Weaponised Scripture

I refuse to wield it like HE did—twisting it into a weapon, bending it to serve his purpose.

Please forgive me if I rarely quote the Bible. Sorry if you think I’m not a ‘mature Christian’ anymore… You see, in my world, He—the MASTER—wielded scripture like a weapon. It wasn’t for truth. It was for control. And once you’ve seen the Bible used that way, you can’t unsee it. Everywhere I turn, every email, every verse HE quoted, I now recognise as carefully positioned pieces in a long game of manipulation.

I know how this sounds. A pastor using scripture to control his flock? It should be unthinkable.

But that’s precisely what HE did.

Strangely, HE rarely anchored HIS sermons in scripture. Instead, HIS words were laced with the voices of others—Ed Silvoso, Bill Johnson, Terry Nance, John Bevere, John Maxwell. You can see the bookshelf now, can’t you? Lined with volumes, each one a manual on leadership, spiritual authority, and the ever-repeated mantra: a culture of honour. A doctrine of control, dressed in reverence.

And then there were his stories. HIS stories. Parables plucked from solo trips to Bali, tales of temptation and theft. Australian women trying to crawl into his bed, steal HIS things. You’re cringing? We did too. But HE loved the drama, the attention, the narrative of himself as the ever-righteous man under siege.

But when HE did use scripture… it was deadly.

A verse became a sword in HIS hands—slashing dissent, severing relationships. A shield—blocking accountability, deflecting blame. A bomb—leveling anyone who dared to question him.

This week in my ‘deep dive’, I uncovered yet another example. It’s not even the worst, but it remains bitter, sharp, and undeniable.

We were in our second trimester, expecting our first child. I was worn thin, exhausted in ways I couldn’t put into words. I asked—begged—for a moment to breathe. But HE had other plans. He kept pushing, relentless, driving me straight to the edge.

Nov 2010 — The MASTER had left on another ‘sabbatical’. Disappeared. And in his absence, we (HIS elders) were tasked with (among all other requests) teaching everyone else how to serve HIM.

Looking back now, I see it clearly. There was never grace. Never kindness. Only duty. Only blind obedience. Only him.

I don’t know where Rick Warren’s words end and the MASTER’s begin — perhaps

The Naked Armor Bearer

can do a book burning analysis… What I do know is this—the teaching ground us down, all of us. It was relentless, merciless. Because, in the end, there was only one who mattered. Only one who was to be served. HIM.

From The MASTER

Sun, Nov 7, 2010, 7:44 PM

To

The Willow Tree

&

Compound Fracture

Please find attached my transcript for this week’s home group lessons. Attached is also the handout. Please do this over the next two weeks.

The Willow Tree

, you and

Compound Fracture

should take a week each to facilitate.

BUILDING A LIFE OF SERVICE

Building a Great Life - Part 3 of 8

Matthew 20:26 (GWT), Mark 10:45 (NLT)

Adapted from Rick Warren’s series on ‘Build for Life’

Some might say the secret of greatness is connections and influence. God says, "My definition is very different." God says none of those things last. You're not going to remember them. God says what's going to last is service to God. The secret of a great life is discovering the joy of serving. This is what the Kingdom of God is about. Extending God’s Kingdom by serving His purpose. Matthew 20:26: "Whoever wants to become great must be a servant of others."

I AM SAVED FOR SERVICE.

2 Timothy 1:9 "It is God who saved us and chose us for His holy work." What is a holy work? The Bible's word for it is called ministry. Another word for that is service. Anytime you see the word service in the Bible, it's the same word as ministry.

MY CHURCH FAMILY NEEDS MY SERVICE

It's needed and necessary. 1 Corinthians 12:27: "All of you together are the one body of Christ, and each of you is a separate and necessary part of it."

I AM COMMANDED TO SERVE OTHERS.

In Matthew 20:28 Jesus said, "Your attitude must be like my own, for I did not come to be served, but to serve." Underline "must". It is not an option. Service for a Christian is not optional. A non-ministering Christian is a contradiction. To call myself a Christian and not be involved in ministry, God says is silly. It's a contradiction. It can't be.

A mature Christian is interested in service. An immature Christian is interested in serve-us. And there's a big difference.

IT PROVES THAT I BELONG TO CHRIST

Romans 7:4 says, "You are part of the body of Christ and you belong to Him in order that we might be useful in the service of God."

Ministry, not attendance, is evidence that Christ is in you. The Bible says that one of the purposes of pastors (the fivefold ministry) is to help you get ready for your ministry in life, that God put you here on earth for.

SERVING OTHERS IS THE WAY TO SERVE GOD.

Colossians 3:23: "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for man. It's the Lord you're serving." Jesus said, "Whatever you do for others, you're doing for Me. Even a cup of cold water given in my name it's like being done to Me." If I'm not serving others, I'm not serving God.

"Keep busy in your work for the Lord since you know that nothing you do in the Lord's service is ever without value." Can you say that about everything else you're doing? No. A lot of what you and I do is of no value in the long term. But nothing you do in the Lord's work is ever without value.

I WILL BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR MY SERVICE.

One day, God is going to have me stand before Him, and He's going to say, "What did you do with what I gave you? That talent? That ability? Did you use it to help anybody else? Were you ever unselfish? Did you ever give anything back, or were you just a taker in life? Were you ever a giver where you did something totally unselfish that you received no personal benefit from? You just did it unselfishly? What did you do with what I gave you?"

"I'm sorry, God. I was kind of busy. I had some plans and some goals that I thought would be really cool for me, but I never actually got time to get in on your plan. I was just too busy to have a ministry." Haggai 1 – says that they were busy building their own panelled homes.

God's going to say, "What? Excuse me? What were you thinking? Do you think I put you on earth to live for yourself? The real happiness and joy I intended for your life is found in giving your life away. You missed it! What were you thinking?"

I will be accountable one day. I can imagine getting to heaven and Jesus saying, "When I went to earth, My purpose on earth was to give and to serve. By the way, what was your purpose?"

There's one more reason. I need to make giving my life away in service to others the number one priority of my life after knowing God...

BECAUSE I WILL BE REWARDED FOR ETERNITY.

John 12:26 Jesus says, "My Father will honor anyone who serves me." God is planning a party in heaven for eternity. It's going to last a long time. This reward is going to last forever.

One of the rewards you're going to get in heaven for your service on earth is that you will be trusted with greater responsibility. "Well done, good and faithful servant! You've been faithful with a few things; I will now put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness."

The Bible teaches very clearly that maturity is for ministry. Maturity is never an end in itself. You say, "I want to be a mature Christian." You'll never be a mature Christian until you start ministering. Maturity is for ministry. Muscles have a reason.

The moment you signed up and said, "Yes, I want to start a relationship with Christ, you also said, "I'm willing to serve You the rest of my life." They're not indistinguishable. If you are a Christian, you are called to ministry. The Bible says every Christian is called to serve; every member of God's family is a minister. Not everybody's a pastor. But a minister. What's a minister? A servant. What's a servant? Somebody who serves.

The question is this: What are you going to do about it? In light of this, knowing that you were made for this, you were saved for this, you were gifted for this, and all these things we just looked at, we're not talking about some side issue here. We're talking about the most important thing in your Christian life in my Christian life – i.e. following God's plan. What are you going to do? Are you going to be a hearer of God's word today? Or are you going to be a doer? Are you going to (as they say) get off your blessed assurance and do something? Or will you sit around and soak and sour till Jesus comes back? You've got two options. One, you can walk out of here, get in your car, say, "We're getting out early today! Drive off and have lunch and do nothing! Do you sincerely think God brought you here for that? Has God brought us here this morning just to tickle our ears?

Or can we do something about it, knowing this is the very thing God has put us on earth for?

There are various areas of ministry in this church. From what you see is happening in the fore- front and what is happening in the background. The following are areas where you can serve:

1. Ministry of Helps

   1. Ushering

   2. Parking & signs

   3. Communion

   4. Preparation for Sunday service

2. Ministry of Hospitality

   1. Sunday lunch

   2. Coffee &Tea

   3. Pack up and clean up

3. Children’s Ministry

   1. Parent Helpers

   2. Teachers

      1. Toddlers

      2. Prep to year 3

      3. Yr 4 to Yr 6

4. Youth Ministry

   1. Parent helpers

   2. Older Leaders

   3. Peer grp leaders

   4. Teacher’s

5. Adult Ministry

   1. Home Grp leaders

   2. Hosts

   3. Teacher’s/facilitators

6. Discipleship Classes

   1. Teacher’s needed

7. Assimilation of New Comers

   1. Newcomers get together

   2. Initial phone calls

   3. Welcome Letters

8. Music Ministry

   1. Singers

   2. Musicians

   3. Worship leaders

   4. Copyright submissions

   5. Filing of songs

9. Sound/Media/OHP

   1. Video announcements

   2. Sound desk

   3. Overheads – lyrics & message power points

   4. Video messages

   5. Duplicate messages

10. Missions

    1. Short term trips

    2. Liaise with nations we are supporting

    3. Regular reporting

    4. Organise missions weekend

11. Evangelism & Outreach

12. Prayer Ministry

    1. Intercession

    2. Prayer breakthrough meetings

    3. Ministry in Healing & deliverance

13. Property

    1. Church Building

       1. Maintenance

       2. Grounds

       3. Volunteers to run programs for the community

    2. Country Property

       1. Maintenance

       2. Development

14. Office volunteers

    1. Admin

    2. Finance

    3. Graphic

    4. Websites

Job Opportunities:

1. Childcare

2. Music Lessons

3. New building – admin/project manager

This, this is why I don’t quote scripture often in my writing…

I refuse to wield it like HE did—twisting it into a weapon, bending it to serve his purpose. To serve HIM.

I won’t manipulate you. I won’t lace my story with sacred words to steer your thoughts, beliefs, and perception of what is real.

I will continue to tell it as it was.

And I leave the truth in your hands.