How I Was Razed And How I Was Raised -- Bruce Atchison

(John 8:36 KJV) If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

This is so true, especially in my case. For more than fifteen years, I believed the blasphemies and lies that a cultic house church leader taught me. Elders of that tiny congregation also rebuked me on various occasions for lacking faith, having hidden sin, lusting for good sight, and having ancestral sins. Whenever they laid hands on me and commanded my eyes to heal in Jesus' name, nothing happened. One woman even shouted at me when I told her that my ophthalmologist diagnosed me as having glaucoma.

When that ill-tempered woman used the pulpit to rail against my supposed sins, I left that church and turned my back on God for nine years. But the heavenly Father never turned his back on me. He sent various trials, too numerous to list here, to demonstrate that I couldn't run my own life.

I eventually arrived at the realization that the cultists were at fault for teaching me lies. The Lord showed me that he is sovereign and has our best interest in mind. John 9:3 came alive for me and helped me accept my poor vision. All the working up of my faith and crushing all doubts would never make God do anything. He's a person, not a magical force or somebody we can manipulate.

Now that I understand the sovereignty of God, I feel much happier. Human stupidity still annoys me at times but I realize that the heavenly Father uses everything for his glory and our spiritual growth. The most precious possession I have isn't my house or my adaptive computer equipment but the knowledge of the truth. Nobody can mislead me now that I know how to read the scriptures. Neither can they trick me into thinking that God is some sort of miser in the sky who has to be presented with enough faith before he would heal me. Our Father in heaven truly is a father to us.

My hope now is that my upcoming memoir, How I Was Razed: A Journey from Cultism to Christianity will comfort and instruct other sufferers of spiritual abuse. God willing, my memoir should be out in e-book and paperback form by the end of the year.

I also have my previous books for sale on my Bruce Atchison's books link. It's also one of my blogs where I post excerpts of my books.

HEALING WOUNDED LAMBS -- Bruce Atchison

Acts 20:28-30 (KJV) Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.

Throughout the Bible, Satan has corrupted and suppressed the truth. He continues today to use people, even professing Christians, to prey upon the flock of Christ. Disguised as shepherds, these phony leaders mislead and abuse their flocks to the point where many sincere sheep turn away from the Good Shepherd.

I was one of many who wound up in a cultic house church. Nobody discipled me when I gave my life to Christ in 1969 at a vacation Bible school. Consequently, I had no discernment skills. The World Tomorrow radio program became my mentor until a friend invited me to his church in the basement of a house.

The self-proclaimed teacher captivated my imagination with his stories and twisted scriptures. As a result, I believed that God lead me to a spiritually-advanced church that knew deep teachings which mainstream churches didn't.

One of these so-called secrets was the naming of Christ's name to cast out demons and heal people. Particularly appealing to me was the idea that I could be healed of my poor eyesight. I could prove to the skeptics that God was real and he still performed miracles through his apostles and prophets. Visions of TV appearances and speaking tours filled my mind as I imagined myself fully healed.

The wolfish side of those false shepherds soon reared its ugly head. Whenever my eyes weren't healed after the laying on of hands, they accused me of having hidden sin, lacking faith, or having un confessed ancestral sins. For more than fifteen years, I struggled to build up my faith and crush all doubts. Nothing I did triggered God's healing power. Because of all the criticism and harsh judgements made against me, I stormed out of that church one June Sunday and turned my back on God for nine years.

I came to my senses when I realized the Lord wasn't at fault. I had been lied to by folks who I thought knew the scriptures better than I. Bible-believing churches and the sound doctrines of biblically-literate radio preachers steadily deprogrammed me of the lies I learned as a young Christian. I now realize that God is sovereign and nothing I could ever do would gain me better sight.

John 9:3 is now my life verse. Through my upcoming How I Was Razed: And How I Found Authentic Christianity memoir, I hope to comfort those wounded sheep who left the Good Shepherd as I did. I want them to know the real Lord, not the signs-and-wonders idol that I once worshipped. May the works of God be manifest in me as in the blind man Christ healed.

For more information on my writing, visit the Bruce Atchison's Books link.