{"id":233,"date":"2026-05-01T09:21:03","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T14:21:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/todaygodtaughtme.org\/?p=233"},"modified":"2026-05-01T09:21:03","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T14:21:03","slug":"may-1-2026-914-am","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/todaygodtaughtme.org\/?p=233","title":{"rendered":"May 1, 2026, 9:14 AM"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

God:<\/em> Life is made to be lived<\/em>. When I made Adam and Eve, I didn\u2019t tell them \u201cstay in the garden forever, and build a nice tower for everyone to live in forever\u201d. When people tried that, I broke it up<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cultivating your land is good<\/em>. That is wise<\/em>. But as a whole, my people are not meant to isolate and collect in one place; but to fill the whole earth<\/em>. If I am determined to fill the whole earth with my glory, and I live in you, why wouldn\u2019t I want you and other followers to spread out?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Due to some wounds, community feels scary<\/em>. But it\u2019s not the same community, and those wounds are years past. In a healthy community, I am the head<\/strong><\/em>. There is no one who acts as the head, between the people and me; I am the head<\/em><\/strong>. Because you know me, you are afraid of community, because you are afraid of getting between people and me<\/em>. Because you have had people get between you and me, and you recognize you are more regularly hearing my voice than they seemed to<\/em>. So you are afraid, in essence<\/em>, that community will lead to cult. That is ridiculous\u2014lack of community is what leads to cult<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cult vs cultivation: if everyone recognizes their standing with me, there can be no cult<\/strong><\/em>. If you ever imply that you have something in your relationship with me that is unavailable to other Christians, you are on your way to cult<\/em>. If instead, you insist that you could vanish but people be okay with me<\/strong><\/em>\u2014with no trace of you around\u2014you are saying that I am what matters<\/strong><\/em>. If words people believe are from me<\/em> are compared to one man\u2019s word, you are on your way to a cult<\/em>. But if it is compared to Scripture<\/em>\u2014and everyone is compared equally to it<\/em>\u2014you have firm foundation to stand on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any church that puts a man or a woman as the intermediary, and Jesus as a way to heaven but not to me\u2014<\/em>that is a cult<\/strong>. \u201cNo one gets to the Father but through me\u201d. It is common to say \u201cJesus is the way to heaven\u201d, but remember that Jesus is the way to me<\/strong><\/em>. If a pastor, a leader, or you<\/em> were to say \u201cI will lead you to God\u201d, and acknowledges Jesus as the way to heaven but not to me, you are starting a cult<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I never complained \u201cthey honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from the priests\u201d. Or \u201cthey honor me with their lips, but would they do better at honoring their leadership?\u201d Honoring me, will lead to an appropriate level of honor for leadership<\/em>. But honoring leadership, does not intrinsically honor me<\/em>. People bowing to Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s statue did not honor me<\/em>. But my people\u2019s love for leadership did<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cult does not start when people care about what each other has to say<\/em>. That\u2019s kindness<\/em>, and an expression of love<\/em>. However, if people care about what you have to say, and disregard other people<\/strong><\/em>, that is dangerous. Most cults, the leader cares about what they have to say, but not the rights or words of those under them<\/strong><\/em>. Gifts of the Spirit often get shut down because people get afraid of the cult<\/em>. But what is the fruit<\/em>? Where the gifts of the Spirit are, the fruit of the Spirit should also be<\/em>. If they\u2019re not together, you have cause for concern<\/em>. If both are present, you have a recipe for growth and a healthy culture<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joshua:<\/em> God, why are we talking about this?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God:<\/em> (leans in) Because you are afraid. You have been a part of groups that emphasized cult mentalities<\/strong><\/em>. And you want to flee that. Which is good<\/em>. You don\u2019t want that. Don\u2019t confuse cult with culture<\/em>. And don\u2019t confuse cult with community<\/em>. You\u2019re not sure how people can be united by a cause<\/em>, without it becoming a cult<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You have been shocked<\/em> when people cared about you, despite having a grander purpose<\/em>. You have been shocked<\/em> when people did not demand sacrifice, or did not put you in a place demanding a choice<\/strong><\/em>. You have been shocked<\/em> that people would think \u201cJoshua Powlison matters because he is a man\u201d, rather than \u201cJoshua Powlison matters because he is a tool<\/strong><\/em>\u201d. The very thing you fear, is what most people avoiding churches avoid them for<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyone who demands growth<\/em>\u2014not in personal development<\/em> but in empire building<\/em>\u2014is on their way to cult, not community<\/strong><\/em>. Community may grow, but the people there must be valued<\/em>. A good community does grow<\/em>. The early believers shared all they had with each other\u2014not just with leadership<\/em>. If everyone shares with a leader, but ignores each other<\/em>, be cautious<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a healthy community, because it is about people<\/strong><\/em>, if someone leaves, they may miss them<\/em>, but they will be happy for a person moving into a better place in life<\/em>. A healthy community recognizes they aren\u2019t the only community<\/em>. Any community that regularly downplays other communities, is on their way to cult<\/strong><\/em>. Beware the leader with \u201cthe best team\u201d, \u201cthe best community\u201d, \u201cthe best following\u201d, because the comparison game forgets the people<\/strong> and emphasizes the empire<\/strong><\/em>. These phrases can be used as a compliment<\/em>, but if someone would deride other communities, beware<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As long as you emphasize connection<\/strong> over numbers<\/strong><\/em>, you will be okay. Nobody \u201caccidentally\u201d makes a cult. They purposefully build an empire<\/strong><\/em>. Empire-building is something to beware of, and you see that was the common thread<\/em>. Building a team? Of course you need to do that<\/em>. Building an empire? You\u2019re already part of my kingdom, what business do you have building an empire?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the statement were ever \u201cdon\u2019t follow them, follow me!<\/em>\u201d instead of \u201cdon\u2019t follow them, follow God!<\/em>\u201d, that would be concern. Pointing people back to me doesn\u2019t scare me<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

God: Life is made to be lived. When I made Adam and Eve, I didn\u2019t tell them \u201cstay in the garden forever, and build a nice tower for everyone to live in forever\u201d. When people tried that, I broke it up. Cultivating your land is good. That is wise. But as a whole, my people […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-journal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/todaygodtaughtme.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/todaygodtaughtme.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/todaygodtaughtme.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/todaygodtaughtme.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/todaygodtaughtme.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=233"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/todaygodtaughtme.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":234,"href":"https:\/\/todaygodtaughtme.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233\/revisions\/234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/todaygodtaughtme.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/todaygodtaughtme.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/todaygodtaughtme.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}