In the past several years, there has been a resurgence of people attending church again. In bad times, people naturally turn inward and look for a higher power to help themselves.
The drawback, however, comes with so many people who have false motives or are simply “checking the box” to go to church. Do you see this in your church?
How do you keep these potentially destructive forces from ruining your church’s body in Christ?
A new book by author Anna M. Aquino called “Cursing the Church or Helping it? Exposing the spirit of Balaam,” released this month, tells the story of how people who have false motives can destroy the spirit of the church.
Balaam appears mainly in the book of Numbers, Chapters 22-24. He fought an internal battle between what he knew was good and his intention to harm the people of Israel. God tried and tried to tell him through his angels that he was doing wrong. His donkey even spoke to him!
It is in this spirit that Aquino tells the story of how churches can save themselves from the destruction that can come from members who have non-Godly motives and interests.
A recent press release notes the book is for “anyone in the church or has found themselves offended, felt unloved, or out of the cliques in the church.” It goes on to say, “For far too long churches have been seen as social clubs filled with fake people, and Anna seeks to expose the spirit of Balaam behind all of this and illuminate God’s plan for the body of Christ.”
Aquino writes, “We in the church need to wake up and realize that we need to begin to have compassion on each other and start loving the hell out of each other. I hope this book is a kick in the pants for many in the church today.”
She notes that many churchgoers see the church as a competition between members instead of viewing the body of the church as a family. Competitiveness within a family can become very destructive.
The Bible tells us the church is like a bride to God. When we destroy that bride, we destroy the marriage between our Father and the church. Don’t let this happen in your church. Check out Aquino’s book in bookstores now.
Marijo Tinlin is the Editor in Chief of Family First, one of the oldest family-oriented websites on the internet. She is also the author of a book about patriotism and teaching our children to love this country called “How to Raise an American Patriot, Making it Okay for Our Kids to Be Proud to Be American.” It features 13 interviews with patriotic Americans including Ed Meese, Erick Erickson and Jackie Gingrich Cushman. It’s available at www.raisinganamericanpatriot.com.