By John Immel (Click here for MP3 audio)

The original publication of Moral Seduction was my first effort to show how the seeds of tyranny are sown with precise ideas beyond the narrow confines of church and Christianity. 

My first months of blogging stardom were spent highlighting tyranny’s philosophical elements as displayed in the Charismatic Reformed denomination called Sovereign Grace Ministries.My familiarity with their doctrine and practices made it an effective stepping off point.Plus, other voices needed to rise up to join the existing blog commentary concerning their blight on the vineyard.I was happy to take up in 2007 where I left off in 1998 before the blogging world took notice. 

People tend to think that this blog revolves around the very narrow criticism of Sovereign Grace Ministries.This is understandable but not true.No matter how much I enjoy poking those specific intellectual and spiritual thugs in the eye, they are hardly the bulk of my concern.… Read the rest

“We are strongest when we are connected to others. Why do we run from this reality? Could it be that in our pride we don’t like the idea of exposing our weaknesses to others?”

This is a Spiritual Roofie.

“Well, you know that Iron sharpens Iron. You need to have more friends that will hold you accountable. You need to come be a part of our group.”

This is a Spiritual Roofie.

“…But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We need each other everyday to offer unbelief-splitting encouragement to love God through the cross and only at the cross. If God loves you, my desire is to love you the same.  We should get together.”

This is a Spiritual Roofie.

As are comments like “Confess your faults, that you may be healed…”  “They met from house to house….… Read the rest

Here is a mirror. Who do you see? Can you, in a moment, define what is behind the face and be confident in its sum? Or is the reflection there but WHO you see is not  clear. Who am I? Does that question nag your soul? What is the source of identity? From within? From without? From Christ? From the Church?

Life is bumpy, with a few jagged curves, and some sheer drops; and those are the good days. God may or may not be doing something in your life. In the quiet moments, it is hard to tell. The nagging suspicion in your soul is that your life doesn’t matter–really matter. You matter to the kids and your spouse and the rest of your family–if you’re fortunate.

But do I matter to God?

>shrug<

The rumor seems to be that you are of great value to God.… Read the rest

All tyranny requires these elements:

Universal Guilt

Incompetent masses

Dictated Good

Abolition of Ambition

Collective Conformity

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Some months ago, I ran across a blog article by Cameron Schaefer called Change is a Community Project. His article should be called the Borgification of the Church. For those of you who are not Star Trek aficionados, well…those of us who are will just laugh near you.

I was Locutus of Church. Now I am John free INDIVIDUAL.  My battle cry: Resistance is ESSENTIAL!

But before many of you dear readers can get to the RESISTANCE part, you must first come to understand that it is NECESSARY to resist.  Eventually, we’ll get to WHAT to resist.

Mr. Schaefer is a twenty-something blogger sitting around in his underwear…Oops…I just had an Eric “Phenomenal” Simmons flashback. But the difference between moi and Mr. Simmons is I am going to advocate that you DO read what is being written: right, wrong, or heresy.… Read the rest

Modern Christianity is filled with doctrines that dis-empower and de-humanize people into the cogs of a vast church machine, designed to do little else but employ a few in the business of making the machine bigger so they can travel in nicer cars, and bigger planes, and fill larger buildings.  

We are no longer a people of freedom, but a people of serfdom, with many of the doctrines of the Medieval Three estates being enacted before our eyes:  some pray, some preach, all others work.