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  • the truth
    • steve in h-town
      Posted Jun 26, 2008 3:05 PM

      The traditionalists among us will never believe that the Richland Hills' and First Colony's of the world came to their current beliefs through good old fashioned Bible study. They believe that the only way churches like that could come to those beliefs is through "wolves in sheep's clothing." I don't know about you, but in the churches of Christ that I grew up in, we were taught that every Christian had the responsibility to read and study the Bible for themselves. We don't let the Pope tell us what it says. We don't let some preacher tell us what it says. I don't know how many times Acts 17:11 was quoted from the pulpit, telling us that "these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so" (notice that I used the King James Version for this scripture. I believe in becoming all things to all men, that I might by all means save some!). I was taught to read and study the Bible for myself. When I did, as I continue to do to this day, I began to see that the churches of Christ I grew up in didn't tell me the whole story. When I read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, I began to see that the actions and attitudes of my fellowship, which claimed to have the truth, lined up more with the Pharisees and teachers of the law than with Jesus Christ. The Pharisees' doctrine allowed them to focus on doctrinal correctness while treating others with contempt and downright ugliness. It still does, and it is repulsive. Jesus said in Matthew 23:25-26, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and of excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also." If we look good on the outside but are rotting on the inside, what good is it? If we claim to have the truth yet treat brethren like dirt, what's the point? While searching for verses for a one on one Bible study to lead someone to Christ, I came across John 17:3, where Jesus prays, "Now this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." This brought to mind another verse I had heard preached many times, where Jesus said in Matthew 7:23, "And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Jesus is saying that I can do all kinds of religious things, but if I don't know Him, it's all a waste of time. When we profess to possess the truth, and yet treat one another with contempt, we can't say with a straight face that we know Him. In fact, it is those traditionalists among us who are wolves in sheep's clothing. They are the ones working alongside the evil one to steal, kill, and destroy our people with legalism and judgment. It was Jesus who came that we "might have life, and have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). Richland Hills and First Colony are reaching so many people because they are offering life, plain and simple. Our traditional, legalistic churches continue to shrink, not because people can't handle the truth, but because they can't handle the lies of those who claim to have the truth, but use it as an excuse to steal, kill, and destroy the life that Jesus came to bring. The legalists among us are literally choking the life out of our people. Many who grew up in churches of Christ are like me. We did as we were taught. We are reading and studying the Bible for ourselves. As a result, we will no longer side with the Pharisees and teachers of the law. We're going to side with Jesus, wherever that leads us.
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    ...........................THE BOOK

    What Happened At the Madison Church of Christ?


    There are thousands of churches being taken over across America.

    This book is only about one of those churches. It's about the Madison Church Of Christ. By studying the methods used here along with the resource references you might be able to inoculate your church. At the very least you will recognize the signs early on.

    Many of the current members of the Madison Church of Christ still don't know what happened.
    Some never will know! This book is for them as well.

    Madison Church of Christ was a 60 year old church. At one time it was one of the largest churches in the US, and the largest Church of Christ.

    It thrived for many years on the vision of it's elders and those of it's ministers. Those visions undoubtably came from the the inspired word of Jesus Christ.

    At sometime in the last 10 years there was a deliberate plan by a majority of the elders to take the Madison Church of Christ into a more worldly realm.

    They used secrecy, covert planning, and outside sources to scheme and to change the format and direction of the Madison Church of Christ.

    The Elders knew that the membership would never approve such a plan. Using the tools of the "Community Church Movement"(consultants, books, seminars, meetings,planters,seeders) they slowly started initiating change so it was never noticed by the members until it was too late.....

    At the heart of the plan was the fact that old members were going to be driven off so new techniques could be used to go out and reach the unchurched through new "Contemporary Holy Entertainment" methods developed by the "Community Church Movement"

    Old members had to be kept on board long enough to get their plans ready, or the funds would not be there to pay for the new building. So by the plans very nature, it had to be secret.

    The church had no plan in effect to renew or approve elders. There was never any need. The elders had always been "as approved by God". 10 of the last 15 elders would begin to shed some doubt on that.

    The Elders did not even need a majority at first, because some of the elders went along unwittingly.

    This edition starts shortly after some of the members begin to smell something strange in January 2001. Later editions may go back and fill in some of the timeline.

    To even start to understand whats happening here, you must read the background materials in the first of the book.

    This is only the first edition, and not the end. New editions will be printed as needed. To keep abreast of current changes, please visit our web site; http://www.concernedmembers.com/madison

    Here is the list of players;

    5 Godly Elders
    10 Not so Godly Elders
    120 "Deacons" (allegiance unknown)
    2,800 - 4,000 church "members"
    2 "teners" (people who have publicly confessed to have broken all ten commandments)
    Unknown number of "sinners" (This is what the 10 elders call us.)
    Unknown number of "demons" (Flying everywhere, to many to count)
     

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