EXPOSED!
When the Lord first called my wife and I to come to Knoxville Tennessee, He called us to come and begin a new church... a "plant." for the first two weeks, we did nothing but settle into our new home, getting to know some of the people. Now because of family living in this area, I had preached here on several occasions, as well as living and ministering here in the 80's. So, as a result, there were some people who were familiar with our ministry. I must confess, one of the questions I asked the Lord was: "Why are you calling us to an area that is over saturated with churches already?" I had to be content with the answer that it was His will, and I was. However, one night after we had been here a few days, the "rest of the story" was given to me by the Lord. On that night, I was awake and lying on my bed fully awake even though my wife and daughter had already gone to sleep. Suddenly, the room changed perspective and God gave me a vision. In that vision, I turned and looked down the hall from my bed, and seen a serpent-like creature with the face of a man, slithering down the hall towards me. It reared up and tried to enter me. I said "Absolutely not! You will not enter me!" Then the scene changed and I was standing in front of a college-aged young man sitting in a chair, and he was obviously "demonized." Around me were several other people whom I didn't know, and we were casting this demon out of this young man. Then the scene returned to normal. I asked the Lord what this vision meant, and who was this demon that I had seen slithering down my hall? He said to me: "This is the dominant stronghold in this area, and he is the spirit of religion!" He went on to say that if I would build a church that was built upon the centrality of His Son Jesus, he would draw people to Him, and begin a revival to set His people who are bound by this demonic stronghold free! Hence, the name of our Church: Christ the Rock! In the roughly 4 1/2 years that I have been here, I have seen with unbelievable might and deception, the ability of this demonic stronghold to deceive God's people!
The first two ways in which this stronghold manifests itself among God's people is first, by reducing Christianity down to a "social-family" thing that they do. What I mean is, people in this area love football, eat biscuits and gravy, drink sweet tea, and oh yeah, we go to church! Every one's a "Christian!" Within a 5 mile radius of our church (I know this as a fact, because our demographics person put together the list) we have 252 Christian churches! Yet we still have hungry/homeless, we still have many bars/nightclubs, we still have strip clubs, and we still have the occult. Why? Because people have been deceived into believing that "We go to church because Mama and Daddy went and Papaw and Mamaw went, so it's just something that we as a family and community do!" Unfortunately, while we may have many church-goers, we do not have many Disciples of Jesus! The second manifestation of this demonic stronghold is a type of "non-committal" to the local church. This demonic spirit of religion gets Christian people to believe that the Body of Christ is to viewed and experienced like a "potpourri!" A type of ""buffet" that we pick and choose from based upon our particular preferences at that moment. I have literally had people, with tears streaming down their faces, say to me: "I have never felt such a strong presence of the Holy Spirit as in your church! And we feel so loved when we came through the door!" ....... And NEVER see those people again! Why? They had gotten their fill of that particular "spiritual entree" and they were moving on down the smorgasbord. Now before you "write-me-off" as a disgruntled pastor, please understand, I am not! I was sent here with a vision and a mission and because of my love for the Body of Christ, I am exposing this demonic stronghold that has infected and bound so many Christian people. I desire to see the People of God set free, and the ONLY way is with the truth of God! Jesus said in John 14:6--- "I am the way and the truth and the life." The Lord is exposing this incredibly powerful stronghold that has so many of His people enslaved and never fully realizing their potential for Kingdom work! They fail to get into a good bible-believing spirit-filled church and identify and develop their gifts to use to reach the lost, and build-up the Church and stay their, partnering with their "spiritual-family" and with God to build the church and reach the lost.
As you are reading this, your response will be one of four responses: 1) Steve, your absolutely crazy! 2) Steve, my spirit bears witness with the truth your are telling! 3) Steve, what you are saying is probably true, but that's not why I have changed churches several times! 4) That's true Steve, and I realize that's me, now how do I get free? If your response is that you think I'm crazy, then I challenge you to seek God and ask Him to confirm or deny what it is I am saying. And if he confirms it, then you must be aware that there is a good possibility that YOU are blinded by this demonic stronghold? If your response is that's probably true, but not why I changes churches several times, then you are most definitely deceived by this demonic stronghold, but good news! ..... There is freedom in confessing this as spiritual deception and sin, and asking Jesus to set you free! Tell the devil you recognize his lies and reject them over your life, your family, and your church! Then declare you freedom in Christ! One other thing........ Are you ready for this one? ........ You then need to go back to the various Pastors/Ministers you walked out on after committing to them, and ask them to forgive you! YES..... I know that will be difficult, but you can do all things Through Christ who gives you the strength, and it is VERY NECESSARY, so that corporate healing and deliverance can come to the body of Christ from this demonic stronghold's deception! If you are one of the two that agreed with what the Lord has revealed through me, then begin joining with me in praying against this stronghold and praying for the liberty, deliverance, and freedom of your fellow Christians who are bound by this deception. Copy these articles the Lord is giving me to give to you, pass them out, and help lead people to freedom in Christ! Together as His Body, we will defeat the spirit of religion!
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