Do the Ends Justify the Means?

Something to think about as Christians...

Just because the end results might look fruitful, is how we're going about getting those results pleasing to the Lord? 

Are we holy? 

Yoga promotes great circulation and flexibility, possibly allowing us to serve Him more, but does He want His children connected with this Hindu form of worship in any manner?

Throwing block parties with worldly music might bring people in to the church, but will this method of evangelism go hand in hand with solid Bible preaching, or is this what is happening in the church at large, which has left its first love? 

Isn't this what seeker-friendly means? 

Too many think they can get really close to the line and draw people in while themselves holding to Biblical, traditional Christianity...but we're seeing that isn't the case. As the methods shift closer to the world, so does the doctrine.

The Word is powerful, the message is powerful.

Where are you on the spectrum of trust in this?

False Prophets

I've just finished the chapter entitled "False Prophets" in Studies in the Sermon on the Mount by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Yes, it is embarrassing that I've been reading this book for well over a year, but in my defense, I read Bonhoeffer in the midst as well as The Truth War.

This chapter is one I wish every Christian would read, at least all those ignorant to what is happening in the Christian church today in America. Looking at Europe in the 1950's gives us profound insight, and we see how godless that country is now.

In a nutshell, it isn't always what the false prophet says, it is what ISN'T said. The messages are all about love, they are vague. They do not talk about the justice or holiness of God. People aren't told they are born sinners, and eternal judgment is not spoken of. There is a stark contrast with many of today's sermons vs. men like Jonathan Edwards or George Whitefield. Pastors who are not fulfilling their duty as under-shepherd are often prideful and more interested in humor and soothing people than proclaiming the word of Truth.

I'm continually amazed at how many people stay in these bastions of false teaching for various reasons. Children are not going to learn how to contend for the faith when they listen to messages that only tell part of the message of the Bible. We adults are not immune to the damaging effects either--we'll start to compromise and think there actually IS value in our kids being shown lewd TV shows as part of 'evangelistic' training or that attending a youth event that strongly mimics a drug-induced concert is worthwhile.

Why is it that parents will tell kids if they are in a car with a drunk-driver they are also to blame if there is an accident, but Christians will turn a blind eye to a pastor that is an apostate? Friendship or family relationships trump all in today's "community driven" church.

Examine yourself in the light of God's word...read Jude...don't buy into the modern notion that saying a little prayer makes a person a child of God, saved from the penalty of eternal damnation. The Christian life is not an easy flip of a switch in a mind. It is a dying to self, a realizing that we are born in sin and then we choose to sin--that if we don't give our lives to Christ, we will die in our sins and live forever in a lake of fire. A personal encounter with the Cross, with the gruesome death of Jesus, and with His glorious conquering of death, must happen in order for us to pass from death to life. We are not being honest with people if we promote anything but the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. The world can keep it's sin and it's methods, people need something entirely different from what they have. There is no blending of light with darkness, no matter how many churches keep trying to play that game. All they end up with is a gray haze.

Remember, it isn't just what the pastor says that needs to be checked against Scripture, it is also what he knowingly chooses NOT to say. And if he won't say something that he should say, the next question is, why not? Clearly he must not believe it or he'd be compelled to speak the truth. We aren't to purposefully offend, but we must give the message of the gospel in it's entirety, and that is what should offend when encountering unrepentant sinners because there is a distinct contrast.

Happy Easter,

ACL

LifeWay, Rick Warren, and the Son of God

Excellent point is made here. When a pastor uses multiple Bible translations it is a RED FLAG that he is cherry picking to fit an agenda rather than boldly proclaiming the truth. If a pastor does not have the Bible front and center (as in, it's an afterthought to mention getting out your Bible, he doesn't have his own Bible, or the bulletin mentions nothing of the Bible passages he's preaching on....)--beware. Find another church.

Senior Thesis Paper from Liberty University

This looks like a very impressive senior thesis, written by someone named Mathew Harris. I hope he was successful with his academic pursuits. This was submitted as part of his graduation from Liberty University's honors program in 2010.

Rauschenbusch’s Regurgitations: Rob Bell’s Promotion of a Realized Eschatology and His Alignment with Walter Rauschenbusch and the Social Gospel Movement

http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1116&context=honors

When A Church is Concerned with Numbers

Something church members don't take time to think about it is this, "What are the repercussions if our church is worried about the numbers of people attending?" Sadly, this issue is one that gets to the heart of the gospel message, Christianity in general, how people come to Christ, and a whole host of other things.

When churches are worried about numbers reflecting their effectiveness, they've strayed from the Word of God. There were only 12 disciples of Jesus, and it was a noteworthy situation when multitudes believed. When that did happen, those multitudes were being given the Truth, not a watered down version of it.

When a church worries about numbers more than worship, they call members who are away on a retreat to return when suddenly they get a prominent speaker coming so that the pews look full.

When a church worries about numbers, it doesn't listen to concerned members over doctrinally false information. These churches are run like a corporation. There is no time for setbacks in a well-oiled machine. People with legitimate concerns are brushed aside as problems.

We had a young child who could read far before she should have been able to and one of her teachers didn't realize this. He spelled out bad words in playdoh which she read and recounted to us in the form of "What does this mean?". What did the youth pastor say to this? "He's been with us for a long time." He dismissed our concerns and kept this man on as an AWANA teacher. In the years after that incident, we saw that this church did not care about orthodoxy as much as it did with bringing in the masses. We made sure our kids didn't have this man as a teacher, but what else could be done? The pastor let it go.

In subsequent years, we'd see this pastor was not one to admire. He was comfortable blurring lines and having a different standard for the church members when compared to those for his own family.

Churches that care about numbers have revolving doors. When you live in an area with one of these,  it is quite amazing how many people, "Used to go to _________."

To bring in the masses, a pastor needs to use phrases that can be interpreted one way by believers and another, more comfortable way, by unbelievers. And that is what you have in a seeker-sensitive church. It's sensitive to not being offensive with the words of the Bible. Tons of books are written by people who want to 're-invent' Christianity to MARKET it to this very depraved culture, it is these sorts of books where pastors learn to use this careful, squishy language.

We all care about the lost, we all have the Truth, but like evolutionists vs. creationists, we interpret the facts differently and then RESPOND to them differently.

All this to say, I'd rather my kids turn out Calvinists than seeker-sensitive "Christians", because one camp is far more likely to be saved than the other, and one camp will have less explaining to do than the other.

Rob Bell Talks god, Religion and Doubt with Oprah Winfrey

We started learning more about Rob Bell when we Googled a statement a former pastor of ours made about Jesus having more faith in us than we have in ourselves. That statement sounded quite "off" so we wanted to check it out. Back then, only one person was credited with that kind of psycho-spin: Rob Bell...looking then in to his theology enlightened us quite a bit, sadly, to where this former pastor was getting his ideas.

People sitting in pews need to pay attention to the authors their leadership promotes, especially in this day of 'reinventing Christianity'. But too many sit back barely listening in these sort of churches because the messages are so thin, the hungry true believers just go through the motions, or they teach and serve so they feel useful to the Lord, still starving and quite unfulfilled.

No church is perfect, we're a body of human believers, but leadership subtly changing direction often goes unnoticed, like heating up a frog slowly in a pot of water. It is our responsibility to know what we're being taught, where the money goes, what our children are taught in their classes (purposefully and by worldview of the teacher), and what the leadership actually believes. Let it be a warning if you find prideful reluctance to answer your sincere, in love, questions.

"Be sober of spirit, be on the alert, your adversary the devil prowls about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour." 1 Peter 5: 8

The "Incomplete Equation" Church

I was thinking the seeker-friendly or emergent church could also be called the incomplete equation church...or maybe the partial equation church.

Example: 3 x =

+ 9 =

It is a serious situation that many churches are mainly interested in being relevant to the culture and telling people how much God loves them, and if they will 'put Him on', their life will improve. Please think of this, folks. Is that the gospel message we see in Scripture?

The 'go along to get along' variety of Christian will give the kumbaya retort,"I think something good can come from any sort of church."

Really? Again, is this way of thinking Biblical? Did Peter go around saying that? Was Saul, before his conversion, persecuting those with the message of the gospel or those with some version of it? I say he persecuted those with the true gospel message.

Many will say they simply don't see any problem with focusing so heavily on community and relevancy. Others will admit to not really paying attention.

Many Christians today are afraid.

Christians in these feel-good, weak sermon (or sermonette), watered-down elementary level adult Sunday school class churches are afraid to face the facts. They don't want to look at what their church is really saying, which is that Christ is not enough. So, what do these people who know something is wrong do? They start teaching Sunday school instead of attending, then they volunteer more in the nursery, and they keep doing good works to make them almost rival a faithful Catholic trying to earn their way in to God's good grace (Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.) And quite simply, they are becoming anemic, and it is no laughing matter.


We can find ourselves wondering when we lost the courage to believe just what the Bible says. We remember a time when we knew their was real POWER in the Word of God, and we were not ashamed to tell people Jesus is THE way, THE truth, and THE life and no one comes to the Father but by Him (not his mother or any other sinful person--ALL the rest of humanity needs the forgiveness of the RISEN Savior in order to be reconciled to God). At some point we started to blur lines, we started to think if we just DO enough for others, that kindness will someone count as imparting the life SAVING message of the gospel in to their lives. Even though our church and our actions shirked at the truth that people must first understand they are sinners who offend God, we fooled ourselves in to thinking that LOVE CONQUERS ALL meant we could just serve, smile, and give, give, give and that would get people off the road to Hell and put their feet on the straight path to Heaven. Sadly, the COME AS YOU are message morphed in to STAY AS YOU ARE...and no one wanted to make anyone feel uncomfortable by being 'too holy'...everyone thought getting a tattoo like the world would make the world like us.

Friends, if we are liked and seen as the same, we have nothing to offer them. The world is hurting and we can't trick people in to salvation. Do we really think having a coffee bar and rock concert in church is needed nowadays? Are we so far gone as Biblicists that the Bible message by itself is uncool/outdated/irrelevant? Do we really think people are genuinely converted if we have to lead them in some canned prayer after we've talked to them for 10 minutes about Christ?

Where is the WORSHIP of Almighty God? Where is the power of the Holy Spirit? Where is the man or woman who is not afraid to look different from the world, espousing MODESTY in dress and speech; not afraid to hold to a view that marring one's body is not Christ-honoring, regardless of WHAT the message says; not afraid to say that there is music that is about Christ and music that is about us or more about glorifying the musician than God?? Why do we have churches sponsoring NAACP events? Why do we have church members more worked up about the forthcoming election than reaching a lost soul for Christ?

I hate to tell folks this, but even if Ken Cuccinelli wins the Governor race in VA, there are still going to be a LOT of dark forces trying to tear down this nation and evil is NOT curbed for eternity through elections. I love Ken, and I want him to win and I pray for him, but SOULS committed to God for eternity will vote for freedom and life. Democrats who think they are Christians don't understand what is means to follow Christ. Socialism is not biblical, hard work is though. Taking care of the poor is biblical, enabling illegitimate births through handouts isn't. Killing the unborn or CONDONING those who do, or turning a blind eye to those who do is UNBIBLICAL, it is something God abhors and that being part of the Democratic platform is why I can unabashedly say that a Democrat who thinks they are a disciple is misled. We can all call ourselves skinny, but it simply isn't true, is it?

Christian, find your voice! Do not sleep through watered-down sermons. Do not buy in to the lie that the Bible is not relevant in this culture we're living in. You know what is happening? The lost aren't being truly converted, the Christians are being converted! When a church has to advertise that their functions should not have alcohol brought to them....I'm sorry, the train is OFF THE TRACKS!  Church is for the saved, to be encouraged and built up so they can individually go out and serve the Lord according to the gifts He's bestowed on each one of us (His representatives). If church has become a massive haven for the lost, who feel comfortable staying in their sin week after week, don't you think that is a red flag? The message needs to be solid enough so that people who have not been converted are convicted.

I doubt anyone will read all 1724 words of this post, but friend, if you once loved Jesus Christ and now you are uncomfortable sharing the truth with others because you are stepped in day-to-day activities with pseudo-Christians or the 'seeking', I pray you will get in the Word and take God AT His exact word. If you are more jazzed about winning the elections or helping at the battered women's shelter than standing for the purity of Scripture in whatever way God has gifted you, take time to do a self-check.

God, please strengthen Your church. Have mercy on those who love you but who have led and are continuing to lead their flocks in to a miry, weak, relevancy pool. Embolden us all. Forgive us for being afraid because we want to fit in with those around us rather than fit in with You.

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Bonhoeffer said people have a number of means of dealing with evil: (from Metaxas' book, Bonhoeffer, pg 470, direct quote)

"Reasonable people," he said, think that "with a little reason they can pull back together a structure that has come apart at the joints." Then there are the ethical 'fanatics who "believe that they can face the power of evil with the purity of their will and their principles." Men of "conscience" become overwhelmed because  the "countless respectable and seductive disguises and masks in which evil approaches them make their conscience anxious and unsure until they finally content themselves with an assuaged conscience instead of a good conscience." They must "deceive their own conscience in order not to despair."Finally there are some who retreat to a "private virtuousness." He added,

Such people neither steal, nor murder, nor commit adultery, but do good according to their abilities. But...they must close their eyes and ears to the injustice around them. Only at the cost of self-deception can they keep their private blamelessness clean from the stains of responsible action in the world. In all that they do, what they fail to do will not let them rest. They will either be destroyed by this unrest, or they will become the most hypocritical of all Pharisees.

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With that I encourage us all to vote in November, for the most godly candidates running, and pray heartily for our leaders. All of them.

---------------------- 1 John 4--------------------------------------------------------------------------

1 John 4

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Testing the Spirits

4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. ² By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; ³ and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. ⁴ You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. ⁵ They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. ⁶ We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

God Is Love

⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is ^[a]born of God and knows God. ⁸ The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹ By this the love of God was manifested ^[b]in us, that God has sent His ^[c]only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

The Circle Maker

We just returned from a wonderful week away to the mountains. It was one of those vacations without internet or a schedule, we just played games, read, studied, and watched TV. Before leaving, I sent a note to some close friends warning them about a new book that is out, The Circle Maker. I'd stumbled upon an EZC blog post regarding it and was glad to have done so.

While on vacation, I didn't think about things back home. I did spend a lot of time in the Word and reading. I'm still working through Studies in the Sermon on the Mount by D. Martyn-Lloyd Jones, but also began reading John MacArthur's The Truth War and read the first two books in Bodie and Brock Theone's Zion Covenant Series. I loved the Zion Chronicles...it was a wonderful time to refresh and recommit to the Lord.

So we get home and what does my husband find upon reading the current newsletter for our former church? The pastor is recommending the very book I warned people about last week. The newsletter came out while we were gone.

I'm thankful and amazed with how God works. He led me to the review and then put it on my heart who to send the warning to.  Had I seen the newsletter from our former church first, I wouldn't have sent the warning to the people I sent it to. May God pierce the hearts of those leading churches in to this new wave of pseudo-Christianity.

To God be the Glory

What is Thinking?

Never-ending social needs

Music blares as we do our deeds

Phone is ringing while we text

Computer screen beckons to be next

Lights are glaring

Head is teeming

Not a moment for day-dreaming

Not a care to see what's true

Following blindly is what we do

Conviction is a risky dare

Why slow down to see what's there?

Keep the noise and keep the busy

Cushion excuses until we're dizzy

~J Dub 5/30/13

So Goes the Church

Our pastor mentioned the reality of what is happening in churches today--the apostasy isn't going to be a flood that causes a calamity, it is so gradual, to the unwatching and undiscerning, it is nearly imperceptible. One sign that I notice is when the church focuses so heavily on community, community, community...the members are more dependent on each other than I think is healthy. People get together incessantly, but the conversation isn't sanctifying. People are always having noise or are on the go...there isn't thinking, or deep prayer...it's just go, go, go. No time to question, just get out there and live like Jesus, only don't tell people they are sinners in need of a Savoir. Make them feel comfortable coming as they are and staying as they are. Insert 'red flag' here...unbelievers should not feel comfortable in church.

So here is my list of some ways the church goes from being sound to unsound...

It happens when feelings are manipulated and minds disengage.

It happens with counseling centers that are led by people who endorse contemplative prayer.

It happens through guest speakers that say Catholics can rightly be 'on fire' for the Lord.

It happens as we worry more about offending people in our church than telling them the truth about their lost state.

It happens when social justice is taught as a method of evangelism.

It happens when those who sound the alarm for the FIRST time are accused of nitpicking.

It happens as pastors get bored of the status quo (sound preaching and teaching) so introduce more and more creative ways to sell the gospel, all the while moving away from the true gospel.

It happens when junior pastors are fearful and think a head pastor getting it 'mostly right' is good enough on the issue of sound theology.

It happens when pastors are too prideful to admit when they are wrong.

It happens when members have inferiority complexes so they stay in a church with poor teaching because it keeps feeding their self-esteem through positions of leadership.

It happens when members are asleep and unwilling to do the work of finding out what their pastor really believes based on who he quotes and what he reads.

It happens as the faith of the leadership wanes, and men start to think that the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit are not enough to lead the lost to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Missional: When Evangelicals Support The Social Gospel/Social Justice by Another Name

Missional: When Evangelicals Support The Social Gospel/Social Justice by Another Name.

Please take time to read this, especially if you are Southern Baptist.

What is Church?

Below this entry I've got an awesome sermon posted from John MacArthur about the topic, "What is the church?" It's entitled, "Doing 'Jesus Is?'" He goes in to the election thing from the perspective of one who is 'reformed' as we say, but it doesn't bother me. I can listen and believe that the elect are who are saved by faith and then are regenerated. The thing to listen to and NOT MISS is the beautiful accuracy of what the church is...and what it is not. It is not bringing a group of unbelievers together and giving them what they want and calling it church. As MacArthur eloquently states, along with the book of Acts, the church is a group of believers. Unbelievers should not feel comfortable in church, they should see the beauty of transformed lives that are different from their own. Anyway, that is a bit of paraphrasing. It's a great sermon.

Doing 'Jesus Is?'

Here is a great sermon from solid Bible teacher John MacArthur on real church growth. If you attend a seeker-sensitive or Emergent leaning/Emergent church, I hope you'll take time to listen to this.

 

Is Your Church Next?

Reading this has brought tears to my eyes. Someone else who sees what is happening in the Baptist denomination. We have left the SBC and have returned to fundamental independent Baptist, which isn't perfect (thankfully ours isn't KJV only), but it is a continual breath of fresh air with it's messages being solidly from the Word of God. It is heartbreaking to see the concern of community in the church rise above Biblical truth and literacy; entertainment and outreach rise above being encouraged to enter through the narrow gate; conversion come secondary to numbers. When a church's top priority is bringing in the lost, or believing Christianity needs a radical face lift, it is on the road downhill. What about serious discipling of all the members? What about making sure we aren't bringing in hoards of chaff? The game has changed in too many of today's churches. It is hard to stay the course; it's discouraging to realize how many do not want Christ. But we can't 'fix' it by changing the message and adding a bunch of psychology to ease the hurting; they aren't getting the gospel. When labyrinths come, run.

Is Contemplative Prayer OK?

When you hear the phrase 'contemplative prayer', do you realize what that means?

With contemplative prayer:

1. One purposefully allows or puts oneself into an altered state of consciousness.  They are opening themselves up to spiritual deception and evil spirits.  It is the practice of Zen Buddhism or Hinduism, Transcendental Meditation.  It is not Christianity. It is not meditating on the word of God to better understand it.  It is something else.  It is not Biblical prayer.

2. It denies the sufficiency of the Bible.  We need something else to hear from God.  The Bible is not sufficient by itself.

3. Underlying is the presumption that people have divinity within themselves inherently and not only through being born again.

4. People end up taking their own thoughts and calling them the Word of God. Everybody is having revelations, so-called.

5. It is an embrace of the pietism and monasticism historically found in the Roman Catholic Church.

6. It is fully entangled with pop-culture, positive psychology, self-esteem, and eastern mysticism which are completely devoid of the gospel and the things of God.

7. In the name of religion it doesn't lead people to Christ.

More thorough information on the dangers of Contemplative Prayer and what that actually means can be found on this site.

http://solasisters.blogspot.com/2012/05/dangers-of-contemplative-prayer.html#

Christians promoting unbiblical, mystical activities like Labyrinth walking and contemplative prayer are not far away...here is a 'Christian' retreat that encourages this in Lexington, VA:
http://www.strengthforthejourneyretreats.com/uploads/1/2/9/8/12989240/retreat_brochure_bellfry_dec__2012.pdf

More information regarding the Emergent Church:
[http://www.ericbarger.com/errors.emergent.htm] http://www.ericbarger.com/errors.emergent.htm

Entering the Conversation

I find it interesting that in classical education we talk about the great conversation, and the emergent church has taken that term 'conversation' to describe what it does as well. You can also say 'movement' about the emergent church....

Please don't shrug off what the emergent church teaches. It is an ideology, a method of ministry, that slyly chips away at a solid faith. So much of it 'sounds good', but it is missing the mark and creating hoards of biblically illiterate believers or false converts. When a church name drops Rob Bell, beware. It isn't OK. I don't want to encourage mistrust, but at the same time, church leaders have priorities and agendas, and as a member, you need to know what those are.

Many in today's churches are becoming like the 'useful idiots' of Lenin's day. Hard workers for the 'cause', yet they don't really understand the breadth and depth of the mission. They think they are doing what is good and right, but if they knew where their actions were leading or what their actions were really saying...they'd stop and change course. But we blindly follow what our church is doing. This is ironic because we know the government can't keep up with all of its' comings and goings, yet we'll trust a very large church to be making right decisions about ministries and causes. We really need to be as shrewd as serpents all the time. This world is wicked, full of deception, and if we think we can enjoy the ride and not take the time to ensure where we're headed is pleasing to the Lord, the chance of regret is great.

Part 1

http://www.gty.org/resources/articles/A184/Introducing-the-Emerging-Church-Part-1

Part 2

http://www.gty.org/resources/Articles/A185/Introducing-the-Emerging-Church-Part-2

Missional Churches-Are They OK?

The term "missional' with a church is misleading. It is a buzz word for churches going Emergent...definitely seeker-friendly. The big difference between these churches and what I'd call a 'sound' church is ministry philosophy. A 'missional' church isn't missions minded, as in, going and spreading the gospel of Christ. Rather, they have a mind to sell Christianity by doing things like having a 'ministry of presence'.

What??

Yes, a ministry where you go to a church and act like you are a member so others see the 'thriving numbers' and then they say to themselves, "This must be a good church" , so they start going. It is a show. Never-mind that the messages are about self-improvement, how to use Jesus to better your situation/marriage/job...it's not about entering through the narrow gate, it's about marketing Christianity, changing the message of realizing how lost in sin we are without Christ, and changing it to how loving God is and how much better Jesus will make your life. Because it's got to be egocentric to sell to this sin-riddled culture, and the church doesn't need to look completely different from the world anymore. No, the newest craze is to look as much like the world as we can so the introduction into the church is seamless.

I recall when I bowed before God the first time, realizing the massive gulf from where I was to where He was, and learning that the difference in a Christian's life and the world was a contrast needed because people are miserable without the truth, and if you as a Christian look like them, they won't think you have anything to offer...that in essence, God would make no difference in their lives.

Somehow the modern church movements have lost sight of when Jesus says "enter through the narrow gate, for the way is broad that leads to destruction....". Somehow now it's enough to love others, but not in a way that makes them see their sin....but to clothe and feed them and just silently show the character? of Jesus? Somewhere along the line we outsmarted God and found that "how will they know unless someone tells them" became outdated. Somehow now we should have tattoos like the world, especially if they have a Bible verse, so people with ink will want to talk to us. It has flipped from us looking like Christ and Him drawing them, to us looking like THEM, so they don't think we're different and we become chums....then they are supposed to what? Come in to the church and become disciples of Christ? Are we duping them? or are we BEING duped because what is happening is actually something altogether different? Are we thinking being holy is irrelevant now or have we no idea what that even means anymore? Do we even get told that Jesus said, "Be ye holy, for I am holy."? Do we read that and ponder it, or do we just keep working in ways the church says to 'reach the culture'? Are we even supposed to REACH them, or are we supposed to preach the gospel and leave the reaching to God?

Now pastors tell congregations Jesus has more faith in them than they have in Him (make them feel good). Churches have counseling centers where people are flourishing and going through labyrinths. Because flourishing is what Jesus intends for us...it's right there with Joel Osteen and using Christianity to have your 'best life now'. Pastors allow sleazy musicians to be mentioned in their children's memos without any word on how dangerous such trash is to young minds learning about holiness. Music, for worship, sounds like the world's because beats don't matter...it's the words, even if you can't understand them, even during an Easter service....just sway and murmur things like 'Yes, Lord" and people will think you are so in tune with the Lord, your music must be holy and pleasing in His sight....

Stopping sex trafficking is equal in importance to telling someone the horrible news that their life is an offense to a holy God, and we can even call it being a missionary. You can be a missionary now if you just befriend people in another culture where Christianity is unpopular, because if you are a Christian and loving them as a friend, that is enough. You don't need to tell them the actual Gospel--the Good News is merely that God loves them...end of story. The most important thing nowadays is how to grow your church, make Christianity look large and appealing, and throw Jesus' name around so members don't realize you aren't discipling them.  Keep sermons full of engaging and amusing stories, which are topical, but don't preach the Word with the goal of edifying the saints as Acts says because that is offensive to those SEEKING. A mile wide and an inch deep is the measure of success.

Yeah, that's it. Be relevant. That's what Jesus said, somewhere in Scripture, right? I mean, I haven't deeply studied what He said, but I keep being told that being relevant is how to bring them in, so that's what I'm doing.

God help us. God wake up the church. Help me see and stay on the narrow path. Help pastors not get bored with keeping the white fence post white, but instead be found faithful to the end. Help them remember cancers often grow fast. We can't sell Christianity as a broad, sweeping show. It is a life lived for Christ's glory, not a self-improvement program. It is dying to ourselves, not adding on an appendage called Jesus. People are hurting in this world, and all the good social causes and work to make Christianity look appealing isn't going to get us on the narrow path. We're losing our souls with all of this concern over getting out the message in a relevant way.

How about we instruct believers in righteousness? How about we not soft-sell Creationism and pander to public school indoctrination, but say the truth about what is happening in the schools? It is an absolute affront to Christian children to be in those bastions of ungodliness, yet how many pastors are afraid to speak out about it? The lies about evolution, homosexuality, abortion...yet pastors still say PRAY for the SCHOOLS. Isn't it a little beyond that? Have they talked to Christian kids stuck in those places? Ask Christian wives forced to put their kids in the schools because their husbands are unbelievers, let them tell you how their virgin sons get mocked all through Latin class by the gays sitting all around him. Tell the truth, pastors! Sex in bathrooms, teachers engaging in lewd acts, Christianity mocked full on...God mocked in the curriculum...it isn't a matter of opinion. The wickedness abounds and yet there you sit, afraid to OFFEND. Is that your calling? Believers need to be instructed in the way of righteousness, and that is unpopular on every front in this day and age.

Matthew 7:13-14

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

~I write this and my heart is breaking for the multitudes who are being swept away with this tide of self-importance and self-improvement called Christianity. For a concise description of the emerging movement, read on. Be forewarned, once you start trying to alert people to this movement, you are considered a trouble maker or just nuts. John MacArthur has an excellent sermon outlining exactly what will happen to you if you bring these issues up with your church leadership, and he is spot on.

http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/churchandministry/carey_emerging_church.aspx

Keeping the White Fence Post, White

There is a powerful movement going on in Christendom, and the world-over really, where the fence posts darken without care, but the people are very active and busy, doing 'good works'. It is a challenge to do the mundane that we're called to, year after year, effectively. It is particularly hard when bombarded with books that glamorize living against-the-grain.... If one isn't careful, it can cause a body to pull away from God's clear calling in life, convinced they are being 'sold out' for Jesus.

Faith Undone by Roger Oakland is such a worthwhile read for those getting slowly sucked in to this cause-celeb driven world where the mundane is chastised in lieu of the "radical".

If you are a Christian wife, God makes it clear the first priority in life is to serve the husband He's given you to. If there are children, then serving them, raising them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord is next. How that child is educated comes hugely in to play here, particularly because of Luke 6:40. We can think we're doing more of the Lord's work by working all sorts of hours, abdicating our responsibilities at home, even donating all of the money we're making to good causes, but in the end I fear we will see that the ends don't justify the means. If God is truly in something, He will bring it about without our compromising His ultimate standards. Unfortunately in today's world of Rob Bell and the like, Mom's are leaving the hard, consistent work of keeping a home and raising their children as they ought. It feels so much more sacrificial to do something else, something sexy, but is that the right thing?

There are vast immature believers, even leaders, in today's seeker-friendly, social-gospel churches. Don't be one of them--go to the classical authors and listen to sound doctrine. Don't ignore what God plainly says is your job, according to Scripture. Beware of those that espouse lifestyles that act radically, but that do not focus on sound doctrine. The revolution is keeping the white fence post white, and in these dark days, we need more people willing to do that. It is EASY to leave dishes, laundry, child-rearing, home education and serving a husband in order to end sex-trafficking or storm unhealthy orphanages...but who is modeling God's primary vehicle for sharing who He is (the family)? Don't be fooled. Keep your white fence post white, love your children enough to do the hardest, most noble thing--get God's approval, not man's (who is always dazzled by the next self-sacrificing person). There isn't glamour or accolades for staying home and raising a family by mankind; doesn't that in itself make you give it a second thought?

Proverbs 14:12

There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.