Greetings in the precious Name of Jesus Christ!

Before reading this, if you have not already read part one, I would appreciate you reading it first so this will make more sense to you. Just click on the back button at the bottom of this page to read part one.

In the first part of my testimony, I shared a little of my experience in a false church. Here is part 2 and I pray the Lord will use this to help and encourage others who have made serious mistakes in decisions made.

After we left the false church, my family and I had many wounds that needed to be healed and our spiritual lives restored. We knew we needed to attend a church where we could heal and grow in Christ together as a family. A friend of ours had left the false church a few years before we did and started attending a church that was over an hour away. We live in the same area. God used this friend of ours in a mighty way to point us in the direction we needed to go. He ministered love and healing to our hearts through the love of Christ in his heart. He shared with us what he had been learning at the church he was attending about the cross and the finished work of Christ on that cross. He had the most incredible testimony and the fruit in his life was plenty for us hurting souls to pick from. We saw what the Lord had done for him so we decided to try going to the same church he did, knowing that he was being fed truth and not false doctrine.

We ended up going to this church for almost 3 years. I always knew that the Lord had us there for a season and that it would not be very long. It was like the Lord placed us in a church that was far away on purpose so we could not get involved with others there. He brought us to this particular church for healing and restoration and to bring us back to the cross, of which we had left to begin with. Without any involvement in fellowship of any kind, we were able to focus totally and completely on the Lord without letting man distract us or influence us in any way. God wanted our time and commitment strictly for Him because He had work to do on our hearts.

While attending this church, we came to have a much better understanding of the grace of God and realized that we had no concept of grace at all the years we were in the false church. The Lord set us free from the bondages and strongholds of the false church.

But, as the years went by, I noticed that my husband just did not seem to have peace anymore about attending a church so far away. The distance took its toll on us, plus the expense of it all. We talked and he mentioned that he liked the church, but the distance was so far. I think we both began to feel the emptiness in our hearts of not having any fellowship or being able to get involved in ministry of any sort. I began to think about my children and the fact that we homeschooled. Without some sort of church fellowship, they would have no social life. I began to wonder in my heart if God was preparing us for another change. I soon found that to be true. I also began to reflect on what led us to this point to begin with.

We had left a church 9 years ago to start attending a false church. At the time, my husband and I were involved in ministry. My husband was leading his family spiritually and growing in God. God had called us to this particular church and my husband was following the leadership of the Lord.

There came a time when I was struggling within myself over many issues. I had just had a miscarriage and everything around me seemed to just be falling apart; especially spiritually. What I needed was to let Jesus have those burdens I was carrying and I didn't. My self-esteem was very low and I did not fully understand my identity in Christ. A friend of mine I worked with at the time, told me about this particular false church. (At the time I did not know it was a false one.)  I visited there with her. I waited a year and visited again. I was so drawn to the love they "appeared" to have which I found out later about cultic churches that this is the tactic they use to "hook" you. I told my husband that I was going to start going to this particular church. He was devastated.

Here was his wife, with her rebellious nature and unsubmissive spirit telling him her plans! After a few weeks, he told me that it was not God's will for his family to worship in separate churches. He gave up his ministry and started coming to the false church with me. Now I want to share the "bigger picture" the Lord has shown me with this. I pray that what I am about to share here will help other wives to see what happens when she usurps her husband's authority.

The Lord took me back to the Garden of Eden and showed me the story of Adam and Eve. I was Eve and the false church was the bad fruit. Just like Adam gave in to his wife, my husband gave in to me. I was tempted, I ate of the fruit and then offered it to my husband. When we ate of the fruit, both of us were spiritually blinded and deception kicked in. Satan had us in bondage through his deception. The Lord showed me how this not only affected my family, but how it affected those who were under the ministry of my husband. We abandoned them to embrace a false god. We left the place God had us; the church He had called us to serve Him in at the time.

As the years went by, my husband told me several times that his spiritual life was the greatest when he was in the church God called him to be in (before the false one we had embraced) and in the will of God. We stepped out of God's will under the temptation and deception of Satan. We have learned that this is one way Satan uses to pull Christians away from the Lord and more towards him. Satan knows he has the sinners that do not know Christ. He is not satisfied with that. He wants Christians and what better way to have them, than to make them think they are are o.k. while worshiping in a false church.

After leaving the false church and our three-year journey out of bondage and into healing and restoration, the Lord has led us to a church that focuses on teaching the Word of God. (Something we need for our spiritual growth.) It is one thing to attend a church and get a "pep talk" with the preacher teaching on some topic; but it is another thing when you find a church where the ENTIRE Bible is embraced and ALL parts of the Bible are addressed.

It amazes me how the Lord led us out of bondage and now into a church where the Word of God is embraced. God knew WHY we ended up making a very wrong choice to embrace a false church and knew we needed a church that would focus on His Word. What is most awesome is the Lord placed this on my husband's heart and this time, I have learned a hard lesson. I no longer will usurp my husband's spiritual authority. I will no longer be an Eve.

What peace there is knowing I have obeyed God in submitting to my husband's spiritual authority. The journey has been long. It has been painful. But, through it all…. I have grown in the grace and knowledge of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

To all the Christian wives….

It is pleasing and honoring to the Lord when you submit to your husband's spiritual authority. I am talking to wives who have a family unity under Christ. Satan is more subtle than you may realize. He is sometimes hard to recognize. That is why God made your husband to be your spiritual head. Honor your husband's leadership. When he makes mistakes, be there for him to gently pick him up and support him as his helpmeet.

To all the Christian husbands….

It is pleasing to the Lord when you take your rightful place as spiritual head of your home. Do not give in to the "Eves" of this world. Take care of your wife and understand her to be the weaker vessel. Lead and guide your family with Christ as your head. If you do this, your wife will happily honor, reverence, and cherish you.

To those who are single…

Some day you may get married and have a family of your own. Be sure you understand the rightful roles of husband and wife with Christ as your head. Start your marriage honoring the Lord as you take your role as husband or wife before Him.

To those who have read this far…

Thank you for your time and I pray that this testimony was a blessing to you. I am here to testify that God is a healer and restorer of broken lives. I am an example of His grace and mercy. He is a forgiving God. There is nothing that He cannot do and all things are possible with Him! God never leaves or forsakes us. We forsake Him. We step out of His Will. One thing I have learned on this journey of mine, is the importance of learning the Word of God. Study it. Meditate on it. Without a foundation in the Word of God, then the doors of temptation are open for Satan to deceive and blind you. I am living proof.

I want to end this with the Word of God. I thought I would share a Scripture that was brought to my attention by a friend who went through the same experience we did. He said this Scripture was his freedom Scripture and I find it to be appropriate for those who have been hurt by false churches.

May the Lord bless you…