Daily Deprogramming

When God doesn’t answer prayer in a way that you see and know it is Him,  month after month, and year after year there is a problem.  Cult leaders like to make excuses why God doesn’t answer their prayers by explaining it away. For instance in Ardith Keef’s Daily Devotional today she says, speaking of her elite group, “Those soldiers of the Cross will assume that He is having His way, because they have appropriated the promises.  They have told Him this in prayer.” 

This is what God said through Isaiah about it:  “For day after day they seek me out;  They seem eager to know My ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of God. They ask Me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them.  If you will loose the chains of injustice,  untie the cords of the yoke, feed the hungry, clothe the naked-and DO NOT TURN AWAY YOUR OWN FLESH AND BLOOD ,  then your light will break forth like the dawn and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you and the Glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and He will say,  “Here Am I.” ISA 58:1-9 NIV

He says “Do not turn away your own flesh and blood.”  Do you realize that your mate becomes your own flesh (”the two become one flesh”) when God puts you together in  marriage?   Without having  Biblical reasons for a divorce it is wrong and sin  to divorce your mate in God’s eyes.  It is also wrong and sin to turn away from your mate and cause them to get a divorce which both Ardith and Bill Keef have done. One called her mate “reprobate” and the other “possessed.”  It is  sin to dishonor ones  parents or to usurp the rights of the true parents, becoming surrogates as Bill and Ardith Keef have done.  These are  blatant sins that stand in the way of answered prayer for the Anchor Church. These  sins have been repeated time and time again in a pattern, without repentence by Church leaders, and they lead others in the same sins! 

Ardith’s approach of “Simply agreeing with God” falls flat when He refuses to hear because there is sin in the camp that hasn’t been addressed.  This is just taking whatever comes as if it is from Him!  In other words, fate. If it happens, it’s God’s answer to prayer. If it doesn’t happen it’s God’s answer to prayer. This is dangerous thinking!   You go wherever the enemy takes you.  You can be led in any direction at all if you follow this kind of thinking. There are steps that have to be taken to make things right with those who have been abused, especially those in ones own family, before He will listen.   There are also those in God’s family, His Own who have been slandered and shunned by self appointed leaders.  Take care of the sin, then He will listen and there will truly be healing and answered prayer.  His Word says so.

Twice a week  when I go to Mechanic Falls, Maine, I pass by the Shaker Village .   There is very little left of it but a Museum and a gift shop.  I wonder in it’s hay-day if those people thought they were storing up treasures in heaven.  Only God knows if some or many did.

I was interested to read a little about the group and was not surprised to find it was founded and started by a woman.  In 1774 Eight souls came to America from England.  The woman’s name who led them was Ann Lees.  They called her “Mother Ann.”    Not surprisingly either was the fact that Mother Lees had a husband who did not share her faith.  She believed marriage was evil, sex was the problem with society, and  celibacy was the only right course. Her husband spent a lot of time in bar rooms, and finally the two ended their relationship.

The little motley crew of eight souls were destitute and very spiritual. They took root in America and began to grow. There were little groups of “Shakers ” popping up  in spots everywhere, and they grew to become thousands of converts. 

They must have thought they were on the right track. People believed and followed them. They appeared to be blessed by God.  They gave up the right to be man and wife if they were married, they lived simply, they worshipped on Sundays and worked their hearts out for God.  They were kindhearted toward strangers who passed their way , and their lives were all about the Second Coming Of Christ, and making converts for His Kingdom.   But they were going in the wrong direction and fizzled out to nothing.

So, brothers and sisters, our Treasures in Heaven are not about lots of works and spiritual endeavors. It is not about “living with little or much.” It isn’t about “working at the highest level” without being paid.  It isn’t even about  adhering to the right doctrines. The treasures in Heaven are about the heart before God. It is not about outward humility and self-abasement for others to see, but about what is inside our hearts where only God can see. 

Ardith Keef’s first line today say’s,”Those who are determined to lay up treasure in heaven are abundantly free to work and harvest with abandon.”   To this I respond, many who have gone before us have worked and harvested with abandon, but were on the wrong course, following the wrong Jesus.   All their works and “spiritual talk” died out and came to nothing.  Only God knows where their hearts were.

So  “Above all else, guard your heart” (John 14:1-4), dear Christian friend.   Jesus said, “Be careful what you are hearing.” Mark 4:24   Jesus Himself said  ”For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “Matt 6:21  ”There are many who will come in My Name and “deceive many.”  Mark 13:6 

Ardith used to tell us to look in the mirror and say, “I will not be distracted”, “I will not be distracted”, I will not be distracted.”   If you were a cult leader wouldn’t this be a good way to keep your people in line following you?  

We have no reason to be distracted from following Jesus. He gave us the simple truth, the freedom, and the way to follow Him.  It isn’t complicated.  We are filled with the Spirit, we have the Word of God, we know about prayer, and we have other brothers and sisters who love Him as well.

Cult leaders  and abusive Authoritarians  make everything complicated. They tell people  not to be distracted then they lay all their complicated rules and laws upon them .   “You must”, “do not” “You have no rights” etc.   They make the people of God stumble and fall, hurting their spirit, damaging their soul, making them feel unworthy, and even unloved by God. God becomes some kind of cruel, demanding entity who closely resembles the person we are submitting to.

These cult leaders tell you to “set your face like flint”, and if you look closely the followers of them who are the most “submitted” to them have hard , brittle, rigid faces ,whom reflect the charactor of those leading them. This is nothing like God. He is kind, He is Love, He is Merciful, He is Compassionate.  His face toward His children is the  ultimate reflection of the Greatest Love ever known! His face is gentle toward His own.  Leaders of cults and abusive churches are self centered, and  hard. they are bullies, they are demanding, and they distract people from knowing and worshipping the True God.

They may give you lot’s of rules and laws to follow and obey, and you can be sure you will never meet their criteria, because there will be more rules and laws. These laws will sound oh so spiritual ,and you will strain to meet their quality of spirituality but never succeed.  All designed to keep you distracted and following a person who isn’t Jesus Christ.

Are you struggling inside? You can’t seem to meet the high standards of your leader, try as you might. Is there a battle going on in your soul and you think it is your lack of obedience , your lack of submission, your lack of love?   Are you distracted all the time from knowing Him, from prayer? The more the leader forces you to do spiritual things the worse it gets for you.   Dear friend, there is true freedom in Him.  There is the Peace that passes understanding.  There is Joy.  There is Hope. This without a load of laws and rules too heavy to carry. 

Leaders of cults and abusive churches pretend to have peace, joy, love, but it is only counterfeit. It is designed to keep you reaching for the “golden carrot”  that never existed.   There is one Truth and that is Jesus Christ.   Don’t be distracted  away from Him by those who would destroy your life trying to get their fix of power and control. 

I would like to remind our readers that I would not be writing on this web-site if myself and my family were allowed the opportunity that the Word of God affords to His people in order to settle disputes and the chance to go before the elders , and the church with these problems.  We were denied the due process  of God’s law which the Word of God affords us due to “Situational Ethics” on the part of  “Pastor” Bill and Ardith Keef ,and the Elders of the Anchor Missionary Fellowship Church..  

My whole family has been shunned, our mouths have been  stopped from talking outright to both leaders and fellow church members and all we can do now is speak out the truth on this forum.  I write to deprogram myself from false twisted  cntrolling teachings.  I write my part because I love these people , and care about the dangerous course they are on.  I also care about the people who have been damaged by this cultish church leadership.  Not to mention those in the world at large who are suffering the same kinds of abuses at the hands of deceived  Authoritative church leaders. 

“No Situational Ethics” is Ardith Keef’s Daily Devotional Title today.  Let’s see , she doesn’t define exactly what her version of “situational ethics”  is.   She tells us that “God’s Word is the bottom line”  That can’t be right at least for her because:

She leads and controls the church, God’s Word says “No”,

She leads, controls, and manipulates the pastor and the elders of the church, God’s Word says,”No.”

She has broken up two families of her own to marry Christians , then has manipulated  most of the the  step-children  out of their father’s lives.  God’s Word say’s, “No.”

She has been divorced at least 5 times, three times married since becoming a Christian, has been a self-appointed authority figure the whole time.   God’s Word  says ,”No.”

She tells you not to lie, but she twists the Word to suit the moment, God say’s , No.”

She takes other Christians to court, God’s Word  say’s “No.”

She doesn’t allow a person to go before the church elders when problems  question  her or  criticize her judgment.  God’s Word say’s, “No”

She promotes divorce , and the splitting up of families. God’s Word say’s,”No.”

She  emotionally and spiritually abuses and divides children from one another because her pride is hurt.  God’s Word  say’s, “No.”

She refuses to carry on with a crucial court case because she can’t have her way. She tried to force a man to allow his children to go to her home, when her pastor/husband lusted after his wife, (The Bible’s word for “lust” is to “covet”) , month before that she told me the same children were at her home too much and it didn’t look good for an Attorney to have her client’s children there all the time. She then encouraged the wife to leave and divorce her husband without any Biblical reasons. God’s Word say’s, ”No.” 

She says “Christians have no rights”, but she claims emotional distress ,and wants punitive damages. I think her demand of others that ”You may not bite back at someone because you think he has done something bad to you” is a farce, and hypocritical because slandering, shunning and taking another believer ( who questions or criticizes you)  to court  instead of sitting down with him as the Bible says, certainly bites back at someone.  God’s Word  says, “No.”

So, her behavior is  often determined by circumstances, but yours must be ”determined by God’s Word.”  Sounds a whole lot like the Pharisee’s to me!  As for ethics, an Attorney who calls her client’s opposing mates names such as , ”The toothless wonder” , “bi-polar” , and other Attorneys names like “Sewer Rat” , in public places ought to take a few lessons in ethics themselves.  An Attorney who calls a mans  work-mate  “a dirt bag” and says  in public  “I’m going to squash him like a bug!” , had better not tell others anything about ethics.   Someone who does these things ought to take a good long look in the mirror, before they tell others what they ought to do ethically!

She adds a list of all the wonderful attributes of the Lord.  They are all true, but unfortunately are simply an emotional addition designed to emotionally  and spiritually ensnare a person in order to control them  in my opinion.   I liked her last two lines , and we all would do well to recognize them with fear and trembling!

“He is always right, His Word is always true.”

Today Ardith Keef talks about “Spiritual Authority” in her Daily Devotional. No wonder she and her husband made Rick Ross’s  Cult list this week!  (see “The Keefs Make The Cult List” under The  Next Chapter Of Life on our Home page lower right) I wonder if someone inside the ranks of AMF is getting uneasy and asking questions!  Perhaps someone’s  eyes are being opened.  She tells them “Do not be defiant and do not publicly challenge.  You will only make a fool of yourself”   Whoever it is who is tired of the hypocricy, disgusted with the rotten fruit, the secrecy, the pretense and the utter lies, be brave and strong! 

Stand up for Jesus, friend.  Stand up for the Truth!  Speak out for the Lord, and do not be afraid of mere men or women who wield their power and control over Gods people!  Dare to step away from them.  The only fools are the leaders  who play  church and pretend , and who like children wield their abusive power over their peers as if they were the  bully-kid  owners of stuffed  animals.  Don’t let them stuff you into their little toy box and shut the lid. Then they take you out and knock you around authoritatively  when they need their  fix’s of power and control!   God’s Light of Truth exposes these pretenders as rediculous shams!   Who is on the Lord’s side?  Dare to be a Daniel!  Don’t cower away when you hear from them about their “spiritual authority.”   Fear God, not men or women! The Lord will give you the strength you need.  All you have to do is take a step and He will help you.

The false teaching on “Spiritual Authority” came into American Churches through Watchman Nee.  Ardith Keef is a great follower of lots of what she calls , the “dead guys”  ( in fact she has an adversion  any new writers except for Elisabeth Elliot , ) and often refers to Watchman Nee.  This writing is not to judge Watchman Nee, but he was a mere man like the rest of us.  Like all of us he was influenced by  his upbringing . He may have said some things that  adhered to the Word of God, and very well could have helped some people along the way.

On page 71 of  the book, “Spiritual Authority” , Watchman Nee says, “If God dares to entrust His Authority to man, then we can dare to obey.  Whether the one in authority is right or wrong does not concern us. The obedient one needs only to obey. The Lord will not hold us responsible for any mistaken obedience.  Rather, He will hold the delegated authority responsible for his erroneous act.”   and from page 23, “We should not be occupied with right or wrong, good or evil; Rather should we know who is in authority over us.”

Watchman Nee learned  this concept of delegated authority from the ethics of Confucianism.  Among Confucianists  , loyalty is one of the greatest virtues, and can lead to  the blind loyalty described in Nee’s statement above.

Spiritual Authority (authoritarianism) is one of the basic problems and symptoms of cults and abusive churches. It is always listed in the top ten in lists of common ways to spot a cult. Of course leaders have to control their people  and they appoint themselves to office, then they say as Ardith Keef say’s today in her Daily Devotional, “Respect is not about the person in office, it is about the office.”   They equate their self appointed “Spiritual Authority ” with  God’s  own Authority and His Power over mankind.  If they can get their followers to believe them ,then they dominate with power and control over God’s  people.

The authoritarian leader exchanges the fear of God  for the  fear of man , and makes their followers serve the leader with blind obedience.   In my  opinion  this becomes idolatry.  It is serious sin for both the leader and the follower.  Unlike Watchman Nee’s teaching  of blind obedience and the followers not being held accountable, we will all be held accountable for our own decisions, although leaders will be held more responsible before Almighty God, and held to a higher standard.   The false  ”Spiritual Authority” of mere humans lording it over His sheep  is of somber and grave  consequenses

When the veil of the Temple was torn in half at Jesus death, all had EQUAL access to God.  There is NO PERSON  who has “Spiritual Authority” over us.  We are all siblings in Christ and there is no chain of command in siblings.

“Whoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.” Luke 14:11

No, God does not put people in His place over us.  He is our  Supreme Authority.  He has chosen some to be leaders,  loving shepherds,  to watch over the flock , who are humble and do not see themselves as better and higher  or wiser than others.  They are not secretive and pretenders.  If anything , they see themselves as inferior.  God has set a standard for those who are true shepherds of His flock.  The fruit of  the leaders lives shows us very clearly which ones are for real. 

His Own  shepherds do not Lord it over the flock, they are husbands of one wife,  the wives don’t lead their husbands or the elders, they have a clean unsullied record before the church and the world,  and have not been divorced .  The churches they Pastor are healthy and growing.  Their people are free to love their families and the world at large. They are free to be themselves, as they grow in Christ.  Churches where families are divided, parents dishonored, where honest hearted Christians are cast out and shunned  for questioning leaders are places that are abusive and cultish.

Finally Ardith says, “Let the Lord “( ie Ardith and Bill )  “deal with any problems. Do not  be defiant and do not publicly challenge.  You will only make a fool of yourself.”   My response to this statement is, If you cast out God’s people for merely questioning YOUR  self proclaimed  ”spiritual authority” , you open yourself up  to their protests, public opposition against your  pretense and falsehood, and their Love for their brethren will be more important to them than being made a fool of.   Leaders who are hypocrits  , pretenders, and wield their self appointed, pretended ,”Spiritual Authority” over God’s people , bear fruit that makes a fool of themselves!  Their  unhealthy, unclean, fruit just gets more and more obvious!

Ardith Keef’s Daily Devotional today entitled “Gaze Upon Him” reminded me of the beautiful hymn, “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.”  

When a  church leader becomes abusive,  when elders are mere  tokens and yes-men,  when they divide families,  promote divorce,  dishonor parents and grandparents, dishonor faithful missionaries ,hurt young children spiritually and emotionally,  slander and shun other Christians who have loved and served them for years,  their eyes are  certainly not fixed  on Jesus the Son of God!  If their eyes are upon anything or anyone it is the enemy who deceives them.  He pretends to be Jesus and he lures our gaze away from the true God and on to himself.  Any one of us can be deceived and we have to admit that in order to get our eyes focused upon the real Jesus.  The fruit tells the whole story of where the gaze is!

Up until now everyone who has been abused by the Leaders of the Anchor Church, has said very little, then went on with their lives. This is not to criticize them.  They did what they had to do for themselves.   

However, we  in my family will not back down ,  back up, or shut up about the grievous abuse we have experienced  and continue to undergo from Bill and Ardith Keef  and the Anchor Missionary Fellowship.  I can only speak for myself when I say that I have invested 20 years of my life in sacrificing for Ardith Keef.  I have served  Ardith Keef and the  anchor Missionary Fellowship Church with  genuine love and deep commitment during every day that I was there.  I continue to love these people enough to stay the course on their behalf as long as it takes.

  “The battle is not with flesh and blood, but with the powers and principalities of darkness. “  As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, all I know to do is to stand in my place with the Belt of Truth around me and speak out!  I continue to pray for God’s best for them, and for their release from satan’s grip.  I pray for the breaking down of strongholds in the Anchor Church and the pulling down of the high places.  I pray for the Lord to shine in His  Light of Truth that the leaders of Anchor might truly “gaze  upon Him.”  The Word of God says to, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” We honestly do that here.

 ”Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus”  was written in the year 1918 by Helen Lemmel when she was 54 years old.  She had been visiting with a missionary friend who had shared with her a gospel tract by Lillias Trotter, titled “Focused.”  

The pamphlet included the statement, “So then, turn your eyes upon Him, look full into His face and you will find that the things of earth will aquire a strange new dimness.” The words seemed to repeat themselves over and over in her mind during the following week.  In her memoirs  Helen reports the following:    “Suddenly, as if commanded to stop and listen, I stood still, and singing in my soul and spirit was a chorus , with not one conscious moment of putting word to word to make rhyme, or note to note to make melody.  The verses were written in the same week, after the usual manner of composition, but nonetheless dictated by the Holy Spirit.”

The song was published in 1922 by the Brittish National Sunday School Union in the book called “Glad Songs.”  this book contained 66 other songs by Helen Lemmel and was used extensively by the Keswick Bible Conference.  Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus was only one of over 500 hymns to come from her pen. She died on November 1, 1961, at the age of 96.

    Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

O soul, are you weary and troubled? 

No light in the darknes you see?

Theres light for a look at the Savior

And life more abundant and free!

Thro’ death into life everlasting

He passed, and  we follow Him there;

Over us sin no more has dominion-

For more than conq’rors we are!

His Word shall not fail you-He promised;

Believe Him, and all will be well;

Then go to a world that is dying,

His perfect salvation to tell!

Chorus:  Turn your eyes upon Jesus

Look full in His wonderful face,

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim

In the light of His glory and grace.

It’s funny Ardith Keef should entitle her Daily Devotional “The Shield Of Faith” today as yesterday on my way home from work, I was thinking about all the Armor of God.  The Helmet of Salvation, The Breastplate of Righteousness, The Belt of Truth,  The  shield of Faith, The Sword Which The Spirit Wields, and the Good News of Peace.  Ephesions 6

If we are well spiritually and in the right place with God this Armour is very effective.  It is protective gear, at it’s best  for the Christian.

Just think a minute about a person (a Christian) who is in enemy territory who has been deceived by satan to believe he is following God.  He believes the Word of God and even uses it.  He thinks that he is on God’s side, but satan has him hoodwinked  and he is following satan’s deceptions.  He believes his true  brothers and sisters to be on the side of the enemy.  Anything they do becomes evil to him  and the deceived Christian thinks he needs the armor of God to protect himself against his own brothers and sisters.  The enemy laughs and sneers, as he hideously enjoys the play.

Everything changes in satan’s upsidedown parallel kingdom. The Armor is good for nothing as the person is actually fighting against God , and no armor can keep Him from reaching His own to rescue them or discipline them.  Any armor they try to put on in this case  compares to the fig leaves Adam and Eve put on their loins when they were hiding from God.  They are in sin, in fear,  out of His will, and actually contending  against God. 

We cannot keep on destroying the Lord’s heritage for years and years and have Him sit back forever and allow it.   He is patient with us ,but the day of reckoning finally comes and we reap what we’ve sown.  He usually uses people who love us to tell us the truth.  He has always done this all through scripture.

Today Ardith says, “When we expect it the least, we are ambushed about guilt from the past or fear for the future. Soldier we have the Shield Of Faith.  We can trust what He Has Said, and we can lift it up in the face of the enemy.”   My  response to this is the guilt from the past and fear for the future may well be Holy Spirit conviction for sin.   In this case we can’t run from God, and holding up “The Shield Of Faith”  in His face won’t work. The first step is in admitting that we can be deceived.  Confession and Repentence are still God’s way for us to be forgiven. The Blood of Jesus Christ  still cleanses us from all unrighteousness. 

“The Eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” Deut 33:27

Today Ardith entitles her Daily Devotional “The Everlasting Arms.”  Yes ,Those arms are there and the Lord has tremendous Love for all of us encluding Ardith Keef.  However, He does not condone abuses of people regardless  of the fact that He even Loves the abusers.  Just like we love our children, but we have to discipline them when they need it, so does He.

The above Bible verse was the theme to Elizabeth Elliot’s Radio Program, “Gateway to Joy.” She said it every week for years, “Underneath are the Everlasting Arms.”  More than one person has written to us here at Anchorabuse to inquire as to the relationship between Ardith Keef and Elizabeth Elliot. One person wrote, “Can you please tell me if Ardith  Keef and  Elizabeth Elliot are best friends?”   Another  wrote in and said they had written to Elizabeth ,and her husband responded with the fact that they  knew of Ardith Keef, but didn’t stand behind her, and that some of her teachings were “a little strange.”

In the 21  years I was with Ardith ,Elizabeth came to our area only once to speak at some kind of luncheon. We purchased books and tapes from her at her home  for Ardith Keef’s store and usually I was sent to do that.   This was seldom, not even once every year or two.  Ardith went to see her a few times, usually bringing  lunch with her, but only once or twice after the split of 1994 and Ardith’s remarriage.   Ardith spoke one time to a group of women,  in Massachusetts with Elizabeth present , so she says.   There is very little that I believe any more unless I witnessed it.

If you listen to Ardith Keef’s tapes on her Daily Devotional, she puts on her Elizabeth Elliot voice.  I think she would love to be like Elizabeth, but Elizabeth is for real ,and always has been.  She is not  a pretender, deceptive, hypocritical or abusive to those who disagree with her.  I’m sure she has had a lot who have critically appraised her through the years.  She never divorced, and had two  living Christian husbands as has Ardith Keef.   She was a faithful, submitted wife who stuck with her mate until death parted them. 

Can you imagine Elizabeth Elliot encouraging a young woman to divorce her husband under any circumstances  other than adultery?  Can  you imagine her calling people bi-polar, and shunning them and causing a whole church to shun and abuse a whole family of longtime friends and brethren? Can you imagine Elizabeth dividing a young person from her Christian Missionary Family?  No ,any of us would expect and know that Elizabeth Elliot would  stand upon the Word of God and not twist it . 

So, all the pretty words Ardith uses are meaningless because her life is a twisted version ,and her teachings are contorted  versions of truth.  She uses people like Elizabeth Elliot, and anyone else with some kind of notoriaty , to lift up herself in the eyes of others for her own gain.  The Bible is very clear about these kinds of actions.  Her actions speak louder than her words!  The words may be pretty, but the actions are deplorable!

I write this not to be cruel. Ardith Keef , by her twisted doctrines has caused great harm to my family, to my young grandchildren., and to other whole families!  I do not write to get even.  I have previously stated many times on this web-site that I have already forgiven her.  She has  fired me by e-mail after 17 years, maligned me,  slandered me by saying I am bi-polar,  caused a whole church to shunn me and my family, and has even taken me to court to shut me up.   I write the truth in hopes that she  and the others at the Anchor Missionary Fellowship will wake up, see their wrongdoing ,and repent.   I care deeply for all of them.

Three of the most Godly men in scripture  immediately come to my mind as I think about those who loved the Lord and asked Him , “why?”  

The first was Job.  Job was singled out by God Himself as a righteous man. He was beset with woes none of us could even imagine when God allowed the enemy room to test his faith. God called Job faithful through his sufferings and Job  often asked God,  ”why”.  He moaned, complained and contended with God  and asked why.  God  made him whole when he prayed for his friends. His life was turned around by the Lord’s blessing upon it!

Then there was Abraham.  He was called “Jehovahs friend.”   When God was going to destroy Sodom and Gommorah for their sin ,Abraham asked Him,  ”why?”  would You destroy everyone  if there were 50 good men?   He did this three or four times and finally God said if there were 10 good men he wouldn’t destroy the city.

We have the example of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. He cried out “Father, “why?” have you forsaken Me?”

I’m sure there are many more examples of Gods faithful saints asking, “Why?”   Cult leaders tell people not to ask any questions.  If you ask “why?” , It makes you THINK  about things they want you to shut your mind to.   They want  absolute control of you, which includes  your mind, your soul, your thoughts, your feelings, your emotions.   They even want to have your heart’s  devotion.  THEY WANT YOU TO GIVE UP YOUR GOD -GIVEN CONSCIENCE AND FOLLOW THEM BLINDLY WITHOUT ANY QUESTIONS ASKED! 

False leaders  may try to lure you with all kinds of smooth  ”spiritual” words to lead you, but their words are only self-serving and designed to reign you in and control you.  Ardith Keef’s Daily Devotional today is a perfect example of this.   I refuse to even read most of her words anymore; they are so obviously seductive , and without any Holy Spirit power.  Now that I can see clearly, her empty words  are like  Jesus said of the Pharisee’s, “a yawning grave” ,and repel and disgust me. 

 Don’t be afraid of her words!  ”The Kingdom of God does not consist in words but in POWER.”  1Cor 4:20    satan knows the Word of God better than any of us.  Be assured he will use the truth to ensnare the unwary, ( albeit twisted and slippery versions), but the fruit of a person or ministry tells the whole story! 

Obeying anyone who isn’t God ,and letting them take control of our being becomes WORSHIP of them and IDOLATRY!   It is SIN.  Don’t be afraid to ask why? , when? , where?, who?, with whom?  or what?   You have to ask questions to test the fruit!  You have to ask questions to test the spirit!   You have to ask questions to make sure you are where you ought to be. 

 Don’t be caught like an animal in satan’s snare!  Or like the poor fly seduced and lured to a sure death on satans spider-web.   YOU CAN ASK YOUR LORD ANYTHING AT ALL, HE LOVES YOU!  HE SAID YOU ARE “FREE”   (Free to ask, free to live, Free to choose where you worship, free to decide what is best for your life)   BECAUSE HE SET YOU FREE!  Don’t believe satans lies!

Today Ardith Keef  uses  one line about the story of Hosea in the way any cult leader might do it in order to convince someone that it is ok, even God’s will  to do something weird.  It is a perfect Bible story to twist , when someone is being told by “leaders of cults”  that  God is calling them to separate from their mates, their families, their children for instance. “God is leading you  in this strange and bazzare direction,  but look at Hosea,  God even made him marry a prostitute and have children by her !”,   the false leader might say, as they lead you astray ,and away from those  loved ones God has given you. 

The Book of Hosea is really a book about God’s Love for His people, it’s not a license for Christians to do something out of the will of God.  The book of Hosea is a tremendous love story.  It is about forgiveness and restoration.  Hosea was asked to marry a woman whom God told Hosea would be unfaithful and she was.  But God told Hosea to take her back and love her.  Hosea did.

Finally, his wife Gomer was older, and not pretty any more, but again he searched her out.  She was completely used up and worn out  by her other lovers, but he brought her home  and loved her , again and again.    The story was a story of God’s Love for His people, but Hosea, through his suffering and trials clearly showed his people the Love of God.  The long suffering, grace, and the goodness of God that desires to lead all of us personally to Himself.

“All that God has and does for us, all that He has promised to do in the future and eternity, will never come true or be a reality unless we like sinful Gomer, come to see ourselves, our sinful selfish ways, our spiritual whoredom- and return to the Lord who owns and bought us.”  www.geocities.com     The Story of Hosea

Quoting again from www.geocities.com The story of Hosea “Now we can argue about why God would have called Hosea to submit his life to such hurt and sorrow, but one thing we cannot argue about- the Love of God.  It calls us to realize that all we have is because of God’s unquenchable love for each of us. But in a more earthly picture, such a love can restore broken relationships within God’s will.  It also can, like Hosea, keep us close to His promises and resting in His arms.”

The book of Hosea is about  LOVE ,FORGIVENESS ,and RESTORATION!  

Every day I watch a young man who continues to love his wife, who continues to be true to her, continues to desire for her to come home so that they might serve the Lord together, as they both vowed before God and man to do.   She has abandoned him and his children, to follow  cult leaders , but he stays faithful to her.  He is trying everything he can to keep his marriage in tact.  He is doing all he can to keep his family together.  This is  genuine, unconditional love.  Every day I see a young boy who totally forgives his step-mother for abandoning him, and longs to see her and his younger brothers. This is unconditional love!  This is the true picture of what God was saying through Hosea.  It is a picture of His longsuffering, grace, and goodness.  This is what God’s love is like for all of us who have sinned, and have turned away from Him over and over again.

Today, Ardith Keef ask’s the question, “can you find another truth.”  To this I can sincerely  answer, there is only one Truth, but there are many imitations of Him out there.  He said for us to “Beware! of false prophets who are devouring wolves in sheeps clothing.”   Be careful of listening to “another Gospel” that sounds for all the world like the reality.  Ardith says, “Is there another who will answer when you call?”  Yes!  Be sure you have the right “Jesus.”  Satan is cunning, sly, slippery, and The Master Deceiver  of all time, and wants us to think he is the Most High God!  He won’t have horns and a tail, he will look exactly like Jesus and will delude  and mislead many.  Those who think “It will never happen to me. I won’t be deceived”, are the most susceptable.   Again I say, “Beware.”  Test the spirit.  Examine the fruit.