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Christian Testimonies |
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A Rhema Testimony: Refutation of Rhema doctrine ________________________________________________________________________ A Rhema Testimony: Refutation of Rhema doctrine By Rouan Snyman My name is Rouan Snyman, residing in Bloemfontein South Africa. I am a born-again believer who has realized the truth and was set free from Rhema Ministries, also known as Christian Revival Church (CRC) in Bloemfontein. I served as a cell leader and was later promoted to home coordinator for CRC. My association with Rhema CRC started in 1997 where I met with Pastor Gary Bryden while CRC had an outreach on Hoffman Square in the centre of Bloemfontein. Listening to the preaching at the outreach I decided to join CRC because I felt that it was the Lord telling me to do so. During my initial integration with Rhema, I was promised that I was going to receive millions of Rands as a blessing and that from henceforth I was about to prosper. This prosperity was prophesied over me. I felt extremely welcome and was looking forward to being financially blessed and prosperous in life. I also felt that I had become special in the ministry. My tithing and free-will offerings would not go unnoticed and I was told that the Lord would increase my financial sowing into CRC a hundred fold. We even heard testimonies of people who had become extremely wealthy by sowing finances into Rhema. At Boshoff is the main pastor at CRC. But despite warnings from previous congregants and other people I developed a yearning to grow more and more in Rhema and I deemed At Boshoff as the best Pastor in the world. I would do anything to defend him and CRC, after all he assured us of his continuous care and love. To me this pastor was blessed and anointed by God and the abundance of his wealth was testimony to this blessing. He and the CRC was the Alpha and Omega to me. To be obedient to my pastor and not to be cursed by God, my wife and I tithed 10% and sowed an additional 20% into the building fund. This amounted to about R600,000.00 in total given by us while being involved in Rhema. When I joined CRC my sincere desire was to go full time into the ministry. I was asked to whom I would prefer to minister to, to which I replied, obviously to the poor. The answer I received was that if that was the case, they would not be able to use me in the ministry. This was a little confusing at the time, but I thought that the pastor would know better, hence my compliance to stay on. Only later on did I learn of their intent regarding this matter. The poor simply do not have the money for a profitable return to CRC. Although they do feed poor people, the “investment” is not made with the poor. The feeding of the poor is only “marketing strategy” and “advertisement” to catch more people like me. My heart’s desire was to give to poor people, but I was told that giving to the poor people was to sow into “bad ground” and it was not a good investment. I was told to sow onto “good ground” where a fruitful return would be the result. This my wife and I did, but the eventual fruits we received, was financial demise! The Holy Spirit started to ask me if there was any difference between the world and the church. Was the church with its finances and motivational speeches any different to that of any corporate business in the world? The answer was clear, an explicit “NO!” Finally in 2006 the Lord started to reveal to me that I should not be part of the corporate business world as it was corrupt and that Rhema based CRC was no different. All the attributes applied to the corporate business world was used in CRC, which I thought was supposed to be the church. The CEO is the pastor and his subordinates are a hierarchy in management, to control everyone below them. This control is done through motivational talks and stern rebukes. So not only are you to love your pastor with awe, but you should also fear his disapproval should your actions not agree with what he has ordained. The pastor may also not be questioned at all. I was more careful of upsetting my pastor than taking heed of my doctrine. This control is a manipulation of the people, to have them subjected to the will of the pastor, rather than the will of God. I realized that CRC as the so called church was in fact causing the flock to become bankrupt. This happened to us as a family. Instead of going forward financially and spiritually, the sheep were and are going backward. My favourite pastor now became something I would never have expected him to be – a wolf looking like a shepherd. Recently it also came to my attention that if pastors do not “perform” to bring in an abundant harvest based on turnover get fired and need to find careers elsewhere. Many of these pastors are persons who sacrificed their lives and finances to become part of what they thought God wanted them to become part of. I realized that the pastor used certain Scriptures to promote a prosperous doctrine unique to Rhema, but foreign to what the apostles and the Lord tell us in the Bible. Rhema’s doctrine is a man-made doctrine, totally void of the meaning of what the Bible really teaches. I seriously question the way in which people convert to Christianity in Rhema CRC. I do not find the sinners prayer in the Bible, nor do I find forcing folks to speak in tongues in the Scriptures. The norm in Rhema is to lay hands on someone, in most cases pushing them off balance so they fall as slain in the spirit (Also not Scriptural!) then the pastor would speak in tongues and ask the convert to repeat after him. Once speaking in tongues, the person is saved and may be added to the “believers” so that his or her tithe may be received as a gesture of obedience to God, to test God. Results in Rhema are not true to God’s Word. In fact if the new saved convert is rich, he or she will become leaders of groups, yet having absolutely no significant Scriptural knowledge to warrant any leadership position at all. When I read Matthew 23 with regards to converts becoming twice the sons of Satan, I realized that this was happening to converts in CRC. Not only that, but I realized that in Rhema there were front seats reserved for VIP’s, exactly as was the case with the Pharisees mentioned in Matt. 23. In 2007 I left Rhema CRC impoverished and felt quite repulsed by having lost so much precious time and money. The freedom from escaping the oppression in this cult became evident. For the first time I really felt free, free from the rigid formats and instructions by the pastor to religiously obey him or be condemned. Many people planted seeds in my life while I was in Rhema CRC, to warn me of the purpose of At Boshoff and Rhema. It were these seeds that germinated and caused my new life away from being continuously deceived by this cult. I was set free from a humanistic self edifying man-made gospel promoted by doctrines set forth by Rhema and realized that the doctrine of the Lord Jesus should rather to be studied and taken heed of. This is the doctrine that saves, not the church. The church is the result of salvation not the cause of salvation. I started reading books on tithing, etcetera and although I was previously given DVD’s and spoken to by Moriel Ministries in Bloemfontein, started to take interest in these messages which I previously rejected. I compared these messages to Scripture and found that it was in line with Biblical doctrine diagonally opposing that of Rhema. As my discernment grew, I became more aware rather preferring to critically evaluate religious doctrines than just to accept it. My change came when reading and studying the Bible, especially the older translations and leaving the meaning of Eugene Peterson’s Message. Now I realized how blind I had become to the truth and how the truth had now set me free. The contortion of Scriptures by At Boshoff and “pastors” in Rhema, for example is very cunning in succeeding to deceive the sheep who do not study the Scriptures for themselves. With the Bible as main reference I studied into the historicity of the Christian faith. I realized that the apostasy the Bible warns of is happening right now at an alarming rate. I now realize that I that I was part of this deception. Previously I always read what the Scriptures said concerning the false prophets of the last days, but it never really dawned on me how serious and true to life this topic was. Only now do I realize how dangerous things have become. Not only a realization, but I now also know who many of the false prophets are! From being a passive ingesting Christian I have grown to become very aware of false doctrine and those who mislead God’s flock for their own gain. My purpose now is to become an active and earnest contender for the faith, discerning all things and willing to speak about them. By God’s grace I experienced Revelation 1:3&4 - “For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” I have also discovered that Rhema is not much different from Roman Catholicism. It is just another wolf with slightly different clothing, wearing new wool. My advice to those in uncertain religions is, as Paul says – Make sure of your calling and salvation. When listening to pastors, etcetera check the whole council of the Scripture to see if they are true or not. Be Bereans as in Acts 17 and check if the teachings are in line with Scripture. Rather study the Scriptures first, before deciding to join a congregation. Learn to discern and become critical – the Bible tells us to become critical. Steer clear from those who give instruction not to be questioned. Even Paul commended the people questioning him. Learn to discern and test the spirits. Discern the spirits with Biblical knowledge and test the spirits by going to your pastor in a time of need. Will the pastor reject your plight or will he be willing to advise or help in your situation? Will the church be mobilized to assist in your difficulties or is it just another “church” leeching living blood from its congregants? Will the church help those in need financially and spiritually or are the sheep the ones to financially contribute to the church? Test your church in this manner. We should stop going to church and become the church. We are the church! The church is supposed to be there to help one another. I wondered why God allowed me to join CRC (Rhema), with it being so deceptive. What I discovered later was that Paul’s conversion was accompanied by a temporary blindness and that the Lord Himself was tempted by Satan as soon as He was baptized in the Jordan. My alliance to Rhema CRC may be seen as the same, in that I fell for this deception due to a lack of knowledge, but I do believe that the Lord allowed me relationship to this deception for the following reasons: · To be tested. · To gain experience for the purpose of helping others out of this cult. · For me to become more discerning in spiritual matters and not to just go along with blind faith. · To eventually rather obey God’s ordinances than the instructions of questionable pastors who are really wolves masquerading as shepherds to God’s flock. · To realize what freedom in Christ really means and not to be subject to the heavy shepherding of the CRC pastor, At Boshoff and his subordinates. · To show me that my life does not consist of the abundance of material wealth I was told to have, but rather through a prosperous soul. · To realize that the Church is not an institution or organization but a living organism and that worship is not towards the institution or the church but rather to the Lord. I discovered that I was looking for salvation in the church, but realized the church does not save, it is Christ alone Who saves. I realized that CRC as a church is exactly the same as the Roman Catholic faith. The institution and the clergy become more prominent than Christ. I eventually realized that I was not serving God, but the pastor whose coffers and belly I was filling. This brief testimony suffices not primary as a smear campaign against Rhema, but rather a very well considered warning for people to dissociate themselves from such institutions where people are mislead into thinking that they are serving God. My advice for all who are caught up in these institutions is; “Get out of her, you are God’s people – He is your Shepherd and your salvation was paid for. You received grace as a free gift and although you should be part of the bride of Christ doing works as the Scriptures prescribe, you owe the institutional churches nothing! You will not see this deception while you are in it, but once you are out, dependant on the Lord Jesus, you will see the danger.” May the Lord’s Word truly become a lamp to our feet and guide us in accordance with His will. Rouan Snyman ________________________________________________________________________ Good morning from a very sunny South Africa! I have for some unknown reason come upon your site this morning and started reading… and I’m so happy that I did! Your testimony in respect of the painful humbling processes that God brings in one’s life sounds very much like my experiences in this regard. I too have done many wrong things and made so many wrong decisions… I too stayed with a church because they preached things I so much wanted to hear and believe, because I also, at certain times found myself desperately in need of finances for example…and the church promised financial relief beyond what I can expect, providing of course I bring whatever I have to their collection boxes. For a number of years I hoped and prayed and hoped some more and prayed even some more… yet nothing came. No relief whatsoever. In fact things simply got worse. Then I, just like you discovered I was not really saved in the first place. I only started attending church because I was in desperate need and remembered that my church used to say something like “…anything is possible with God…” and “…come to Jesus…He will provide…” and other similar things. Since I believed what they said, I went to church with very serious expectations of very serious financial relief and very soon. Then I discovered God’s saving grace and what being saved really and truly means. I am saved today, by the grace of God! I am his child today! I am nowhere close to finding a job I so desperately need in order to get myself out of financial ruin to which I am very close. Every day I am getting closer to financial ruin, and although I often lay before the feet of Jesus those persons who made promises of employment and then never truly do anything to deliver on their promises, I also pray that He shows me the lessons He wants me to learn from the situations I experience. Some of the lessons are simply to become more humble, to allow Him to humble me just as He pleases, to willingly become the clay, to pray more for those who cause the calamity of others, to beg Jesus to save the souls of those who belittle me and kick dirt in my face, to cry out for and beg for opportunities to play a part in their salvation, learn how to forgive them in my heart of hearts, thank God for allowing me to experience that very same forgiving process, thank God for the humbling process that He allows me to partake in, thank God for walking with me, for carrying me when my legs are tired for the weight of the burdens I know I have played a major part in bringing calamity to my door. I thank God for the very difficult place I find myself in today; where I am this very moment, because it keeps me on my knees – it keeps me in contact with Him, it teaches me so many things, it helps me maintain my sight on Him as opposed to my problems. I cannot wait for Him to come and fetch me from this life. Not because I shall then escape the unpleasant here, but because I have been saved by His grace and I shall be with Him forever, in heaven for eternity, singing praises to my God, where no tears exist, no more calamity, no more pain, no more sin, just heaven… Thank you for sharing your testimony my friend and may God use you more every single day. Love in Christ Dion Knoesen ________________________________________________________________________ Delivered from evil: The wolves in shepherds' clothing Greetings from Bloemfontein, South Africa I am greeting you in the truth that has set me free. I have been part of the C.R.C Rhema “church” for twelve years. Three years ago I decided to leave. During these twelve years I became a home cell leader and was later asked to become an Overseer. I was told that this was one step away from being a Pastor. What began to open my eyes to many deceptions, were the seating arrangements and how the Ushers (body guards) treated you when sitting in a wrong seat. My question is why a hierarchical system in the church, while the Scriptures clearly teach that we should not esteem one another greater than the other? These seats in the front rows for VIP’s also reminded me of Matthew 23, where it is written that the Pharisees like to be recognized and occupy the front seats. Another serious concern I had was affairs taking place amongst some of the so called leaders in this “church,” something the Bible calls adultery and fornication. A leader commits adultery, divorces his wife, then marries his adulteress all in a few months and remains in the same leadership position, is then exhorted on stage. I questioned this and my concerns regarding this matter, was ignored by the Pastors. When reading 1Corinthians 5 and 6, Paul admonishes the believers at Corinth for not being able to judge between their own brethren regarding a man who had an adulterous affair with his father’s wife. Adultery stays adultery, even if it is not one’s father’s wife. Paul even says in 1Cor.5:1 that such sin was not even common within the ranks of the heathens. Paul also says that such persons should be put out of the congregation! This made me realize that there was no difference between this “church” and the world. In fact due to them calling themselves the “church” or the bride of Christ, while many unruly things are taking place and being tolerated, makes it worse than the world. Another concern I had was that if the prosperity gospel that is being preached, is supposed to be one of prosperity, then why then so many bankruptcies, suicides and divorces amongst the congregants? The Scriptures that are being preached by these “Pastors” have been twisted and watered down to adulterate the real context, so as to proclaim another meaning of prosperity and tithing. Attending services like these, the motivational speakers, preachers and the teachers, apply pressure and burdens to congregants to tithe and offer money to the origination. Subtly their messages make those who really do not have much, feel guilty about not giving enough, yet they themselves life in utter luxury. The basic message being preached in CRC Rhema; is one of - as long as you give it will all go well with you and you will also prosper. This could not be further from the truth, how deviant and sinful you feel when you are doing things according to their so called Godly instructions. Their promises to the laity are false and does not materialize, causing the people to question God and even to reject God in many instances. You are treated and feel as one whose life in Christ is not sufficient. Prosperity is the focal point and those who do not prosper wonder why, and often feel rejected by Jesus. One eventually realizes that “prosperity” is only beneficial to the Pastor(s). To those in “cults” like this, please do not be deceived any longer, study the Scriptures and let Jesus set you free. Do not trust the scriptures they twist according to their own means. Please seek His truth. In closing I want to say; that in seeking God’s truth, He has not let me down. He has revealed so many wonderful truths to me and has set me free from the bondage I was subjected to, under the heavy shepherding in CRC. Praise be to the living God that was and is to come! May his love and truth reside deep within you. Pam Meunier ________________________________________________________________________ The Only Lifestyle |
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