Deceptions that are held as truth within the modern church world.

It is a sad fact that many "churches" are in deception in some very crucial beliefs. Below are some accepted beliefs that are being presented as truth that carry no scriptural foundation.

Church buildings do not exist in the Bible. They were invented around 200-300 AD, when Constantine made Christianity acceptable in society.

Only a off-the-track group could fall so far away from the simplicity of the early church. Church buildings are anti-New Testament, and bring with them a host of problems and traditions. It was basically when the church fell into the hands of Rome that this concept of the "cathedral" really took over. And we are still spending millions on these monuments today and it is a misappropriation of funds.

The "one-man pipeline” from God for channeling God’s desire to the people is totally un-scriptural. Far from running everything, in the book of Acts we find the word "pastor" NOT EVEN USED ONCE. (The early church did have strong leaders and elders who pastored but it was not a single official title noting spiritual elite-ness. Nor was it ever a "one man band" like we see today. And neither was leadership so "controlling").

"Tithing", the source of financially stability to establish and maintain buildings is not a New Testament practice and it is being shamelessly abused by today's preachers which is shameful. In the New Testament we are told to give cheerfully...whatever we purpose in our hearts to give. Telling people that they MUST give 10% to the church or they are "robbing God" is totally a misappropriation of the Malachi passage...and a money-grabbing way of twisting Scripture. There is no evidence that the apostles EVER preached 'tithing' to New Testament believers. It was clearly an Old Testament practice.

The words "prosper" or 'prosperity' were NEVER used by Jesus at all - and only exist a couple of times in the entire New Testament. Yet greedy preachers have built whole kingdoms upon them. The words - "sell what you have and give to the poor" and "deceitfulness of riches" and "you cannot serve God and mammon" and "woe to you that are rich" were DEFINITELY used by Jesus and the apostles. The prosperity preachers don’t use these words much!

There were no Bible Colleges, Seminaries or degrees in the New Testament. The only people who seemed to have place of “religious learning" were the Scribes and Pharisees! The apostles were simple fishermen and tax collectors. What was their "qualification" for being in the ministry? Simply that they had SPENT A LOT OF TIME WITH JESUS and were FILLED with the HOLY SPIRIT. The fact that people expect a "professional clergy" today with degrees from Bible College has helped to make the church wayward and more un-scriptural than ever. Ordinary, humble people with a calling from God often cannot get to share because they do not have a "diploma" to make them 'qualified'. Is this what the word says should happen in our assembling?

The Sunday-programmed-even-driven- meeting was not a New Testament practice. They gathered together 'from house to house' virtually every day! There were no church buildings. They did not dress up and "go to church"in their Sunday best. There were no denominations. There were no separate groups with different 'labels'. They lived their lives together as a community...all Believers in the local area. Love and fellowship were as natural to them as breathing and living. And the apostles preaching was more of a every day reality, their preaching was not confined to event-driven meetings, they were life living preachers!

The idea that you can replace the moving of the Holy Spirit with programs, and man-made-agendas just shows how man-controlled we are. Man-made programs and agendas are everywhere today. The early church had much more of God and much less of 'man'.

We preach a 'humanistic' Jesus today. A Jesus who exists mainly for our own "pleasure and happiness". The adult Santa Claus who wants to rain down continual blessings upon us. A God of grace and mercy without relationship, righteousness or truth from us. Our gross misrepresentation of who Jesus really is, is one of the most serious offenses of the modern church. Today's church seems to worship a "man-made" Jesus...one that man has made in his own image rather than man’s conformation to His image. What an offense to God.