The Harlot Church System (part 1)

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The Harlot Church System (part 1)
By Charles Elliott Newbold, Jr.

Zion vs. Babylon

Scripturally Zion represents the kingdom of God, the presence and authority of God. Babylon represents the kingdom of Satan. Babylon encompasses all of Satan's deception to deceive mankind into following him. Satan's plan has not changed since he deceived a third of the angles to be separated from their creator.

Both cities originally had there historical settings and have latter become symbolic representations of these two kingdoms in conflict to this day. Zion and Babylon.

1 Peter 2:6, "Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, elect, precious; and he who believes on Him shall not be confounded." This corner stone in Zion, the body of Christ, is clearly Jesus. (Rom 9:33 also)

Eph 2:20, "having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit." NKJV

Revelation 14:8 is a good example of how Babylon has been used in this figurative sense: "And there followed another angel, saying, 'Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.'"

Rev 17:3-6, "So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement. NKJV

Rev 18:2-4, "And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury." 4 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues." NKJV

It must be understood that Babylon represents all that encompasses the kingdom of Satan, both religious and secular. There is religious Babylon, of which God calls His saints to come out of her and there is secular Babylon out of which the world conduct there business.

Our focus is going to be on religious Babylon and how it has infiltrated the church and has affected its doctrine and life. Babylon represents the work of Satan to institutionalized the body of Christ and compromise the church with the world standards and methods.

Though the word "Church" is the wrong word representing the Greek word ecclesia, for the time being we will use it and then deal with the word.

However, the kind of flesh written about in this book is in reference to that fallen nature of sin within all mankind that came about when Adam rebelled in the garden. Paul wrote regarding this, "Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery [which is witchcraft], hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." Gal. 5:19-21. Flesh is capable of committing the most vile evils without conscience even while having an awareness of what is good and evil. Such occurred in the days of Noah. Gen. 6:5-7. These practices are not the deeds of the physical body, but of that fallen sin nature that resides in us.

Paul had already established in Galatians 5:17 that "the flesh lusts [sets its desire] against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish." Romans 8:7 attests that "the carnal mind is at enmity [hostile] against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be."

The carnal mind and the Spirit of God speak languages that are foreign and unknown to each other. The carnal (fleshly) mind cannot speak Spirit and the Spirit of God cannot speak flesh. The carnal mind has no ability whatsoever to understand the things of God which are Spirit. 1 Cor. 2:12-14. When inspired things of God are reduced to rigid doctrines, systems of theology, reasoning and logic, they are no longer Spirit but have become flesh. And if flesh, then deception. The carnal mind is at total odds with the Spirit of God; it is hostile to God.

THE DEATH SENTENCE

The sentence of death has been pronounced over the flesh. The flesh nature of man is separated from God who is life; therefore, the flesh is dead and all that comes from the carnal mind is death.

Nevertheless, flesh has a life of its own. It is earthly, sensual, self-centered, and at war with God. Its life is born out of the seed of death. It has an inherent drive to preserve itself at all cost. It fears annihilation. Yet, it cannot save itself because it is destined to self-destruction. The flesh nature rules a person until the life of God in Christ is planted within his spirit, at which time the old seed of flesh and sin is understood to be what it already is--dead. Unfortunately, even after we are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and while we remain in this life, we carry about both seeds: the seed of flesh and death, and the seed of Spirit and life.

THE HARLOT OF SELF

The flesh loves Self. Self with the capital "S" is the term I use throughout this book to refer to that the self-centered, self-indulging, self-absorbed, self-willed, self-serving nature of fallen flesh. The flesh nature of Self turns in on itself. It is selfish, prideful, arrogant, haughty, vain, narcissistic, manipulative, controlling, dominating, impatient, stubborn, insensitive, resentful, angry, unteachable, rebellious, fearful, anxious, complaining, disagreeable, judgmental, negative, critical, cynical, indifferent, greedy, lustful, sensual, envious, covetous, jealous, fault-finding, dishonest, and deceitful. It is deceived and suffers from delusions of grandeur. It always asks, "What's in it for me?"

The harlot, broadly defined, is anything for Self. I refer to these Things we call church as the harlot church system because they have been created out of our fleshly minds and desires for Self. Churches as we experience them today have no basis in scripture. They are icons of self-worship. Moreover, they are idolatrous, deceptive, and dangerous.

A TROUBLING MESSAGE

I will hit hard on the idolatry of the church system as we know it and experience it today. If you are not prepared to hear this message by the Spirit, you will no doubt take serious offense to it. The message of this book will be troubling to many of you who are victims of the church system, but will be most troubling to those of you who depend upon the church system for your livelihood and who find your significance, identity, validation, recognition, power, and security in it.

If you choose to continue reading this book, it will take you where you may think you do not want to go. You will journey beyond the facade of that Thing we call church and see how it is an invention of flesh. You will discover the demons that empower it. If you go the distance, you will hopefully find, with Abraham, that "city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is the Lord." Heb. 11:10. You will "come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels; to the general assembly and assembly of the firstborn, who are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirit of just men made perfect." Heb. 12:22-23.

ZION AND BABYLON

Before I plunge forward into exposing the idolatry of this harlot system, I want to abbreviate some comparisons between spiritual Zion, where Jesus is the only thing there is, and spiritual Babylon (the harlot), where the carnal mind of Self exalts itself, in order to provide a better point of reference for what follows. Many of the thoughts below are developed further throughout this book.

Zion refers to the true body of Christ, the bride, the ekklesia; Babylon refers to the false church system of men's traditions and religions. (Ekklesia is the Greek word in the New Testament which has been mis-translated "church" in most English versions, but it literally means "called-out-ones".)

Zion is a people--the people of God; Babylon is a Thing--church institutions and systems.

Zion is a living organism; Babylon is characterized by organizations, institutions, and systems.

Zion consists of people who have been born into it; Babylon consists of people who have joined it or been voted into it.

Zion is a people who are called by the name of Jesus; Babylon is a people who are called by many different names that represent divisions within this Babylonian church system: Baptist, Catholic, Charismatic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, and all the rest.

Zion is Jesus-centered; Babylon is self-centered.

Zion is living by the Spirit; Babylon is living after the flesh.

Zion is heavenly; Babylon is earthly.

Zion is grace; Babylon is law.

Zion is life; Babylon is death.

Zion is being; Babylon is doing.

Zion is rest; Babylon is works.

Zion is light; Babylon is darkness.

Zion is humility; Babylon is full of pride, arrogance, and haughtiness.

Zion is liberty in Christ; Babylon is bondage to the flesh.

Zion is the Kingdom of God; Babylon is the kingdoms of men.

Zion has Jesus Christ as her head; Babylon has elected or appointed men as their heads.

Zion is a Spirit-led people; Babylon is led by rules and regulations of man's own making.

Zion is Spirit-sensitive; Babylon is man-pleasing.

Zion is obedience to the Holy Spirit; Babylon is busy church work.

Zion accomplishes things in Holy Spirit power (Zech. 4:6); Babylon tries to accomplish things in self-strength.

Zion has its authority in the Word of God; Babylon places its authority in man-made doctrines.

Zion is one body in Christ Jesus as Lord; Babylon is sectarian and divisive, consisting of many divisions of people.

Zion worships in spirit and in truth; Babylon programs praise.

Zion preaches Christ and Him crucified; Babylon proclaims denominations, doctrines, heritage, traditions, creeds, personal views and opinions.

Zion is the priesthood of all believers; Babylon is the clergy system. The clergy are those who want to make a difference between themselves and others.

Zion answers to God as the highest authority; Babylon answers to men and their institutions as the authority.

Zion calls forth revelation; Babylon depends upon imagination.

Zion conforms people into the image of Jesus; Babylon conforms people into its own image.

Zion decreases that Christ may increase; Babylon increases itself in power, position, riches, and domination.

Zion counts the cost; Babylon counts the money.

Zion lays down its life; Babylon preserves and protects itself.

Zion waits upon God to raise up what God wants in His timing; Babylon schemes, organizes, and promotes to execute its own plan in its own way and time.

Zion seeks the Lord with a whole heart to be possessed by Him; Babylon goes after things and people to possess them.

Zion is the city of God; Babylon seeks to build a city, a tower, and a name for itself. Gen. 11:4.

Zion longs to be gathered into Jesus; Babylon passionately seeks to gather people unto itself.

DENY SELF

To be a disciple of Jesus Christ one must be willing to deny Self, take up his cross, and follow Jesus. Luke 9:23. Self-denial is the cross we bear. The old man of flesh and sin has to be rendered dead. The laid-down life defines the New Testament concept of agape (love).

When we live according to the flesh, we are living for Self. Conversely, when we are living for Self, we are living according to the flesh. When we live according the Spirit, we will bear the fruit of agape. We have not been called to live unto ourselves. We have been called to surrender our lives to Christ that He might live His life of agape through us. We cannot be the bride of Christ and at the same time live selfishly in this world. We are either the bride or we are living the life of the harlot.

Self-centered living is making ourselves out to be god; therefore, it is idolatry. I will show in a subsequent chapter that idolatry is spiritual harlotry. I will also show how this Thing we call church is an idolatrous extension of ourselves--thus, spiritual harlotry.

We become spiritual prostitutes when we create something and give our hearts to it rather than to the Lord Jesus Christ. That is what men have done with this Thing we call church. They have made church a substitute for Jesus. Many within these harlot church systems are true believers who love the Lord, but are uninformed and deceived. They have unintentionally given their hearts to these Things we call church. God loves us all but hates our idolatries.

Judge the words in this book for yourself and judge yourself by these words. Open your heart to the Holy Spirit that He might instruct you and point you to Jesus. I hope to reveal Father-God's heart to you that your heart may be revealed to you; that you may dare face your idolatries, cleanse His temple of whom you and I are, and return to the God of your salvation. The idolatry revealed in this book is not about "them" but about each of us.

With much fervor Brother Leonard, the visiting preacher, began his message by asking the congregation to turn to the gospel of John, chapter 15. He readily established that Jesus is the true vine and we were the branches. Then he made a startling point of saying that fruit-bearing was not the most important issue in this passage; abiding was. "Bearing fruit is mentioned four times," he pointed out, "while abiding is mentioned nine times." He hammered repeatedly the phrase, "We must abide." "We must abide." I waited for him to complete his sentence by saying, "We must abide in the vine who is Jesus." He never did. Then I saw it coming. He had to say it. It was the abundance of his heart. He was, after all, a church man. He stepped back from the podium, pointed an accusatory finger at his unsuspecting victims in the congregation, and said, "The problem we have in society today, and especially in the church, is people don't abide. They go from church to church and never make a commitment to the church or to the pastor."

Did he actually believe that abiding in that system we call church is what it means to abide in Jesus? Did he believe that committing to a church or the pastor is the same as committing to Jesus? His conclusion was an outrageous misrepresentation of scripture, spoken for the benefit of that local pastor whose church had a history of losing members. Rather than liberating the saints to have a deeper relationship with their Lord, he set a snare to enslave them even more to that Thing we call church.

He did not set out to deliberately deceive the people. In all truthfulness, he was deceived himself. We have all been deceived. Lied to. Beguiled. This deception has been passed through the generations of Christians since at least the third century A.D. Those who perpetuate this lie are equally victims of it. This deception is so deep and cruel that we have believed it as the truth. We minister death with this deception, thinking we are offering life.

Worse yet, people are unknowingly missing out on their glorious union with Christ because they have been given a false assurance of their salvation. This beguilement has puffed us up in self-importance. It has caused many believers to forsake their first love, Jesus. The devil has seduced us into dancing with him while making us think we were dancing with the Lord.

This is the lie: We have been made to believe that this Thing we call church is of God and that our membership and participation in it is essential to our Christian walk when in fact it is an idolatrous substitute for Jesus and quite often a hindrance to our walk with Him.

This Thing we call church, as we have come to experience it, is an idolatrous extension of our own Selves. Though it exists as an entity unto itself, we are in it and it is in us. It is an icon of self-worship that has grown out of the traditions of men and has no basis in scripture. We proclaim that this Thing we call church is the Kingdom of God when in fact it has nothing to do with the Kingdom of God. Rather, it is the modern-day Babylonian captivity of the elect of God.

We have confused our relationship with Christ by fusing it with this Thing we call church. We are led to believe that when we are in a proper relationship with it we are in a proper relationship with Christ; that we have to be a member of a church to be saved or to be a good Christian; that serving it is serving Christ; that loving it is loving Christ; that tithing to it is tithing to Christ.

In many instances this Thing we call church is like a tent we have made to spread over the moves and revelations of God in order to preserve them, touch them, contain them, maintain them, manipulate them, own and control other people in them, and use the people and the system for our sordid, fleshly gain. We find comfort in the restrictions these church walls set for us. We can hide in them and feel good in them. We widen these tent pegs just enough to let others in who want to walk, talk, and dress as we do.

We talk about this Thing we call church in strange ways. Where do you go to church? What is the name of your church? How was church today? Are you building an annex onto your church? Wow, did we ever have church at prayer meeting last night! The pastor or priest often greets the Sunday morning crowd, saying, "Good morning, Church." These statements make church out to be a building, an institution with a name, a service, a meeting, the kind of time we have together, and people.

The word "church" as it is used in English translations of the New Testament refers to the people of God, but we no longer limit its meaning to people. If we really meant that people are the "church" when we use that term, these same statements would have to be made this way: Where do you go to you? What is the name of you? How was you today? Are you building an annex onto you? Wow, did we ever have us at prayer meeting last night. We know better and insist in theory that we, the redeemed people of God, are the church. Yet, in practice, we make no distinction between the people and this Thing we call church. That the word church is used interchangeably this way is not the problem though. Much more is going on here than meets the eye.

The word church, as we use it, speaks of an illegal, unholy mystical union which embodies buildings, institutions, denominations, and people. These have been so fused and confused with each other that they perpetuate the dangerous lie that this Thing we call church (buildings, institutions, denominations, and the people associated with them) is Christ's assembly of called-out-ones. This Thing we call church looks good in its outward appearance, but is often inwardly controlled by men and women ambitiously, often unknowingly, seeking something for themselves.

When we preach church, as we craftily do, we thereby preach another gospel, a false gospel. We perpetuate the lie. We are often zealous to evangelize people into our churches; yet, we are uncomfortable calling them to deny themselves and take up their crosses to follow Jesus. Such a command by Jesus is a foreign concept to most Christians today. If we happen to lead someone to Christ, we immediately impose church membership upon them, especially hoping that they will join "our" church.

I have personally longed to be in fellowship with other believers who were willing to be the body of Christ with me without having to sign on to the bondage and play the games that come with being a member of one of these institutions. I find no satisfaction in paying my dues to church just to "shake and howdy" with a few other believers while hiding behind our phony religious facades.

If it were true that going to church is synonymous with coming to Jesus, then we would have to ask: Which Jesus is it? Is it the Baptist Jesus? The Church of Christ Jesus? The Methodist Jesus? The Presbyterian Jesus? The Roman Catholic Jesus? The Orthodox Jesus? The Protestant Jesus? The Charismatic or Pentecostal Jesus? The Independent Jesus? There are so many to choose from. Unchurched people look at this mix of churches they are invited to join and wonder why anyone would want to be a part of that.

We give our hearts to these Things we call church rather than to the Lord Jesus Christ. They are enemies of God because they stand in place--in substitution--to what is holy, to what is His.

This deception is not new. The children of Israel in Judah and Samaria were spiritually blinded by their own harlot hearts. They refused to hear the words of the prophets to return to the worship of their God. So, God scattered the people of Samaria to Assyria and later exiled Judah to Babylon.

The prophet Ezekiel had been carried away with the captives of Judah to Babylon. He had visions from God which he was told to tell the "stiff-faced" and "hard-hearted" elders of Judah whether they listened to him or not. God wanted them to know that a prophet had been in their midst. Ezek. 2-3.

Twenty-five years later, God took Ezekiel by way of a vision to the land of Israel and showed him a man whose appearance was like brass. This man had a line of flax and a measuring reed in his hand. He measured all around the Temple. He measured the width and the height of the wall, the gateways, chambers, and courts. Afterwards, he took Ezekiel to the gate that faced the east, and the glory of the God of Israel came from the east. "His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory." Ezek. 43:2. The Spirit lifted Ezekiel up and took him into the inner court as the glory of the Lord filled the Temple. Ezek. 43:5.

Then Ezekiel heard the Lord speaking to him from out of the house and told him that this house, the temple, was the place of His throne, the place of the soles of His feet, where He would dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever. It would be the place where His holy name would dwell. Ezek. 43:7. God told Ezekiel that the house of Israel would not defile His house any more by their whoredoms; neither they, nor their kings, nor by the carcasses of their kings in their high places. Ezek. 43:6-9.

Then the Lord charged Ezekiel to show the condition of the house of the Lord to the house of Israel saying, "You son of man, show the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern. And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, show them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the going out thereof, and the coming in thereof, and all the forms...ordinances...and laws thereof...this is the law of the house: upon the top of the mountain the whole limit thereof round about shall be most holy." Ezek. 43:10-12.

Next, Ezekiel was shown a temple of stone. From the New Testament perspective we believe this temple of stone represents God's spiritual house of lively stones--the body of Christ which is the temple of the Holy Spirit of whom we are. The condition of their hearts reflected the condition of God's temple. Conversely, the condition of God's temple reflected the condition of their hearts.

It still works this way.

Centuries later, the aging apostle John was given the revelation of Jesus in which he was asked to measure the temple again. He wrote, "There was given me a reed like a rod: and the angel stood, saying, 'Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and those who worship therein.'" Rev. 11:1.

Today, the Spirit of the Lord calls out for us to show the house to the house that we might be ashamed of all that we have done; that is, show how we have given our hearts to our denominations, institutions, buildings, stained-glass windows, memorialized pews, patron saints, rituals, liturgies, doctrines, rules of order, programs, the Sunday morning service--so many, many things. The Spirit of the Lord wants to show us how we seek after our own agendas though they contradict the agenda of God. He calls us to keep His pattern, not ours; His laws, not ours. For this is the law of the house that we should be holy (separated) unto the Lord. Ezek. 43:12.

If we were asked to measure a physical house structure, we would pull out our measuring tape and calculate numbers. We would check the width, length, and height. Those who are in the institutional church typically measure themselves by how many members they have, how big their buildings are, how many buildings they have, how tall their steeple is, how many cars can be parked in their lot, what kind of cars are parked in their lot, how much money they take in. They measure these Things because they give the greater honor to those pastors and ministries who have the biggest and most. This is a false house.

The true house of God is measured by love, faith, mercy, grace, peace, life, light, rest, joy, hope, forgiveness, acceptance, righteousness, praise, worship, turning the other cheek, submitting to each other, receiving the prophet in the name of the prophet, employing the gifts of the Spirit for the building up of the body, having a passion for Jesus, and being excited about the things that excite God. These are expressions that define our relationship with Christ as His bride and with one another as the household of God. We measure the temple of the Holy Spirit of whom we are by these Biblical terms. If that which we are in that we call church is characterized by such terms as dissension, backbiting, dead works, unbelief, legalism, manipulation, and fear, then it is a harlot's house. We have a Thing--an idolatrous extension of Self that is not of God.

We were few in number as we sat comfortably face to face in the living room of a godly couple's house. I had something to share that Wednesday night. It was the first and most significant revelation that I had received from the Holy Spirit since my conversion a couple of years before.

"That which we call the church is not the church but is a Thing. "I began my personal journey in discovering the idolatry of the church and the difference between it and the true bride of Christ.

Years later, my wife and I were living in west Tennessee and were waiting for direction from the Lord. While there, He led me to start a meeting on Sunday mornings and invite some people I knew to come. Some of them came. We gathered in the name of Jesus. We sang; I shared the revelations and teachings the Lord gave me; we prayed, dismissed, and went our way. We were fairly close to one another and had some contact with each other during the week. We were beginning to be the body of Christ to one another.

Then, we bought a building, renovated it, opened the doors, and had our gatherings there. We called the building "The Christian Teaching Center." I did what I believed the Lord said to do and people began to come.

We were free of men's burdensome traditions, formalities, creeds, rules and regulations, and programs. We were committed to following the Holy Spirit wherever He chose to take us. His presence was powerfully felt in most of our gatherings in those early days.

I insisted that we were not a church, that God had not called me to start a church, and that I was not to be the pastor of a church. I tried to make a distinction between the building, which we had given a name, and those of us who gathered in that building, whom I refused to name. I explained that this was a teaching center for the body of Christ in that area. Perhaps it was a mistake, but we held Sunday morning meetings for those who chose not to go elsewhere. That Sunday morning meeting became the main event of the week.

The pressure was on. Some who came there wanted it to be a church and wanted me to be their pastor. I was pastoring individuals, but I insisted we were not a church.

A local pastor disputed my contentions, insisting that we were a church. He contended that there was no scriptural precedent for the para-church ministry that we had. He said, "If you look like a duck, walk like a duck, and quack like a duck, you must be a duck. You look like a church, walk like a church, and talk like a church." I did not want to hear that then, but looking back I had to admit he was right. This Thing we call church had weaseled its way into our work. The work at the Teaching Center was never supposed to be a church.

Once we began to "have" church, we began seeking something for ourselves. We created a Thing that had gone beyond what God had called me to do. We went back to the very thing that we had come out of. We had Sunday morning and Sunday evening services, Sunday School, and a youth program. We took up offerings and put them in a bank account. Our group became known by the name I had put on the building.

I lost my vision to build up a people and began, instead, to build up a Thing. We began to go after it instead of going after the Lord Jesus Christ. We gathered around it instead of the presence of the Lord. People started leaving and they did not know why. The more they left, the more I tried to hold on to them. I felt abandoned. But it was I who had abandoned them by allowing the work to become a Thing. Not long after that, Ichabod was written over our door, spiritually speaking. 1 Sam. 4:21. As with Elijah, the brook dried up and the ravens ceased to bring their morsels. 1 Kings 17:3-7. It was time for us to move on. It took a year for me to muster enough courage to finally shut it down.

While most of us know that the word "church" as it is used in scripture refers to the people of God in Christ, we nevertheless have made a Thing of it. It is an extension of ourselves and exists as an entity unto itself.

How did this Thing we call church evolve?

Believers in the New Testament did not have such baggage. At first they were simply called the followers of the way. They gathered spontaneously in the temple and in some synagogues for a period of time. Mostly, however, they met in private homes and went from house to house. They were drawn together by the presence of the Lord in their midst.

Christians did not have church buildings until Constantine the Great, Emperor of Rome from 306 to 337 A.D., embraced Christianity. His endorsement of the faith created a free climate for men to erect buildings "to the glory of their God."

The earliest church buildings are believed to have been built after the pattern of the Roman basilica--architecture that was firmly rooted in the traditions of the Roman empire and has no basis in scripture. Church buildings became more elaborate with the Byzantine, Romanesque, and Gothic influences. The layout of these cathedrals often hid the monks and choirs from the people, advancing the idea of the separation of clergy from laity which is unfounded in scripture.

During the reformation, Protestants halted the building of great edifices. The reformers were content with simple, rectangular buildings. They were primarily interested in gathering the people and having a place to preach. By the nineteenth century, however, Protestant church architecture had likewise become elaborate and consisted of elements from a variety of styles.

The enchantment with church buildings throughout the centuries has contributed to the institutionalization of the church system as we now know it.

With the inclination toward the construction of buildings for the worship of God, it is little wonder that the translators of the King James Version of the Bible chose to translate the Greek word ekklesia by using the English word "church." A deeper look at the etymology of the word "church" is quite revealing.

Moving backwards into time, the word "church" was derived from the Old English word cirice which is related to the Norwegian/Scandinavian word kirkja. These were derived from the Germanic word kirka; which was derived from the late Greek word Kyrite; which was derived from the Greek word kurios which means "ruler," "lord," "master." In the Greek, Kuriake oika means "lord's house." Thus, the word church came to mean "a building set apart or consecrated for public worship."

Though the word "church" does not have its root in the Greek term ekklesia; it is used to translate ekklesia. Ekklesia is the formation of two Greek words: ek which means "out of" and kaleo which means "to call." Combined, the word literally means "to call out of." Ekklesia was commonly used among the Greeks in reference to a body of citizens who "gathered" to discuss the affairs of state. A correct and quite appropriate translation of ekklesia is "called-out-ones" although there are times when the context demands that "assembly" or "gathering-of-called-out-ones" be used. The word has to do with a people who are called-out to be gathered together.

From that time to this, the word church is used to refer to more than people. Its use has been so adulterated that we ought never to use it when we are referring to the body of Christ. It is appropriate to use the word "church" when we are actually talking about a building but not when we are talking about the body of Christ. What we call church is a Thing. The ekklesia is a people.

We organize this Thing. We name it, incorporate it, elect officers to it, open bank accounts in its name, and train and hire staff to run it. We take up money for it. We devise campaigns to recruit more people to join it. We track attendance to it. We love it, get mad at it, resign from it, and leave it. If we are particularly fond of it, we make up brochures and buy ads to market it.

We evaluate the Thing to determine its success or failure. "The praise service was good," we might say. "The sermon was okay." "The offering was poor." "The attendance was down."

Ask a pastor how his church is coming along and he may answer with such comments as: "Oh, our building program is great." "We're getting in members left and right." "We've doubled our membership in the last year." "We are losing people out of the back door as fast as they come in the front." See where his heart is? He is evaluating the thing over which he is likely the head. The growth of his church reflects upon his success or failure as its leader. If, on the other hand, he answers regarding the spiritual well-being of the people, he understands more of what it means to be the body of Christ. "Well, you know, many of them have endured some affliction, but it has made them stronger in the Lord."

If he talks about his people in a possessive sense, he is snared by his own conceit. They are not his people. On the other hand, if he talks about the sheep who belong to the good shepherd who is Jesus Christ, he may be free and more likely to set God's people free.

Soon after a church is started, it nearly always takes on an existence of its own and begins to exist for its own sake. The people in it exist to serve it rather than it existing to serve the people. Those dedicated to keeping the church going expect their members to attend it, support it, and serve it. They plan various programs that fit the model of what they think a full service church ought to look like.

The Conners family had been supported by their church for eight years of difficult but faithful duty on the mission field. After their return, they attended their church for awhile before dropping out. The first pastoral or administrative inquiry about them was by the church accountant. "Are the Conners attending church?" "No," a friend of theirs answered. "Why?" "For no particular reason." He was indignant. "After all the money we've given them, now when they could help they're not around." Perhaps that would have been a genuine concern under other circumstances, but his interest in them came one and a half years after their return. As Mrs. Conners regretfully said, "I was frustrated by the obvious fact that no one on staff seemed to notice we were no longer going there and when they did notice, the first comment was about money." Had the money been spent on the Conners? No. They were in another land to be spent by the Lord for the sake of serving the saints there. It seems the Conners were expected to serve the institution, but were themselves abandoned by the so-called leadership within that institution.

Brother Billy became the pastor of West Side Church after his father died. His father founded the church. Brother Billy announced one Sunday that he was fulfilling his vision to have a jail and bus ministry. "We lack these things to be a complete church," he explained. "We need volunteers for the jail ministry and for the bus ministry. Sign-up sheets are on the back table." Many dear hearts who felt no calling for such service signed on to make Brother Billy feel okay about himself and his church. They had to serve him so he could fulfill his vision for a Thing.

People often grow weary of these works of men and drop out. Leadership is hard to find. If the services or programs were really meeting people's needs, people would be more likely to support them. A lack of support may be a clear indication that the event no longer meets a need worth supporting.

If we do not provide the expected support for the Thing and its programs, whether we want to or not, whether we are called to serve in a certain capacity or not, we are made to feel guilty. Have you ever felt guilty for missing a function of the church? Those little shame-based voices in your head whisper "naughty, naughty." "It was my fault the program failed. I didn't give enough of my time and money to it." You can know by those feelings of guilt that you are serving a Thing and not the Master.

When we are asked by leadership in the church to make a commitment to the church, we are actually being asked to make a commitment to the Thing. Our loyalty is measured by how well we serve this Thing. We are thought to be slothful Christians if we do not support it; and if we do not even attend a local church, we are assumed to be backsliders.

On the other hand, when we "do" church, we have expectations that it ought to be a certain way. It has to work according to our expectations, or we will feel like it has failed.

If the Thing has to work a certain way before it is successful, then those who support it will be pressured into performing in such a way as to make it a success. If it is not a success, someone is to blame. It is either the people's fault, the pastor's fault, the choir director's fault, or the church board's fault.

What if you and I have different expectations about how a church should work? We will have conflict. There will always be conflict in the church because there will always be expectations in conflict. These are man's expectations, not God's.

Some people are clinically classified as religious addicts. I am a recovering church-addict. Soon after my conversion in 1978, I saw how this church Thing was an idolatrous system of men's traditions. I despised it (not the people in it); yet, I felt a seductive pull back into it.

I needed it. I had previously found my identity in it. I had presence, power, and position in it. As the pastor of it, I thought I owned at least a part of it. My heart would secretly boast, "This is mine!" It was my source of financial support. It was the only thing I was trained to do. I was joined to it and it was joined to me.

We bond with that Thing we call church and thereby get in bondage to it. We join it and it somehow takes possession of us. We do, in fact, get addicted to it. As Dennis Loewen wrote, "It is addictive. How do we know? One way is that we all go through withdrawal when we leave it."

Some discerning believers who attend spiritually stagnant churches realize they no longer need to be there. The Holy Spirit is absent. The services are dead. The preacher is boring. People argue over petty, irrelevant issues. They feel their tithes are wasted on worthless salaries, programs, and mortgages. Their huge buildings stand empty more often than not. They feel obligated to serve on committees that serve the institution more than they serve the people. They see the leadership trying one gimmick after another to make the Thing relevant in order to get more people to join it and be active in it.

These precious believers want to leave but find that they cannot. Mother wouldn't understand. "Why, that stained glass window was dedicated in grandpa's name. How can you even think about leaving?" They rationalize that they have life-long friends there. "How can I leave them?" They are made to feel like traitors, deserters, troublemakers, or mavericks. Some people disown their own family members who leave their "faith." Some traditions believe that a person will go to hell if they leave their particular brand of church.

So, they feel stuck in the system. They put on their Sunday morning smiles and hide their secret resentments for feeling stuck. They shake and howdy down the aisle, pretending, "Isn't it good to be in the house of the Lord?" They settle into their familiar pews and begin again to fellowship with the backs of people's heads.

Many who dare to leave one church go down the street hoping for a better "spiritual climate" only to find the same old whore in a brand new dress. Only the rules are slightly different. They go from church to church looking for that which is genuine only to find more phony religious facades; they go looking for Spirit and truth only to find more flesh and hypocrisy. Yet, they continue their search, because they are addicted to it. They bob up and down on their wooden horses unable to dismount because of the velocity of that carousel--the church system that perpetually spins round and round, going nowhere.

A few discerning persons are able to break away from the bondage of church, but often leave damaged and resentful. Some of these attend anonymous groups, seeking recovery from the religious abuses inflicted upon them by these religious systems of men's traditions.

Church, as we have come to experience it, permeates every aspect of our society. It is the only thing we have seen and known that supposedly represents Christ. In going after it, just as did Israel of old, we have played the harlot and provoked the Lord to jealousy.

I hope you are praying for the Holy Spirit to lift the veil from over your eyes to see how church is a counterfeit system, to see how we have made a Thing out of who we are in Christ and gone after it instead of Jesus.

Most everyone in the small, rural church I was serving accepted the fact that I believed that speaking in tongues, divine healing, casting out demons, and all the gifts of the Holy Spirit were for today, even though the officialdom of that denomination disagreed. Nevertheless, I tried to make Jesus the only issue that mattered. Everyone was happy with that arrangement until the Holy Spirit spoke to my spirit requiring that I abolish the Sunday School.

"You're messing with my mind, Lord," I argued. "One doesn't abolish Sunday School, especially as a pastor in this denomination. The Sunday School belongs to the elders. You should know that, Lord." I dismissed the thought as reckless. I had plans to build up the Sunday School. Studies have shown that the existence of small groups such as the Sunday School class contribute to church growth, and at that stage in my understanding, I wanted to build up the church.

However, after being sternly directed to abolish the Sunday School for the third time, I knew I had to do something. I called the men of the church together and presented my dilemma to them. Most of them were willing to test it out to see what God might do. "After all," many of them reasoned with me, "if it doesn't prove profitable, we can always go back to having Sunday School."

Not every one was willing to test it out, however. I did not know why God wanted me to take such action until I tried to negotiate the deal with the main person of influence in the church. Tears welled up in her eyes as she spoke with a broken, yet, certain voice, "You're not going to take MY Sunday School away from me." Then I knew what this was about. Sunday School was a golden calf to some of them and I had dared to touch it.

Judson Cornwall aptly says, "Idolatry is principally the response of personal adoration toward something less than Jehovah God, whether that something is Self, an object made by ourselves, or a concept we may have embraced. An idol is anything or anyone, including ourselves, that is given the credit for the abilities that only God possesses." Monty Stratton adds, "Any image we have of ourselves that is not God's image of us is an idol, a false God."

We, as created human beings, make things and accomplish things that we come to adore. We set these things before us and pay homage to them whether they are the songs or novels we write, the athletes we create, the gardens we plant, the businesses we build, the trophies we win, the children we sire, the rockets we orbit, the cures we invent, the sermons we preach, or the churches we institute. We live vicariously through the idols we have made of movie stars, music stars, and sports stars. We want the power that we imagine fame and fortune would bestow upon us. We want to be god, especially over our own lives.

Though we are greater than the images we make, we still bow down and pay obeisance to them. We take such pride in our works. We allow them to control our lives, our emotions, and our relationships. We love them. We look at them, and our hearts swell with pride. They are idolatrous extensions of ourselves.

All idolatry is the worship of Self. It is an extension of ourselves: our adored opinions, speculations, plans, programs, and projects; it is the self-exalted work of our hands and the imaginations of our minds--all the things we do in our old man nature of flesh and sin that causes us to esteem ourselves more highly than we ought to. It is the attitude of the wicked stepmother in the story of Snow White who asks, "Magic mirror on the wall, who's the fairest one of all?" fully expecting for the mirror to answer, "You are the fairest one of all."

Idolatrous, fallen man is self-centered by nature. To be any different, we have to be transformed into a new creature. We need a new nature that gives us the desire to surrender Self for a higher good, namely, the life of Christ in us. Only Christ through His Spirit can implant that new nature within us.

Whatever appeals to Self is not of God. Self is in love with Self. It seeks its own. It is vain, prideful, arrogant, self-exalting, self-indulging, self-absorbed, power-hungry, and lustful. It strives for independence, self-reliance, and self-management. It uses and abuses others, if necessary, to achieve its own ambitions. It lies, steals, cheats, murders, covets, blames, justifies, and does whatever seems necessary to save itself. It goes to any end to protect itself. It is addicted to more. It can never be satisfied.

The flesh nature of Self generally looks to its own inventions--science, government, military, religion, education, sports, and other human institutions and inventions--to save us, feed us, protect us, make us happy, give us our identity, and provide us with a better lifestyle. We create institutions to serve us, and we get angry when they fail us.

Because Self is centered upon itself, it is a black hole upon the space where it stands, forever suctioning itself inward as a vacuum. Self consumes itself, is self-destructive, and has death as its final reward. Self lives and dies for Self.

The idolatry of Self is seen in our drivenness to accomplish things in our own strength. We see things to do, and we must do them. We are constantly distracted by the busyness we create for ourselves. Busyness is a distraction from intimacy with God. We would rather be doing something for God than spending time with Him. Yet, He did not create us to do for Him, but to be as He is that we might have fellowship with Him and with one another in Him.

We enslave ourselves to the works we require of ourselves. Moreover, we enslave others to our works when others allow us to do so. We adore our accomplishments. Consequently, we have even made idols out of our quiet time, Bible study, intercessory prayer, street witnessing, and other works that seem "good" to us. These are not wrong. They are wonderful when they are inspired by the Holy Spirit. They become idolatrous to us when we use them to make ourselves feel like we have done something for God.

Our idols have to do with those things that possess our hearts. Whatever we own, owns a part of us. In the Old Testament, Jacob served his father-in-law, Laban, for twenty years to earn his wives, Leah and Rachel, and to earn his flock so he could return to the land of his father. Because Laban restrained him from going, Jacob left Laban by stealth with his wives and animals. As she went out, Rachel stole her father's household idols to take with her. Gen. 31. These idols may have been valuable heirlooms and that could have played a part in her motives to carry them away, but more likely it was because her heart had already been carried away by them.

The things we go after usually overtake us. I lived in Nashville, Tennessee, the country music capital of the world, where there is a saying about many of those musical hopefuls who live there that they are "chasing the beast." This beast is an imaginary quest for significance through the fame many of them hope "making it in music" will bring them. It appears to me, though, that the beast is chasing them. The beast can be any of those things we seek for Self to possess. These things we seek often possess us. We can be possessed by quest.

God created us for Himself. He wants intimate relationship with us. He wants us to know Him, love Him, trust Him, depend upon Him, and obey Him. He is a loving and faithful Father to us who believe and requires of us that we return love and faithfulness to Him. He is profoundly jealous of anything we put between Him and us. Allow yourself to feel God's passionate disdain for our idolatry as you carefully read the text below. You who truly love the Lord should be impacted forever by the quotes from scripture.

God spoke through Moses to the children of Israel, saying: "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make unto you any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth." You shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them." Exod. 20:1-5; Deut. 5:1-10.

Jesus answered the Pharisee saying, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment." Matt. 22:37. This kind of love is agape, which has to do with surrendering your life for the well-being of others. In this case, it has to do with wanting only what God wants, wanting nothing for Self.

Idolatry breaks the heart of God who jealously wants our undivided love, worship, and faithfulness. God is jealous of our idols. He is jealous when we glory in ourselves and our achievements rather than recognizing that "every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights." James 1:17. God said, "You shall not bow down yourself to them [other gods], nor serve them: for I the LORD your God am a jealous God." Exod. 20:1-5. His name is Jealous. Exod. 34:14.

Moses charged the people to keep God's ordinances and warned them not to commit idolatry saying, "The LORD your God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God." Deut. 4:24. Joshua reaffirmed to the people that God "is a holy God. He is a jealous God." Josh. 24:19.

Elijah expressed jealousy on God's behalf: "I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, thrown down Your altars, and slain Your prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away." 1 Kings 19:14. [Also read: Ezek. 8:3; 16:38-42; 23:25; 36:5-6; 38:19; 39:25.]

Asaph lamented: "How long, LORD? Will You be angry forever? Shall Your jealousy burn like fire?" Ps. 79:5.

The prophet, Nahum, feeling the pulse of God, declared that "God is jealous, and the LORD revenges and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and He reserves wrath for his enemies." Nah. 1:2.

Joel, looking to a day of renewal, prophesied, "Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity His people." Joel 2:18.

Zephaniah spoke, "Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of His jealousy: for He shall make even a speedy riddance of all them who dwell in the land." Zeph. 1:18. He continued to speak for God saying, "Therefore wait upon Me, says the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for My determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them My indignation, even all My fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of My jealousy." Zeph. 3:8.

Zechariah wrote, "The angel that communed with me said unto me, You cry, saying, Thus says the LORD of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy." Zech. 1:14. And again, he wrote, "Thus says the LORD of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury." Zech. 8:2.

The apostle Paul asked the Corinthians, "Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy?" 1 Cor. 10:22. As did Elijah, Paul felt the fire of God's jealousy in his belly and wrote again later, "For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." 2 Cor. 11:2.

Israel was chosen by God that He might have a people who were called by His name. Deut. 28:10; 2 Chron. 7:14; Dan. 9:19; Acts 15:14. They were to be a people through whom God would make a name for Himself. 2 Sam. 7:23; 1 Chron. 17:21. They would be to Him a people, a name, a praise, and a glory. Jer. 13:11.

Israel was to be a holy (separated) nation of people unto the Lord. It was three months after they left Egypt and were encamped in the Wilderness of Sinai that Moses went up on the mountain to talk to God. God told Moses to tell the people "You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto Myself. Now, therefore, if you will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all peoples: for all the earth is Mine: And you shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation." Exod. 19:4-6.

The followers of Christ, whether Jew or Gentile, are the fulfillment of divine expectation. Peter wrote regarding those who believe in Jesus Christ, "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." 1 Pet. 2:9.

The Lord was to be their God and they were to be His people. They were not to have other gods before them. They were not to call upon the name of any other god and give that god the glory for the things that God had done for them. That would have been a great insult to God, to His name, and to those who were called by His name. God is zealously jealous of those things in which we put more confidence, comfort, and pleasure than in Him.

God knew that the only way to ensure that the Israelites would remain faithful to Him was to ban them from mingling with the heathens of the land. He made a covenant with them while they were in the wilderness. He told them that He would do marvels among them by driving out the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite from before them when they entered Canaan.

God warned them, however, to be careful not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where they were going. Failure to destroy the idolatrous altars of the heathens, to break their images, and cut down their groves (places of idol worship) would be a snare in the midst of them. The Israelites would "take their daughters unto their sons, and their daughters [would] go a whoring after their gods, and make their sons go a whoring after their gods." Exod. 34:10-17.

The worship of other gods is idolatry, and idolatry is playing the harlot so far as God is concerned. God also calls it fornication and adultery. The King James version of the Bible translates it "a whoring." This radical language portrays the heart of God in the matter of idolatry. It should cause us to fall on our faces, quickly repent of our idolatries, and turn to Him with a pure, unadulterated heart.

God told Israel not to mingle with the inhabitants of the land and go after their gods, but they did it anyway. God knew that they would do it. He told Moses that after he died "this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land where they are going and will forsake Me, and break My covenant which I had made with them.

Then My anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us? And I will surely hide My face in that day for all the evils which they shall have brought, in that they are turned unto other gods." Deut. 31:16-18.

The Israelites violated God's ban while they were still in the wilderness. They were in a place called Shittim when they committed whoredom with the daughters of Moab. The Moabites seduced the Israelites to make sacrifices and bow down to their gods. Israel joined itself to Baal-peor, the idol god of Moab, and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel.

The LORD instructed Moses to take all the heads of those who had broken the ban, "and hang them up before the LORD against the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may be turned away from Israel." Moses, in turn, commanded the judges of Israel to kill their men who were bowing down to Baal-peor.

One of the Israelites shamelessly brought a Midianite woman to his brothers in full view of Moses and the people. Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, rose up from among the people, and took a javelin in his hand.

He went after the man of Israel into the tent and thrust both of them through. This brought an end to the plague upon the children of Israel that day. His jealousy for God turned away God's wrath. Twenty-four thousand people died in that plague. Num. 25:1-11.

Deuteronomy 32:16-17, and 21 tells us that the Israelites provoked God to jealousy with strange gods, and that these were abominations to Him. "They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not"...to new gods whom their fathers had not even feared. "They have moved Me to jealousy," God said, "with that which is not God; they have provoked Me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those who are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation."

God brought Israel out of Egypt with attesting signs and wonders. They miraculously crossed through the Red Sea on dry ground. They were given the manna, water, and quail. They heard God on the mountain and saw His glory on Moses' face. They wandered for forty years, and their sandals did not wear out. They experienced the jealousy of God at Shittim. They entered the land of God's promise under the leadership of Joshua, miraculously crossing the Jordan river and taking Jericho with marching, the blowing of horns, and shouting.

They were supposed to drive out all of the inhabitants of the land lest they mingle with them and bow down to their gods. Many of the tribes of Israel did not do that. They did not utterly drive out the inhabitants of the land and were, thereby, disobedient to God.

An angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and told the people of Israel, "I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I swore unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break My covenant with you. And you shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; you shall throw down their altars, but you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this? Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you, but they shall be as thorns in your sides and their gods shall be a snare unto you." The people lifted up their voice and wept at the words of the angel. Judg. 2:1-4.

Nevertheless, a new generation grew up after Joshua, and they also did the very thing that was evil in the sight of the Lord: they abandoned the Lord and served the idolatrous god and goddess, Baal and Ashtoreth. Judg. 2:13.

And so it happened, over and over again. God raised up individuals like Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Samson, and other judges in Israel. The Israelites would not listen to their judges but went "a whoring" after other gods. After they fell under the oppressive hand of their enemies in the land, they repented and cried out to God, and He changed His mind and delivered them. (Read Judges 2:17-20.)

The period of the judges ended with this tragic commentary: "In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes." Judg. 21:25. Anarchy is the ultimate idolatry of Self.

The Israelites wanted their own king like all of the other nations, thus rejecting God from reigning over them. So, God told Samuel to give them what they were asking for. 1 Sam. 8:5-7. How frightening that God might really give us what we think we need and want!

Nothing changed. They had harlot hearts. 1 Chronicles 5:25 reports that "they transgressed against the God of their fathers, and went a whoring after the gods of the people of the land, whom God destroyed before them."

The Psalmist laments: "They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the LORD commanded them: But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works. And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them. Yes, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, and shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood. Thus, they were defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions." Ps. 106:34-39. This entire Psalm is a powerful recantation of Israel's forgetfulness.

The Israelites set up their own high places and made altars to Baal. They carved out Ashtoreths and bowed down to them. They sacrificed their children to Molech by making them walk through fire.

The chronicler of 1 Kings 14:22-23 wrote, "And Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked Him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done. For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree."

Asaph, the Psalmist, lamented the sins of the people against a jealous God singing, "For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images." Ps. 78:58.

Baal means "master" or "lord" and has also been translated "husband." Baal was the farm god believed to be responsible for the increase of flocks, crops, and families.

"The worship of Baal, as it existed when Israel began to filter into Canaan, was conducted by priests in fields and on mountain 'high places' where communities brought 'taxes' to their favorite deity, in the form of wine, oil, first fruits, and firstlings of flocks. The cult included joyous, licentious dances and ritualistic meals."

The Ashtoreth was the name given to the goddess of the moon, sexuality, sensual love, and fertility. It was also the name for the wooden female figures or poles that were set up to represent her.  Her temples were centers of sacred prostitution. Ashtoreth is mentioned some forty times in the Old Testament.

Molech means "king." His worship was characterized by parents who sacrificed their children, compelling them to walk through or into a furnace of fire. Hebrew law strictly forbade this practice. The Lord had spoken to Moses saying, "Again, you shall say to the children of Israel, Whosoever of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, who gives any of his seed [children] unto Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. And I will set My face against that man and will cut him off from among his people because he has given of his seed unto Molech to defile My sanctuary and to profane My holy name." Lev. 20:1-3. Ezekiel spoke for God: "For when you offer your gifts, when you make your sons to pass through the fire, you pollute yourselves with all your idols." Ezek. 20:31.

Jeremiah 3:9 laments that they committed adultery with stones and trees. James 4:4 teaches us that friendship with the world is adultery.

God demanded their undivided, unadulterated worship and obedience to Him. The true worship of God requires that we lay down the wants of our old man nature of flesh and sin--that we deny Self in total abandonment to God.

Israel was regarded by God as His betrothed. Jer. 3:14. God was faithful to her, but she was repeatedly unfaithful to Him. She attempted fidelity, occasionally, and there were times of repentance and restoration. The good kings purged the temple of idolatry, but even they did not always complete the job. They consistently kept their high places.

Of Solomon it is written, "Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places." 1 Kings 3:3. Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He banished the sodomites from the land and removed the idols of his father; he removed his mother, Maachah, from being queen because she had made an idol in a grove; but "the high places were not removed." 1 Kings 15:11-14. "Jehoshaphat walked in all the ways of Asa his father, doing that which was right in the eyes of the LORD," but did not take away the high places. 1 Kings 22:43. Jehoash (2 Kings 12:1-3), Amaziah (2 Kings 14:1-4), Jeroboam (2 Kings 15:1-4), Uzziah and Jotham (2 Kings 15:32-34) likewise did what was right in the sight of the Lord except they did not take away the high places.

The scriptures tell us that Hezekiah and Josiah were the only Kings who removed even the high places. Hezekiah "did what was right in the sight of the LORD; according to all that David his father did. He removed the high places, and broke the images, and cut down the groves." 2 Kings 18:3-4a. The record says Josiah removed the high places "and like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him." 2 Kings 23:25. But for these two, king after king had this one thing in common: they did not remove the high places.

During the days that Josiah was king, the Lord asked Jeremiah if he had seen what backsliding Israel had done. He said that she had gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree and played the harlot; and for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, God had her put away and given her a certificate of divorce. Jer. 3:6, 8.

Earlier in Israel's history, after Solomon's reign as king, the Kingdom of Israel divided. The kingdom of Israel (later called Samaria) consisted of the ten tribes to the north which split from the kingdom after the death of Solomon during the reign of his son Rehoboam. It was ruled by Jeroboam. The Kingdom of Judah consisted of the two remaining tribes in the south, Judah and Benjamin.

Through the prophet Ezekiel, God portrayed these two kingdoms as daughters of one mother. He gave these daughters the names Aholah and Aholibah. Aholah means "her own tent" and Aholibah means "women of the tent" or "the tent is in her." Aholah was the older daughter, Samaria, and Aholibah was the younger daughter, Judah (or Jerusalem). Ezekiel says, "...they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: their breasts were pressed there, and the teats of their virginity were bruised." Ezek. 23:3.

Though Aholah belonged to the Lord, she played the harlot and doted on her Assyrian lovers. She committed her whoredoms with them and defiled herself. So, God banished her into the hands of her lovers, the Assyrians.

Her sister, Aholibah, saw all that her older sister had done and how she had been taken away into captivity by her Assyrian lovers; yet, she multiplied her whoredoms more than her sister.

God sent the Babylonians to take Judah away into captivity as a judgment against her. God said, "I will set My jealousy against you, and they shall deal furiously with you." Ezek. 23. Therefore, because of their idolatries and harlotries, Samaria was scattered to the nations by the Assyrians. Judah (Jerusalem) was taken into Babylonian captivity by the Babylonians.

The scriptures make it clear that these adulterous acts of idolatry were abominations to God. Ezekiel 16:51-52 reveals that Judah had committed twice the sins of her sister Samaria. She had multiplied her abominations.

Of all the sins Israel and Judah committed, idolatry was the most abominable to God. Their idolatry was the one thing that led to their downfall. They forsook God for their high places. We are no different today. We, too, have our high places and our high places are just as much a snare to us.

I rarely saw Benny without hearing some piece of profound wisdom suitable to a sage. This day was no exception. With that typical twinkle in his eye and that wry west Tennessee grin on his face, he asked me, "Do you know how you can tell when something is an idol in your life?"

"No." I waited for his reply. I knew it would be good.

His grin widened. His words were slow but short. "By how big a fight you put up when it's taken from you."

Many of the things we fight over are likely idols in our lives. We get angry when something we adore is taken from us or when we fear that it might be taken from us.

We, as with Israel of old, have our idols. Our idols are our high places. Our high places are those things we cherish above our consecration to God. We, too, have gone "a whoring" after the gods of our own making. We "burn incense" to the work of our hands and the imaginations of our minds when we take self-exalted pride in our accomplishments. Such things as science, government, the stock market, religion, the arts, diets, entertainment, and sports can work for our good, but they become idolatrous when we put our trust in them rather than in God. We make ourselves out to be God.

This was the lie in the garden of Eden: if we could know as God knows, we would become as God. So we, in Adam, became knowledgeable, and that knowledge became a curse to us. We play God when we glory in our own intellectual abilities to figure things out, reason things, understand things, invent things, and imagine even greater achievements. We exalt that which we think we know above the knowledge of God. It keeps us at arms-length from God and prevents us from entering into intimacy with Father-God, our Creator. Puffed-up knowledge is the arrogance of Self, and Self is that high mountain upon which we build our altars.

Our high places are extensions of ourselves. We stand back like a master painter and survey the canvas of our works and sigh, "Ah! This is what I did!" Our identities are wrapped up in our achievements. We want to be somebody, to make our mark, to leave our fingerprint on something important. Our old man of flesh natures are driven by the need for power, position, recognition, possessions, and domination.

We bow the knee to those who are rich and famous, and snub, or at best patronize, those who are poor and uncelebrated. We, as Nimrod, have journeyed to our land of Shinar, looking to build a tower, a city, and a name for ourselves. Gen. 11. Those who have "Ministries" do this as well.

This Thing we call church can be one such extension of ourselves. It is one of those things we go after in our hearts because we love it so. That is to say, we love the works of our hands and the imaginations of our hearts that are expressed in that Thing we call church. We are in church because church is in us. It is an extension of us. Therefore, we are serving ourselves when we serve it.

"Ah, come on," you say. "You can't be serious. Aren't you being too hard and critical of the church? I love my church. I have life-long relationships in my church. We have a great choir, good preaching, souls are saved, the Holy Spirit often moves in our services. The ritual and symbols make me feel close to God. How do you account for the fact that God shows up in church? How can you call church evil?"

Good Christian people go to church. In fact, the stronger they are in their faith, the more likely they are to go to church. They identify "going to church" with their faith. Their faithfulness to church is often the yardstick for measuring their faithfulness to Christ. After all, the churches even belong to Christians, at least in name and perception. God's presence is manifested in some of these churches on occasions, but none of this means that these Things we call church have been born of the Spirit. They are still idolatrous extensions of Self.

God often blessed and prospered His people in captivity. God blessed Israel on numerous occasions even though she was engaged in idolatry. Even when He banished Judah to Babylon, He commanded that they build houses, plant gardens, eat the fruit of them, and increase in families. Jer. 29:4-6. God even pronounced severe judgment against those idolatrous Jews who tried to stay behind in Judah. Jer. 29:16-18. "After seventy years are accomplished in Babylon," the Lord promised Judah, "I will visit you, and perform My good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place." Jer. 29:10. God had to visit His people in Babylon in order to deliver them from Babylon.

The Holy Spirit has often moved upon His people to save, heal, and deliver them throughout the history of the institutionalized church system. The Protestant reformation, the great awakening of the 1800's, and the Pentecostal revival of the 1900's are major historical examples of how God sought to deliver His people out of an old order to bring them into a new order.

A few churches have experienced what they call renewal. God is filling the lamps of those willing to be prepared with enough oil to go the distance when that last trumpet sounds. It would be a tragic mistake, however, to take God's anointing upon His people as an endorsement of their idols. If the Holy Spirit is moving in your church, He is not present to bless your idolatries, but to prepare a people unto Himself. God cares for His people who happen to be in captivity to church. He is preparing His bride. He has to go into these illegitimate places we call the church to prepare her so He can take her out.

Bill Shipman saw it this way. "It was almost like a vision," he explained.

I was there in the chambers and on the streets with them. I saw Jesus waiting in a groom's chamber. The bride was in another chamber. He was preparing to go in to see her. While He delayed, she was drawn to the window and became interested in the activities in the street. The appeal of the street tugged at her harlot heart until she wandered out there herself.

Soon after she walked out onto the streets she was raped. Her shame deceived her into believing that she had no other life but to become a prostitute, which she did. She was in a house of prostitution, locked behind huge, solid-oak, medieval doors. They looked formidable. They were bolted through with a braided kind of thing with copper on it and different kinds of ironwork.

Jesus went looking for her. He knew where she was. As He approached the doors, demons howled and hissed at Him and tried to rush Him, yet were cowardly toward Him. He opened the doors and went in. She was really a mess, and He pleaded with her to come with Him. In her guilt and shame, she refused, and so He left.

He waited a time and visited her again. Still, she wouldn't look Him in the face. Once again, He left her. As He was waiting in His chamber, fires of passion and anger suddenly flashed in His eyes. He stormed out of His chamber and strode down the street, approaching the house where His bride in harlotry abided.

Everyone saw Him coming. They fled to get out of His way. The demons took one look at Him and ran ahead of Him to lock the doors, hoping to prevent Him from entering. Without hesitation or pause in his stride, He hit those doors with the palms of His hands. POW! They exploded. Splinters went everywhere.

He walked in and found her withered in shame. Her face was hidden in her hands. This time was different though. This time He didn't ask her to come with Him. This time He grasped her hand, led her out, and took her back to the bride's chamber while she was still in her filthy, semen-stained dress.

I could see the passion and love He had for her in His eyes. Jesus saw her only one way. He saw her as a virgin. Yet, she wouldn't even look at Him. He reached out, touched her gently, and lifted her face toward His. Hesitantly, she slowly lifted her eyes to look into His. He saw her beyond her shame and forced her beyond her shame. The moment her eyes connected with His, they were filled with the same passion for Him that He had for her.

I was right in there with them. I could almost see into their faces. I backed off and saw that she had changed. She was beautiful. She had the same radiance as did Jesus. They were one. There was no longing or attraction for anyone or anything other than for one another. She had eyes only for Him. She looked like Him, and He looked like her. They were standing in one light. He was not diminished at all, but she was increased in Him. Even though she looked like Him and had the same fire in her eyes as He had in His, she was still under His feet, still under His authority. That's what made it as beautiful as it was.

I believe Bill's vision is from the Lord and reveals perfectly how He sees His bride in harlotry and how He intends to come for us. Indeed, even as His bride, we have played the harlot with our substitutes for Jesus. Perhaps even now we feel the shock waves of His footsteps coming near to rid us of our shame and dress us in robes of righteousness.

To substitute church for Jesus is idolatry in enormous proportions. We are not to lift up church and make it the way of salvation. Jesus alone is our salvation.

Many people have made an idol out of church just as the Israelites made an idol out of the serpent in the wilderness. When the people accused God and Moses of bringing them up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness, the Lord sent fiery serpents among them, and the serpents bit the people because of their grumbling. Many of the Israelites died. The people repented, and God relented. God told Moses to make a fiery serpent and set it upon a pole. All who had been bitten could look upon it and live. Num. 21:4-9.

That should have been the end of the story. But notice 2 Kings 18:4! Hezekiah had become King of Judah, and the Bible says that he did what was right in the sight of the Lord. "He removed the high places, broke the images, cut down the groves, and broke in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made: for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it." They took an act of God and made an idol out of it. In this same idolatrous spirit, people have turned the moves of God into the denominations they later adored.

That which we call church today is an idolatrous system of men's traditions which is spiritual harlotry. Church is what we do in addition to being who Christ has made us to be in Him. If what we call church can be incorporated, joined, named, referred to as it, and can be taken from us, then it is not the real thing. The true ekklesia is a corporate body of people who are born into it. They have taken only the name of Jesus because they are in a relationship with Him. That relationship cannot be taken from them.

If church is not the real thing, then it is a counterfeit. The problem with counterfeits is that they look deceptively like the real thing. Church, as a counterfeit, is presented and perceived as the real thing. Strangely enough, though, it does not even remotely look like the real thing. Nevertheless, we have been beguiled into believing that it is.

Many people burn the incense of self-adoration to all that is associated with this Thing we call church. They have made idols out of their doctrines, forms of government, heritages, programs, rituals, liturgies, buildings, Sunday morning services, going to church, budgets, personalities, the Sunday School, youth meetings, missionary guilds, men's meetings, annual bazaars and events--everything associated with church. They frolic around their corporate achievements: their cemeteries, denominations, Bible schools, nursing homes, children's homes, hospitals, missions, jail ministries, and prison ministries. These can be God-appointed ministries and worthy causes, but they become idolatrous when we operate them to make ourselves look good and feel godly. Busyness is not godliness. These institutions are often more about those who operate them than about the ones they seek to serve.

Many of these church Things were originally started to meet the needs of people but soon became ends within themselves. Many of the institutions have become profit-driven instead of service-driven. Jesus said, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." Mark 2:27. We have reversed that saying. Now, it is as though we exist for the sake of church and not church for us.

Moreover, we may have the attitude about our church that it has the right stuff. If possible, we competitively build a bigger and better steeple house than the folks down the street. We plan our services and harbor the hope that we will have the best show in town. Some of us hype our praise and worship, our prayers, our preaching, and even our offerings to convince even ourselves, perhaps, that the Holy Spirit is upon us.

We may devise programs in the name of evangelism and market ourselves in such a way so as to corral more folks--to rope, throw, and brand them with our special mark, to clone them like us. Yet, we want to stand out from the other churches in town. We craft our creeds to distinguish ourselves from them. The names we give ourselves reflect our separateness from them. We sometimes even brag about our differences. A young man at a gathering of men sported a T-shirt which was likely intended to communicate an innocent but catchy phrase; nonetheless, it revealed this separatist notion. It read, "Vineyard Church: Experience the difference."

For many deceived hearts, their church is their plan of salvation, and we have about as many salvation plans as we have churches. We stress the necessity of church membership and regular attendance to church and thereby communicate the subtle message that we are saved by these Things. We are considered unscriptural if we do not go to church.

Many churches associate water baptism with membership in their church. Some denominations (cults) preach that you are lost unless you are a member their church. For some, acceptance into their fold involves strict adherence to their rigid code of behavior. For others, acceptance involves strict adherence to their rigid doctrine. "We have the right doctrine. Agree with us and be baptized into our church, and you will be saved." How absolutely ludicrous. Is not Jesus our Savior?

We have raised up shrines for ourselves, and we have become our own corpses within them. We have enshrined ourselves with a grandeur we seek for ourselves. There is no life in these shrines nor can there ever be. There is no hope of resurrection life within them for they exist to provide something for Self. Resurrection life comes through the denial of oneself and not to those who seek to save themselves.

When the bride plays the harlot, she becomes one with the harlot, and distinguishing between the bride and her harlotries becomes difficult. If you play the harlot, you become the harlot. The apostle Paul wrote, "Know you not that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of a harlot? God forbid. What? Know you not that he who is joined to a harlot is one body? For two, says He, shall be one flesh. But he who is joined unto the Lord is one spirit." 1 Cor. 6:15-17.

Paul was writing to Corinthian believers who were, with all saints in all places and in all times, the bride of Christ. A bride is feminine in gender. A harlot is feminine in gender. I mean no disparagement against anyone who is sexually broken, but when the bride of Christ joins herself to the harlotry of Self, she is operating in the perverse spirit of spiritual lesbianism and practicing spiritual self-sex. We are more "in lust" with ourselves than we are in sacrificial relationship with our Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is jealous of that.

These idolatries of Self are strongholds of the mind. A spiritual stronghold is the preoccupation with an object, a person, or an institution; with anger or fear; with a fetish, an addiction, or a sin. A spiritual stronghold is anything that fascinates us, dominates our minds, and causes us to behave obsessively and compulsively. These are things that rule over us. We seem powerless to do anything about them. Yet, we cannot deny that these things are harmful to us or others.

A spiritual stronghold can also be the grid through which we see things. Church is one such stronghold of the mind. We have been brainwashed into believing that church as we know and practice it is what we ought to do. We have never known anything other than church as we practice it. So, when I say church is an idol and a stronghold in your mind, you may have a difficult time believing it. You cannot see it. Even if you see it, you have a hard time accepting it because of your programmed mind-set. Once you see the deception, however, receive the truth, and begin to walk in that light, you find your mind changing. The stronghold is being torn down.

Taking the bride of Christ out of church is not an easy matter, because church is a stronghold in her mind. God has to take church out of us, as well as take us out of it. Strange language is it not? For while God is trying to take us out of church, we are trying to get people into it. If we try to leave the stronghold of church before it has been taken out of us, we will simply return to it.

Christmas. Christmas is one of those strongholds of the mind. It had not been celebrated in any form before the third century. Alexander Hislop explains, "Long before the fourth century, and long before the Christian era itself, a festival was celebrated among the heathen, at that precise time of the year, in honor of the birth of the son of the Babylonian queen of heaven; and it may fairly be presumed that, in order to conciliate the heathen, and to swell the number of the nominal adherents of Christianity, the same festival was adopted by the Roman Church, giving it only the name of Christ." They took this strictly pagan celebration and put Jesus in the center of it.

Rome instituted a mass which was called Christ-mass--shortened to Christmas. Christmas has always been, is now, and ever shall be a pagan festival. It has grown over the centuries to become the enchanting, magical, merchant-driven insult to God that it now is. We are mesmerized by it. Hooked on it. Enslaved by it. In debt to it. Dennis Loewen adds, "Christmas is another example of how powerful the false living spirit of harlotry is. There is a spirit of Christmas. It is warm; it is wonderful; it is good...and it is not from God."

The world loves Christmas as much as Christians do. What does that tell us? One "Christian" celebrity said on national TV that Christmas is three things: "decorating, gift-giving, and eating." We must know that what the world loves cannot be of God. The apostle John exhorts us, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." 1 John 2:15-16.

The fact that most of what people do at Christmas has its roots in this pagan mid-winter festival should be reason enough for Christians not to do it--the tree and lights, the candles, the mistletoe, the exchange of gifts, the yule log in the fireplace, the cakes, the goose, the drunkenness, and even the date of December the 25th. The fact that this season is so merchant-driven today should add to our disdain for it. However, the real slap-in-the-face to God is that we love these soulish things more than obedience to Him. They are emotional strongholds in our minds. We would lack sound judgment to believe that we can relentlessly celebrate these days and seasons and stay free of their captivation.

The idea of not celebrating Christmas carries such an affront to others that most people could not give it up even if they were convinced that it was an abomination to God. We are thought leprous for not going along with it. We are pleasers of men rather than of God.

I have heard the cliché once my childhood to "put Christ back into Christmas." It is often inscribed this way: "Put Christ back into X-mas." Even though the X probably stands for the Greek letter chi in Christ, we tend to think of it as X-ing out Jesus. Well, for years I have been thinking it and now I dare to say it: Instead of putting Jesus back into a pagan festival where He never belonged in the first place, let us take Him out of it altogether and give it back to the world to whom it belongs. After all, the Bible never called for this celebration, and Jesus would never impose such crazy-making bondage upon us. Paul wrote, "It was for freedom that Christ set us free; theref