I came across these questions while researching spiritual abuse in the church. They may serve as a helpful starting point in evaluating your church. They offer a great starting point for dialogue if you have concerns about the health of your church.


Uncovering Churches
that Abuse People

The following questions come from the book: Recovering from Churches That Abuse, by Ronald Enroth, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Zondervon, 1994.

1. Does a member’s personality generally become stronger, happier, more confident as a result of contact with the group?

In an abusive church, the use of guilt, fear, and intimidation to control members is likely to produce members who have a low self-image, who feel beaten down by legalism, who have been taught that asserting oneself is not spiritual.

One of the first disturbing characteristics to be reported by relatives and friends of members of these churches is a noticeable change in personality, usually in a negative direction.


2. Do members of the group seek to strengthen their family commitments?

Nearly all unhealthy churches attempt to minimize the commitments of their members to their family, especially parents.

Young people may be told that they now have a new “spiritual” family, complete with leaders who will “re-parent” them.

Church loyalty is seen as paramount, and family commitments are discouraged or viewed as impediments to spiritual advancement.


3. Does the group encourage independent thinking and the development of discernment skills?

Control-oriented leaders attempt to dictate what members think, although the process is so spiritualized that members usually do not realize what is going on.

A pastor or leader is viewed as God’s mouth piece, and in varying degrees a member’s decision making and ability to think for oneself are swallowed up by the group.

Pressure to conform and low tolerence for questioning make it difficult to be truly discerning.


4. Does the group allow for individual differences of belief and behaviour, particularly on issues of secondary importance?

A legalistic emphasis on keeping rules and a focus on the need to stay within prescribed boundaries is always present in unhealthy spiritual envionments.

Lifestyle rigidity in such groups increase a member’s guilt feelings and contributes to spiritual bondage. This rigidity is often coupled with an emphasis on beliefs that would not receive great attention in mainstream evangelicalism.


5. Does the group encourage high moral standards both among members and between members and non members?

In intense, legalistic churches and religious organizations, the official, public proclamations usually place special value on high moral standards.

In some instances, there is a double standard between those in leadershp and those in the rank and file membership.

Abusive churches tend to have incidents of sexual misconduct more often than most conventonal churches; leaders sometimes exhibit an obsessive interest in matters relating to sex.


6. Does the group’s leadership invite dialogue, advice and evaluation from outside its immediate circle?

Authoritarian pastors are usually threatened by any outside expression of diverse opinions, whether from inside or outside the group. When outside speakers are given access to the pulpit, they are carefully selected to minimize any threat to the leadership’s agenda.

Coercive pastors are fiercely independent and do not function well in a structure of accountability.

For the sake of public relations, they may boast that they are accountable to a board of some sort, when in actuality the board is composed of “yes-men” who do not question the leader’s authority.


7. Does the group allow for development in theological beliefs?

Another hallmark of an authoritarian church is its intolerance of any belief system different from its own.

They tend to measure and evaluate all forms of Christian spirituality according to their own carefully prescribed system, adopting an “us-versus-them” mentality.


8. Are group members encouraged to ask hard questions of any kind?

A cardinal rule of abusive systems is “Don’t ask questions, don’t make waves.”

A healthy pastor welcomes even tough questions. In an unhealthy church disagreement with the pastor is considered to be disloyalty and is tantamount to disobeying God.

People who repeatedly question the system are labelled “rebellious”, “unteachable”, or “disharmonious to the body of Christ”.

Persistent questioners may face sanctions of some kind such as being publicly ridiculed, shunned, shamed, humiliated, or disfellowshiped.


9. Do members appreciate truth wherever it is found even if it is outside their group?

Whether they admit it or not, abusive churches tend to view themselves as spiritually superior to other Christian groups.

This religious elitism allows little room for outside influences. There can be no compromise with external sources, who, the leadership will say, really don’t understand what is going on in the ministry anyway.


10. Is the group honest in dealing with nonmembers, especially as it tries to win them to the group?

Sometimes abusive groups illustrate a “split-level religion”. There is one level for public presentation and another for the inner circle of membership.

The former is a carefully crafted public relations effort, the latter a reality level experienced only by the “true believers”.

Recruitment tactics are usually intense, even if they are not actually deceptive or fraudulent, they can be manipulative or exploitive.

Sometimes high pressure religious groups are evasive about there ture identity: “We really don’t have a name, we’re just Christians.”

A healthy Christian group should have no qualms about revealing who it is and what its intentions are.


11. Does the group foster relationships and connections with the larger society that
are
more than self-serving?

First impressions are not always correct. Sustained contact with an First impressions are not always correct. Sustained contact with an unhealthy church, however, will usually reveal a pattern that is consistent with the characteristics we have identified.

Members will be requested to serve, to become involved, to sign up for a variety of activities that, upon closer inspection, appear to maintain the system and serve the needs of the leadership.

Abusive churches thrive on tactics that promote dependency.

Emphasizing obedience and submission to leaders, these churches often require a level of service that is overwhelming to members, resulting in emotional turmoil and spiritual breakdowns.

[www.merchantcircle.com]

This is an interesting review regarding TPCC and Spiritual Parenting. Can anyone verify if they teach this idea of Spiritual Parenting?

To all the Faithful believers at Turning Point & SOMA NorthWest I can only beg of you to reasearch the teachings & history of Tony Cunningham....he clames to have 20 years of excelent leadership?? well I am wondering what in the world is he smoking? how convaluted can a person get? Look at the covanant relationships that Tony has already in place with key people in your church and church leadership. these need to be renounced and broken off.
I can only pray that the elders of your church do not turn a blind eye like they have here in Sacramanto. Tolorating Tony's false teaching and being afraid to say somthing because at the same time Tony has established these emotional affairs with the elders wives.
Like the surpent in the garden who spoke some truth and a little lie. That is all Tony does with his crazy reckless teachings.

Covering Theology has been mentioned in this thread. It appears based on comments in the SOMANW promo video the "Covering" is being taught in some form and setting at TPCWOC. If you have sat under the teaching of covering I ask you to consider the following comments.

The "Covering" Heresy

Steve Wetzel
MTTU News

7/1/2008

If you are reading this article, you should be aware of the Flip Benham, Troy Newman, Randall Terry controversy. I have had difficulty identifying the root cause of the Benham attacks on Newman. Even finding the right grouping of words to identify it was hard to do. Is it spiritual authority or servant leadership or spiritual abuse - or even a cult? Finally, I searched the words “Covering Theology” - and found it.

John Bevere released a book called, ‘Under Cover’ stressing the importance of covering in the life of an individual believer. This is not a biblical teaching. We are to submit to authorities, both inside the Church and in the world, as long as what they ask us to do is not in conflict with God’s commands (1 John 2:1, 5:2). We are to obey the laws of the land (1 Pet. 2:13-16) “but as the servants of God” (1 Peter. 2:16). We are to submit to the authorities in the Church (Heb. 13:17), but they are also not to lord it over people (Mark 10:42-45), and we are to be Bereans (Acts. 17:11) and test what they teach (1 Thess. 5:21, 1 John 4:1, 1 Cor. 10:15), and reject them if they are heretics (Titus 3:10).

Here are three reviews/ warnings of the book Under Cover (the reviewers are not named, so credit cannot be given):

Again, Bevere is brainwashing Christians into not testing leadership in the churches so that false apostles, prophets and teachers may gain control of people and their money. This is a hallmark teaching of Third Wave heretics.

The message of this book is a very dangerous message for Christians. It promotes a very unhealthy view of how a believer is to submit to authority in the church. Very little actual Biblical support is used to support this message. Instead, John Bevere uses many personal experiences to build his support for the message of Under Cover. These examples have an emotional pull to them and can be very convincing to individuals. However, there is a great danger in this message. As believers, our covering is the Lord Jesus Christ. In his book, Mr. Bevere points people to look at their pastor as their covering. This is serious error and has the potential to shipwreck people’s faith. My recommendation would be to not read this book, or, if you are compelled to read it, be sure to balance the message of the book with what the scripture says.

This Undercover book is nothing but heresy. I read the Bait of Satan, it was a good book. Where did this come from? Page 147 shows without a doubt this false teaching. Bevere says that God “told him” that He (God) never intended for His people to get all they needed from His Word. And that we must have pastors tell us what to do. The veil was torn in two when Christ died on the cross, and we are not in the Old Testament where we have to have a priest go into the temple for us. We can all come boldly to the throne of Christ. Nowhere in the New Testament do pastors have any more authority than anyone else. … But in Americanized Christianity, the “pastor” has been put on a throne that the Word does not establish. Pastor means shepherd, and maybe John Bevere and others who hold pastors as little gods should read in Jeremiah and Isaiah what God said about shepherds who lead His people in to false teachings. Sadly, the people who followed the false shepherds were themselves destroyed. God did not spare them from their ignorance. We are all responsible for our own salvation, with fear and trembling. As a Pentecostal person, I am very disappointed with this book. It is heresy.

As with anything, a kernel of truth can be taken and reshaped and twisted so that it does not even resemble the original truth it was supposed to convey. Instead of the man being the head the woman, and Christ being the head of the man - the pastor has been injected between the man and Christ. Access to Christ is denied, and His role as Mediator now falls to a man - this case - his pastor. It is the bastardization of what a covering is supposed to be in God's Word.

Flip Benham is a follower of this "covering" theology. Mr. Newman (and others) ran afoul of Benham because they rejected his supposed "covering" authority over them. If one rejects this supposed covering, you become anathema and an unbeliever. (This will vary depending on the ego and angst of the coverer.) You are viewed as worse than a heathen, and subjected to attacks. This is at the core of the Benham attacks on Troy Newman.

There is nothing new about Covering Theology. It is simply pride, power grabbing, and personal kingdom building - all rolled into one. The only thing that changes is the flavor. It just morphs into different shades so the Christian gullible will say, "Wow - that is new and exciting!"
Saints - nothing ever changes. Everything remains the same except the skin it wears. Child sacrifice became pro-choice. Personal kingdom building has become our modern day "covering." Sin is sin, regardless of its title or the skin that it wears.

Beware of this heresy. Bad theology begets bad behavior.

Being forewarned, is being fore-armed.

Have you given yourself to the teaching of Covenant Relationship? If so you may want to see how this teaching has been twisted and perverted. See the article at this website: [www.slm.org]

More on "Covenant Relationship":

The Curse of Unauthorized Covenants
By Steven Lambert, ThD
7/7/04
One of the last books Derek Prince authored prior to his recent death was Blessings and Curses (Revised version, 2003; Chosen Books, Grand Rapids Michigan). [Click on title or graphic link on left to order.]

It has been well-documented how that in the 1970s Prince had been one of the originators of what became known as the Discipleship or Shepherding Movement. To his credit, however, when the doctrines associated with that movement were challenged by numerous prominent church leaders, the highly-respected Bible teacher was the first to publicly acknowledge that the teachings were erroneous, recant them, repent, and ask fellow believers for forgiveness from the spiritual harm he had been instrumental in wreaking upon the Body of Christ.

In Blessings and Curses (p. 46) [emphasis and bracketed comments added], Prince writes:

In Exodus 23:32-33 God warned Israel about the idolatrous nations whose land they were about to enter: "Do not make a COVENANT with them or with their gods...The worship of their gods will CERTAINLY be a SNARE to YOU." If you make a solemn agreement with people who are under the power of evil forces, you come under that same power.... As Christians, we are all in a covenant relationship with the Lord and the ONLY other valid covenant is that of marriage between a husband and wife. Covenants are very powerful, and to enter into a covenant relationship on any other basis but these can be extremely dangerous. If it is a scriptural covenant [which the author states are only those between a believer and the Lord, and between a husband and wife], its effect will be a blessing. But, if it is unscriptural, its effect will be a CURSE. Solomon offers an urgent word of counsel in Proverbs 6:4-5 to anyone who has made a pledge or vow binding them to an evil ASSOCIATION:
Allow no sleep to your eyes,
No slumber to your eyelids.
Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
Like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
What you have said with your own lips [unscriptural/unauthorized pledges, oaths, covenants] only YOU can unsay. At the same time, get rid of any articles associated with the ungodly covenant. It is best to do this in the presence of Christian witnesses who can support you with their faith.
It is clear in Scripture that human covenants, pledges, and oaths other than the only two that are authorized by Scripture (marriage and God's with believers) subject the participating parties to curses that bear the potential for great harm and grave danger.

Contrary to the adage quoted even by occultists, Jesus did not teach that the truth itself will automatically set you free. Rather, He taught that it was the truth that we KNOW — the truth that lives (abides) in us and that we live in — that will set us free (cf, John 8:31,32). Indeed, the Word of God is literally filled with Kingdom Truths that bear unfettered power to liberate all who will accept and apply them to their lives, yet that glorious result cannot occur until we first KNOW those Truths. It is incumbent upon every believer who comes into this knowledge and understanding regarding illegitimate covenants to immediately repent and renounce every such improper covenant, and replace it with a confession of the two appropriate covenants, in order to "free yourself" from the "hand of the hunter" and "the snare of the fowler" — for improper covenants make us captives to the hunter and make our lives ensnared by the fowler, (Satan) who has the authority to fowl everything in our lives that is unprotected as the result of our removing ourselves from the protective covering of God through improper spiritual covenants and associations made with humans, which produce enslavement (Rom. 6:16).

Ungodly human covenants of improper submission to men, as postulated by the erroneous Shepherding doctrines, have brought the State of Florida under a curse — from the Southeast coast to the Northeast extremities of the panhandle. Let every preacher and believer first "free" his or her self from these covenants of enslavement and the curses they bring upon the participants, then preach, proclaim, and declare the message of freedom and liberty to fellow believers, and thereby deliver ourselves and the church of Florida that Jesus is building from the scourge of the curse!

When the scourge of this self-imposed curse is finally removed, we will begin to see God's hand of favor and approval released upon the church of Florida, and the fulfillment of the many prophesies predicting an unprecedented outpouring of the Spirit and God's Glory upon the coastlines of the State![end]


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The following is an excerpted section from Chapter Two, The Movement Goes Underground, from my book, Charismatic Captivation, first published in 1996, which proffered back then more warnings concerning the dangers of unauthorized and unscriptural "covenant relationships," and traces the roots of the concept to the Discpleship/Sheperding controversy that emerged in the mid-1970s.

However, what has transpired over the course of time is that in order to avoid the adverse effects of controversy, the majority of Discipleship proponents and practitioners have gone "underground," so to speak, employing less overt and less conspicuous methods and means of propagation, cloaking and camouflaging their operations behind more subtle and euphemistic, cryptic language.

For example, the extreme concepts initially referred to as concepts of "pastoring" are now termed "shepherding" principles. To give it a more sophisticated and sanctimonious ring, the obsequious relationship between the subjugated (the sheep) and their subjugator (the shepherd) now is called "covenant relationships." These "relationships" (if you accept that appellation) in many groups espousing Discipleship/Shepherdship/Covenant doctrines and employing variations of the practices advocated under that teaching are actually codified in the form of a "Covenant Agreement" signed by the subjugated in which the subjugated pledges his eternal oath of allegiance and unquestioned obedience and obeisance, along with his financial support, of course, to his "shepherd."

Usually, this "covenant" requirement is a matter which is not addressed openly in the public meetings, but is introduced "in private" to attendees who have been around long enough to have become fully indoctrinated with the group's ways and teachings, and to have become psychologically dependent on the group (more on this and other psychological mechanisms employed by Discipleship groups later).

Allow me to say in passing that to me, oaths such as these bear little dissimilarity to the secret oaths and pledges required of initiates into secret societies such as the Free Masons, Ku Klux Klan, and the La Cosa Nostra (Italian Mafia), which essentially bind the inductee to that group for life, or in other words, "Til death do us part." In fact, it has been my experience in dealing with hundreds of people in deliverance from demonic powers that the pledge taken by inductees into these secret societies is precisely the same in terms of the spiritual impact it induces as those taken by members of Discipleship/Shepherdship/Covenant cults (as we shall discuss later, this is precisely what these groups are cults). A plethora of spirits of bondage, witchcraft, and idolatry saunter right through the door willfully opened by the person who enters into such demonic "covenants" of allegiance to men.

Additionally, terribly debilitating and subversive satanic soul-ties are formed with the individuals with whom they have "covenanted." But, in actuality, the spiritual dynamic that is being instigated in the unseen spiritual realm when a person "covenants" with another human being in this manner, agreeing to subject himself to a mere human rather than unto the Lord Jesus Christ, is a pact of idolatry, because, spiritually speaking, wittingly or unwittingly, the subjectee has in essence pledged to submit his human will to his subjugator. In effect, the subjectee has just become the willing slave of his subjector, for the Spirit says, "Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are SLAVES of the one whom you obey" (Rom. 6:16).

The ultimate result of such a "pax idolatrus" is that that person has in actuality made the pact, not with that leader, but with demons, for in reality there is no such a thing as an idol, but the idolatrous homage rendered unto "idols," whether they be human or inanimate is "sacrifice to demons, and not to God" (1 Cor. 10:19-22). In other words, anyone who makes a spiritual covenant with anyone other than God, covenants with demons, whether they intend to or not, for "You cannot drink the cup of (fellowship with) the Lord and the cup of (fellowship with) demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons" (Ibid, v. 21, parenthesis added by author). If you do so covenant and so partake of fellowship with idols (other gods), or demons, you "provoke the Lord to jealousy" (Ibid, v. 22). Thus, in actuality this "covenanting" business and paying homage to human leaders is tantamount to paganistic demon worship. The Bible explicitly constrains us against making such "covenants" with anyone other than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. It specifically commands, "Do not become slaves of men" (1 Cor. 7:23).

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Dear Friend, if the Holy Spirit is convicting you of ungodly human covenants of improper submission to men such as what are addressed in this word, I urge you to "Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids" until you "FREE YOURSELF, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler" by renouncing all such ungodly covenants and thereby break the self-imposed bondages and curses over your life. Repeat the following simple prayer:

Dear Lord Jesus, my eyes have been opened to the error of these improper covenants I have made with men in ignorance, and sense the inner conviction of the Spirit regarding them. I ask you to forgive me of my sin and error. I want to FREE MYSELF from the witchcraft resulting from those false oaths, pledges, and covenants right now. So, in the Name of Jesus Christ, the Name above every name, I now renounce those covenants I made and demand by the Spirit of the Lord that the illegitimate yoke of slavery that has been upon me now lift off of me! I am now free of all false burdens and responsibilities, and free to serve YOU as my Lord. Thank you, Jesus!

See the attached for more on Spiritual Covering. By Steve Hill at Harvest-Now.org

“SPIRITUAL COVERING” BIBLE DOCTRINE OR ROMAN/PAGAN DOGMA?

INTRODUCTION:
Sometimes the line between right and wrong in doctrine and practice does not run through
the words or even the practice but through the hearts of those involved. People may blame leaders
and leaders may blame people. However, foolishness is often driven from both sides! It was the
people of Israel that demanded a king when that was not God's will for them. God wanted to be
their king! Theocracy is not rule by one man. That is a dictatorship! Theocracy is rule by God.
This is fulfilled in the New Covenant with the statement that “the head of every man is Christ”!
That is the promise of Jesus, “I will build my church!”

Sometimes the line between truth and error is visible by the emphasis. Truth is in Jesus. It
is living and dynamic. Jesus is God of God and man of very man. Logically those two things
cannot be true in the same individual at the same time but our universe is not rationally determined.
It is relationally structured. Truth is a person! Jesus is both Son of God and Son of Man. We must
hold both at the same time to remain true to who He is. If we let go of either truth we end up in the
ditch on the other side of the road. To remain in the way to God we must hold both to be equally,
absolutely, totally true at the same time! Our minds must worship. They cannot understand, ie,
control this! If my mind could do so, it would be God. My mind must worship the mystery of the
Son of God who is the Son of Man! All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in
Christ (Colossians 2:3)!

Take the example of “spiritual fatherhood” or “ministry father”. There is truth in tension
here! Let us see what happens if we emphasize one side over the other. If I mention Moses and
Joshua, Elijah and Elisha as well as Paul and Timothy, what do you think of? What would you
teach? Most would teach the necessity of having a spiritual father or a spiritual mentor. And that
would be half of the truth. However, neither Moses nor Elijah nor Paul had a spiritual father! Paul
even uses that fact as part of the authentication of his message and apostleship! True! Read
Galatians 1:15- 24! That is the other side of the truth.

Why would the necessity of a spiritual father be taught from these examples and not the
other side? What would be the motivation of the heart? If I have a need to be in control and to
have people submit to me, I would emphasize the need for a spiritual father. If I am a rebel and
want to justify my independence I will teach that we do not need to submit to anyone other than
God.

However, if I do not have an agenda, I will teach both sides. 'The head of every man is
Christ', Paul declared to the Corinthians in I Corinthians 11:3. And yet in the same book (I
Corinthians 4:14) Paul admonishes the Corinthians as his “beloved children”. Truth is living and
always in tension! The “head of every man is Christ” and “submit yourselves to one another in the
fear of God” are both true at the same time!

Our aim is to be direct. Some may say we are too direct. Being “nice” was never one of my
goals in life and being past fifty years old, I am not about to adopt that as a new goal. “Nice” is not
a fruit of the Spirit! And in being direct I have Paul as a mentor! In Galatians he asks those
promoting circumcision to “go all the way and castrate themselves” (Galatians 5:12, The Message)!
He is powerfully sarcastic when speaking to the Corinthians about their relationships with false
apostles! Read II Corinthians 11 in the Message or the Amplified versions!


SCRIPTURES WHICH TEACH SPIRITUAL COVERING BY SUBMISSION TO DELGATED AUTORITY?
SCRIPTURES WHICH TEACH SPIRITUAL COVERING TO BE JESUS ALONE?

I Timothy 2:5
“For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.”
The reformation was fought on that one! Do you need a “priest” between you and God to
mediate God for you? Doctrinally most present day Christians would say a resounding “No!” to
that question.

Why then do they allow themselves to be involved in a practice of that teaching? Why do
they think they need to be submitted to a leader to be spiritually protected? Where does that come
from? This comes from the Roman teaching that salvation is only possible if you are a part of the
Roman institution and submitted to a priest.

The acceptance of this dogma by charismatic Christians is driven from both sides. The
people do not want to take full responsibility for their relationship with Jesus and trust only Him for
their spiritual security so they put another man in that place. The leaders find this dogma very
useful for keeping people in their place, ie, in their ministry. In psycho babble this is called a
codependent relationship!

If Jesus is your head what more spiritual protection do you need? Take your responsibility
to be in Christ!

I John 2:24- 28,
“But the anointing which you have received from him abides in you and you do not
need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things and
is true and is not a lie and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.”

John 16:13
“However, when He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth;”
In Christ, by the anointing, we are taught the truth. John says that this is the antidote to
those who try to deceive. Yes, we have teachers but we have the Holy Spirit and the promise of
Jesus that He will guide us into all truth.
Again codependent relationships are driven from both sides. One side needs to be needed
and the other side does not want to take responsibility to hear God for themselves.
Your protection from spiritual deception is in the Christ and His anointing. Jesus declared
that His sheep hear His voice (John 10:4)! That is your responsibility and your freedom!

I Peter 2:4- 10
“a holy priesthood”, “a royal priesthood”, “to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to
God through Jesus Christ”
Our spiritual sacrifices are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ and not through any other
man! We are all “holy” and “royal” priests. There are no first or second class priests. Only one
class!

Why would anyone diminish the doctrine of Christ to let anyone else on the planet take any
of His function over your life?

Peter goes on through the rest of chapter two and then through to chapter five talking about
how we are to relate to each other as royal priests. He talks about submission to civil authorities
and to authorities in the work place, even if what they ask may be unjust. He talks about wives
submitting to husbands and husbands to wives “so that their prayers would not be hindered”! His
conclusion to this section is in verse 8 of chapter 3, “Finally, all of you be of one mind having
compassion for one another, love as brothers...”

The rest of chapter 3 and 4 talk about submitting to circumstances where we may suffer due
to the fact that we are a Christian. Chapter 5 talks of relationship to spiritual authority. The leaders
are commanded to serve without being “lords over those entrusted” to them. The younger are
exhorted to submit to the elders but all are commanded to “be submissive to one another and be
clothed with humility.”

When someone asks, “Who are you submitted to?” it is often a loaded question! They have
their “covering” and they think less of others who do not! My answer to such a person is, “I am
submitted to you!” What an answer! What a reality! Thank you Robert Fitts for that insight!
(From a book soon to be published, “Forty Trends...” www.robertfitts.com ).

Hierarchical submission is not New Testament. There is one Master who is Jesus and we
are all brothers. Hierarchical submission is an invention of the Roman/Pagan system. It came in
when a pagan priesthood was imposed upon the people of God.

Religion is special people (priests), in a special place (temple), at a special time (religious
times and days), doing special things (rituals) for the people which they are not allowed to do for
themselves. This creates the power of the priesthood and saves the people from responsibility.
That is the “bargain” of religion. You give me your freedom (and your money) and I will remove
any sense of responsibility for your life or guilt for your sin. You will enjoy a life free of moral
responsibility. Just belong to the institution. You will also go to hell since you do not know Jesus!
But who said it was a good bargain!

This religious spirit is the same spirit which slaughtered multitudes who simply wanted to
read the bible for themselves.
How much of this spiritual elitism has crept into the charismatic church?

Psalm 27
“The Lord is my light and my salvation; Who shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of
my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?”
Psalm 140:7
“Oh God the Lord, the strength of my salvation, You have covered my head in the day
of battle.”

One should know that spiritual covering dogma is wrong simply because it is based in fear.
This dogma says that your life is not spiritually protected, ie, that you are open for demonic
influence and attack in your life if you are not submitted to someone over you in the religious
pecking order.

The kingdom of God is energized by faith working through love. If I truly love people my
responsibility as a leader is to press their face into Jesus. Or as Paul said in II Corinthians 11:2,
“present you as a chaste virgin to Christ”. That is our job! Apostles and prophets are to be
foundational. Foundations are hidden. They hold up the rest of the building and push it into the
sky. They are not the covering!

The kingdom of darkness is energized by fear working through hatred. If I have a
motivation to control people, I fundamentally despise them. People were made for God. People
were made for freedom. My motivation for sowing fear to control and to put myself in a place as a
“covering” is really a fundamental hatred of people. I view them as something to be used to benefit
my ministry, to run my programs, to serve my vision and generally, to be kept in their place for my
benefit.

Psalm 105:39, Isaiah 4:5:
“For over all the glory will be there for a covering.”

This was the picture as God took the children of Israel out of Egypt. The cloud by day and
the fire by night were their covering. His glory, His presence was their covering.
This is the picture as God creates over “every dwelling place of Mount Zion” the cloud by
day and the fire by night of the covering of His glory.

Who is your covering? The glorious, eternal, almighty God Himself! His presence in cloud
and fire. His glory manifested over my life. This is my Father's world! I dwell in His presence!
If you look to a man to do what God has reserved for himself to do, you will experience
increasing fear. You will become more and more dependent upon that man and that ministry. You
will more and more deny the doctrine of Christ! You will move more and more into a cult.

SCRIPTURES WHICH TEACH AGAINST SPIRITUAL COVERING?
Matthew 23:8- 12:
“Do not call anyone on earth your father for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.”

In Matthew 23 Jesus is speaking “Woe” after “Woe” over the religious leaders of His day.
His instruction to His disciples is very simple- do not call yourselves “Rabbi”, “teacher” or “father”
like they do for you have one Father, the Heavenly Father and you have one Teacher, the Christ.
And besides, “You are all brethren.”

It does not get any simpler than that. However, we are so used to religious usage of these
terms and we are so used to the denial of responsibility that we accept and use these terms for our
selves and our brothers. Jesus commanded us not to do this!
What about “do not call anyone on earth your father” do you not understand?

II Corinthians 1:24
“Not that we have dominion over your faith but are fellow workers for your joy; for by
faith you stand.”

Was Paul over the Corinthians in the Lord? Yes, he made an appeal to them as a father. But
he is very clear that if he took a place of dominion, of covering, he would no longer be helping
them to stand. He would be precipitating their fall.

SCRIPTURES WHICH ARE TWISTED TO TEACH SPIRITUAL COVERING?
Matthew 8:5:13, “I also am a man under authority”

The centurion recognized that Jesus was a man under authority, like himself, and therefore
had authority. Correct observation. The centurion was under Caesar and Jesus was under God.
However, when many preach this they make a wrong application. They preach, that if you
want to have authority, you must submit to a hierarchical structure, submit to me! Well, true
enough, if you want to have authority from them in their structure.

But Jesus was not in any structure. He had authority because of His submission to God and
that is the proper application of the scripture. That is the application used in Acts 4:19- they refused
to submit to the Jewish council and remained faithful in their submission to God. The authority of
God comes from submission to God. It does not come from submission to any man.

Psalm 91:1, “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the
shadow of the Almighty.”
Some teach that the “shadow of the Almighty” is delegated authority and make the claim
that the protection promised in the Psalm has to do with submission to such delegated authority.
However, Psalm 91 is one of the most powerful statements in all of the scripture of our
protection because we are in God! Read it! Believe it! Enjoy it! Do not let anyone reduce the
revelation of this Psalm!

WHAT ABOUT “PRAYER SHIELDS” AND “PRAYER COVERINGS”?
There are no scriptures that speak about this. None. No where. Not in the Old Testament
and not in the New Testament. Not there!

What are the New Testament prayers about in the face of spiritual attack? They are prayers
for boldness! See Acts 4:24- 31 and Ephesians 6:18- 20!

What are the New Testament prayers about in general? They are about revelation of who
we are in Christ! That is the issue!

See Ephesians 1:15- 23! Why would you look to any man for protection and covering if you
had any revelation at all of where you are in Christ above all principalities and powers?
What about Ephesians 3:14- 21? We do not need a man, we need revelation of the “power
that works in us” that can do “exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think”!
Check out Philippians 1:3- 11! The prayer is that our “love may abound still more and
more in knowledge and all discernment”. We need to know who we are and what we have in
Christ!

Same story in Colossians 1:9- 11 and in I Thessalonians 3:11- 13 and in Philemon 1:4- 6.
Prayer does not get answered and prayer is not effective by a multiplier of people praying.
Do you get those emails requesting you to send on the mail so that they will get one million people
praying so that when they get the million praying the child will be healed from the cancer? That is
not biblical faith or prayer! James tells us that “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man
avails much.” One righteous man is all that is required. One man in right relationship with God!
I am not more protected the more people that are praying for me. Where is that in the bible?
The issue is whether or not I am in Christ and boldly obedient to Him no matter what my
circumstances. The battle is a battle of faith- am I in Christ or do I believe my circumstances?

BALANCE PLEASE!
Yes, yes, yes, I know that many use the term “spiritual covering” and they do not mean any
Roman/Pagan Dogma. They mean right relationship with the body of Christ, with close friends that
they love and are open to hear correction from. Yes and yes, again.

We need relationships which allow us to “speak the truth to one another in love” or we will
not mature as Paul says in Ephesians 4:15. Submission is an attitude of the heart not a place in an
hierarchical structure. In almost every place in scripture where submission to different authority
structures is instructed you will also find the sweeping instruction to “submit to one another”. The
brotherhood reality of the royal priesthood is never absent. We desperately need that reality!
However, the power hungry and ambitious will submit to the hierarchy simply because that
is the way to power. They will submit to those over them but will not receive from anyone
“beneath” them. They are experts in “proper order” but lack the heart of humility. They will do the
hierarchy thing but will not do the “one another” thing! They depend heavily upon Old Testament
example and terminology such as “the Man of God” complex (that is another story!) but lack
insight into the New Testament reality of “all one in Christ” (Galatians 3:28).

This gets even more foolish when one of these leaders “submits” themselves to another
leader who lives thousands of kilometres away from them. And then uses that “submission” as part
of his presentation to his people, “I am a submitted man. I am under authority.” Implication?
“You must submit to me!”

Submission to someone across the world? What does that mean? Do they see how you
live? And then no submission to the brothers close at hand because they are lower in the order!
That is not a heart of humility. That is a heart of pride!

“Pride of life” or pride of position and place, is number one in the satanic trinity. Number
two is “lust of the eyes” or materialism and wealth. Number three is the “lust of the flesh”. John
Wimber called these three “the glory, the gold and the girls”!

Command and control structures are focused upon position, place, hierarchies and call that
“proper order”. When loyalty to the structure, institution or a man takes a higher place than
loyalty to the truth we have entered into the ethics of the mafia. Loyalty has a higher value than
truth. This is the basic characteristic of a cult. All cults are ultimately concerned with power,
money and sex.

Graham Cook says, “I have seen many eunuchs in the house of the Lord and very few
fruitful sons” (A Divine Confrontation, page 99). Yes, amen! Men who are faithful to the meetings
and to the programs! Men who are submitted. But men who have no faith to do anything for God!
Some of the most faithful people have the least faith!
I have seen men who are totally loyal to a certain “spiritual house” to the point of disloyalty
to the house which Jesus is building. The dogma of spiritual covering is part of the spiritual
technology used to create such deception and to create eunuchs.
Jesus taught that we are all brothers.

Paul, Peter, John and James talked a lot about “one another” stuff. How do we do that?
Have you ever made a list of all the “one another” scriptures? That is a study!
Better yet- how do we do that?

Five Fold Ministry

SOMA teaches about the Five Fold Ministry. And there have been references to Tony and Mike being apostles. No doubt there are prophets and prophetess' serving their churches too. Below is a perspective of five fold ministry that probably isnt taught in SOMA. There will be those who read this and dismiss it as being penned by someone "not mature enough to understand". But to do so is to overlook the significant differences between SOMA Five Fold and the Five Fold as described below.

One says there are now, today, apostles and prophets in whom we find our "covering"; enter into a "covenant relationship" and follow as "spiritual fathers and spiritual mothers". The other says that the work of the prophets and apostles was to build the foundation of the church; this work was completed by the original apostles; that our "covering" is found in the work and blood of Jesus Christ; the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the Covenant of God the Father.

Maturitiy is measured, in these settings (i.e. SOMA), not as growth in your understanding of Christ's complete work in your life, but as coming to agreement with and not questioning that which is taught by those doing the teaching. Its kind of a "check your brain at the door and let us tell you how and what to think" approach to ministry arts training. So for those of you who havent quite surrendered the totality of your mind to SOMA take time to read the thoughts and insights below.



The following was written by Robert Bowman and can be found at this website: [www.apologeticsindex.org]

It has recently become popular to speak of "the five-fold ministry," a system of church government with apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. The neo-Pentecostal "Restoration" movement and its offshoot, "kingdom now" teaching, claims that one of the things which God is "restoring" to the church is this five-fold ministry. The sole prooftext used to support this concept is Ephesians 4:11-13 , which states that Christ gave "some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,...until we all attain to the unity of the faith and the full knowledge of the Son of God." The word "until," it is argued, proves that the church today needs apostles and prophets as much as evangelists, pastors, and teachers. However, it is the "building up" of the church (v.12) which must continue until the church is mature, not all five of the offices listed in verse 11. This is clear when the whole text is read as follows: "And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers; [these offices were given] to equip the saints for the work of service, [which work has as its goal] to build up the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith..." The offices of apostle and prophet would naturally cease in the church once their role in "equipping the saints" was completed; that is, once the New Testament canon was completed.

Some have objected that there is no reason to bracket off the apostles and prophets from the other three offices listed in verse 11. However, in the very same epistle, Paul states that the church has "been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets" (Eph. 2:20 ) and that Christ's mystery concerning the church was "revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit" (3:5 ). These statements indicate that the role of apostles and prophets was fulfilled in the first century.

The New Testament is particularly clear about the temporary role of the apostles, since they were chosen to give eyewitness testimony of the risen Christ (Acts 1:21-26 ; 5:32 ; Luke 1:1-4 ; 1 Cor. 9:1 ). Paul indicated that he was the last person to see the risen Christ and receive an apostolic commission (1 Cor. 15:8 ). The epistles of 2 Peter and Jude, among the very last New Testament writings to be penned, exhort the readers to avoid false doctrines by recalling the teachings of the apostles (2 Pet. 1:12-15 ; 2:1 ; 3:2 , 14-16 ; Jude 3-4 , 17 ). Peter and Jude did not say, "Listen to the apostles living today," but instead urged believers to "remember what the apostles said."

I am not arguing that only the Twelve and Paul were apostles. Barnabas (Acts 14:14 ), Silas (1 Thess. 2:6 ; cf. 1:1 ), and Andronicus and Junia (Rom. 16:7 ) all were apostles of Christ, and thus were no doubt among the more than 500 witnesses to the Resurrection (1 Cor. 15:6 ). However, none of these persons was chosen as a successor to an earlier apostle (Matthias was Judas's replacement, not his successor, since Judas had forsaken his apostleship, Acts 1:21-26 ).

There are other senses in which the word "apostle" is used in the New Testament. Certain individuals, including Epaphroditus, were "apostles of the churches" (2 Cor. 8:23 ; Phil. 2:25 ). These "apostles" had no authority over the church; they were messengers sent by and subject to their churches. In this latter sense it would be perfectly legitimate to speak of church representatives as "apostles," were it not for the confusion which might result from such usage.

Therefore, in the usual biblical sense of the term, there are no apostles today. Nor are there any prophets in the usual sense, as they were part of the "foundation" laid in the first-century church. This is not to deny the continuing validity of the gift of "prophecy," since Paul does refer to prophesying as a basic activity in which all Christians are urged to participate to the extent God gifts them (Rom. 12:6 ; 1 Cor. 11:4-5 ; 12:10 ; 13:2 , 8-9 ; 14:1-6 , 20-33 ; 1 Thess. 5:20 ), and in a general functional sense persons exercising this gift are even called "prophets" (1 Cor. 14:32 , 37 ). Yet Paul also speaks of specific persons who occupied an office of "prophet" which was second in authority only to apostle (1 Cor. 12:28-29 ). It is this office of "prophet," not all prophecy, which I am arguing passed away around the end of the first century.

Finally, some errors on this matter are worse than others. The loose use of the world "apostle" to refer to missionaries or church planters is not a serious error as long as this usage is sharply distinguished from the concept of an apostle who brings new doctrinal revelations and wields unquestionable authority. Nor is it a grievous error to interpret Ephesians 4:11 to refer to "apostles" in this sense of a church planter. The same would apply to those who hold that Ephesians 4:11 refers to the ongoing charismatic activity of prophesying. I do believe these interpretations are mistaken, but they are not in any way antagonistic to Christian faith.

On the other hand, to interpret Ephesians 4:11 as a call for a restoration of the office of apostle of Christ is not only a mistake in exegesis, it opens the door to heresy. To claim that the church today needs visions and revelations through modern apostles and prophets of Christ is to deny the sufficiency of the Bible (2 Tim. 3:16 ) and to place the church at the mercy of false apostles, the likes of whom the apostle Paul warned us about in no uncertain terms (2 Cor. 11:13-15 ).

The teachers of the "five-fold ministry," in seeking to "restore" a foundation which has never been moved, are actually laying a false foundation which will not support the building up of the body of Christ.

TPR

People Who Live In Glass Houses Should Not Throw Stones

Another thoughtful article on Five Fold Ministry can be found here: [spiritslumber.blogspot.com]

TPR

People Who Live In Glass Houses Should Not Throw Stones

TPR
Thanks for the fantastic research you have been providing. I hope that this will continue to shine Gods Light into the Darkness, lies and false teachings by Tony Cunningham.

I’m going to address something here that is a common pattern that I have been seeing with Turning Point and Radiant Life and now Radiant Life Church of West Sacramento and Life Change Church in Coos Bay Oregon. They are apparently hiding something because they will not share or talk about who they are in relationship with and what that looks like. Its like catching the preacher in bed with someone other than his wife and the leadership is hiding the truth because they don’t want to pet the cat back wards or rock the boat. Now I say that to point out the absurdity that we all are seeing! When asking specific questions to the leadership of these churches they are being evasive or flat out ignoring the questions. I would encourage everyone to start calling these churches and asking them what are they teaching and who are they in bed with!

If these churches are remotely connected with Tony, then how is the congregation of that church going to know that they can trust there leadership?

How can they say that they can pick and choose the teachings from Tony, when they embrace the man himself and recognize him as some kind of apostle?

No matter how much connecting they have with Tony his DNA is being passed on. Like a bee pollinating a flower, the DNA carried by that bee is complete in just one landing. If you have a hard time understanding that last analogy Private Message me and I’ll explain the Birds and the Bees to you. (lol)

God Gives us these example from nature to help remind us that His Love and Grace are not complicated or hard to obtain. That our trusting Him is where life begins and our relationship with God grows.

I believe Church leadership needs to be accountable to the flock they are tending to!

When I receive an email back from church leaders and there is a blatant lie stating that they are NOT IN ANY WAY AFFILIATED WITH TONY CUNNINGHAM OR RADIANT LIFE CHURCH of SACRAMENTO the Red lights go off in my head and I have to start asking some hard questions. I would also encourage you to start asking questions of the leadership at your church then listen to your heart. I can not tell you how many times I got caught up in the emotions of RLc that my ears did not hear what Gods spirit was saying to my heart.

This teaching from Tony Cunningham has become a CANCER to the body Christ at Radiant Life Church in Sacramento. It has spread to Katy Texas, Laguna California, Marysville Washington and Coos Bay Oregon. Fortunately this Cancer has been renounced in Laguna California and we think Katy Texas.

Be on your guard test everything that is being said and taught including 5 Fold Ministry, Heart of David, Strategic Advance and Intense Discipleship Training. Test the teachings like Spiritual Parenting and see if they line up with the basic 10 commandments for example does Spiritual Parenting line up with the 5th Commandment? “You shall not dishonor your parents.” Or You shall not covet your neighbor's wife (daughter). Hmm....TONY CONTINUES TO HAVE EMOTIONAL AFFAIRS WITH HIS “SPIRITUAL DAUGHTERS and the Sycophant elders just sit back and let it happen. Or they too embrace this teaching and are engaging into these kinds of relationships.

Again be on your guard and test all the teachings from Tony Cunningham!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!