Starving for Jesus

By
Patricia Backora

I just cant believe the crazy crap Christians swallow today! In this
article Ill address just one of the zillions of zany doctrines which have
driven Christians out of brainwashing barns called churches.
In the beginning the church was a spiritual fellowship of brothers and
sisters who were in the world but not of it. After centuries of
persecution, Emperor Constantine brought the church into the
mainstream of respectability. As the church lost its precious vision of
the priesthood of all believers, educated clergy evolved which
separated from the laity. The church became a scholarly religious
organization guided by stern men in black robes.
In colonial America, church was the soul of the nation. Church was the
conscience of the nation, and the doctor which monitored its moral
pulse. As humanistic influences deadened that conscience, the fire
went out of preachers voices. The nominal church became a religious
country club, and attending the right church separated fine families
from the bad. The disillusionment of the 60s set in. Young people
disenchanted with the materialism and hypocrisy of the affluent
institutional church got turned off to organized religion. So God
reached out to them by sending a mighty Holy Ghost revival in the late
60s and early 70s. The Jesus Revolution saw many entering into
closer fellowship with Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit.
At first, bearded and beaded seekers of truth were fed solid meat from
Gods Word. But as churchgoers matured out of their idealistic childlike
zeal, boredom set in. Little by little the solid Meat of the Word became
candy. Churches competed to draw crowds with top Christian lecturers
and comedians, bouncy music and revolutionary new ways to feel
better about yourself. By now the Jesus People had a mortgage. They
realized that they had to keep religion relevant so they could focus on
paying it off. So church evolved into a a success seminar attended by
go-getters in ties and blue suits. Church, once the arch enemy of
mammon, became big business.
American food kept pace with advances in futuristic technology.
Americans now had a dozen different flavors of their favorite cookie
baking chip! Overworked (and hardly home) Americans swung by
Mickey Ds for dinner. No time to slave over the stove to prepare from
scratch healthy meals anymore! Gotta run, run, run! Overstressed

and fed up to the eyeballs on burgers and fries, harried Americans

suffered from expanding waistlines. Even deeply devout Christians.
Worldly solutions to excess weight had failed. Perhaps a RELIGIOUS
weight loss guru just might satisfy the Christians deep hunger for a
solution
The devils mean as a snake, but satans no dummy. He knows
Christian women cant focus on a world lost in sin if theyre obsessed
with finding that skinny teenager struggling to get out of a fifty-yearold body which has borne four children. Now, just when you thought
youd seen it all, people are falling for a really weird gospel: Thin is In,
on earth as it is in heaven! Big Diet, a multi-billion-dollar a year
industry, is eating into Gods territory, the assembly of the saints. One
religious sect acts worse than modeling agencies: Members must
monitor every bite and report any weight gain to church leadership!
I read material about a big dieting cult which calls itself a church. Ill
call the leader Sister X, (so she wont sue me for my dirty sox). She
insists that your salvation hinges on being thin when you die. Sort of
reminds me of the ancient Egyptian belief that only well-preserved
mummies made it into paradise. The bare bones nitty-gritty: the more
grub you leave on your plate, the holier you are! You cant eat till your
stomach starts growling, and you must quit when your acute sense of
hunger dulls (after a few tiny bites). Church members should try to
stop after three bites, then wait till their stomach growls again. If they
eat past minimum satiety, theyve sinned and need to repent.
I Tim.4:1: Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times
(thats where WE are!) some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to
seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
VERSE 2: Speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared
with a hot iron;
VERSE 3: Forbidding to marry, AND COMMANDING TO ABSTAIN FROM
MEATS, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of
them which believe and know the truth.
I Tim.6:17: Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not
highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, Who
giveth us richly ALL THINGS TO ENJOY (not barely touch with fear and
trembling).
Funny, I just cant picture Peter and Paul sipping diet soda and nibbling
a toothpick at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

What kind of blessing did the patriarch Isaac bless his son Jacob with?
Gen.27: 28: Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the
fatness of the earth, and PLENTY of corn and wine.* * *Jacob was
promised plenty, not just enough to make it till his stomach churns.
Joel 2:26: And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the
name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and
my people shall never be ashamed.* * * Sister X condemns Christians
who eat what God sets before them (see Luke 10:8; I Cor.10:27).
What about Abraham, and the dinner he served three angels who
came to visit in Genesis chapter 18? Sarah made a big pile of flatbread
for them. Abraham fixed a whole calf for them, along with butter and
milk! How many bites did the angels take of that fattened calf before
they called it a day? If anyone should set the example for
righteousness, it ought to be Gods holy angels from heaven!
Lev.26:5: and ye shall eat bread TO THE FULL, and dwell in your land
safely.* * *Here God puts having a full stomach on the same level as
living in safety!
Prudent food intake, combined with moderate exercise, is fine. But
self-starvation is an unnatural, unwinnable war against ones own
body. Christian women try to make a religious rite out of dieting. But
theyre kidding themselves. ALL women who diet to look like a skinny
boy do so either to keep bitchy women from riding them about their
weight problem . or do it to get more action in the sack. Christians
fast to impress God, although its nowhere commanded by any Biblical
apostle (I explore this topic in other articles and videos). Christian
devotional dieting is allegedly endured to demonstrate discipleship
toward Christ.
Some say theyre romancing Jesus by starving
physically. Sinners (and some Christians, subconsciously), diet so
some babe out there will get the hots for their sexy bod. This
repressed drive is sublimated into the spiritual realm: Hey, Jesus, Id
rather have You than a Twinkie.
Does any Christian seriously think God holds beauty contests up in
heaven? Do hookers in hot pants stroll the streets of glory to arouse
males with their skinny thighs? Does Peter prance on the beach
showing off his ripped six-pack? Why starve so youll be buried as a
size 2, if youll be wearing a robe up in heaven and no one will be able
to see your flat fanny after you got slim for him (who)?

At this womans church, even the children are taught to eat only till
theyre barely satisfied. And if they go past that point, they are
rebuked for sin. Jesus says in Mark 7:27: Let the children first be
FILLED. What damage is being done psychologically and physically to
innocent children of people attending this dieting church? Everyone
knows children NEED plenty of calories to grow like weeds and develop
bright brains so they can pass tests. Studies have shown that hungry
school children cant learn. When I was a kid, Id dump all my school
lunch in the trash because it wasnt fit to slop hogs with. Id
sometimes feel too tired to concentrate, but on those rare occasions
they served something edible I would take more than three bites. In
other articles I attack the Spanking Doctrine, but forcing eating
disorders and body hatred on kids is another form of religious abuse.
Any church leader who formulates church doctrine out of oppressive
sexist Western beauty standards is doing something none of the early
apostles did. Sister Xs strict legalism frustrates the grace of God. A
freaky Frankenstein gospel spun out of cherry-picked, reinterpreted
Old Testament passages is a noxious weed which bears terrible fruit.
This phrase is found several times in the Gospels: And they did all eat
and were filled (not barely satisfied):Matt.14:20;15:37; Mark 6:42;
Luke 9:17* * *Jesus didnt pass out the loaves and fishes and tell the
crowds: Eat only when your stomach growls and then take only three
bites! After feeding the multitude, Jesus told His disciples to be sure to
collect the leftovers so nothing would go to waste (John 6:12). Sister X
believes in wasting food. If you leave a bunch on your plate and it rots,
so what? Maybe Jesus should have just fed the birds with the
leftovers! Saving food betrays lack of trust in God to provide future
meals. Would Sister X tell a hungry Ethiopian its an abomination in the
sight of God to save scarce food for tomorrows lunch?
Even James, the most legalistic of the apostles, has this to say:
James 2:15: If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily
food,
VERSE 16: And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye
warmed and FILLED (not just get three spoonfuls of nourishment);
notwithstanding ye give them not those things WHICH ARE NEEDFUL
TO THE BODY; what doth it profit?
The Dieting Gospel would say instead: Count it all joy that youre too
weak from hunger to think anymore, and youre a stress bomb who
bites everybodys head off cause the Lord will damn you to hell for

eating. Or, shed say to a fat individual: Whats the use of giving you
money for clothes? Clothing stores dont even stock your size! Youve
got plenty of lard on your bones. You dont need to eat! Nows your
chance to get skinny for Jesus!
Did God care whether OT believers got enough food, or was He more
concerned that they stay skinny? Here are His instructions to Israelite
farmers and herdsmen:
Deut.14:28: At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the
tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy
gates:
VERSE 29: And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance
with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which
are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and BE SATISFIED (not
leave half hungry); that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the
work of thine hand which thou doest.
When Jesus met the Woman at the Well (John 4:1-42), He didnt
comment on her love handles, just her lovers.
Jesus was accused by ascetic, proud Pharisees of being a winebibber
and a glutton (Matt.11:19; Luke 7:34). This was an exaggeration since
Jesus never sinned, but clearly Christ did not establish a reputation for
eating like a sparrow!
Scarcity of bread and barely having enough to sustain life is an
indication of Gods curse upon a disobedient land, not blessing
(Deut.28:38-39). God states that those being punished for
disobedience will carry out more seed to the field than they harvest in
crops, and the worms would eat their grapes. Sister X said its okay if
your uneaten food just rots, so it must be okay if worms eat the food
God created for you. Shes just lucky she didnt live in Jerusalem in
Jeremiahs day, when people died of famine. Or in 19 th-century Ireland,
during the Potato Famine. Only narcissistic, affluent Western fashion
slaves, who dont have to work themselves to death to earn their daily
corn bread can afford to waste good food in the name of vanity.
If Sister X had to trudge around a noisy restaurant twelve hours a day,
up to her neck in grease, cutting, chopping, running back and forth
with dishes, dumping trash, mopping messes and scrubbing grills, its
for sure shed take three bites on her break: FROM A SHOVEL!

Does Sister X just put three drops of gas in her car at a time and
starve it till it sputters for more? Apparently cars deserve kinder
treatment than hard-working human beings.
Just imagine putting her bizarre diet to practice while youre at work.
Eat three bites on your lunch break, then beg your boss to let you stop
slaving and eat three more because your stomachs growling! You
wouldnt last long there!

Leviticus 26 contains a lengthy threat of the terrible punishments

which would befall the Israelites if they forsook God for idols. In verse
26 God warns: And I have broken the staff of your bread. Ten women
shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your
bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.* *
*Eating bread by measure (miniscule portions) and running out before
youre satisfied was a sign of Gods judgment, not His blessing.
Lots of ladies use a food scale to limit their meal portions, knowing
theyll still be hungry when they get up from the table. The only
person in the Bible God put on a crash diet was a MAN, Ezekiel. In
Ezek. 4:9-12. God ordered Ezekiel to strictly measure the bread hed
eat each day. God used him as a poster boy to show what the coming
famine would be like. Limited access to food (eating bread by weight)
was Gods punishment, not His blessing.
Sister Xs cult frowns on ALL weight gain, even in the case of
expectant mothers, who need to nourish their own babies so they can
develop properly! Following this dangerous doctrine could cause birth
defects, stillbirths, or miscarriages! Does this dingy woman expect a
12-year-old boy to weigh as much as a toddler?
Cult leaders control by FEAR. Severe calorie restriction would keep a
congregation mentally and physically WEAK! Scientific experiments
demonstrated the power of fear: Every time lab rats got hungry and
approached food, they received an electrical shock. Eventually the rats
died because they began to associate food with pain instead of
pleasure. Fear prevented them from eating. It must be a real head
trip, knowing you can use HELL to keep people under your heel! Sister
X controls the diets (and well-being) of her congregation members.
They need HER, not Gods permission, to put something in their mouth

to stay alive. This ladys THIN-doctrination of gullible Christians is

fattening her bank account. So whos the greater glutton here? The
world (and carnal Christians) act like money gluttony isnt as big a deal
as eating too much! All that matters is visible beauty, as defined by
this warped world. A nasty, bitchy, back-stabbing Jezebel is okay so
long as shes a Size Zero.
The Gospel of Thin. This doctrine of devils was imported from the
world into the church. Mandating beauty standards and forbidding
Gods people to eat gives rise to condemnation, judgmentalism, envy,
pride, and self-obsession. This new gospel is earthly, sensual, devilish
(James 3:15). A controlling Jezebel spirit is behind this cult, not the
Holy Spirit. Whenever anyone dares to question the Biblical authority
of Sister Xs teachings, she and the other leadership rake that
individual over the coals for being rebellious and trying to stir up
discord. Psychological and spiritual pressures are brought to bear upon
those who present solid scriptural evidence that her doctrine clashes
with the grace of God in Christ.
Rebellious? God help Christians who have no appetite for rebelling
against stupidity and spiritual bullying!
Sister X denies the doctrine of the Trinity, contrary to Matt.28:19 and I
John 5:7. She reportedly takes her Scripture references mostly out of
the Old Testament. She cherry-picks passages to prop up her weird
doctrine of salvation through weight loss. Theres almost no mention of
Gods grace in her meetings. Only judgment upon a gluttonous nation
disobedient to her own idea of what God wants America to be like.
X plainly states that if her followers are fat when they die, they are
failures in the sight of God and will go to hell! The clear implication is
that thinness, not justification through the Cross of Calvary, is the
righteousness God demands of believers, and the most important way
of salvation for them. How dopey, not to mention dangerous!
Essentially what this means is, God will let every skinny scumbag bully
into heaven, but will damn a sweet, gentle grandmother to hell for
carrying a few extra pounds, no matter how kind shes been to others!
If this gospel werent being gobbled up by big crowds of professing
Christians, and being exported from a major city of the USA, it could
be disregarded as one individuals crackpot heresy. The clear
implication is this: Sister X teaches that thinness is her peoples
passport to paradise after death, and heaviness is a ticket to hell.

Sister X is teaching a new gospel, one not taught by Paul or any other
apostle!
Is food intake (or lack thereof) a major determinant of a persons
spirituality?
I Cor.8:8: But meat (food) commendeth us not to God: for neither if
we eat, are we the better; neither if we eat not, are we the worse.
I cant put this more delicately: Despite the sweet-scented flowers and
the eloquent eulogies spoken at funerals, one fate awaits both fat and
skinny bodies after death: disintegration. All bodies, beautiful or ugly,
decay and go back to the dust (Gen.3:19).
Phil.3:21: Who (God) shall change our vile (Gk: tapeinosis, lowly,
humiliated) body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body,
according to the working whereby He is able to subdue all things unto
Himself.* * *Notice, God does not ask His people to change their OWN
body to glorious perfection. Hell do that in the future. Paul identifies
himself as being among those with a vile body needing to be
changed. Tradition says Paul was short, bald, bow-legged and hooknosed, hardly a Mr. Universe. He was probably scrawny, because of his
frequent lack of provisions. So skinny Paul also committed some
cosmetic sins. To qualify to preach at Upper Crust Worship Center, Paul
would have to get a nose job, get shoe inserts, a hair transplant, and
after that, coloring and styling at some salon. A trip to the tanning
parlor for a facial wouldnt hurt. Botox to erase worry lines.
Dermabrasion for wind-burned skin, a manicure for smooth, shakeable
hands. A personal trainer to build muscle, so hed be a more powerful
presence in the pulpit, able to shake cash out of stingy sinners.
Many things can reduce peoples mortal bodies to a humiliated
(inglorious) state. Disfigurements from disease, war wounds, burn
scars, poverty, malnutrition, work accidents. Some people suffer birth
defects or stunted growth. Others have been bullied for being bigger
than is acceptable to society. Whatever our glorified bodies are like,
they wont be anything less than glorious!
It is a well-documented fact that many fat people eat no more (and
often less) than thin people. The body interprets diet-induced weight
loss as famine, fights to regain lost weight and lowers its metabolism
to burn fewer calories. Studies show diets have a long-term failure rate
of 95%! Some fortunate folks are naturally tall and lanky and can eat
all day long without gaining an ounce. We get the genes God gave us.

So why should unfashionable body size disqualify people for heaven if

other conditions which humiliate the human body dont?
The fact that a huge proportion of Americans has some degree of
weight problem DOES NOT justify tampering with the precious Gospel
of Christ! They might be in the minority, but America also has a certain
percentage of teenage girls who suffer from anorexia and flirt with
death to stay stick thin. Does X think their pitiful, skeletal bodies
glorify God? She said that all concentration camp inmates lost weight
simply by eating less. Has that stupid woman ever seen the heartwrenching pictures of Auschwitz survivors taken at the end of WWII?
The world says its impossible to get too rich or too thin, and that type
of propaganda has infiltrated the church. The church used to be a
mighty bulwark against the vanities of this world. Now its a sponge
soaking them up to keep in step with the times! The church used to be
focused on getting people ready for the world to come. Now the church
teaches people how to be rich, glamorous, and successful in this world
so theyll be good witnesses for Jesus. Big beautiful buildings,
bountiful offerings and bony bodies in expensive attire are the carnal
churchs top priorities, outstripping the fanaticism of satans crowd for
material affluence. The church used to be the main provider of charity
for the poor. Todays carnal church is teaching its members how to
deny themselves food for vanitys sake, while sanctioning other forms
of gluttony (personal glory, lust for money, status, etc.). While the
church acts like the world, the world is acting like the church and
running relief agencies so the poor wont starve.
For way too long promoters of worldly vanity have set the trends and
reaped earthly rewards while the poor, the unpopular, the plain and the
fat have been ground underfoot. But God has drawn a line: The devil
has his kingdom and God has his, and never the twain shall meet.
During his lifetime the Rich Man of Luke 16 had his good things. He
was well-liked and respected by everybody who was somebody.
Lazarus, the poor, sick beggar, was forgotten and despised. But in the
next life, the tables were turned. Lazarus became rich while the Rich
Man lost everything.
Like the Titanic, this present world along with its vain values, is
destined for destruction. As this world sinks into the ocean of Gods
impending judgment, many Christians are busy salvaging as much of
the worlds shiny fixtures as they can, loading them onto leaky
lifeboats which drift towards Gods fiery judgment (2 Pet.3:10,12)!

Sister X has done her worst to impose worldly beauty hang-ups on

Gods Kingdom, the one sphere where human pride has no place. She
has imposed a regimen of fear upon vulnerable souls who were already
insecure when they came to her. She has dared to set herself as lord
and judge over Gods people, as an intermediary between God and His
people, whereas the Bible clearly states there is only ONE Mediator
between God and man, the man Christ Jesus (I Tim.2:5).
On earth, the rich, the beautiful and the influential have always ruled
the roost while humbler, plainer folks have taken a backseat. But God
has promised the day would come when the proud would be humbled
and the hungry would be filled with good things (Isaiah 2:11; Luke
1:52-53). Sister X has made her money through teaching weight
control, but she wants to control even the spiritual relationship of her
people with God. That is an antichrist spirit at work.
If its okay to teach weight loss as a means to salvation because many
are too heavy, then its also okay to teach weight gain as still another
way of salvation because so many girls are anorexic! The end does not
justify the means! Paul said in Galatians 1:8-9: If any man (or woman)
teaches any other way of salvation than what Paul taught, then that
person is to be accursed (consigned to hell). Instead of making the
bathroom scale the sole judge of a persons holiness and damning
those bigger than herself, Sister X should get the log out of her own
eye first and wonder if SHES the one going in the wrong direction!
Is being fat a sin? In most cases, no. The sad fact remains that fat,
like genetic disorders, is one of the legacies of the Fall of Adam. In the
Garden of Eden, there was no danger of famine, for it was a perfect
environment. Once Adam and Eve sinned and were banished from
Eden, a dangerous element of uncertainty threatened human
existence. Crops would be abundant one year and scarce the next,
from scanty rainfall. Scarcity of rainfall even affected the diet of nonagricultural hunter-gatherer societies. When it failed to rain, the river
dried up. Fish died. Plants shriveled up. Animals died, and what few
were left to hunt had no fat on them and little flesh.
In times of scarcity or prolonged illness, people with extra meat on
their bones are more likely to survive than lean individuals. It is well
known severe illness robs people of appetite, so they tend to lose a lot
of weight. Those with none left to lose die!
Far from being afraid of fat, people living under primitive conditions
often eat animal fat to ensure an adequate calorie intake. Inuit people

(Eskimos) who follow their traditional diet eat mostly raw fish and
meat, along with the blubber (fat) of the animal. Sister X states that
primitive people in their native habitat are naturally lean. But it takes
many extra calories to survive the arctic cold. I read of Arctic explorers
who had to eat between 7-8,000 calories per day to resist the cold!
The Inuit tend to be broad-chested and round-faced individuals, rather
than lean and long-faced like some African tribes, who live in much
hotter conditions. Is Sister X going to consign the Inuit to hell for
eating thousands of blubber calories to stave off the cold of the Arctic,
and for failure to stay skinny for Jesus?
Theres lots of BIG-otry in high society churches. The size of a
Christians heart is irrelevant and only their body size counts. But you
cant turn a Hoss Cartwright into a Barney Fife. Starving to convince
others youre Broomstick Barbie is just as stupid as a white guy
toasting his hide in a tanning booth to turn himself black!
Modern Americans can afford to quibble over calorie counts. Why?
Because they dont need to do like their ancient ancestors and eat
more to fend off future famine! Theres a food store around every
corner, and all except the poorest can just go get more food whenever
they run out. But there are pockets of true hunger in America.
Homeless people barely have two nickels to scrape together and have
to scrounge. Poor families often skip meals to meet high rent costs.
Poor families stock up when food goes on sale, or go to food banks. I
saw one family drive up behind a supermarket in a rattletrap truck and
dive into a dumpster to forage for sustenance. Who knows how long it
will be before such poor folks can fill their stomach again? Is Sister X
going to find fault with a homeless woman for eating more than three
bites of the discarded doughnut she finds in a trash can?
Sister X denies that people can suffer a genetic predisposition to
obesity. But shes wrong. When I lived in Arizona, my husband and I
visited a tourist area on an Indian reservation. The ancestors of this
particular tribe had endured repeated seasons of famine, to the extent
that their bodies were conditioned to put on weight effortlessly. I
watched an Indian lad and his mother frying flatbread in a big kettle to
make tacos to sell to tourists. Both were enormous. I found out later
there was a preponderance of obesity in their tribe. Not through
gluttony, but because their genes were programmed to store fat.
Nature itself was more concerned with those Indians survival than
whether theyd win a beauty contest. Would Sister X condemn those
taco fryers to fry eternally in a devils hell because their body size isnt
a good testimony for Jesus?

Sister X even reduces the men of her congregation to skin and bones,
on pain of eternal hellfire. Any weight gain committed by either men or
women must be confessed to the leadership as sin. If one of the
members crosses the leadership, theyre liable to have all their
formerly forgiven sins rehashed repeatedly to humiliate the member
back under subjection.
Ah, some of the bizarre baloney that passes itself off as Christianity!
The heretical teaching that leadership has divine authority to rule
pew saints through censure and fear, even to the extent of
controlling none of your business personal areas of believers lives is
contrary to what Christ Himself taught.
Matt.23:8: But be not ye called Rabbi (master): for One is your Master,
even Christ; AND ALL YE ARE BRETHREN (not privileged leadership)
VERSE 9: And call NO MAN (or woman) your father upon the earth: for
ONE is your Father, Which is in heaven.
VERSE 10: Neither be ye called masters: for ONE is your Master, even
Christ.
VERSE 11: For he (or she) that is greatest among you shall be your
servant.
VERSE 12: And whosoever shall exalt himself (or herself) shall be
abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
What about those intimidated, silent pew saints? Is any truly born
again individual dead weight in Gods church?
I Pet.2:5: YE (all saved believers) also, as lively (living) stones, are
built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual
sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
VERSE 9: But YE are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy
nation, a peculiar (special) people; that ye should shew forth the
praises of him that hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous
light.
In this passage Peter does NOT limit Gods Royal Priesthood only to
people who are fashionably thin!
So what about leadership? Does God set elders and shepherds into His
church? He definitely does, but not to be lords over Gods heritage (I
Pet.5:1-4).

Many cite Hebrews 13:17 as proof that church (or cult) leaders have
the right to unconditional obedience. What does it really say?
Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for
they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they
may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.
The Greek word translated obey in this verse is peitho, which means
to be persuaded by. Whenever a church elder appointed by God
breaks the bread of Gods true Word to you or shares a Scriptural word
of wisdom with you, it is best to yield to the authority of the Holy Spirit
(the Voice of the Good Shepherd) which you discern behind the godly
exhortation. But no Christian, whatever his position, has authority
from God to teach heresy which contradicts Gods Word. And no
religious teacher has authority from God to add to Gods commands
(Deut.4:2; 12:32). Any personal area of a believers life which does
not involve sin, as defined under the New Covenant, is a NO GO area
for pastoral authority. I qualified that statement because certain Old
Testament prohibitions are not sinful for Christians today: making
dinner on the Sabbath, eating ham, men shaving their beards, etc.
Let Gods will be done on earth as it is done in heaven. Is hunger Gods
highest will for His saints? If it is, why wont people suffer hunger in
heaven?
Rev.7:16: They shall HUNGER NO MORE, neither thirst any more* * *
Put a brave face on it and try and convince yourself otherwise, but
dieting makes you hungry and miserable. Diet books might be hot
sellers in hell, but not in heaven. Starving for Jesus is NOT a heavenly
doctrine. It was birthed in the bowels of hell to distract Gods people
from their task of evangelizing the world and feeding the hungry! The
devil designed this dieting cult to make weak neurotics of Christians,
so that they fear it is sinful to nourish their own bodies. Satan seeks
the weakening of the Body of Christ through loss of health and peace.
What other cosmetic obsessions will be given spiritual weight by a
church in bed with the world? Body piercings? Head-to-toe tattoos?
Straight hair? Spray-on-tan? Breast implants?
Whose word carries more weight? Sister Xs, or the solid meat of
Scripture?
http://www.scribd.com/doc/4617708/Fasting-Tithing-Blessing-Bringers-or-Burdens