How the Apostates Take Over, Part 2

In my previous column, “How the Apostates Take Over, Part 1,” I explained how apostates used the cause of equality to gain a destructive foothold within the church.

Some of my readers have missed the point of this 2-part column all together, thinking it is about women’s ordination. People will see what they want to see. The deeper point is that those who deny the core of the Gospel used an innocent issue, such the role of women in the church, to flood the church with non bible-believing men, women, and homosexuals.

This is how it happened:

Initially, whole denominations acquiesced and allowed women to be ordained, but most churches still did not call women to be pastors. But with an influx of women into the system, something had to be done. So while the men worked by pastoring to parishes and parishioners, many women aimed at taking over denominational committees. Time and persistence had a way of succeeding.

By the early 90s, women made up only 20 percent of the clergy in some denominations, but they controlled every single committee.

With control of the ministerial candidate selection committees, for example, they focused on expanding the number of women clergy, not expanding the Kingdom of God. Time after time, I saw good young men turned down for ordination while spiritually unqualified women were given the green light.

I once asked why so many good men were being rejected. I was told that it was necessary to “make up for past injustices.”

But once the dam had been cracked, the people who flooded in were no longer those who argued for justice and equality. They were people whose hidden agenda was nothing short of apostasy and control.

From that point, committee leaders began to push for extreme feminism, abortion rights, homosexual advocacy, and other issues that were repugnant to biblical obedience.

All of that inevitably sapped the energy of the faithful. They no longer had the time or strength to preach the Word of God and witness to others. Although they still called themselves “the church,” they had strayed from the fold.

Today, the flood waters continue to rise and are even encroaching into some evangelical churches. But thank God for those who still stand strong, for they represent the last great hope for biblical submission. We need the evangelical church to refuse to put on the garment of compromise, to not bow to the gods of social acceptability and popular culture. We need it to never surrender to the secular armies and their weapons of manipulation and false accusation.

Back in 1980, I met with the retired Episcopal Bishop of Atlanta, who had been Bishop during those tumultuous times. It was soon before his death, and he told me, “If I had known all this would happen, I would not have been quick to give in.” He went to his grave in regret.

The apostates are like the ancient Greeks who destroyed the city of Troy by offering them an apparently innocent gift—the Trojan horse. The people of Troy willingly took the deceptive symbol of peace and moved it within their walls. Later, under cover of night, Greek soldiers crept out of the giant horse, opened the city gates, and ushered in the enemy army.

As with Troy, apostates today take over the church through means that seem innocent at first. For that reason, bible-believing Christians must stand at the watchtower and be prepared to defend biblical truth, even when the threat seems harmless. If not, many more Christian leaders will go to their graves with deep, deep regret.

Comments

[Joseph Madagan]

Thank you for giving us insight into how Satan has manipulated the church. Your heart must break as you see the church being brought down internally. The culture has invaded the church, instead of the church invading the culture with it message of salvation from sin through Jesus Christ our Lord.

[Rhonda Burke]

Amen.

[Pete Robinson]

Thanks for standing and delivering the truth. There are too many who willingly accept everything that comes in because of a belief in lawsuits which might be damaging, although the real damage is done mostly by those who use that concept to avoid lawsuits as a guise to squeeze into the assembly.

[Doug]

Is there going to be a part 3?
It's much worse than this. The church is about to face persecution and the loudest persecutors will be the virgins who have run out of their own oil.

[Doug]

Is there going to be a part 3?
It's much worse than this. The church is about to face persecution and the loudest persecutors will be the virgins who have run out of their own oil. Yes, yes, defend Biblical truth, but we can't just stand on the wall ready to defend it. We have to go out and preach the gospel loudly and bodly to all who will hear it. And, of course, broadcast it over Leading The Way satellites.(sorry, I revised)

[abey]

In other words selfcentership of the women to Biblical Apostasy, gives meaning to the truth of Paul's words "Women shall not preach", & to the serpent's words 'be as gods' to this selfcentership, totally contrary to the ways of Heaven which is off Christ, to serve others than oneself. Which makes the former as the way of hell.

[Tina E.]

Thank you Dr. Youseff for giving me insight as to what is really happening in this world that is not given by reporters.

[Chris]

Wow Michael Youssef, you are one funny man! You use your ideas to prosper even though you do not know recent history, ancient sociology or biblical interpretation. As someone who does know a fair bit about those topics, your musings get me laughing and cheer my day. Thanks. It is true –anyone can get ahead in this world. Comedy Rules!

[Robert]

It's too late to stop the humanistic rot in the 'established' churches. Established churches have desired to be all things to all men. They have embraced psychosocial discourse presented in lofty sounding language and in so doing, have been seduced into confusing the the message of the secular world with the message of the gospel of Christ. Liberal thinkers enmesh others to believe social justice concerns couched as learned academic knowledge is the core business of followers of the way. That friends, is one of the principal lies of invasive secularism, and that, is quite possibly why bible believing saints recognise the lies and vote with their feet. Heck! If I wanted to hear impassioned pleas for social justice I'd join a political party or take some social science papers at college. Resistance is unlikely to arise from within those churches; the committees Michael Youssef spoke of will either crush such protagonists or terminate their employment.

[Susan]

Several years ago, I had a dream that relates to what you are talking about. I was in a brown stone church (brown symbolizing humanism) and these satanists dressed as businessmen had taken over the church behind the scenes. They wanted the priest of the church to join them but he refused. They locked us in the church, but my husband saw an open door and led a group of us out. I thought this symbolized a plot of Satan to take over the church from within but I wasn't sure what it was warning me about. We were attending a church that was being controlled by the pastor's wife and her daughter. We ended up leaving that church and so did several others. It's like the church just became lukewarm. This article makes me see the link. We are evangelicals, too. I also had a dream about homosexuality and false religion and felt God showed me that was "the spirit of the age" we are living in. Thank you, Pastor, for shedding light on this apostasy and the dangers of radical Islam. People didn't believe Churchill when he warned Europe about Hitler, either.

[Doug McMurrain]

Chis - Michael does not own the home he lives in and all the proceeds from his books go back into Leading the Way. The only income he receives is a salary from The Church of the Apostles. His tax returns will show that he double tithes in addition to the incredible amount of time he gives to LTW to preach the truth around the globe. Leading the Way has one of the highest ratings as a nonprofit. You write in ignorance. God loves you and is seeking you - glad you are taking the time to read this web site. I pray that you will continue to read and seek the truth and that our Father in heaven will remove the scales from your eyes and soften your heart. Peace. Doug McMurrain

[Vickie Jacobs]

Dr Yousseff,
I think you are very gifted with the Holy Spirit and you try to bring what's wrong with the problems this country is facing but I believe the main points have been overlooked.

Leven. Leven in the form of 501(c)3 government control of churches since 1954. Right after prayer was taken out of schools, abortion on demand.....things started to spirial downhill. Find the ten commandments or any books on sin anywhere...........no matter the growth of christian organizations, bookstore, movies........leven is in the church with organized management. The Holy Spirit is not in the church anymore.........christians in title only and when one borrows this title there's a payment to be made.

Christians have given away there own heritage (like Esau) as the apple of God's eye and given it to the nation of Israel as God's chosen people. This is an abomination. If you are born again you are the apple of God's eye as spiritual Israel....Romans 2:28,29.

Christians are demanding war........like John Hagee. When did Christ say my kingdom is America? Or when did Christ put forth war drums? He said my kingdom is not of this world..........

How about the doctrine of the Rapture..........has any realized this is a false doctrine and how about the so called mark of the beast that's suppose to occur before the Rapture....these are not true.

Jesus is coming for the lost sheep of the house of Israel....for spiritual Israel lost her heritage of who she really is.............

Judgment(tribulation) is for the church only........I Peter 4:17.

[Debra]

The church is in far greater danger than just this. We have, for centuries, celebrated holidays in God's name that are simply pagan ceremonies with God's name slapped on it. The demise of the church has been happening since the first hundred years of its birth. I would love to hear your feed back on this! I would love to see you do a series after this one on these Pagan holidays! God Bless all you are doing!

[J. W. Johnston]

Yes I agree this is not an equality issue. I believe that women were very important to God as a women was the first person Jesus told that he was indeed the son of God, A women was the first to see Jesus after the resurrection, a women was the first gentile conversion in Europe...I feel that Satan used women in an evil way in the Church and is bringing down the house in doing so. Too bad about the Episciple bishop in Atlanta but at least he knew in the end what he had done. Maybe better than finding out when on his knees if front of God. Thank you Pastor Michael for having the guts to tell it like it is. Love in Christ, Jack

[Allan]

This is a vital topic.

Perhaps the following sheds some light:

"According to the ideology of [Margaret] Sanger, birth control:

Eventually would destroy Christianity. 
Eventually would exterminate the black race. 
Eventually would purify the white race. 
Eventually would promote abortion as the women’s human right."

-Anthony Comstock (1844 – 1915): First pro-life activist in modern history
by Julio Severo, May 12, 2010.

In light of the Anglican implosion, I found this interesting quote last night in a brand new book:

“By giving benediction in 1930 to its married heterosexual members purposely seeking sterile sex, the Anglican Church lost, bit by bit, any authority to tell its other members --- married or unmarried, homosexual or heterosexual --- not to do the same. 

"To put this another way, once heterosexuals start claiming the right to act as homosexuals, it would not be long before homosexuals started claiming the rights of heterosexuals.”

-Adam and Eve after the Pill: Paradoxes of the Sexual Revolution
by Mary Eberstadt, March 1, 2012.

The side-effects of Sanger's Pill are so diverse that a friend from our church calls it the "Six Degrees of the Pill," a take-off of the "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" trivia game. In this game, your goal as a contestant is to find how a certain actor is, at the end of the day, connected to Kevin Bacon or one of his films within six steps.

In the case of the Pill, her theory is: "Give me a social, government or church crisis in our day and I'll trace its genesis-point to the birth control pill within six steps."

The more I read, the more I think she's correct -- or nearly so.

Regardless, Sanger's brainchild is quite alive, well and bedeviling us all to no end.

Have a blessed day!

[Moe]

Satan will always do his worst, using anybody (male or female) and anything (religious or otherwise) for his sole purpose to steal, kill and destory, tirelessly working to compromise and neutralize Christians any possible way he can. Denominational titles and the structuring of various religious organizations mean nothing to God (denominational titles all man-made while only one true church and body of Christ exists, God knowing exactly who and where His sheep are). I'm simply thankful for the gospel message, regardless of who delivers it or the physical body they were born with, God looking only upon the heart and never upon the outward -- no Jew nor Gentile, no bond nor free, no male nor female, all one in Christ Jesus -- absolutely no restrictions given for serving God with all one's heart. God alone is qualified to place His servants into His body, setting them in the position HE wants them to function, even while Satan goes about counterfeiting that process, highly evidenced by those injected into Episcopalian ranks by the evil one (some having male and some having female bodies).

[Cynthia]

Dr Youssef, Did God not create woman from man to be his helper? Is not man the head of household? Did God not create women and men for diffenent purposes? Did God not create the body of Christ with a higher-archy leading to HIM? Was it not EVE who fell first to Satan? Your teachings are sound in the word of God. Although there are many important roles for women in the body of Christ, being a Spiritual Leader of a congregation is not one of them.Those of the world have been deceived including many of the churches, just as Eve was in the Garden of Eden. Thank you for your strength and courage in teaching God's truth. God Bless you and your ministry.

[Chris Carter]

Dr. Youssef, thank you for this post. (I am not the Chris who has posted earlier) Having had the opportunity to sit under your preaching and work for you, I know your heart in this matter. I grew up in an evangelical denomination that ordained women. I was always troubled by this, but because it was always practiced, I never dared question it. As I grew in my faith, I realized that what I had been taught was wrong and I ended up leaving this denomination. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit led me to God-fearing, Biblically sound preachers who showed me the whole counsel of God.

Sadly, the denomination I left is now embracing homosexual lay ministers and has begun to openly deny the inerrancy of scripture. Even more sad for me is the fact that members of my own family are accepting this false teaching and my heart weeps for them. I have realized that we are living at truly unsettling times. The times are unsettling because the very fabric of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is being challenged by heretics whose only goal is do the work of Satan and steal, kill, and destroy the body of Christ. Thankfully, the church of Jesus Christ is more powerful that not even the gates of hell will be able to tear it down. While there will be many who will fall and walk away, the true bride of Christ will stand strong amidst the persecution.

I will go to jail and even die for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. No government, denomination, or authority will force me to renounce my Lord and Savior. Thank you Dr. Youssef for the posts. Knowing history will allow us to prepare for the future.

[Elpasser]

To Chris, who criticizes Youssef because you "know a fair bit about those topics," take note that Michael Youssef has greatly impacted the U.S. and other countries for the gospel through several media, leading a host of people to faith in Christ.

You may have considerable "knowledge," but what is YOUR fruit?

FRUIT is how you discern the nature of the tree.

[Tom]

Michael, I love you as a teacher and preacher and nothing will change that. But I feel this rather singular focus on putting women out of positions of leadership in the church is misguided. Aren't bringing people to Christ and the sincere witness of Christian love the keys to helping the Kingdom of God to unfold? If God calls a woman to speak out, are we to use humanly contrived "cultural" rules to restrain her? I am familiar with Paul's admonitions about women in the church of Corinth: to be "silent" and that woman must subordinate themselves to men. This was according to specific laws that Paul references but does not fully explain. Paul also says, "...let all things be done for edification" and his reason was that "... all things be done in an orderly manner". In our society, the role of women as leaders is not disorderly as it once may have been. In our day and age disorder would not be expected to follow from sincere female leadership as it would clearly have in Paul's day. Context does matter in this case. Paul's desire was to promote the orderly practice of worship and teaching, not to enshrine a cultural norm peculiar to a certain age and culture.

If men were taking their proper role now as Paul assumed they were in his day, we may not be in the situation we are in. The context has clearly changed and too many men are not stepping up (in many ways) in our culture. I wish it were not so. It may be that it is necessary for woman to step up to fill these voids and I believe this is happening in many churches. Without them, some of these churches would be virtually dead! Would that be better?

Some Biblical references "seem" also to support the institution of slavery. Now days, that admonition of Paul's would create havoc and disorder. There may have been social and cultural contexts where the elevation of women to positions "over" men would have created absolute havoc and so would not have been in the interest of the Kingdom. Is our "Western" culture the same now? When you speak of the women (and men) who put a political agenda ahead of the forth-telling of the truth of the Gospel, I am right there with you. Petty political agendas have no place in the Church. But the absolute barring of women from leadership in the church seems extreme, far beyond the few isolated Biblical referenced on which one must rely. Jesus himself seems to have left the door open for a rather prominent role for divinely inspired saints regardless of their gender. My experience has been that many women have served without the radical agenda and the Kingdom has benefitted within the proper spirit and proper priorities and doctrines of our Faith.

[Val]

Vickie:

So we are to simply sit around and do nothing to fight the evil in this world just because Christ did not do so? Just because he doesn't say he condones it doesn't mean he condemns it.