DID JESUS REALLY DIE AND RISE FROM THE DEAD? LIES DEBUNKED!

 

What is the Swoon Theory?

ANSWER

The Swoon Theory is the belief that Jesus didn’t really die at His crucifixion, but was merely unconscious when He was laid in the tomb and there He resuscitated. Accordingly, His appearances after three days in the tomb were merely perceived to be resurrection appearances. There are several reasons why this theory is invalid and can be easily proven as false, and there were at least three different persons or groups involved in Jesus’ crucifixion who were all satisfied concerning the fact of His death on the cross. They are the Roman guards, Pilate, and the Sanhedrin.

The Roman Guards - There were two separate groups of Roman soldiers given the task of ensuring the death of Jesus: the executioners and the tomb guards. The soldiers in charge of execution were specialists in capital punishment, and crucifixion was one of the most brutal forms of execution in history. Jesus was nailed to a cross after enduring horrible beatings at the hands of these professional death merchants, and every person put to death by way of crucifixion was dealt with by these soldiers. Their job was to ensure the task was completed. Jesus could not have survived crucifixion, and these soldiers made certain that Jesus was dead before His body was allowed to be taken from the cross. They were completely satisfied that Jesus was truly dead. The second group of soldiers was given the task of guarding the tomb of Jesus because of the request made to Pilate by the Sanhedrin. Matthew 27:62-66 tells us “On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, saying, ’sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, “After three days I will rise.” Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, "He has risen from the dead." So the last deception will be worse than the first.' Pilate said to them, 'You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how.' So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard" (NKJV). These guards ensured that the tomb was secure, and their lives depended upon completion of their mission. Only the resurrection of the Son of God could have stayed them from their task.

Pilate - Pilate gave the order for Jesus to be crucified and entrusted this task to be carried out by a Roman centurion, a trusted and proven commander of 100 Roman soldiers. After the crucifixion, a request for the body of Jesus was made by Joseph of Arimathea, in order that His body could be placed in a tomb. Only after confirmation was given to him by his centurion did Pilate release the body into the care of Joseph. Mark 15:42-45: “Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate marveled that He was already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him if He had been dead for some time. And when he found out from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph” (NKJV). Pilate was completely satisfied that Jesus was truly dead.

The Sanhedrin - The Sanhedrin was the ruling council of the Jewish people, and they requested that the bodies of those crucified, including Jesus, be taken down from the cross after their death because of the ensuing Sabbath day. John 19:31-37: “Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe. For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, 'Not one of His bones shall be broken.' And again another Scripture says, ‘They shall look on Him whom they pierced.’” These Jews who demanded that Jesus be crucified, and even going so far as to suggest an insurrection had He not been crucified, would never have allowed Jesus’ body to be removed from the cross were He not already dead. These men were completely satisfied that Jesus was truly dead.

There is other evidence that the Swoon Theory is invalid, such as the condition of Jesus’ body after the resurrection. At every appearance, Jesus’ body was shown to be in a glorified state, and the only marks remaining as proof of His crucifixion were the nail prints He asked Thomas to touch as proof of who He was. Anyone who had experienced what Jesus experienced would have needed months to recover physically. Jesus’ body bore only the marks of the nails in His hands and feet. The way in which Jesus’ body was prepared after the crucifixion is further evidence to refute the theory. Had Jesus only been unconscious, the linens He was wrapped in would have been impossible for Him to escape from, had He been merely a man. The way in which the women attended to Jesus’ body is further evidence of his death. They came to the tomb on the first day of the week to further anoint His body with embalming ointments as they had little time to prepare His body prior to the beginning of the Sabbath after His crucifixion. Had He been merely unconscious as the theory supposes, they would have brought medicinal tools to help in His resuscitation.

The purpose for the Swoon Theory is not to dispute His death, but rather, it seeks to disprove His resurrection. If Jesus didn’t resurrect, then He’s not God. If Jesus truly died and rose from the dead, His power over death proves that He is the Son of God. The evidence demands the verdict: Jesus truly died on the cross, and Jesus truly rose from the dead.

Does Your Church Practice Cult Love-Bombing?

Sarah Leann Young

• • Jun 5th, 2024
  • 6 min read

#lovebombing #Christiancults #spiritualabuse #justiceformica #solidrockchurch #churchabuse

What is Cult Love-Bombing?

In the context of Christian church, cult love-bombing is a psychological manipulation tactic used by cults to recruit and retain members. It typically involves an overwhelming display of affection, attention, and approval towards new recruits to create a sense of belonging, foster blind loyalty, and prevent the member from leaving once they inevitably see and experience abuse, corruption, cult-like control. 

Once you understand what love-bombing is and what it looks like, it can make recognizing and leaving an abusive cult or relationship much easier because it’s one of the first red flags you’ll notice before even being recruited or lured into the relationship. It’s also one of the easiest red flags to spot in a Christian church. 

The Origin of the Term "Love-Bomb"

Love-bombing is a term that was coined in the 1970s by members of the Unification Church, commonly known as the Moonies, to describe their method of attracting new members. Although coined by a non-Christian cult, love-bombing has been practiced and used by all sorts of manipulative and abusive groups and individuals, both religious and non-religious, for much longer. As I’ve checked local Christian churches throughout my life and especially in the last five years, I’ve come to believe the leaders of the Christian Church have mastered the art of love-bombing and practice it rampantly in local churches and ministries. 

Love-bombing leverages the psychological need for acceptance, love, and social connection to lure people in and prevent them from leaving. By showering new recruits or potential recruits with positive reinforcement, cults exploit these needs, making recruits feel valued and understood in a way they might not have experienced before.

The Abusive Impact of Cult Love-Bombing

The psychological impact of love-bombing, whether in a religious cult or any other type of relationship, is both profound and destructive. At its core, the love-bombing practiced in Christian cults is emotional manipulation, and its primary goal is to exploit the human need for affection and love under the guise of authentic, Christ-like agape love.    

At first, recruits experience a euphoric sense of belonging, acceptance, and what they are led to believe is Christian love. This is especially powerful for individuals who are vulnerable or going through a difficult period in their lives, and the positive attention can lead to an emotional high, making recruits more susceptible to the cult’s influence and control. 

With the primary effect of love-bombing being emotional manipulation, new members often feel an artificial or what my friend Shawn McCraney has rightly called a “Manufactured” sense of love and security, which can cloud their judgment. This euphoric state makes it easier for cult leaders to lure recruits, indoctrinate them with the group’s beliefs and practices, and keep them from leaving when things inevitably go south.

Over time, recruits become dependent on the constant validation and approval they receive from the cult. But not only that. Love-bombing can include elaborate, over-the-top gifts, favors, and life support that leaves its victim both dependant emotionally and physically. This dependency can lead to a loss of autonomy as recruits start to prioritize the cult's approval over their own needs and desires.

Another dangerous impact of the cult love-bomb is when recruits encounter contradictions or questionable practices within the cult, but their strong emotional ties leads to cognitive dissonance. They might rationalize or ignore clearly abusive or negative practices and teachings to maintain their emotional peace and the sense of belonging they receive from the cult.

Tactics of Love-Bombing in the Christian Church | Does Your Church Practice Love-Bombing?

Cults employ various tactics to effectively love-bomb new recruits. Over the past five years, I’ve found the following love-bombing tactics within a majority of the local Christian churches I’ve checked:

1. Intensive Interaction: Established existing members are often assigned the task of providing constant attention and praise to new and potential recruits as a means to plant the love bomb. This creates an immersive environment where the recruit feels like the center of attention. Examples of this tactic in a Christian church can include things like texting or calling frequently and inviting the recruit to social activities and events where the recruit then becomes a focus of attention from multiple members of the church.  
   

2. Affection and Praise: Recruits and potential recruits are frequently complimented and praised for their qualities and potential contributions to the group. This creates a positive reinforcement loop that encourages deeper involvement in the cult, such as signing up for courses, small groups, Bible studies, volunteering services, and more. Cult members will practice this tactic on recruits and potential recruits during intensive interaction (described above), but also in other less intensive ways. One example that’s become a common practice in more seeker-friendly churches is the signs church greeters will hold outside on Sunday mornings that display love-bombing phrases like: “We’re so glad you made it!” or: “Welcome home.,” or my favorite: “You look amazing today!” 

3. Gift-Giving: Small (or even big) gifts or acts of kindness are common in the initial stages of the love-bomb. These gestures create a sense of obligation and gratitude in the recruit, so walking away becomes much more difficult once the initial honeymoon phase of joining a cult fades and the reality of the corruption, abuse, and oppression in the group becomes evident. Examples of gift-giving can include things like promises of a job, a special position in the church, or a platform for your own ministry. While many cults will follow through with these gifts as long as you remain loyal and obedient to the church leaders, many victims will find this tactic ultimately deceptive and empty. Allicia Young, a former member of Solid Rock at Market Common in Myrtle Beach, SC spoke of this as a prominent experience during her time in the church (see video above).  

4. Mirroring and Active Listening: Something I’ve learned about from studying body language and human behavior from experts like Chase Hughes, Greg Hartley, Scott Rouse, Mark Bowden, and Joe Navarro is the manipulative practice of mirroring. Cult members will often mirror the recruit’s behavior and actively listen to their concerns and aspirations as means to manipulate them into compliance. This creates an illusion of deep understanding and empathy, but it also opens the recruit up to undue influence and manipulation.  

5. Euphoric Worship Experience: Another love-bombing tactic commonly practiced in local Christian churches today is abusing the practice of worship to create a euphoric and emotional experience to love-bomb its members. This emotionally manipulative tactic is manufactured to overwhelm the recruit with feelings of love and affection, both from and to God, which ‌leads the recruit to conflate their positive emotional experience during worship with the church/cult itself. While the victim may authentically love God and mean to worship Him in spirit and in truth, the cult’s intentions are to intensify emotions and create a state of euphoria in members to make them more open and susceptible to undue influence.   

A Brief History of Cult Love-Bombing 

There are several examples from history that illustrate the effectiveness and dangers of love-bombing in cult recruitment:

1. The Peoples Temple: Led by Jim Jones, the Peoples Temple used love-bombing extensively to attract members. New recruits were welcomed with open arms, praised, and given important roles within the community. This tactic played a crucial role in the mass recruitment that ultimately led to the tragic Jonestown massacre in 1978.

2. Heaven’s Gate: This UFO religious cult, led by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles, employed love-bombing to make recruits feel special and chosen. The sense of belonging and purpose was so strong that members willingly participated in a mass suicide in 1997, believing they would ascend to a higher existence.

3. The Children of God: Also known as The Family International, this cult used love-bombing as a core recruitment strategy. New members were showered with affection and integrated into the community, making it difficult for them to leave despite the controversial and abusive practices within the group.

Love-bombing in these more prominently known cults led to horrendous death and destruction, but the love-bombing in Christian cult churches shouldn’t be dismissed or downplayed simply because they proclaim the Gospel of Christ. Countless documentaries and whistleblowers have come forward over the past few decades within the Christian Church to expose the abuses being practiced against God’s people. Slapping Jesus’ name on a church doesn’t make it free of abuse, darkness, and scandalous corruption. 

Conclusion

Whether the love bomb leads to mass death and destruction or not, it’s a manipulative and abusive tactic that only a wolf in sheep’s clothing will practice. It gives a deceptive appearance of love, acceptance, and praise, but its practitioners conceal sinister intentions of exploitation and abuse for selfish gain. This is the nature of the wolf in sheep’s clothing, and it all starts with the deceptive and manipulative tactic of love-bombing. 

Cult love-bombing is a powerful psychological manipulation technique that exploits basic human needs for love, acceptance, and belonging, but its sole purpose is to manipulate, exploit, and oppress its victims. By overwhelming new recruits with positive reinforcement, false empathy, and manufactured love, cults can create strong emotional bonds that enables the other, much more evident abusive practices of the cult, such as isolation, indoctrination, and control. 

If you understand the tactics and destructive impact of cult love-bombing, you can recognize and resist this manipulative behavior before you find yourself trapped in a wolf's den. Check your church for these red flags in the initial stages of attending a church or even after you’ve been a member for years. You can still notice these behaviors when observing how the church treats its newer members. 

Until next time, beware the cult love-bomb, church checkers. It’s rampant in the Christian Church today and its impact is devastating. Use discernment, examine everything, protect the sheep, and as always, please do not feed the wolves.   

An interview with the prostitute who brought down Jimmy Swaggert

May 24, 2017

Debra Murphree claims that Swaggert paid her $20 on many occasions for various sexual encounters. Swaggert's infamous "I have sinned" speech was the result of getting caught with Murphree. On October 11, 1991, Swaggart was found in the company of a prostitute for a second time. He was pulled over by a police officer in Indio, California, for driving on the wrong side of the road. With him in the vehicle was a woman named Rosemary Garcia. According to Garcia, Swaggart had stopped to proposition her on the side of the road. She later told reporters, "He asked me for sex. I mean, that's why he stopped me. That's what I do. I'm a prostitute." This time, rather than confessing to his congregation, Swaggart told those at Family Worship Center that "The Lord told me it's flat none of your business"(YEAH RIGHT!).
Swaggart's son Donnie then announced to the stunned audience that his father would be temporarily stepping down as head of Jimmy Swaggart Ministries for "a time of healing and counseling."

See Link below for more details

The Bad Fruit of Swaggartism – Jimmy Swaggart Scandal

DONALD TRUMP'S CONVICTION; A WARNING FROM GOD FOR AMERICA

What are the consequences of nations turning away from God?

ANSW

Psalm 33:12 says, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!” The psalmist is speaking of the nation of Israel. God chose Israel as the nation through which He would bring His promised Messiah (Deuteronomy 18:15; Malachi 4:5–6; Isaiah 7:14–16). He promised to provide, bless, and protect the Israelites if they followed Him. But the Old Testament gives us heartbreaking details of what happened when they turned away from Him (Ezekiel 5; 20:8; Isaiah 1). Israel’s history shows us some of the consequences that can befall a nation when its people turn away from God.

No other nation on earth will ever have the position that Israel has in God’s grand plan. It would be a mistake to “claim” many of the specific promises that God made to Israel, because they were for a specific time and purpose. For example, nations today are not promised bumper crops and healthy livestock if they obey the Mosaic Law (see Deuteronomy 28:4); that promise was for Israel under the Old Covenant in the Promised Land—the blessing was specifically tied to the land of Israel (verse 11). But many of the general principles found in Scripture are applicable to everyone. We can learn from Israel’s history what generally to expect when nations honor the Lord and what generally to expect when they rebel against His commands.

As long as the Israelites honored the Lord, destroyed idol temples, and kept God’s commandments, the Lord was actively involved in their defense when other nations fought against them. Exodus 14 is the first example of the Lord as Defender for the newly formed nation of Israel. As Moses led the people out of Egypt, Pharaoh and his armies raced after them. The people were terrified and began to doubt whether Moses knew what he was doing. But then “Moses answered the people, ‘Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still’” (Exodus 14:13–14). What followed was the miraculous parting of the Red Sea (verses 21–22).

In contrast to this miraculous intervention, the Bible gives us examples of God refusing to intervene when destruction came upon Israel. Second Kings, beginning in chapter 24, details the end of God’s blessing on Israel. God’s chosen people had defied the Lord, built idol temples, and filled their lives with fornication, murder, and adultery. They had desecrated the temple and ignored the Law for generations. God sent prophets to call them to repentance, but they would not listen and often killed those messengers (Luke 11:27–28). The Lord had warned them repeatedly, and, when they refused to listen, He sent judgment in the form of invaders who took them captive and destroyed their cities (2 Kings 24:12–14). The once-great nation had been brought low and lost the blessings God desired to give it. The general principle we learn from this is that sin brings negative consequences. Galatians 6:7 is God’s warning to individuals and to nations that He will not be mocked. We reap what we sow.

Many nations of antiquity are nonexistent now, having brought God’s judgment upon themselves for their sin. Edom (Jeremiah 49:17–22), Assyria (Zephaniah 2:13–15), Sodom (Genesis 18:20), and Babylon (Jeremiah 51) were all wiped out, according to the biblical prophets, for their evil before the Lord. There remain no representatives of the Hittites (Exodus 23:23), Moabites (Zephaniah 2:8–10), or Philistines (Zephaniah 2:5) due to their stubborn rebellion against the Lord.

God blessed Israel in prospering them when the people honored Him. God had brought them into a land that was “flowing with milk and honey” (Numbers 14:8). When they obeyed Him, He promised to provide all they needed and to protect their lives (Exodus 23:25–26). He cared that they lived peacefully and happily (1 Kings 4:25; Psalm 29:11; Proverbs 19:23). He commanded them to honor His Sabbaths so that they would have rest (Leviticus 19:30). But, when Israel followed wicked kings into idolatry and harlotry, God sent famines and pestilence on the land that He loved (Ezekiel 5:17). We learn from this that the Lord delights in prospering His loyal servants (Psalm 25:12–13; Proverbs 13:21). Material wealth is not proof that God is blessing a nation, since evil kings and countries prosper too. But, when we honor the Lord and obey His commands, we reap the benefits of living honorably, morally, and honestly. A nation that honors God’s laws reaps that benefit as well. History shows that those that do not are often destroyed from within.

God gives us His laws for our own good. He created us to fellowship with Him and walk in righteousness. When we do that, we are living within the healthy boundaries He established and are protected from much of the heartache and catastrophe Satan devises. But, when a nation turns away from the true God and becomes its own god, the Lord removes His protective hand and allows that nation to experience the world it has demanded. Romans 1:18–32 shows us the progression of people and nations that have defied God and redefined morality. Homosexuality, unbridled lust, and idolatry are all part of God’s judgment on a nation that has turned away from Him.

The good news is that God knows those who are His and promises to reward them, even when all others have turned away. Malachi 3:13–18 contains one of the most comforting passages in the Old Testament. It reminds us that God is watching, He knows all, and He will judge righteously. Even when a nation turns away from God, individuals within that nation can still follow Him and know that their names are written in God’s book of remembrance.

Is the United States a Christian nation?  GotQuestions.org