 Good afternoon, Pastor David. How are you doing John? Welcome everybody to a random moment unfiltered with pastor David Church families you guys are tuning in you know on Tuesdays. We we like to keep current events on what's going around around us and on Thursdays we want to stick to topics that pertain to the church and so today pastor I wanted to ask you About churches that not even I mean not so much in the local area, but just churches in general that have Christian doctrine They're considered orthodox doctrine Are there churches out there who come from this doctrine that can be considered cultic? They're that's a good question Are there churches that are? are That can be considered cultic Even though they have proper or correct doctrine correct Yeah, I would say yeah because Cultic is a word that can be used not only to express Abborational doctrine you know denying the the The scriptural truth that Jesus has got in the flesh for example or the virgin birth of Jesus Christ and things of that nature That would be considered what would be called orthodox Christian doctrine the inspiration of scripture and You know even the establishment of the church and things that relate to it that have been traditionally held for 2,000 years There are there are forms and structures that you find in scripture that help us to parallel Developing our way of ministry will say In a way that is consistent with our environment and things of that nature But there are certain essentials that you would find that would make up will say an orthodox church the doctrine the teaching obviously Who Jesus is what Jesus did how to be saved the return of Jesus Christ things of that nature those are things that are called Essentials and then there are the peripheral the things that relate will say to when you have communion and How you have communion or when you have? Baptisms and whether you sprinkle or whether you you don't and all of that those things would be peripheral even though they fit within the framework of Essential Christian truth and so you can have a a church that is teaching essential Christian truth But still have a form of cultism When you begin to look for example at at the cults or the classic definition related to cults You know the cults will always have a single leader a Leader that is claiming to hear from God the things that We must know now Charles Taze Russell with the Jehovah's Witnesses for example Mary Baker Eddie Things of that nature were they were people who said I've received some knowledge That I needed dispense to you and then they created an entire System that was around them as the supreme leader. So you have things like that That that falls into more of a of a cultic activity They would have extra biblical material, you know, they have the documents that have been inspired they say from from God and given to them and so you have the New World translation of the of the scriptures which the Jehovah's Witnesses claim to be Orthodox when in fact they don't have a single scholar that translated and they won't admit to who even did the translations Things of that nature where they changed scriptures to meet their their doctrinal aberrational teachings So you have you have? Classic cults and then you have churches that have orthodoxy at its root But have a form that makes it a single person centered Kind of experience and when you have a church that has a single person Kind of like they had the leader that the people follow after and and he or she Acts out that role by saying to the church I've told you this and you know this and I have or they're always the center of their stories or that you know They're always a hero of their own illustrations and things of that nature. Yeah You're moving into a sociological definition of cult, you know, where you're pursuing a single leader who becomes your source of truth and Even when they're saying I'm giving you scripture They still remain the center of the Bible city and you walk out saying what a wonderful person This is rather than what a wonderful savior we have and so that yeah I believe that happens and I think it it happens more often than we care to admit and with that You know what it when it will look like a church. It will sound like a church But in reality it can be cultic. How is it when that happens? Do the people follow suit to the congregation quote on the congregation becomes very very defensive of their leader So he cannot be criticized what he says cannot be checked what he says cannot be Looked at closely and determined as to whether or not these things are accurate and yeah, that happens all the time And I've seen it. I've been a Christian for a long time John so I've seen it for a long time that there are those who go to a church because Because they like what they get from it and they like the one who's given to them what they want to hear and so if you say but but What was taught is not accurate is not well, that's your opinion You know and oh, you're just jealous because I've heard that before and I think that's a common thing That's you know here in the United States at least the more than likely is this a very human reaction To to the defensiveness people can have when they follow somebody that cannot be Corrected and all I have to do is start serving serving some kool-aid next and then not well You know what in the extreme unfortunately, that's what happens, you know it I get more concerned with the With the with the church in these latter days is the members of the church are seeking someone who will speak what they believe And so they'll find somebody who says what they believe and he says it loudly or portrays himself as being the only one Who does such a thing and before you know it They're very defensive for their leader when in fact this person isn't pointing you to the Lord He's pointing you to his opinions or what he says is true. That's very dangerous Well pastor, thank you so much for sharing that with us and And to always you know, it's always good to do your homework when whatever church you go to to see if they're teaching the word of God If man's not elevated, but Jesus Christ is elevated and and and so thank you for that pastor Just a couple of things that are coming up you guys that we want to invite you to we have our Sunday morning services at 8 a.m. 8 30 a.m. And 10 45 pastors taking us through mark. I think you're in chapter Chapter 8 and look forward to that and want to invite you to come on out actually No, I'm sorry chapter 7 verse 31 through 37. I was preparing my chapter 8 just now That's right. That's me chapter 7 emergency in the notes and then next week. It looks like we have communion Next Wednesday night. We look forward to having you guys come out as pastors taking us through the book of Ephesians And then men we have our Super Bowl breakfast on February 5th at 8 30 Like to have you guys come out We have our tickets on sale at the gazebo or you can register online and so invite your friends and family We do have the privilege of coming to church So again invite your friends and family to come out and join us and pastor Thank you so much for this time and thank you guys for tuning in. God bless you and we'll see you next time