"We will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ."
Ephesians 4:14-15
The following is my testimony about a time of spiritual confusion and doubt of salvation I went through while I was attending a Christian high school. The spiritual confusion I went through resulted partly from listening to a cult that was led by a false prophet on short-wave radio. This cult taught the need to become perfect in order to be saved. They also continually taught warnings about falling away from the Book of Hebrews. Christians outside the group were also condemned for celebrating the Holidays of Christmas and Easter. A number of other things were condemned by this cult in a judgmental manner. This led to a personal crisis of faith where I was not sure I was a true Christian and was also questioning whether everyone else I knew were really Christians. This testimony shares how friends in my Christian high school encouraged me with the love of Jesus, telling me that I can trust in His salvation. Today I hold on to the promise that nothing can separate me from God's love.
In the late 1990s I listened to R. G. Stair and wondered if he might be the true prophet of God but I never joined his community. The RBC ministries booklet "How To Identify a Dangerous Religious Group" helped me to realize that Stair is a false prophet and that his group, the "Overcomer Ministry" is a dangerous religious group. Click here to read the full text PDF "How To Identify a Dangerous Religious Group". I realized that R. G. Stair was "brash and demanding" and very impatient with his members, as the booklet described such leaders. I remember one time that Stair was yelling and screaming at some members for some reason. I remember him calling them names such as stupid or fools. He condemned them for even having a look of doubt in their eyes. The booklet led me to conclude that Stair is in direct contradiction to II Timothy 2:24-26, which says:
"And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. "
Listening to "Brother Stair" got me very confused about spiritual issues. He taught that "Once saved, always saved" is a lie, and he frequently warned about falling away. He would often quote from Hebrews 10, which says, "For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins" (10:26 KJV). Because I had sinned willfully in the sense of deliberate sin I had struggled with, I experienced fear that I had fallen away, and feared I could not be renewed back to repentance. This fear was also made worse by Stair’s teaching that you have to reach a state of sinless perfection in order to be saved. I went for almost two years not able to say I was a Christian and feared I could never be forgiven. (However in the future I would come to understand the warning against sinning willfully in the Book of Hebrews as a warning against completely abandoning my faith in Christ. I think there can be value in heeding the warnings in the Bible about falling away in the sense that we would never want to give up on our faith in Christ.)
My Christian high school held a day of prayer during spiritual emphasis week. Coming to school was optional that day but I decided to come for prayer. On that day, during a time of confession, I shared that I was struggling with doubting my salvation in a chapel service held for the students who had come to this day of prayer. Later, a fellow student, Julia, told me she had struggled with doubt of salvation also, but that God had helped her through it. She wrote me a letter full of encouragement (Click here to read letter) and a poem entitled, "He Caught Me" (Click here). One of her friends also shared a letter of encouragement and poetry (Click here) about her own struggle with doubt. Through this experience and the encouragement I have received, my faith is now in the promises of Jesus, that nothing can separate me from God's love (Romans 8:38-39) and no one can pluck me out of the hand of Jesus (John 10:27-30).
"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39
"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one." John 10:27-30
The Christlike compassion that Julia demonstrated, when she talked to me about my doubt of salvation, contrasts with how Stair condemned those who had "a look of doubt" in their eyes. She tried to encourage me by identifying with my doubts. She did not condemn me for my doubt, like Stair condemned his people for having "a look of doubt" in their eyes.
Here is a music video called the "Proof of Your Love" by the music group For King and Country that really gets to the heart of Stair's problem. This song describes someone who can "convince crowds" by speaking God's word with power, and who can even reveal mysteries, but ultimately he lacks true love. Stair fits that description.
"The Proof Of Your Love"
"If I sing but don't have love
I waste my breath with every song
I bring an empty voice, a hollow noise
If I speak with a silver tongue
Convince a crowd but don't have love
I leave a bitter taste with every word I say
So let my life be the proof,
The proof of Your love
Let my love look like You and what You're made of
How You lived, how You died
Love is sacrifice
So let my life be the proof,
The proof of Your love
If I give
To a needy soul but don't have love then who is poor?
It seems all the poverty is found in me
So let my life be the proof,
The proof of Your love
Let my love look like You and what You're made of
How You lived, how You died
Love is sacrifice
Oh, let my life be the proof,
The proof of Your love
When it's all said and done
When we sing our final song
Only love remains
Only love remains
If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy, but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God's word with power, revealing all of his mysteries and making everything as plain as day, and if I have faith to say to a mountain jump and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. If I give all I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gone no-where. So, no matter what I say, no matter what I believe, no matter what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.
Let my life be the proof,
The proof of Your love
Let my love look like You and what You're made of
How You lived, how You died
Love is sacrifice
So let my life be the proof,
The proof of Your love"
One important website that helped me realize Stair is wrong is the The End Time Prophets website. One critique I read on that website was "Stair's Vehement Anti-Pretrib Stance" (Click Here to read critique) . This critique helped me realize that Stair is wrong to condemn people to hell for believing in the pre-tribulation rapture. In essence what Stair is teaching is that you have to have a perfect understanding of doctrine in order to be saved, that you cannot believe anything incorrect as it relates to the rapture and the tribulation. I believe that there are doctrines that are essential to salvation such as the deity of Christ, salvation by grace alone and then there are doctrines that are minor issues that are not essential to salvation. It is essential to believe in the truth that Jesus will come back again to Earth in the future but the exact details of when the rapture happens in relation to the tribulation are not essential to your salvation. I can remember that one of my teachers in church would say that he believes in "Pan-millenialism" - that everything will "pan out" in the end regardless of what one believes about the order of end time events. As we look forward to the Return of Christ I think it is not important to be part of the "planning committee" but to look forward to participating in the "welcoming party". The "planning committee" would mean trying to have everything figured out about the exact details and order of events surrounding Christ's return. Participating in the "welcoming party" is the idea of a wedding party. Since the Church is referred to as the Bride of Christ, and Jesus is represented as a Groom in the Bible, the idea of the welcoming party refers to Christians longing for the Return of Christ, just like a bride longs for her groom. The Book of Revelation, chapter 19 refers to this event as the "Wedding Supper of the Lamb (Jesus)."
Hallelujah!
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
Fine linen, bright and clean,
was given her to wear.” Revelation 19:6-8
Another important article I read was "A Critique of Stair's Who Then Can Be Saved" (Click Here to read critique). This critique helped me realize that Stair is teaching a heresy of sinless perfection. He teaches that you have to be perfect or without sin in order to be saved. One verse he uses is in Hebrews 6 which says "let us go on unto perfection." He teaches that the King James Version is the only version of the Bible that is reliable. However the New International Version translates this verse more accurately by using the word "maturity". Maturity makes the most sense with the context of Hebrews 5 which talks about people being infants and not being able to handle the solid food of the word of God. Another verse that Stair uses to teach sinless perfection is in Matthew 5 where Jesus says, "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." I own the Believers Bible Commentary written by William MacDonald. On this verse he comments, “The word “perfect” must be understood in the light of the context. It does not mean sinless or flawless. The previous verses explain that to be perfect means to love those who hate us, to pray for those who persecute us, and to show kindness to both friend and foe. Perfection here is that spiritual maturity which enables a Christian to imitate God in dispensing blessing to everybody without partiality.” I would like to quote two verses that prove that Stair is teaching heresy when he teaches sinless perfection. 1 John 1:8 – “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” Ecclesiastes 7:20 - “Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins.”
I would like to share the song "Perfect People" by Natalie Grant. This is a powerful song that disagrees with Stair's teaching of perfectionism. The song describes how a perfect God can change us even in the midst of our imperfections.
Sometimes I still have thoughts of doubt concerning my salvation. I know that doubts are often based on mere "thoughts and feelings," and that the truth of God's word is the basis for salvation. So I continue to place my trust in Christ in spite of these thoughts of doubt. For an example, because of sin and shortcomings in my life, sometimes I have wondered if I will meet God in the end and he will say, "I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!" (Matthew 7:21-23). I have rejected this thought of doubt because Jesus promised, "Whoever comes to me I will never drive away." (John 6:37). Another promise I hold on to is Romans 10:11 -- As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” A song that really encouraged me in regard to this issue is Third Day's song, "Trust in Jesus". The song describes what we can hope in as we approach judgment day. We cannot hope in what we have done but only on what Jesus has done on the cross. Here is the music video:
Here are some web-pages that expose the deception involved in Stair's cult (click the following links):
Field Guide to the Wild World of Religion Entry
The End Time Prophets website (Stair's doctrines responded to in written critiques).
The Net Team website (posted by ex-members)
Finally, I would like to ask anyone reading this to pray that God would rescue people from Stair's cult. Josh Bennett's personal testimony of living at the "Overcomer Community" has encouraged me to have a heart of compassion for the people trapped in this cult.
The Net Team web-site testimony page shares more information about severe human rights abuses that have happened in this cult.
Josh's challenge to have compassion I also share with you to request your prayers:
"Please have pity on these poor people for they are trapped and see no possible way out until he has used them up like water and throws them out at which time they are homeless and unemployed and most of all alone. It took me three years to get back on my feet after that stupid mistake just like hundreds of others like me."
Note: all Scripture quotations are taken from the New International Version, unless otherwise noted