Church of The Ladoceans

Rev 3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
Rev 3:15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
Rev 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Rev 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Rev 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
Rev 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
Rev 3:22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Laodicea was the last and worst of the seven churches of Asia. Here our Lord Jesus styles himself, “The Amen;” one steady and unchangeable in all his purposes and promises. If religion is worth anything, it is worth every thing. Christ expects men should be in earnest. How many professors of gospel doctrine are neither hot nor cold; except as they are indifferent in needful matters, and hot and fiery in disputes about things of lesser moment! A severe punishment is threatened. They would give a false opinion of Christianity, as if it were an unholy religion; while others would conclude it could afford no real satisfaction, otherwise its professors would not have been heartless in it, or so ready to seek pleasure or happiness from the world.

One cause of this indifference and inconsistency in religion is, self-conceit and self-delusion; “Because thou sayest.” What a difference between their thoughts of themselves, and the thoughts Christ had of them! How careful should we be not to cheat our owns souls! There are many in hell, who once thought themselves far in the way to heaven. Let us beg of God that we may not be left to flatter and deceive ourselves. Professors grow proud, as they become carnal and formal. Their state was wretched in itself. They were poor; really poor, when they said and thought they were rich. They could not see their state, nor their way, nor their danger, yet they thought they saw it. They had not the garment of justification, nor sanctification: they were exposed to sin and shame; their rags that would defile them. They were naked, without house or harbour, for they were without God, in whom alone the soul of man can find rest and safety.

Good counsel was given by Christ to this sinful people. Happy those who take his counsel, for all others must perish in their sins. Christ lets them know where they might have true riches, and how they might have them. Some things must be parted with, but nothing valuable; and it is only to make room for receiving true riches. Part with sin and self-confidence, that you may be filled with his hidden treasure. They must receive from Christ the white raiment he purchased and provided for them; his own imputed righteousness for justification, and the garments of holiness and sanctification.

Let them give themselves up to his word and Spirit, and their eyes shall be opened to see their way and their end. Let us examine ourselves by the rule of his word, and pray earnestly for the teaching of his Holy Spirit, to take away our pride, prejudices, and worldly lusts. Sinners ought to take the rebukes of God's word and rod, as tokens of his love to their souls. Christ stood without; knocking, by the dealings of his providence, the warnings and teaching of his word, and the influences of his Spirit. Christ still graciously, by his word and Spirit, comes to the door of the hearts of sinners. Those who open to him shall enjoy his presence. If what he finds would make but a poor feast, what he brings will supply a rich one. He will give fresh supplies of graces and comforts. In the conclusion is a promise to the overcoming believer. Christ himself had temptations and conflicts; he overcame them all, and was more than a conqueror. Those made like to Christ in his trials, shall be made like to him in glory. All is closed with the general demand of attention. And these counsels, while suited to the churches to which they were addressed, are deeply interesting to all men.

MHCC KJV
Apostle DIane Robinson

RECOGNIZING MANIPULATION AND INTIMIDATION FOR THE PURPOSE OF DOMINATION (CONTROL)

RECOGNIZING MANIPULATION AND INTIMIDATION FOR THE PURPOSE OF DOMINATION (CONTROL)
Control by false authority, manipulation, intimidation

Manipulation–definition–Skillful and efficient deceit using artful, unfair or unobtrusive devices and contrivances in a secret manner in order to control others.

Intimidation–definition–The use of fear or coercion to force submission to another’s will.

Domination–definition–To influence the actions and conduct of another to be first in power, influence or rank.

Practitioners attempt to project an attractive and irresistible image of superior natural and/or supernatural skills, abilities and accomplishments. The attempted techniques, methods and procedures employed are easily recognized:
(1) Projection of guilt upon others by:
(a) Correction
(b) Criticism
(c) Fault finding
(d) Disapproval
(e) Condemnation
(f) Confrontation
(g) Ignoring an individuals existence
(h) Circulating malicious opinions
(i) Non-acceptance into their clique
(j) Blame

(2) Statements in the form of questions or analogies designed to put others on the defensive.

(3) Not initiating closure when problems surface in a personal relationship, regardless of who is responsible for the problem. They will always depend on the unresolved tension to cause the other party to contact them first to resolve the issue.

(4) Establishing uncertainty of the past, present or future to build insecurity in a person and dependence upon the practitioner’s abilities and information by:

(a) Altering true information
(b) Withholding true information
(c) Issuing false information
(d) Using big names as information sources

(5) Illegally assuming authority without responsibility, by:

(a) Outright claims that they have the official sanction of those in charge
(b) Implied claims they have the official sanction of those in charge
(c) Manipulating, maneuvering and motivating others to think, feel and choose the way the practitioner wants them to
(d) “Spiritual” revelations
(e) Physical authority—violence, temper tantrums, force, sex, drugs, etc.
(f) Rebelling against established authority

(6) Illegally attempting to assume responsibility without authority.

(7) Declarations of dependency: “You don’t understand how much I need you (depend, trust, etc).” This may be followed by “and how little you care what happens to me.”

(8) Declarations of reverse dependency: “You don’t understand how much you need me (depend, trust, etc).” This may be followed by “and how much I care what happens to you.”

(9) The “Let me show you how to do it” ploy. This makes others realize they do not have the time, talent or temperament to accomplish something, thereby shaming them into letting the practitioner volunteer to do the job.

(10) The “Show me how to do it” ploy. This makes others realize the practitioner does not have the time, talent or temperament to accomplish something, thereby shaming them into volunteering to do the job.

(11) The “I tried to cover for your mistake” routine, “and it:”

(a) Worked, so you’ve got to repay the favor by doing something for me.
(b) Didn’t work, so you’ve got to do something to fix the problem.

(12) The “I tried to teach you, but you won’t listen to me, so don’t ask me any more questions” ploy. This ploy is to punish others by instilling a deep sense of loss created by withdrawal of the practitioners (opinionated) “wise counsel.”

(13) Insults directed at others to further distance the practitioner, who by now knows they have failed in their efforts to dominate.

(14) Polarizing groups of people into adverse parties. This is further punishment for failure to recognize the superiority of the practitioner and an attempt to establish control by comparing persons to create competition.

(15) Withdrawal, when suggestions, comments or questions come up about their pronouncements, with simulated:

(a) Hurt
(b) Rejection
(c) Depression
(d) Physical sickness
(e) Protests of innocence
(f) Accusations of others

(16) False remorse, with hypocritical statements of now perceiving how their past activities have hurt others and a seeking of forgiveness for past behavior.

(17) Self-proclaimed martyrdom, usually follows withdrawal or false remorse when the practitioner realizes others are not fooled by their insincerity.
Withdrawal or self-proclaimed martyrdom is tacit admission of failure to successfully dominate others.

(18) Instigation of difficult, uncomfortable or costly activities for others, which may or may not benefit the practitioner.
This is their last desperate effort to control others after having been exposed as two-faced hypocrites, gossips and liars. They will eventually resort to their old, more satisfying, tactics in an attempt to force others to depend upon them. This dominating technique, however, may be used at any time by them to control situations, circumstances and social environments.

(19) You may also notice one or more of the following communication techniques.

They will:
(1) State the obvious
(2) Make a mountain out of a molehill
(3) Play “can you top this”
(4) Promise beyond their delivery capability
(5) Stampede into action before all the facts are in
(6) Edit the facts to dramatize their point
(7) Keep in constant motion, unconcerned about direction
(8) State the opposite of the facts, because all else failed.

Under no circumstances respond directly to their overtures. Do not address the issues they raise. You must respond by stating that they have no responsibility or authority to make such a statement to you, and that they are out of order.
If your relationship with them has not been that close in the past, you may add that because of their present improper social behavior and breach of etiquette, your mutual relationship certainly won’t be close in the future.

Written by Steve Morris Circa 1999
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