Concerning the Five Fold
7 Marks of Babylon 'in Church' which reformers will be used of Abba to confront and deal with by the Spirit...
This reformer will never want any trace of Babylon in the ministry committed to his/her trust. Such saints will know the depths of Babylon and hate the system with a perfect hatred! Babylon is the prevailing spirit of the world and is evident in the religious, political, economic, social, cultural, educational and all arenas of life. It hates the pattern of God and seeks, like a python to swallow things of God and replace it with fakes! Traces of Babylon include these benchmarks:
a. Enthronement of money as a key reason for being in ministry. This takes many forms. A partial list includes: exalting money beyond what is reasonable; a clear favouritism of leaders towards those who are 'rich', keeping tithe and offering records and using them to determine what kind of care and support a saint deserves;
b. Living a worldly lifestyle by those in leadership and expecting saints to finance same. This lifestyle translates to loving worldly amusement; seeking to appear like the Joneses in town and other things which contradict 1 John 2:15-17; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18
c. Entrenching a culture of superstardom in which a leader forgets that he or she is to emulate Jesus Christ in His simplicity, approachability and access. It was this lifestyle which made it necessary for religious leaders to hire Judas Iscariot to identify Jesus from among just 12 people! Quest for superstardom creates a cult image of a leader and people unconsciously worship him or her. This is often subtle but so strong that saints see themselves as inadequate to approach God except through the leader who becomes a kind of mediator/mediatrix. To enslave saints who the Son of Man set free in this way is perhaps the worst betrayal of the privilege of leadership!
d. Babylon therefore subtly comes to Church, so to say and the mixture is syncretism pure and simple! It corrupts the very heart of the gospel and like a cankerworm eats up the strength of the Church. Saints become disciples of fellow humans rather than Jesus Christ! Such leaders do not and cannot empower saints!
e. Babylon hates the collective grace that is wired into the Church of Jesus Christ. For this reason, Babylon fosters a hierarchical structure on ministries. At the apex is the founder who leads for life. Because of insecurity, such leadership is a dead end with the individuals concerned except there are off springs that are foisted on the ministry as successors - often against the will of God or even will of the poor fellows! Where room is made for other leaders, it is in an employment capacity. They are employed to fulfil specific tasks which strengthens the position and revenue of the 'owner' of the ministry which is certainly not Jesus Christ! To all intent and purposes, Babylon fosters family owned ministries which are basically social security safety nets of such founders.
f. Babylon is the mother of covetousness and hates righteousness, transparency and integrity. For this reason, in spite of the great revenue which comes in, the 'owners' of ministries keep same as well as expenditure as a tight secret. Members of congregations are not supposed to know the revenue as well as expenditure profile of the ministry. Accounts presented to Governmental and regulatory agencies are routinely doctored just as many in the world do.
g. Babylon corrupts the Church by actively injecting worldly principles that meet needs and expectations of seekers rather than challenge them to bow to the authority of Christ and principles of His Kingdom. This morphs into creating of meeting places which are decorated according standards of Hollywood with all it takes - including rock music, strobe lights, special effects and such to pump adrenalin into the soul and body of saints so that mind control can take place without much discernment and difficulty.
A full teaching note on Babylon and its subtle invasion of the 'Church' will be made avialble soon. Please study Revelation chapter 18 and especially verse 13 to see that souls of people are among the 'articles of trade in system
-Excerpts from concluding portion(part 1) of GSoM Course 112: The Ascension Office (Five Fold Leadership ) Gifts published by Global School of Ministry on face book today. Please share freely!
b. Living a worldly lifestyle by those in leadership and expecting saints to finance same. This lifestyle translates to loving worldly amusement; seeking to appear like the Joneses in town and other things which contradict 1 John 2:15-17; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18
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