Kingdom Talk; Unboiling Frogs with Mike Eckerd
The fable or parable of the boiling frog has been around for many years. The premise is that if you place a live frog in very cold or very hot water, it will immediately jump out and save itself. But if you place it in lukewarm water, it will relax. The idea is that while the frog is in lukewarm, comfortable water, the water can be slowly brought to a full boil without the frog noticing, eventually killing the frog. In philosophy, the boiling frog story is another way of explaining the “Sorites (the heap) Paradox.” It explains the dangers of not perceiving or having discernment of gradual change. This paradox explains that a single grain of sand is not a heap. The addition of another grain is not a heap either. At some point, there will be a collection of grains that someone will suddenly call a heap, but when is that, and what grain of sand changed it from a non-heap to a heap? Jesus spoke about the comfortable, lukewarm church. He spoke about little grains of yeast changing and spoiling the bread. Jesus spoke about keeping our eyes and ears open. Paul spoke about watching out for false teachers who tickle ears, make promises, and make very slight changes to the Gospel of Jesus that, at the time feel right, comfortable, and lukewarm, but are actually short, slow turns on the gas knob. A great friend of mine once said, “If you are seated in a theology that celebrates the removal of family and friends from your life, you are in a very wrong theology.” I would call a person at this juncture in their belief system a thoroughly boiled frog! With this podcast, I’d like to address any thinking that points a believer to this end.
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Episodes
Saturday Mar 25, 2023
Saturday Mar 25, 2023
Many of today’s Christian church leaders possess beautiful, God-given gifts to preach, teach, pastor, and guide believers to Jesus and; but there are also leaders today who use these same gifts to guide believers to themselves and their personal visions, goals, and agendas. This is defined as “The Cult of Personality.”
The great news is that The Cult of Personality is easy to recognize, confront, and steer away from.
Learn about it in this podcast. May Jesus set His Priesthood free!
Saturday Mar 25, 2023
Saturday Mar 25, 2023
Many of today’s Christian church leaders possess beautiful, God-given gifts to preach, teach, pastor, and guide believers to Jesus; but there are also leaders today use these same gifts to guide believers to themselves and their personal visions, goals, and agendas. This is called “The Cult of Personality.”
The great news is that The Cult of Personality is easy to recognize, confront, and steer away from.
Learn about it in this podcast. May Jesus set His Priesthood free!
Saturday Jan 21, 2023
Saturday Jan 21, 2023
Many churches advertise, "We have community. We advocate for communal living. We are creating a Christian "culture"." But, what is true community in the church? How are false teachers and dysfunctional leaders creating a perverted ideology about community, communal living and culture? The truth is that many churches have created a system where very few actually benefit from the "community."
Sunday Nov 06, 2022
Sunday Nov 06, 2022
This episode dives right into control-based Christianity, where one leader operates in a pyramid structure with no local accountability, mutual submission one to another, or healthy team offering good counsel and wisdom.
This type of leadership structure always sets Jesus, as the leader of His church, to the side, and replaces Him with a man-centered structure.
Pyramid systems are always evidenced by an exodus of beautiful and powerful families, friends, and gifted leaders. You can recognize these perverted, co-dependent ideologies by listening to the language; spiritual authority, governmental alignment under men, man-made legacies, submission, "conforming to community", seating yourself and your family under the "spiritual father", "son of the house", "apostle", "overseer", or "oracle", in order to be blessed and properly hear from God.
Saturday Nov 05, 2022
Saturday Nov 05, 2022
This talk explains some of the history behind the abuse of "Spiritual Authority", what it means, and how this false and abusive theology entered the Christian Church in many denominations and expressions.
Sunday May 23, 2021
Sunday May 23, 2021
This short message explains how many church leaders become unaccountable, dismiss multiplicity, ignore submission one to another, and operate in a pyramid culture where they are not to be questioned. It also explains who has the authority to address these things. You will be surprised to find out that the "Who" is "You"!!
Monday Apr 26, 2021
Monday Apr 26, 2021
The essence of honor is truth! The greatest honor anyone could ever receive from another person is truth. Jesus always spoke the truth and in His truth was His honor for The Father, not men. Many times, the teaching of honor becomes man-centered. We must understand the difference between how strong and weak leaders within the church of Jesus understand Godly honor. Be blessed.