Christianity Under Fire

Open Door Fellowship OR Come As We Are Ministries?

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Behemoth, Leviathan And Dragons, Oh My!
The Foolish Man's Guide To Confounding The Wise
A Defense of Individual Election unto Salvation & Critique of Absolute Corporate Election?
Group Think Or Whosoever Will Pt. 3
Paul's Purpose At Athens: Becoming All Things To All People
Personhood And Free Will
Scriptures Calvinist's Misinterpret
Resistance Is Futile!
You're a Hopeless Replacement Theologian If You:
Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth
You Know You're a Preterist if: Part 2
Are You Thankful For What You Have?
Top Ten Signs You Are a Fundamentalist Christian?
Getting Involved With Coffeehouse Ministry
A Few of My Projects
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Maxwell's Musings
Is the Church, 'The Elect'?
Pope Apologizes For Telling the Truth
Catholic Catechism Paves the Way For Evolution
You Are A Hopeless Liberal If You:
Clean Slate
Three Column Chart
Ultra Dispensationalism: Scriptural or Not?
Group Think or Whosoever Will?
Chronological Chart of New Testament
You Might Be A Closet Dispie If:
Body of Christ versus Israel
The Mark of the Beast: Is it Literal?
You Know You're A Preterist If:
You Know You're a Preterist if: Part Three
The Comings of Christ: The How, When and Where
Groupthink and Cliques in the Church
Focus on the Family or on God
Cult Aware
Open Door Fellowship OR Come As We Are Ministries?
Transubstantiation or Unsubstantiated: If The Plain Sense Makes Sense...
DaVinci Code: Was Christ's Divinity and the Bible invented at the Council of Nicea?
Plain Sense Interpretation/P'shat: Christs Comings
Isaiah 53: Human Sacrifice?
Isaiah 53: Christ Has Risen!!
Who Hath Believed Our Report?
Isaiah 53: Christ Our Passover Lamb
Isaiah 53: Messianic Prophecies Refuted?
Chart comparing Israel to Messiah
Isaiah 53: The Suffering Messiah
Bible Chart: Does the Bible conflict on Salvation Messages?
Christs Coming and Time Gaps
Got Charts!
Are There Two Programs?
When Did the Church Begin?
When Did the Church Begin Pt. 2
Is America Cursed?
How and Why Christianity is Under Fire
Was Mary a Perpetual Virgin?
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Tribulation or Jacob's Trouble?
Jewish Wannabes and the Holidays
Christmas Under Fire: When Christians Attack
Is Celebrating Christmas Scriptural?
Was Iraq a Just War?
Category 7: The End of the World
If It Believes, Then Waddles and Quacks like a Christian it is a....
Why Homosexuality Should Be Confronted and Exposed
The Doctrine Of Eternal Security-Can You Lose Your Salvation?
Does the Soul Sleep?
Did Jews Kill Jesus?...Hear What Some Jews Have to Say
Some Unscriptural Teachings of the Catholic Church
Arguments That Catholics Use
Pantribulationism: Are There Two Programs Going On?
Before and After
Pantribulationism: What A Day That Will Be!!!!
Definite Article Theology: The Way
Pantribulationism: Extrabiblical Nonsense
My Old Ship, the USS Shreveport Assisting Hurricane Victims
Pantribulationism: Should I Stay or Should I Go?
Trinity of God and Trichotomy of man: Definite Article Theology
Definite Article Theology
Pantribulationism: Blessed Hope and Glorious Appearing
Pantribulationism: The Departure
Pantribulationism: It will all pan out in the end
Straining Out Gnats, Majoring on the Minors
Jewish Wannabes and Eschaholics
When Jewish Wannabes Attack What They Don't Understand
How Jewish Wannabes Attack and How to Identify Them
Historical Method and Homosexuality
If the Plain Sense Makes Sense: Christ's Coming
If the Plain Sense Makes Sense: Evolution
The Silliness of Jack Chick
Inspirational and Patriotic Songs
Communism and Islam -vs- the Faith of America's Founding Fathers
Bridging the Generation Gap
Wrongly Dividing the Word of Truth
Let's Worship the Lord
Faith Under Fire Television Show and Website
Faith Under Fire/Do We Worship the Same God?
Arrogant or Convinced?
Warning Signs of Dispensationalism?
Good News: How To Fight Terrorism
Prophecies Yet To Be Fulfilled: Zechariah 12:10-14
Are You Happy?
When Jewish Wannabes Attack the Bible
Why Jewish Wannabes Attack
The Masters List
You're A Hopeless ....
Preterism Versus Dispensationalism
What's Love Got To Do With It?
When Jewish Wannabes Attack!
Preterism and Calvinism?
Who Do Men Say That I Am?
Signs You Are Doing Something Right
Ivory Tower Theologians and more about me
Satan the Counterfeiter
Saved By Race or By Grace?
Wanna Know Some Secrets?
Distortions of the Resurrection
Apostles Today?
Message and Ministry of Paul compared to the twelve
Maxwell House...Good For Your Desktop
The Feminization of Christianity
Absurd World Views
Religion versus Relationship
The Mysteries Revealed
Replacement Theology
How did the Tribes and Books get Lost?
Catholics, Cliques and Cults
New Age Movement
Should Christians Observe the Sabbath?
The Power of One
Be Thankful
Group Think and the Jew
You Must Be Born Again!!
Tribute to a Friend
Who's That Babe in the Manger: Does it matter
President Bush and the Movie: Unbreakable
Having a Form of Godliness
The Natural Supernatural Connection
Spiritually Challenged Skeptics
Speaking or Praying to the Dead
Eternally Insecure?
The Preterist's False Hope
Apostolic Succession Catholic Style
Predestination or Free Will
The Foolish Confounding the Wise
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Scripture Twisting: Reading into the text
Scripture Twisting: The Figurative Fallacy
So Deep A Child Could Understand
The Apostle Paul
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Small Groups or the Purpose Driven Church?
Mile High Ministries or Miles Apart Ministries
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Mile High Ministries Or Miles Apart Ministries?

 

Janis listed eight symptoms that were indicative of groupthink:

1) Illusion of invulnerability

2) Unquestioned belief in the inherent morality of the group

3) Collective rationalization of group's decisions

4) Shared stereotypes of outgroup, particularly opponents

5) Self-censorship; members withhold criticisms

6) Illusion of unanimity

7) Direct pressure on dissenters to conform

8) Self-appointed "mindguards" protect the group from negative information


Open Door Fellowship or Come as We Are Ministries?

Purpose Driven Church or Christian City?

Unleashing the Church or Unleashing the Fortress?


Welcome to Miles Apart Ministries.

 
We are a ministry devoted to group think and cliques.
 
Our elite professional staff is committed to finding a place for you in one of our numerous cliques.
 
Look us up at:
 

We are Christian City...we got something for everyone as long as everyone can fit into one of our many cliques. 
 
 
If you call, make sure you know the extension of the people group you are trying to fit into.
 
If you don't know what people group you belong to, we can temporarily put you in our confused people group until you get the help you need.
 
This is the strategy of many churches today.
 
The Church Unleashed reminds me of the Jerry Springer show in all its variations of situations and dysfunctions.
 
Often it is argued that one needs to be in target groups of like minded people, separate from other groups, for empowerment and effective ministry. This is why we have so many birds of a feather ministries. These ministries though located in close proximity are in reality miles apart from each other.
 
This is really the beginning of Group Think as defined by Irving Janis
 
Specialized ministry is often segregated ministry.
 
These churches erect barriers between ministries, clergy and laity, Keeping the majority of the people in the actual ministries from ministering to each other or being ministered to and from the other clique ministries.
 
Creating all these barriers is how they try to justify paying the professionals to lead each clique.
 
God created the body of Christ for ministry, the worldly church has created professionalism.
 
 
What I have seen from those persuaded of this Fortress Mentality, is that often they don't know or care or have the energy to know what the other ministries are doing.
 
This makes it appear that Jesus' gospel can only be effectively communicated by the specialists.
 
Does this kind of ministry really help the situation or hurt it?
 
Not only do birds of a feather flock together, they sin more easily together.
 
Hurting people do not need to be only around those like them but those unlike them.
 
This opens up ministry for them not just the elite.  
 
 
Peer pressure can be something that gets people into trouble.
 
Peer pressure in a group can often circumvent the personal responsibility that  one needs for his or her own life. This is what freedom to be a Christ One is about.
 
Segregated ministries are in essence saying to others, 'I don't need thee' and is Group Think, and the Cliquishness present in such situations is high.
 
I have noticed that in a local ministry that divides the sheep from the sheep and sheep from the goats that they or their patients don't attend the sponsoring church, and the few that do attend only fellowship with their own kind during service.
 
It is virtually impossible to break through these walls at church.
 
Is it any wonder that when ministries segregate folks into different people groups during the week that these same people continue these divisive practices on Sunday.
 
We cannot divide people like this and then expect them to come together for weekly or monthly meetings.
 
The apostle Paul tells us we have the message and ministry of reconciliation not alienation, specialization and segregation. (2 Corinthians 5)
 
The apostle Paul's ministry was against Group Think (Jew Only-Matt. 10:5ff; Galatians 2:8,9) to whosoever will. (Acts 13:46ff)
 
We are to be reconciled to God and each other. (Ephesians 4)
 
A Mighty Fortress is Our Church

A mighty fortress is our Church, a bulwark segregating; our helper not amid the flood of mortal ills prevaling. For still our ancient foe doth surely work us woe; its strategies are great, intent to isolate, on earth is not its equal.

And though the church, with experts filled, should promise to divide us, we will not fear, for God hath willed his truth and Love to guide us. The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him; his rage we can endure, Man's strategy unsure, God's Holy Word unite us. (2 Corinthians 5:18 ff)

"Never has it been more clear to me that two revivals are in progress on the earth. One is the revival of the Spirit of God by which dead men and women are freed from their sins by the blood of the Lamb and raised to a life which is the life of the sons of God, a life which bears God's nature, manifests God's mercy. The other revival is the revival of religious flesh, a revival which is so appealing and gathers such multitudes and wields such power in this world because it offers all the comfort of religion while allowing you to keep your ego and all rights to yourself.

Surely each of us has to decide which revival he is going to be part of . Am I going to invest my life in some enterprise of booming Christian City? Or am I going to lose my life in the pursuit of God's will of mercy? Am I going to concentrate on building something that will cause the citizens of Christian City to sit up and take notice? Or am I going to spend my life bringing the poor and the maimed and the blind to the Master's table?" (Escape From Christendom, Robert Brunell)

Also check out: Focus on the Family?
 
 
                        BJ Maxwell
                        Revised 3/05/2006

Small Groups or the Purpose Driven Church?