The assault on traditional Christianity continues to move forward at an incredibly alarming rate. The attacks that come from the world don't trouble so much but I am increasingly troubled by the way the church is being infiltrated by non-Biblical teaching that is disguised as being Biblical. I am also troubled by the ever increasing amount of Christians who seem unable or unwilling to discern truth from a lie. We have certainly surrounded ourselves with teachers who tickle our ears.
As dismayed and irritated as I get over the inflow of false teaching thinly veiled as Christianity it should not come as a surprise. The scripture has warned us of this for 2 thousand years.
2 Peter 2
1But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
3And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.
Verse 3 certainly captures the essence of today's mass marketed "christianity." Rick Warren and Joel Osteen have certainly done a wonderful job of packaging their personal version of Christianity into a marketable format that has made them millions. We listen to diatribes about finding purpose, getting our best life right here and now, etc. etc. all the while ignoring the advice and truths of the Bible. No one seems to even pause and think that getting your best life now isn't even a Biblical concept.
Matthew 6: 19Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
But we'll just ignore that because Biblical truth might cut into the profit margin. The other wonderful new book to hit the church lately is "The Shack" undoubtedly a wonderful piece of fiction that transforms the truth of God into a lie and is widely accepted in the church as a wonderful way to help people understand God. To understand a god or one man version god but not the God as represented in the Bible. God the Father who will punish sin is not represented in the shacks female god who see no need to punish sin because sin is a punishment in and of its self. Sounds nice and new age and might make you feel better about yourself by thinking you can make God whatever you want HIM to be but it still doesn't add up with the truth of the WORD OF GOD. One of the shacks defenders even wrote an article and stated that God has no gender. Well in the America of today that might be true, after all mom, dad, father, mother, are losing their meaning very quickly in a culture that is increasingly gender neutral and determined to blur the lines between male and female but like it or not folks the term "God the Father" is not gender neutral. This subject might need more attention later and I know that I am quickly coming to the place of being labeled as "legalistic, intolerant, outdated" and so on. If that what I must be to be faithful to my God then I will gladly embrace that definition of who I am. Regardless of what the world or the church may think I for one refuse to trade in my mansion in glory for a shack.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
For God so Loved
Everyone who has spent time in church and many who have not can quote John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
We can say it, we have heard it but have we ever really taken time to think about it?
For God....The eternal Father, the creator of all things. He who breathed life into man and spoke the world and all things in it into existence. The timeless one who walked with Adam in the cool of the day, supernaturally took Enoch to Heaven and called Moses friend. The power of creation for only He was able to set the boundaries for the sea. The power of the storm who talked to Job from the whirlwind and the power over the storm when He said, "Peace, be still." The gentle one who promises to all born again believers that there is coming a day when He will wipe every tear from our eyes.
so loved the world......That means all of us. Not just the really good ones, Christ said there is none good except the Father in Heaven. God the Father loved and loves everyone. The weak and wounded, the homosexual, the drug addict, the alcoholic, the poor, the rich, the wounded, the sad, the happy, the joyful. God is so dedicated to love that He even loves preachers and being one myself I know that it takes a lot of love to love a preacher.
that He gave His only begotten son.....Jesus Christ, the sinless lamb, the only perfect man, God in the flesh, my savior and yours to if you have one because He is the only one. He is Jesus the only name under Heaven whereby men must be saved, the name at which one day every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that He and He alone is Lord.
that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. There is an old song that says, "whosoever surley meaneth me" and I am thankful that all of us can have eternal life through Jesus Christ. You may say I don't believe in God or Christ. Let me ask you this. What do you believe in? What does eternity hold for you and how do you know? Jesus is life and apart from Him there may be some form of existence but there is no true life. He is the only one that can give you true everlasting peace and assurance that there is hope. Maybe you believe in God and Jesus. The Bible says the demons also believe and tremble. To believe simply isn't enough. The Bible says you must be born again. That in believing Jesus is the Son of God you come to a realization of your sin, you confess your sin, repent (sorrow, wanting to turn from) your sin, confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is the Son of God and then and only then can you be saved. And if you truly have a born again experience with Jesus Christ then it Will change the way you talk, the way you act, and it will even change the way you think. Jesus Christ will transform you into a new creation and if Christ never transforms you then by what right can you claim salvation?
Eternal life is available to all no matter who you are, where you are, or what you've done. embrace Jesus today and if you already have then tell others of His salvation. Whosoever, PRAISE THE LORD, means me.
We can say it, we have heard it but have we ever really taken time to think about it?
For God....The eternal Father, the creator of all things. He who breathed life into man and spoke the world and all things in it into existence. The timeless one who walked with Adam in the cool of the day, supernaturally took Enoch to Heaven and called Moses friend. The power of creation for only He was able to set the boundaries for the sea. The power of the storm who talked to Job from the whirlwind and the power over the storm when He said, "Peace, be still." The gentle one who promises to all born again believers that there is coming a day when He will wipe every tear from our eyes.
so loved the world......That means all of us. Not just the really good ones, Christ said there is none good except the Father in Heaven. God the Father loved and loves everyone. The weak and wounded, the homosexual, the drug addict, the alcoholic, the poor, the rich, the wounded, the sad, the happy, the joyful. God is so dedicated to love that He even loves preachers and being one myself I know that it takes a lot of love to love a preacher.
that He gave His only begotten son.....Jesus Christ, the sinless lamb, the only perfect man, God in the flesh, my savior and yours to if you have one because He is the only one. He is Jesus the only name under Heaven whereby men must be saved, the name at which one day every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that He and He alone is Lord.
that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. There is an old song that says, "whosoever surley meaneth me" and I am thankful that all of us can have eternal life through Jesus Christ. You may say I don't believe in God or Christ. Let me ask you this. What do you believe in? What does eternity hold for you and how do you know? Jesus is life and apart from Him there may be some form of existence but there is no true life. He is the only one that can give you true everlasting peace and assurance that there is hope. Maybe you believe in God and Jesus. The Bible says the demons also believe and tremble. To believe simply isn't enough. The Bible says you must be born again. That in believing Jesus is the Son of God you come to a realization of your sin, you confess your sin, repent (sorrow, wanting to turn from) your sin, confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is the Son of God and then and only then can you be saved. And if you truly have a born again experience with Jesus Christ then it Will change the way you talk, the way you act, and it will even change the way you think. Jesus Christ will transform you into a new creation and if Christ never transforms you then by what right can you claim salvation?
Eternal life is available to all no matter who you are, where you are, or what you've done. embrace Jesus today and if you already have then tell others of His salvation. Whosoever, PRAISE THE LORD, means me.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Welcome to 2010 the "acceptable year of the Lord" This is my first blog post and I am very excited about what 2010 holds for the Ark City Free Will Baptist church and for the Kingdom of God. In Luke Chapter 4 Christ reads from the book of Isaiah that he came to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. This year we need to focus on the Kingdom more than ever and preach the truth of Jesus Christ. It is only Jesus Christ that can heal the broken hearted, deliver the captives, give sight to the blind (physically and spiritually) and give freedom to those that have been wounded by the world and by the church. Religion is deadly but Jesus Christ gives life. I hope and pray we declare Jesus in a very real way this year. God bless.
Derl
Derl
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