cannot, and will not, allow myself to be known in that way.
May God bless you as you Do Everything In Love…
When the people who killed Jesus heard His name, they stuck him with false labels too. I am not hindered by people’s perception of what people who claim to be Christian have done in the past or even today. If that were the case, then Christ followers will fall out of “style” in the future, and then another term would fall out of style. Eventually, every term is going to have negative connotations no matter what you choose to call yourself. I am not giving in when it comes to the name Christian, and that is that.
Wow Christianlady!!!! I am in agreement with what I have read in your answers to people’s statements! I am a CHRISTIAN! I love HIS WAYS! I in my flesh, and in my mind and in His Spirit rejoice that through His grace we are His forever! Keep on keeping on!
….. and I forgot my pleasure! A song! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt7OZyBj5Ik
If you are still around, please contact me regarding Pastor Dan Southerland
Matt,
Don’t know how to contact you, and not interested in a big fight. My sources are online outside of this blog. I can give you my sources, not much else.
Here’s my source on him and why I have issues with him: http://www.piratechristian.com/captains-log/2010/02/26/special-edition-the-cultlike-hostile-takeover-tactics-of-the-purposedriven-church-transtioning-semin?rq=Dan%20Southerland