Saturday, August 04, 2007

I Knew They Existed, But I Had Never Met One Before

Yesterday I experienced my first encounter with a real life cult. I went to Harvest Fest at the Angel's stadium with my friend Natalie. Harvest is sort of like a revival; it's 3 nights of different Christian bands/artists & Greg Laurie presenting the Gospel message. On our way in, there were these people standing outside the seating entrance with signs that said, "Laurie leads to Hell." I felt this tug on my heart to go talk to them. Of course, I decided to go listen to David Crowder first - I heart him - & enjoy the show. After their set, Greg Laurie began the Salvation message. At this point I felt an even stronger urge to go talk to these protesters outside the gates & decided it was more important to do so than listening to the message, seeing as how Natalie & I are both already saved. I leaned over to Natalie & said, "I feel like God wants me to go talk to those people outside. I don't know why, but I have to." She said, "Okay, I'm down," & off we went.

I approached this older lady & said, "Excuse me. We were just wondering about your signs. I'm very curious about why you're here." She then proceeded to bust out a Bible (I can't remember what translation it was) & said, "Greg Laurie is a false teacher; he wrote this Bible." Wrote a Bible? I think to myself. "What do you mean, 'he wrote this Bible?'" She opened it up to the first couple of pages where it read that Laurie was the editor - no where did it say, "By Greg Laurie." I asked her for some examples on Laurie's so-called false teachings & she turned to a verse in Mark (11:25), "But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too." Then she showed me one of Laurie's footnotes that read something to the effect that this verse is not implying that God will not forgive you if you don't forgive others & that God's forgiveness isn't dependent on whether or not you forgive; His forgiveness is wholly dependent upon what Christ did on the cross. I can't argue with that.

While this woman & I were debating this verse & Laurie's note, Natalie was flipping out over a pamphlet they handed her (the front of it read "The Lord KILLS" - ???). In the pamphlet it said that people who commit suicide go to Hell. That was a sore subject for Natalie as she struggles with depression & has battled suicidal tendencies in the past. I backed Natalie up by saying to this woman that there is no way for her, or anyone else for that matter, to know what happens to a person's soul upon suicide. She said, "Suicide is murder, & the Bible teaches that murderers go the Hell." I argued with her that it's impossible to know as we wouldn't know that person's final thoughts & conversation with God. They can still be repentant, but see no other option. This pamphlet also stated that the following go to Hell as well: alcoholics, bulimics, anorexics, & it went on & on. It listed about 20 or so "false teachers" too: Charles Stanley, John MacArthur, Chuck Smith, Greg Laurie, etc. Natalie asked her who she thought qualified to teach the Word of God if none of these people did & the lady said, "No one." Next, Natalie asked her, "Well, who teaches at your church?" & the lady said, "We have a pastor, but he's repented from his false teachings." These people are off their rockers.

Another one of their handouts quoted one of Laurie's books on the Prodigal Son. Laurie stated that God would continue to forgive us again & again as he is the God of second chances & He loves us so much that His arms are always open for us to turn back to. They took this as, "It's okay to sin." That is not at all what Laurie said. The handout actually said that God is not a God of second chances. What?? The fact that the story of the Prodigal Son is in the Bible completely refutes that statement. After the son had wasted all of his inheritance & returned home, the return was his second chance; the first chance was his first time at home with his family. So obviously God is willing to take us back, even after we tell Him we wish He was dead.

Eventually Natalie had heard enough & walked off, telling me she'd meet me when I was finished conversing. I stuck around & debated a couple of other things with her & after she told me I was going to Hell, I turned to her & said, "I'm sorry. What was your name again?" "Deborah," she answered. "Nice to meet you Deborah, I'm Amanda. See you in Heaven." & walked off.

If I was a non-believer, I certainly wouldn't want anything to do with their god. He apparently doesn't love me or accept me. He doesn't forgive & all he does is damn people to Hell. Screw that.

I was furious that these people had so twisted the Word of MY God & are making an embarrassment of Him. He is MY God, who I love, & they were lying about Him! I was Righteously Angry about their false teachings.

When I got home, I showed Jason all of the handouts they gave us & told him all about what happened. He said they were Satanists. I told him that couldn't be as they really were teaching God's Word, they were just taking everything out of context. He said, "Amanda, if it isn't of God, then it's of Satan." I told him I really wanted to go back to talk to them, but he said it was pointless; if they are that adamant about their beliefs, then nothing I did would change that. I said, "But God wanted me to talk to them." "You did," he replied, "Now you only want to talk to them to try to convince them their wrong." He knows me so well.

Maybe God wanted me to talk to them for me. Not to convince them, but to stir that Fire deep within my soul again. To remind me to Love His Word & His Teachings. To help me realize how important it is that I know the Scriptures intimately so that I may know Him even more intimately, just as He knows me.

1 comment:

Natalie said...

wow, amanda!what a thorough account of that night. i called my mom and told her how it was my first experience with a small cult and how we shared the gospel of truth and love to them and they rejected it. we sought truth and they rejected us. "what a priviledge," my mom said. i felt like we were in Bible times, as the disciples were, and we got to partake in suffering the critism and rejection they experienced. i am thankful for that emotionally charged night-God made it a sweet experience of His righteous love for me!