How Trendy Churches Manipulate You.
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- Опубліковано 26 сер 2024
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We are so thankful to have Christians influencers/Pastors like you, Allen Parr, Fight for Truth, Apologetic Studios, Mike Winger, Ruslan KD, Wise Disciple and more to expose these trendy movements. Keep doing you, brother! Loving your content! 🫶🏼🙏🏼
I really recommend Jordan Cooper as well
I also really like Joe kirby
Add Melissa Dougherty.... I really prefer a more old school church that teaches doctrine. Not mad about charismatic churches....all about feelings and feeling good. ✝️🙏🏻🇿🇦
@@tanjasmit7535 Melissa is great. I love her. Teaching doctrine is the most biblical as you can get.
Vlad!
I think the only way you could tell if someone is trying to manipulate you, is if you walk in the Spirit.
Facts. I try to tell new Christians to stay in the word. Sadly most dont listen :(
The Holy Spirit is awesome
@@pinkroses135 You need to get on your hands and knees and pray for the Holy Spirit to fill you up.
To be honest, I only became aware when my agnostic/atheist friends were genuinely curious about the business practices of these mega churches. It started a conversation where even they were wondering if Jesus would genuinely enjoy these churches. Most of them grew up in smaller churches, so they could point out some differences.
While the discussion was mostly focused on the business and logistics of things, the true role of the church was often mentioned.
I agree with you. However, my wife and I left a charismatic church and charismatic followers sometimes have a skewed concept of what walking in the spirit is.
Beware of wolves in sheeps clothing.
*_God Bless_*
Like Daily Disciple up there? I agree.
In what way
@@gavinlove9283 Jesus says you can identify people by their fruits. Good trees can't produce bad fruits. Bad trees can't produce good.
For sure I agree with you. I was asking the person that commented to you calling daily disciple of wolf I don’t see at all how he is a wolf everything he says seems to be in alignment
I went to a “trendy” church and it was one of the most corrupt places I’ve been to. After getting to know some of the members on more of a personal level, I’m then shocked to find out that there were MULTIPLE people on the worship team who were sleeping with eachother and other members of the church. The kicker was that people knew about this and did nothing to stop it - it was like a “we don’t talk about it so it doesn’t happen” sort of deal.
Absolutely disgusting
Sad
Why didn't you say anything?
God is watching their every move. And believe me; He isn't gonna let that slide.
Exactly! Then they'll gaslight you and say "you don't go to church for people but for God" oh please!
On my journey to getting closer to God after being sick, I went to a church for about 8 months, it started off really well. It was a church in the vineyard denomination. They were pretty established in my small town, and I felt at home. Got baptized, everything was good. Then a few months after my baptism, the lead pastor went full progressive. Allowing Trans people to do " sermons" about tolerance, and he began marrying gay couples. I was reminded of the tolerant church in revelation and quickly left when hearing a trans woman speak about how to accept them. They got kicked out of thd vineyard, were featured on CBC news for being such a wonderful inclusive church. All glory for themselves. Discernment led me to a new church that glorifies God and has biblical principles. I pray for that church, and those people. They're wonderful, they just let Satan in, I know denominations are all different, I was raised VERY Catholic. I got out of it when I was 14. It just wasn't for me.
My fiance lives in Texas and attends a southern Baptist church that is good, my spiritual radar is always on high looking for these types of things you're pointing out!
It's horrible what's happening to churches these days. Here in Europe the churches are also going nuts and it's so hard to find a church that's true to scripture and to God.. it makes me kind of angry when I think about these leaders willingly leading well willing people so extremely astray😢
I'm "officially" part of a local church like the ones he described. Just like you I'm no longer a present part of the church family, but I peay for the people there all the time. God has placed a burden for intercession in your heart. You gave a duty to fulfill for God's people and your love will grow as a result. My new church is wonderful by the way but unfortunately it's not in my city so i follow them inline while i jump around fellowships that teach the word ij my city. God loves you and that's why he's given you this assignment. He has called you,keep on trucking. This is my Prayer
Praise God he got you out of that church!❤
@@snertkriebelsalso in africa
Unfortunately I had to rely on a trendy church for my wife to snap out of depression and climb back. She is getting stronger and Im hoping she grows to learn about these key lessons and ready to be truly fed. Pray for us!
Praying for you guys
I believe this is just a small portion of time in your wife’s relationship with God. I’ve been trough that. Encourage her to read the Word on her own so that she will slowly realize she needs a stronger, more biblical and Christ-centered church.
@petitluna2571 then you look at ex muslims who come to Christianity and never have this problem hell some don't even go to church but walk in the spiritual life and preach at Speakers corner where they get stabbed and possibly deleted meanwhile others... Zzz
I had the same experience as your wife but with the deliverance movement. I found healing through the Lord but it wasn’t necessarily the right way. I suppose it was good for me at the time 🤔
One of your videos brought me back to Christianity.
Keep lying
That’s amazing! Glory to God!
@@midlander4Why say that 😭
@@midlander4bruh
My advice is to leave Christianity altogether. Its a misogynistic, sexist, tribalist, racist, / trans/homophobic and anti-humanitarian religion. It creates hypocrites and bigots
I’m 23, and I absolutely love going to more traditional churches. I don’t need flashing lights (and as an A/V person myself that gets to be too busy anyways). I just need to hear the gospel, that’s what I need. No bells or whistles. However, hymns and classic liturgies have some of the most impactful messages through the lyrics that people my age can really learn from and take away from.
which church do you go ?
@@GiseleSalado I go to Trinity United Methodist Church in Phenix City, Alabama. Also go to an 8:30 Am service at St. Luke Church (an independent Methodist church) and sing in their choir.
@@Tkibbs14 and what do they belive in your church or do (im curious becuase im looking for a church where they centerd of the truth word of God)
I left the church 5 years ago. i was heavenly involved in the media, worship team and greeting team and where I saw most of the money going to lights in cameras. I especially hated when the word of God was being spoken and you would see photographers going around taking pictures of the pastor preaching or when worship was going on. However I do believe in fellowship.
I hope you can find a small local church that puts God first
@@KT-rk6fn I was going to say the same thing. If big churches rub you the wrong way, find a small church that's focused on the Word of God and fellowship. We are commanded to meet with other believers (Hebrews 10:25)
Usually when I see this sort of behavior, people taking photos for marketing and such, it's like someone is capturing your soul for marketing material and research. It's feels violating.
I'll take a dry sermon straight from scripture over a hyped-up, godless motivational speech any day. We know that the number of faithful believers will gradually dwindle, as more of these self-affirming "churches" take root; I pray for us all that we will stay in the Word and in His presence, in order to discern truth while surrounded by lies, and to glorify God always. Thank you, Isaac.
Your description is exactly why I dont enjoy worship service in American Western church. I spent several weeks studying what real worship means from a biblical perspective. Two main words used in the bible for "worship" are: Hebrew, shâchâh, and Greek, proskynéō. Both have similar definitions that include "bowing down/lowering oneself (figuratively and/or physically to the ground) while simultaneously and giving homage (utmost respect and acknowledgment of allegiance) to a superior, eg. God." The times where worship is said to be done incorrectly is when it is towards idols, or spirits other than God(eg. angels/demons), and/or humans. Worship done correctly is done "in spirit and in truth". Prayer and Fasting are examples of practical functions of worship.
I definitely liked when you mentioned that these trendy pastors occasionally can have good influence. Even a broken clock is right twice a day, and God can definitely use any situation to reach His children.
I actually remember back when I was a teenager struggling with my faith, I was actually inspired by the Holy Spirit to recommit to following Jesus at a Joel osteen service lol. I was inspired by the worship and the size of the church and the peace that the pastor seemed to radiate. Being the only “Christian” (quotations because I was not acting very Christ-like at the time aside from praying over my food and saying I was a Christian whenever someone asked) in my friend group was isolating, and peace of mind/spiritual rest was something I was missing in my own life and so those aspects of the church resonated with me.
God will meet us wherever we are, but He’s so gracious as not to leave us there. Once I rededicated my life to Christ (taking it seriously this time), God started to make it clear to me that Joel Osteen’s church did not encourage biblical growth, and I needed to find a church that did.
So I said all that to say that I agree that God can use even the trendy churches to speak to us and draw us near to Him sometimes, but we def have to keep our Bibles close and utilize the wisdom of the Word to discern where God is leading us to truly feed our Spirit. I agree we need to keep these churches in our prayers to come to a place of repentance before God and allow Him to be the center of the message, praise God❤
God has taken you through what the bible calls times and seasons. It's a blessing. Have you been baptized in the holy spirit? Have you manifested any spiritual gift or calling?
I agree. I walked away from the church back in 2016 and didn't consider going back until I was in the middle of the pandemic. A message from one of these trendy churches that I found online snapped me back into wanting to work on my relationship with Christ. However, it started to feel weak and shallow.. I wanted something deeper. I've started listening to the church I grew up in again, plus videos here like Wise Disciple, Allen Parr, and now finding Daily Disciple. I am starting to feel fed again.
“Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”
Matthew 7:20 🙏🏽✝️🙌🏽
If you are gonna quote Matthew you will have to contend with his many lies.
@@rf7477 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,”
2 Timothy 3:16
@@RoadToDamascus777 Well, if you are now gonna quote Paul you will have to remember that he was a very troubled and self loathing man who didn't seem to like women much either. But he is not alone in that. Oddly he didn't believe in virgin birth and seemed to get all of his 'god-breathed' teachings via hallucination. He might not even have been a christian. He looks suspiciously influenced by Mithraism. I would say most scripture was written by angry thwarted old men. Funny how "christians" rebuke others for cherry-picking from the bible but are quite happy to do it themselves.
@@rf7477 “Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.”
Colossians 3:19
That’s what the word of God says. But of course non of us are perfect. Also not here to debate. I will let you know though I too use to think like you. Don’t seek man centered wisdom. But from He who created all. I love you have a blessed day. I pray 🙏🏽 that you may come to know Jesus Christ. 🙌🏽✝️🙏🏽
@@RoadToDamascus777 The so called 'word of god' is the words of men. And that is why they are untrustworthy. As usual, the sermon of a "christian" is half of the ugly dichotomy of its dreadful religion: come to know jesus, or else. The pretence of love with the veiled menace of dire punishment. Thus phonies like you can mutter "Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” as a sinister threat. How hypocritical. Not here to debate? Of course you aren't.
“Glorified Ted talk.” Lol! So true!
Oh my gosh, thank you so much for being a humble UA-cam leader of the Gospel. I sure hope our world will see this and wake up to the freedom God gives. I am praying for Canada and religious freedom!
The freedom that god gives? Worship an invisible man who ignores your prayers 24/7... or burn in hell.
What a beautiful examination of the modern western church.
I love the way you handled this. You didn’t straight up call anyone false prophets or false teachers but explicitly showed that some churches may have lost their first love and have made it all about the work or themselves rather than about God and his plan and will. God will bless you and anoint you to do even more!
Me and my family went to a "megachurch" where they took verses out of context and literally missed the whole point of th chapter. They are awful and manipulating people.
This channel has been such a blessing. We see some of the problems you mentioned a lot in mega churches and black churches where emotionalism is at the forefront. Even catholics, in my opinion, put the church building, service, and man made rituals ahead of everything else while God sits in the back seat. No church probably gets it right 100% of the time, but it is really important to know your Bible and attend a church that sticks to the Word. If you go to a church before getting into God's Word, you are always going to see the Bible through the lense of that church, not the other way around.
We got our rituals from God , our building is to glorify God. God bless
do not mock the liturgy. It is full of meaning straight out of the Bible. I find the liturgy praises God and tells the redemption story. IT is very meaningful to me. I am not Catholic, but Lutherans use similar liturgy. I find it more respectful. It is not entertainment like some band in the front services.
@@run4cmt Straight out? Where?
I clicked on this half expecting one of those critical videos that are popular lately, where a young person picks apart one preacher after another using any possible means. I was so pleasantly surprised. This was wise and balanced, and spot on. Thanks!
No downers here it’s refreshing to see someone call this out
Yup “AMEN HE PREACHING PREACHING” every 5 seconds definitely is a manipulative tactic😂😂
I'd love to see you on Pints with Aquinas. You are so well though out and well spoken.
As someone who were in a mega-church for more than a decade, who climbed the ladder and eventually left, I was surprised how you hit most of the point. I will still put my take though:
- The worship and repetition, this I think is mostly subjective. As we say even the angels in Revelation singing day and night "Holy Holy Holy is the Lord Almighty!". And when you are in it, it's not fatiguing but actually it's reinforcing your perspective on God. And this actually is what led me to Christ in my teenage years. But seems like the effect varies from person to person and I understand you may not feel the same.
- The preaching was a very deal breaker to me. Most of the time self centered: about "me", my prosperity, how I should view myself as special and no one's equal and even how (back there in Africa this one was prominent) my enemy cannot touch me or they will have trouble. And the amount of out of context verses is staggering.
- The hype you mentioned is actually a personality cult. On how we should look at the leader as this one who has the greatest message and all and we need to do everything for him.
- The gaslighting you said is worse than gaslighting. Inside the mega church, it's actually toxic leadership all the way through. If your superior is mean to you, you are wrong, if he/she was wrong, you should apologize. You need to remember their birthdays, and you need to remember them specially on some occasion with gifts. Giving to your superior is a "blessing" and not wanting to participate makes you greedy.They give themselves permission to be toxic and they excuse this as "to build your character, you need to support someone with strong character if you want to get far in life". If you do not agree ethically in something, you need to "grow up" because it's arrogant for you to assume you know more things in any thing than your leader. He is spiritual and more so than you
- Offering: you need to give as much as possible and more than you can afford to "get the blessing". Money management as whole is terrible in Mega churches. There's almost no accountability and though some church founders have other jobs and support themselves the ministry, it does not invalidate how horrible staff in the church manage money. You can pay for something today, they wouldn't register it and have can fully ask you again for the same payment after 3 months.
Edit to add this:
- it's "us vs them" : they alienate you and they are really strong in bible arguments taken out of context to back it up. When someone leaves it's because they were corrupted. The church is the right one and people who opposes anything is agent of Satan to cause divide. They alienate you from your family because they are your new family. But strangely when life happens, best case scenario is a few members going to visit you ONCE while your "former" family is the one taking all the burdens. Your "former" family will be the one taking the expenses, taking care of you, dealing with everything while the "spiritual" family prayed with you once. But of course it's because it's you and you are just a member. But if someone in the leader's family gets sick, the whole congregation is called for a 3 days fast and prayer for the individual.
You have done quite a good job of describing most religion. The desert cults have been building grotesque and obscene cathedrals for about 1700 years. Their job is to cower the faithful and incite devotion to an implacable god. Religious extremism is as old as the mainstream version. Religion remains its own worst enemy.
This young man is very loving and brings truth
I understand there are "church people" (spiritually dead legalists) but listening to the conviction of the Holy Spirit and all the good difficult parts of the faith should never be lumped in with that. They're doing serious damage and leading people astray. It's spiritual narcissism. You can tell they're not humbly seeking the Lord before making all of these hotshot and campus planting moves.
can you elaborate on that? and how does that cause serious damage exactly ??
Let's say you have a boss and there's a work project but they just want to throw donut parties for their employees instead cause it feels good (they know that some have diabetes) and any time an employee says something they vilify him. Pastors are held to a higher standard because they are spiritually responsible to do their job. It's terrible leadership.
If you watch them they barely touch on the bible and they misuse scripture all of the time
Thanks for the video Isaac. It's hard to tell sometimes if you are being manipulated or not. Some people have a natural talent for it. This video helps a lot.
Thank you Isaac for sharing. This is a topic that has been on mind for some time. In my country many worship leaders are trying to copy trendy worship groups like Bethel, Maveric Church and etc. and this has been upsetting me((
If you don’t mind, what country? I am concerned about the influence of the American and hillsong megachurch on Christians in other countries. I really hope you might respond . Thanks!
Nigeria definitely is going through this toxic Christianity phase mentioned
Really important message for young Christians especially!
I can’t believe yall are agreeing or being easily manipulated with this guy, he’s literally gaslighting people into thinking they’re wrong for attending these churches or being in a state of in his words “hypnosis” during praise and worship services smh, he’s over here deleting comments that does not fit his narrative. He’s deleted my comment stating my opinion and personal experience but because it doesn’t fit his view on it, he deletes it lol
@@lcd_777 I think you might be taking it a bit too personally, this video clearly isn't meant as a personal attack towards anyone attending these churches. He even says in the video that if you have positive experiences from these churches that's great. But you should still be able to be critical of a church if they stray from the scripture and it becomes the pastor's show.
@@lcd_777 UA-cam is the one that deletes comments. It's been a problem for many months now.
@@lcd_777can you tell me what you said in your deleted comment?
I spent several years working for a Bible college that was connected to a megachurch ministry. There were a few good things there, but there was a lot of manipulation and subtle abuse that went on. In hindsight, I can also see where the leadership did a lot of gaslighting. I don't think I will be associating with any more megachurches anymore.
Thank you so much for this video and for all the work you do! I went to a very large multi-campus church for many years and even worked on staff as an intern. As my faith grew, I realized that the church was too seeker-sensitive and that I had very few deep connections with other people there and knew even fewer people interested in authentically growing their faith in Jesus. I’ve had a hard time finding a new church that isn’t similarly shallow or that has sound biblical teaching. Any advice? I’d love to see a video from you on how to find a good church. Again, thank you for your great work! It is so refreshing seeing other people my age truly pursuing God.
Your film production is unreal dude
Right. The world usually wants you to empty your mind whereas scripture clearly shows Christians to fill their minds with God’s Word and meditate on it deeply.
My cousin loves mike Todd and goes to furticks church…. I think these types of leaders allow people to focus on love of God and also not be held accountable by any leadership according to scripture because their congregations are so big… I think people just see young people in church and think it’s good so any criticism is tested like bashing
Really really good stuff here! It’s so important that we hold ourselves accountable ❤❤❤
I just want to say that it's not just flashy mega churches that do this. I go to a pretty flashy, commercialised church but I'm always positively surprised by how true to scripture and pointing to Jesus the sermon and the music is. Now im not a big fan of it being so focused on growth as a church by means of catchy and hip social media posts and fancy services with big lights and loud music, but the fruit of this church seems genuine. I did, however, go to a more traditional, less flashy pentecostal church in search for a more sober church this week and the preacher only talked about how we can be better, what we can do to attain God's favor and I was so disappointed because there was no pointing to God and his goodness and grace. I was quite surprised by that as well since this denomination usually is so good at pointing to God.
I'm halfway through this vid and I can relate in so many ways. I was raised in church and I can tell you there is alot of smoke and mirrors. So many clout chasers I'm loving hearing about The Lord Jesus instead of the hot takes.
Keep up with the good works Isaac. Your channel is truly a blessing
Thanks for talking sense and being " Sober " in these days.
You are very gracious brother in your spot-on identification of the problems in megachurches and megachurch wannabes.
Amazing job, man. Thanks for the audacity and courage to call out this nonsense.
Whewww so grateful for you and this video. Because it’s getting to the point where God is about to HUMBLE His bride for idolatry.
It’s good that more of us are speaking up about these churches and wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Thanks for this video. You've laid it out really well, and this will help a lot to explain to some family members what to look out for. Thank you.
Wow great point, they make you feel like they’re going really deep when it’s actually the opposite. It’s more about how clever and creative the Pastor is than just giving the message of the Bible and Gospel to the congregation.
i have this natural awkward/weird feeling whenever i step into any trendy mega churches..
I'm really thankful to be raised in a independent fundamental Baptist church. The only problem is it's a Spanish speaking church and I understand English well better. For this reason, I thought about going to a non denominational church, but many of them don't sing many hymns, nor look separate church and government. Also many English independent churches have older members, and rarely young people, but on the other hand, the Spanish independent churches have all ages.
God can draw a straight line with a crooked stick 🙌🙌
Love that!
Good Job! Been wanting to articulate this and you got it down pretty well
Thank you, brother, thank you.
People have this weird tendancy to "Show off" Their wife or husband.
This seems a bit unnateral beacause you would normally feel jealous if someone else was into your wife.
I think it comes from a place of wanting to make OTHER people feel jealous of YOU.
Beacause you find that validating.
There definitely is some of that but there are a lot of people especially newlyweds that are just happy to be married
It's objectification and seeking approval from the world
Yeah, it's super weird and icky.
Megachurches are almost exclusively trendy churches - after all, that's how they grow. Aside from the obvious issues like misguided worship (songs), shallow theology, and how hard it is to properly get to know people, megachurches draw people away from smaller/more grounded churches, which contributes to the overall decline in discernment within the church. I also think their culture of growth/"church planting" draws from the worst parts of capitalism that views anything less than expansion as a failure; numbers through the door and not enriching teaching is the most important metric.
As a worship leader, this is something that worries me a lot. I’ve been reading Tozer’s Worship and Entertainment and one of the quotes says this:
“Any objection to the carryings on of our present gold-calf Christianity is met with the triumphant reply, ‘But we are winning them!’
And winning them to what? To true discipleship? To cross carrying? To self-denial? To separation from the world? To crucifixion of the flesh? To holy living? To nobility of character? To a despising of the world’s treasures? To hard self-discipline? To love for God? To total committal to Christ?
Of course the answer to all these questions is no.” (Man: The Dwelling Place Of God, p. 136)
Aside from those I would like to add one significant point: To actually get people saved. Discipleship is costly, getting saved is free. When there's no distinction made, people miss out on the salvation. That's quite the tragedy, isn't it?
I'm amazed by how accurate this video is and in how many traps I've fallen into in the past. When I found my way to Christianity I liked to listen to modern worship music, it made me feel very good. But as time went on I realized how bad they really were. A line was repeated like 10 times in a row and it drove me crazy. The lyrics were like ' Thanks Jesus, because you died I'm free to do whatever I want now.'' and now that I take my faith more serious I really can't stand listening to such things anymore. I was so close to buying tickets to a concert because I thought hey it could be nice. But thankfully I didn't. Shortly before I was planning to get the tickets so many doubts were in my head and I lost interest in it pretty fast, once I realized what was going on with me.
There are still some modern songs I like to sing along, because their lyrics are actually good, but these are rare. Listening to my favourite one feels so much closer to God than that other Pop-stuff. The topic of it is Jesus and how much He gave for us, even though we are all sinners, and we are all failing to be good people day by day, but we can look up to God and count on Him. And that is what is missing in most modern worship songs, the reality that we are sinners who deserve nothing, but still got everything from our Lord.
Hey 👋 , shouldn't we thank Jesus our Messiah for sacrificing his body for our sins because we were not worthy and he still loves us very much 💕 !!!
I’m very guarded by mega churches. A mega church isn’t bad, per se, but how close are they to Gospel?
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; (2 Timothy 4:3).”
I relate so hard to the first point. I went to a church for a one time conference and felt kinda scared when I left. I felt as though the lights, repetitive and extremely long music and other factors were exhausting me to the point of uncontrollable sobbing. On one hand it was a great experience with Christ, but the people there were trying to get me to speak in tongues when I simply could not and was not ready. I found myself almost wanting to pretend to get them to leave me alone. But I thought you know what? No. When God wants me to speak in tongues it will happen! It just felt manipulative in my opinion but I also saw a lot of good aspects. What do you guys think?
I dont want a pasture that just preaches good news or just how great the lord is because he does great stuff for us. I want a pasture that teaches scripture in a way for me to understand. Every passage in the bible is important. The laws of the old testament may not be as applicable today, but it tells us about who God is which is an important message. All eyes on the Father, Son & Holy Spirit
Thank you for showing what verse you read, I highly appreciate it
I did grow up in a Christian household and currently do not practice Christianity but think we are in end times. There are so many false prophets the bible speaks of. Also dont get me started with the whole trans movement and how the bible (which is suppose to the embodiment of God) adapting trans ideology.
It could be God but i found that i have consumed more Christian content/music this year than i have in the last several years. I know the church is suppose to be a home to broken people but found too many church snobs in my life
I hope you find you way to God genuinely and see that He loves you and is concerned about you. Everything that happens in your life is important to God. God be with you❤
You say you do not currently practice Christianity but you still seem to have some degree of belief in it. Or so it seems to me from your comment anyway. Perhaps I am mistaken! Whatever the reason is as to why you do not currently consider yourself a follower of Jesus I hope one day you might reconsider and give it another chance.
I myself have been living in the same cycle of sin for years and am trying to get back on course and now, even though I feel a bit spiritually distant and even doubtful. Going to Bible study tonight in fact! May God guide you on your path! 💙
Church is barely ever used as a term in the bibles. Church is the people. Be the church. You don't need to go to church. Read the scripture, make disciples, Love God, Love others. This is what we are called to do, the modern church is counter productive. They don't make disciples and are there for selfish reasons.
That said, fellowship with other believers is still important. But I do agree that you don't need a "church building" per se to accomplish this.
I'm so glad that you and a few others are speaking openly in love about this. I've seen this problem since the 80s. Unfortunately it's just gotten worse over the years .
I know many who attend mega churches. I'm one of them who does . Mostly it's because this is what's available here . Thankfully our church leaders see the problems . Although the concert like atmosphere gets on my nerves. Seriously why does church lighting have to be so bright one needs sunglasses indoors and even then it burns your retinas.
Then there's the problem that many aren't being taught basics theology. It's sad that church has become a recreational activity on the weekend. I'm not saying that everyone feels this way but .... we can do better ( I can do better) . I love the church body . I truly hurts to see this . We can be a better example of Christ love .
I really appreciate this! It would be good to have a part 2 of healthy alternatives to each of these so that people can learn what a church should look like.
Well spoken!
“Your not David!”
What's a "david"? He's not david who?
The way Christianity is self critical and always trying to trim its own bad fruit is what makes it so unique and in my opinion it validates a lot more
Lol I went to a church like this in AZ called Generation. Completely summed up in this video about distraction and planting people in eyesight in order to rally everyone around them for complete endorsement. It was pretty icky to be honest. The blind following that bordered on worship..makes me shudder
When the pastor says " everybody say.......xyz" and it's a regular thing
This is one of the reasons why i currently don't go to a church. I haven't found a church yet that didn't give me a "fake/synthetic" feeling. Instead of feeling close and connected to God.
Look into Bible churches or Calvary chapels :) good starting place.
Exactly! I went to one last year and I did not feel The Holy Spirit at all! The guest preacher told a lie and some of the audience’s praise seemed forced. Left and never went back. They still try to reach out to me, even showed up to my house😅. Veryyyy weird. I’m putting it in God’s hand and letting The Holy Spirit lead me to a church He approves💯
@rachelnavarrete3925 hell no frigg that the church is within people not a building people can just worship at home in private
I’m currently fighting this at my local church. Trying to get people to see these things is difficult, but through the Holy Spirit, doing it lovingly, and patience, I have been able to make some inroads and open some eyes on what is going on. I don’t think any of it is intentional, it’s all just “following the trend”. It comes down to the church is trying to make Jesus more attractive to the world, but that Jesus just isn’t a biblical Jesus. Also, the church as a whole has been corporatized where churches now feel like they are in competition and not on the same team.
Some of this is faith that is contagious. I agree with not using manipulative tactics. 100% but I think in a country as spiritually dead as Canada, the problem leans to in expression, non reaction, non participation... At a local church here we had a healing service... Where the elders and pastors stood in front on the church and invited anyone who needed healing to come up front and receive prayer... Of the 100 something congregants, one young woman even had cancer, but you know what... 0 people went up. Pastors stood there looking and feeling embarrassed. They exhorted the church. But the church people are Canadian, won't be vulnerable, won't be reactive, too passive too asleep, to unemotional to flinch at God's word... They're dead. When you have the Holy Spirit, you become more fully alive, you feel more not less, you are more vulnerable not less... Our problem here is not hyped up churches, it's lack of church at all.
Thank you for opening my eyes, brother.
Agree!! Thank you!
I’m so confused why people take issue with Steve Furtic and Elevation. Yes it’s a big church and has a big production but the way the word is delivered I can appreciate it because it makes the word clear to me and gives me a different perspective from my own.
I watched Elevation Church online for a few weeks. The worship was good, and the preaching seemed Biblical. But after a while, I realised that it was all about "me feeling good." There was no mention of serving others. I realised that this was just narcissistic psychotherapy with a Christian gloss, so I stopped watching.
This was so on point. Thank you for your work. God bless you.
You are so right. I am 50 and a new believer. I had only been going to church from March 2023 and started reading the bible in April 2023. I was an atheist. But I worked really hard and started to believe in July 2023. Then I went to a retreat and it was devastating for me. I almost lost everything I worked so hard for. And I thought I didn’t come here to become an atheist again. They put in the part of the Passion of the Christ where they’re whipping and torturing Jesus and you were supposed to go up in groups of four and kneel by the cross they had. So everyone was crying their eyes out except me. And I cry about everything. So I thought I was taken over by Satan or was just a callous person. Why wasn’t I crying like everyone else? But that because I had more discernment than others I learned later that this was new age nonsense which I could feel within myself. Also there’s a song How Great Thou Art that I know is a biblically sound song. It after listening to it for a month I looked up the lyrics to sing along. And they just keep saying the first verse and chorus over and over again. They skip the second verse about sin and the third verse about Jesus dying on the cross. It’s a new age church who sings that song. I was disgusted.
😊
I’m at youth camp rn and i will keep my abide time with God
Watch out for this emotional manipulation when it’s time for these types to churches to ask for money.
A pastor once said don’t take everything you heard in church, from social Media influencers, or posts as your reason YOU know and love God. If we follow your analogy here all pastors in a country like Nigeria are false prophets😂. Some are, but not all. But they could poses these antics you speak of, and that’s because while they were preparing their message they were filled with the Holy Spirit and it was a revelation to something they were struggling with. And they feel to relay that to you. But it might hit you in a different way cause it their revelation not YOURS.
What I’m saying is know Jesus for yourself, know his love and grow in it, so you can identify men of God and false prophets for yourself. Because a lot of Modern and young Pastors grew up on this kinds of antics they may use it with their preaching even if they have a great and powerful message, cause that’s how they feel when they are filled with the Holy Spirit.
I pray this finds someone who needs it… God Bless you all💯
I consider myself to be very knowledgeable about manipulation tactics compared to most people, and I can assure you all that has in no way made me impervious to them; it's all too easy to overlook the signs in the moment, even if you see them in hindsight
Issac do you think hyper emotionalism as you spoke about it in the video is a salvation issue? Because if it’s just your emotions running wild instead of the authentic presence of God, do you even have a relationship with him?
That's a very interesting thought. But also kinda hard to understand the answer. Cause emotions aren't wrong, but I think letting them control you isn't good.
this! exactly what I was thinking. if these type of churches he’s mentioned about & their praise & worship portion puts you in a “hypnosis” then are you really worshipping God or genuinely there for worship for Jesus in the first place. Don’t get me wrong, Isaac did hit some good points but some got me questioning my own faith in God/Jesus and almost like I’m “gaslit” into thinking I’m going to a bad church or i’ve been lied to etc. If that makes sense..
I think you'd have to ask yourself, "What is it that I am seeking?" to figure that out. I believe it keeps people in a spiritual infant state at best and that's why people are harsh on these preachers. That higher standard like scripture holds them to. Emotions play a role but making an idol of them is a problem.
Also one thing that I've never seen in a church setting is driving out demons. Never. Or healing the sick. Where are these things things that should be a big part of the church?
I hear stories at my church, more on the healing the sick side. I’ve never heard of any casting out of demons in the modern day, but I don’t even know how you would tell if someone was possessed. The healing stories are pretty rare, especially compared to how things seem to have been in the past, but I honestly wonder if that isn’t more of a general loss of faith among the membership. We’re all told we have the power to do miracles by the power of God, but it’s hard to really believe.
6:44 this part makes me think of Mike Todd. I’ve heard people literally hyping him up before he’s even really said anything
So true! Very good! Thank you for sharing!
7:30
Isaac, find a Lutheran Church, preferable within LCMS or WELS.
It always comes down to $$$$$--Power & Control--$$$$$
We’re uptight but he’s trying to encourage and manufacture lust for his wife while she allowed him to show that off in church…That’s not Christian at all. He’s bordering on apostasy. I believe Jesus would flip his tables over.
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@@SmellyAlpaca What are you confused about?
@@Dante-mw2ez I understand now srry. I commented that before finishing the video :)
@@SmellyAlpaca Ok cool lol, you were making me confused. Mike Todd is a clown, I’m glad I jumped off that train.
The logical conclusion of sola scriptura and sola fide
25+ years in worship bands here. I remember the first time I was asked to manipulate the crowd. That was the moment it started to become uninteresting to be in worship band. It started out genuine. Then as it progresses, it will start to become more about the adrenaline and dopamine it feeds the people on stage and off stage. It's not all bad. But it's so easy to get there, it's scary. I no longer play in worship bands.
I just joined a worship team. Thankfully it doesn’t have any red flags (yet) that I’ve noticed. In fact, the leader of the team gave me a book called “The Reset” which highlights a lot of these kinds of things, and is a reminder on staying true to God and not getting caught up in cultural trends or popularity seeking, but to always remember we are there to worship God. I can see how it can be so easy to get away from that with just one compromise but I’m thankful it’s addressed from the beginning of joining the team and throughout the process.
My pastor says some churches think they're too smart they forget about faith!
I was at a church for a memorial service for an old boss.They were preaching right on from the Bible but only talked about God's grace but not His righteousness.
They even said this guy who passed away is enjoying a beer in Heaven and they said there is a table for their church in Heaven!!!
I understand what he’s trying to say. I’m more than happy now at the Catholic Church.
And this is part of why I love being catholic!
I was change by God in my emotional experience. I also continue in my devotional to God.
Bruh you are 💯 dead on. It's called CHURCH-A-TAINMENT. A new means to fill seats vs just teaching the scriptures and letting the Holy Spirit do His work in the human heart. Just as long as they says "Jesus" they get a pass...but there's no conviction in thr human heart to become more like Jesus.
I've seen dozens and dozens of hours of this in the main THREE ARC leader churches : COTH, Bayside community and Seacoast.
Solid talk, thank you 👍🏻
10:50 I have heard this before and defended Mike in the past. I didn't know he wore a shirt with his wife in a bikini on stage. I only knew he had a picture of him and his wife at the beach in beach attire on Instagram and people weren't happy with that.
I think when someone is really trusting Jesus, we just don't have to please ourselves anymore.
We just seek him, of course a lot of people can be decieved to believe that the church attendance can please God enough, but God is pleased by obedience to his word.
Ture 💯 well said brother
Personally I don’t think mega churches should exist I left mine around the same time Francis Chan left his mega church I enjoy a medium size church and love it I see the same plp and meet with families through out the week it’s pure community
Yes true! At first I thought the Steven guy was a good one. I would just hear clips of him on tiktok. Then I watched one of his services and something didn’t seem right. It’s sad how easy people can be deceived. Prayers. Stay strong in Faith and line it up with a Bible. Good video. I’ve been church hurt and preacher was false teaching. Me and my family had to leave. It’s end of times. 🙏🏻
Great job with this God bless 🙏🏾