Posted on 08/20/2003 11:12:45 AM PDT by RMrattlesnake
Embassy of Heaven cult.
By Darren Morrison
There is a new apostasy out there. There is a new cult called the Embassy of Heaven. We know of the common cults, the once that have been around for a while, but I am referring to a cult that mimics Christianity and uses some truth to hide their lies. They claim to be separate but are not at all. They rebel against the government regardless of scripture and they twist scriptures to suit their doctrine which is by no means biblical. This cult was started by a man who calls himself Paul Revere. In 1985 he founded what he calls the Embassy of Heaven. He claims to be one who speaks for GOD. He issues license plates, drivers licenses, passports and anything else that is issued by government. His doctrine is one of dissidence and rebellion. They claim to be separate from the world, yet are as worldly as most people. My church and other true independent churches are separate from the world and you can tell by the way we dress and act.
This is a hard one to write because their biblical errors are many and their treatment of the scriptures are so twisted it would make your head spin. There are so many things wrong with their doctrine I would have to write a book to cover them all. Some of their errors are common among most churches and some are out in left field and as such with many Christian type cults there are some truths and even some good things they do. I agree with the there stance on dating, but they most likely copied that from a independent Baptist. I agree that churches should not be subject to the government but they are not a church anyway.
Paul Revere is not open to debate. In fact they have a forum on their web site but if you say anything that disagrees with their doctrine and you back it up with scriptures he will delete it as he did with me several times. In fact Paul Revere was so sick of me giving him the truth that he will not longer let me post on his website at all. I guess Paul can’t handle the truth. John 8:32 Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
He claims you have to belong to his church in order to be an ambassador of Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:20. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. The fact is I am an ambassador for Christ and I proclaim the good news. I witness to the lost. But I don’t have a fake drivers license and license plates on my car, or a fake passport that could never be used as such anywhere but at his so-called church. One thing that is obvious about Paul Revere’s cult is that it reeks of the worldly teaching of ecumenicalism. I will not blame him on that one because that false doctrine is all over in most Christian institutions, yet it is not in the bible. They believe in a universal invisible church; a doctrine that was adopted by protestant churches and even by many of the Baptist-In-Name-Only churches. A church is a local assembly of believers, and is visible . Hebrews 10:25. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. How can someone who lives here in Colorado belong to a church in the Pacific northwest., they can’t biblically unless they own a Lear jet. Yes I travel 30 miles or so to church but I am close enough to be able to be there for every service and I do not forsake the assembling of my brothers and sisters in my local new testament church. Galatia was a region.. When the apostle Paul wrote to the region he said, Galatians 1:2. And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia:. If there was one universal church encompassing all Christians as the state churches believe, the bible would have said church not churches. I could write a whole article dispelling the ecumenical false doctrine. I have in the past and will in the future, I am sure. Funny, how Paul Revere wants to separate himself from the state churches and the whole idea is ingrained with a state church’s apostasy of a universal church.
I agree with him that government and church must remain separate. A church is not a government and a government is not a church. It was the Baptists who first brought that idea to America; a small group of Baptists in a colony known as Rhode Island. But they did not bring about this in a swirl of rebellion. The submitted unto GOD and though their prayers and preaching they were able to persuade this country to adopt the freedom of religion, that is eroding away. But the Embassy of Heaven cult calls for disobedience toward the government and they say they are doing what is right. 1 Peter 2:13. Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; 14. Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. Jesus did not teach us to be rebellious toward the government. The apostle Peter wrote this when Nero was in power and the United States has never seen a leader as ruthless as Nero.
Paul Revere says he was called by GOD to set up a Christian government, he uses Isaiah 9:6. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, the everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. But this verse is talking about Jesus not Paul Revere. But just as many cults do, he will take a passage of scripture and twist it so far out of context it is ridiculous. This passage is talking about Jesus. Paul might think this verse was a private interpretation for him. 2 Peter 1:20. Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. So this verse doesn’t have a special meaning for Paul Revere.
This cult doesn’t only twist the bible around but they also twist history. He says that no church has ever establish a government, well that is not true. What is the church of England then or the church of Rome I will not mention the name, but the Vatican is a government that I will not submit to. Germany had it’s government and when the colonies were established each colonies had a church based government. It wasn’t until the Baptists came along and settled in Rhode Island that a true separation for church and state was established. So in other words the Embassy of Heaven is just doing what many others have done in the past. They just have a little different spin on it. Nowhere in the bible does it tell us to establish a government. Mister Revere basically says in order for Christ to come down and establish his government Mister Revere has to make a Christian government first. Where is that in the bible? Nowhere.
Mister Revere twist scriptures so much, in “Matthew 18:20. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Mister Revere uses this scripture in a very twisted way. Well I will quote mister Revere and let you decide “When two or more are gathered for common purpose, that is the definition of government. So when Jesus Christ asks us to come together, He's asking us to form a government.”
Paul Revere tells his people that there are no Separated churches. His quotes several of the Protestant denominations and then refer to all other churches as part of the government. He lies here because my church and many others like it are not part of the government. He says that all churches except his are the Harlot. I know what the Harlot is but will not go into that here. Paul doesn’t understand Christian history at all. He doesn’t know that there were several attempts to make a Christian government here on Earth. The Vatican in an example of that. The biggest persecution toward believes have been movements sponsored and have been done by so-called Christian government. I know the Embassy of Heaven is a small rebellious crowd that in my eyes will never raise up to the level to be able to persecute, but I believe they would if they could. How about the pilgrims that landed at Plymouth rock, There were avoiding persecution over in Europe and a small band of Baptists went with them. But when the Pilgrims became the majority they began to persecute the Baptists. My point here is that anytime a church wants to set up a government no matter how Godly they think it is, the end result is true independent separate believers will be persecuted.
Paul Revere writes about churches in 16th century Europe about a people he has no connection with. He talks about people who were separated from the government and were hunted by protestants and Catholics. There were such people, they were called Anabaptists, but he doesn’t really understand them and doesn’t understand that they would and do reject Paul Revere’s so-called Christian government as well. You see these people who he refers to, the Anabaptists, are still around only we are just called Baptists today. Not just any Baptist mind you. There are many churches that use the name Baptist in their title but the true independent separated fundamental Baptists are still under the same doctrines that the Anabaptists in the 16th century were. In fact these churches can date back as far as the beginning of the church age. Sorry Paul but you have no connection to them. Because for one they believe in local assemblies of believers and not the protestant notion of a universal church. So if Paul offered his fake licenses plates back then the Ana Baptist would not take them either.
There was a woman who had gone to my church for a while who was part of this Embassy of Heaven I had to give her rides to church because she had lost one of her cars because it was not insured, licensed or registered. She had another car but would not drive it because of a fear of losing that one. But since I am a Christian and she wanted a ride to church I felt as though I was obligated to bring her. And I did for several months. I would have long debates with this woman and presented biblical evidences to here. She would not accept the biblical view of local church, even though I showed her that when the church is mentioned in the bible it is always referring to a certain individual church and not a universal church. For Example; Galatia was a vast region so when the Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in Galatia he did not say they were all part of a single church. Here he said churches. “Galatians 1:2. And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia:”. Since she lived in Colorado how could she belong to a church that was in Oregon, because in Colorado Oregon is not local.
When I asked this Woman who was a member of the Embassy of Heaven where in the bible it tells her to get Embassy of Heaven plates and not the ones issued by the institution who built the roads she referred to “Matthew 28:19. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:.” She said because Jesus told her to go ye therefore that she did not need license plates to travel. Well I am sorry but that is a twist of scriptures. Jesus was talking to his disciples here and he was telling them go and teach what Jesus had taught them and he gave the first churches the authority to baptize believers. This coming from a woman who never would go witnessing to the lost. You see I have state licenses and insurance and all that is required to have my car on the road legally and I am out witnessing the gospel to people and bringing people into church with my car. I am doing what the bible requires of me and how dare the Embassy of Heaven crowd blast me for that. 1 Peter 2:13. Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; 14. Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.
Another practice of members of this cult is not paying taxes. Matthew 22:21. They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's. Well if the government wants a portion of my money then I will pay it even though I would rather keep it. I do not like taxes. I think they are far too much and the money is used for evil purposes. I hate paying taxes and I support every tax cut that comes down the pike. But the bible tells me to pay them so I do. I can not do the will of God from behind prison bars. But another funny thing to this is that this woman lived in public housing and accepted government assistance even though her and her husband were quite able to work and in fact they did do work under the table and lied about how much money they made to the IRS. Not only did they lie about it but they bragged to me about it. Romans 13:1-5 talks about how we are to be. And it is in contrast to the Embassy of Heaven.
Now I could go on and on telling about their heresies that are many but I am limited in space here. Maybe I will write a book about this cult some day. One thing is they do not understand separation. They refrain from government but live like the world. Many of there members are men with long hair. Long hair is the ways of the world and men with long hair are not separated . 1 Corinthians 1: 14. Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? 15. But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering. So how can a guy with sissy hair be separated from the world. That is just one of many reasons Embassy of Heaven folk are not separated. You see separation is from the world and worldly things; that is why I gave up the television. Psalm 101:3. I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me. I personally know that members of this cult own televisions sets.
They list martyrs who are in jail for not having licenses plates on their cars, disrupting court or not standing for the judge in court, but in every one of these cases not one of them were presenting the gospel to anyone. That is a slap in the face to the real martyrs out there that are beaten, imprisoned or killed teaching the gospel in other parts of the world. There are people in the Muslim or socialist counties who are living in terror and still teach the gospel. I know folks who have lost members of their families and still witness to there persecutors.
There is the apostle Paul in the bible then there is the apostate Paul in the Embassy of Heaven. If God wanted us to get heavenly licenses plates he would have them issued by a local church not some central location. I have written this under prayer to get my facts right and this is the truth about this cult, though not all the truth because there are many facts I don’t have the room to present. There are many things they have right as many cults do. In fact the truth is what got many into this cult. Paul Revere is deceived himself. He sees real problems with the falling world and doesn’t want to be a part of it. I understand that very much. He is not an evil person but only confused. If he were able to let go of some pride I know folks that could set him on the right track to true separation from the world.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.