I was prompted to make this post after I watched the following short video and it brought back some memories. The video is very short (3mins) and it is made by a man who has left the Exclusive Brethren (EB) group. The video details how the EB leaders and congregation members, including young children pray for the death of people who have left the Exclusive Brethren.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsotvsTR2pU
Over the years, I have sadly seen a number of negative similarities between the Christian Fellowship and the Exclusive Brethren in their doctrine, group and leadership behaviour and their cult like control over their congregation members and their families. Obviously the Exclusive Brethren (also rebadged as the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church) are at the extreme end of Christian cults. Indeed, culture and habits of the Exclusive Brethren were imported into the Christian Fellowship by former EB people - particularly the habit of shunning family and friends who leave the Fellowship.
The memory that this video brought back vividly was a mid-week Christian Fellowship morning prayer meeting. What stunned me was how the Christian Fellowship people attending (both leaders and congregation members) specifically prayed that God would bring disaster and bad things against people who had turned away and left the Christian Fellowship. And it was numerous people who prayed this! Now I will concede that they did not specifically pray for people to die, however they were definitely praying bombs upon those who had left. (all in the name of asking God to bring about circumstances in these peoples lives that they might have their "eyes opened", turn and repent and return to the Christian Fellowship).
Indeed my friend who was praying that God would lovingly speak to those who had left was taken aside and rebuked by the leaders and told "we don't pray like that here"!!!!!!! Don't pray for love and gentleness again. !!!!!
My friend of course eventually left the Fellowship as he felt that their behaviour was not Christian.
Personally, after I eventually left the Fellowship, I had a sibling tell me to my face that "it would have been better if you had died" or "it was like you had died, it was so traumatic for us" or words to that effect when we were having a fairly robust discussion a year or two later. This really stunned me on one hand but didn't surprise me on another. My sibling was completely self-focussed on how my leaving made him feel and would not listen when I tried to explain how me and my family members had been repeatedly abused over a number of years by the CF leadership. I have no doubt that my family members who remain in the Fellowship speak about me behind my back and continue to pray bombs on me and ask that their god will punish me and bring me undone.
This whole concept of how the Christian Fellowship people pray for those who leave the CF is extremely important to understand.
In my opinion, I would not pray bombs or negative things on people in order to bring changes to their thinking. There is too much evil and bad things in this world happening without us praying crap and bad things upon people. Not only that, how can we as Christians, full of the Fruits of the Holy Spirit, who battle is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual principalities and powers, can every justify trying to do this. Is there not enough evil and sin in this world without these "loving Christians" praying death and destruction upon people. Additionally, if you are praying bombs upon people, then aren't you participating in a form of manipulative spiritual witchcraft or voodoo where you are trying to do what the Biblical figure of Jezebel did - intimidation, manipulation and domination?
This brings me to the associated topic of cursing.
Both the prayers of the Christian Fellowship and the Exclusive Brethren are the same in this respect. They are actively trying to curse people in a spiritual sense. They are praying a range of things - from the death of people who disagree with them to the destruction of peoples lives in every respect. Touching on a comment in the video above, where young children are being taught to actively pray for the death of people, please tell me how this is any different from Palestinian kindergarten kids being brainwashed to hate and kill the Jewish people? There is not much difference really I think.
Also the comment in the video where he says that if the leader of the EB (Bruce Hales) prayed for a person to "be removed", then that person would be dead within a year or two struck a nerve.
How many times have we heard Christian Fellowship leaders and congregation members openly say that "if a person leaves the CF, then there salvation is in doubt, they will lose their salvation, they will go mad, they will die"? I know I heard this said both in general conversations with congregation members and openly preached by CF leaders.
Ending on a contrasting positive note, let us look to biblical scriptures for guidance on how to pray - that is, the Lords Prayer in Matthew 6:
Notice how there is lots focus on honouring God, forgiveness, protecting etc.' “This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. ’ For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.'
Matthew 6:9-15
https://www.bible.com/bible/111/MAT.6.9-15
Sure there are other scriptures such as Matthew 16.
However I would advise that Matthew 16 needs to be read in the full context of what is happening in that Chapter and not just cherry picked to suit a malevolent purpose.'I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”'
Matthew 16:19
https://www.bible.com/bible/111/MAT.16.19
Of course we know that Vic Hall loves referring to the Old Testament and the judgements of God and how Vic can build a whole theology around half a cherry picked scripture.
However we do well to keep focus on the purpose of the Gospel and the New Testament and why Jesus came to earth in bodily form - was it not to be a sacrifice for our sin, to redeem us, to give us eternal salvation and to restore us to relationship with our loving intelligent creator.
Anyway, I hope the above points bring some clarity
