Clip put together by Youth for Jesus. You can listen to the complete Sermon at Sermon Audio (Great sermon folks..im listening now)
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” Matthew 7:21
Steve Lumbley at Apostasy Watch has an excellent (new) teaching posted today in his series, ‘It’s The End Of The World As We Know It’
2Thess 2 – Who is the restrainer and what is being restrained?
To hear previous audio segments in this series, go to the front page and click on ‘Free Audio.’ You’ll be taken to a page where they are listed in order.
(Good teaching Steve!)
One of my favorites songs. Are you glad Jesus set you free?
Someone related a dream to me years ago. In the dream they saw Jesus walking down the middle of two rows of occupied cells which had huge chains and locks on each door. As he passed by each cell, the chain and lock would suddenly fall off and the door would swing open. Some of the prisoners walked out of their cells and began following behind the Lord, but others stayed in their cells, though nothing was keeping them from leaving! They were free to leave, but did not appear to realize it.
It doesn’t take an interpreter to explain that dream, for many of us are like those who did not understand they had been set free. We are chained to the past and see ourselves as prisoners in our mind. We don’t realize we only have to (by faith), walk through the door.
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord”
And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
And he began to say unto them, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears” – (Luke 4)
An excellent message and dire warning from C.H. Spurgeon..
Source, TeamPyro
When a man chooses a bad leader for his soul, at the end of all bad leadership there is a ditch.
A man teaches error which he declares he has drawn from Scripture, and he backs it up with texts perverted and abused. If you follow that error, and take its teacher for a leader, you may for a time be very pleased with yourself for knowing more than the poor plain people who keep to the good old way, but, mark my word, there is a ditch at the end of the error. You do not see it yet, but there it is, and into it you will fall if you continue to follow your leader.
At the end of error there is often a moral ditch, and men go down, down down, they scarce know why, till presently, having imbibed doctrinal error, their moral principles are poisoned, and like drunken men they find themselves rolling in the mire of sin.
At other times the ditch beyond a lesser error may be an altogether damnable doctrine. The first mistake was comparatively trifling, but, as it placed the mind on an inclined plane, the man descended almost as a matter of course, and almost before he knew it, found himself given over to a strong delusion to believe a lie. The blind man and his guide, whatever else they miss, will be sure to find the ditch, they need no sight to obtain an abundant entrance into that.
Alas! to fall into the ditch is easy, but how shall they be recovered? I would earnestly entreat especially professing Christians, when novelties of doctrine come up, to be very cautious how they give heed to them. I bid you remember the ditch. A small turn of the switch on the railway is the means of taking the train to the far east or to the far west: the first turn is very little indeed, but the points arrived at are remote.
There are new errors which have lately come up which your fathers knew not, with which some are mightily busy, and I have noticed when men have fallen into them their usefulness ceased. I have seen ministers go only a little way in speculative theories, and gradually glide from latitudinarianism into Socinianism or Atheism. Into these ditches thousands fall. Others are precipitated into an equally horrible pit, namely, the holding nominally of all the doctrines in theory and none of them in fact.
Men hold truths nowadays with the bowels taken out of then, and the very life and meaning torn away. There are members and ministers of evangelical denominations who do not believe evangelical doctrine, or if they do believe it they attach but little importance to it; their sermons are essays on philosophy, tinged with the gospel. They put a quarter of a grain of gospel into an Atlantic of talk, and poor souls are drenched with words to no profit.
God save us from ever leaving the old gospel, or losing its spirit, and the solid comfort which it brings; yet into the ditch of lifeless profession and philosophic dreaming we may soon fall if we commit ourselves to wrong leadership.
All this should prevent us, as I think, from taking any man whatever as our leader, for if we trust to any mere man, though he may be right in ninety-nine of the hundred, he is wrong somewhere, and our tendency will be to be more influenced by his one wrong point than by any one of his right ones. Depend upon it in matters of religion that ancient malediction is abundantly verified, “Cursed is he that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm.”
Mysteries of the Kingdom
“The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn” Matthew 13:24-30
TARES: (Darnel or Cockle) – Lolium temulentum, weed which grows among grain, particularly wheat. The similarity between these two plants is so close in resemblance, that in some regions cockle is referred to as “false wheat.” Their stalks are the same, they wilt the same, they blow the same, but it is not until they are fully mature that you are able to determine one from the other. Their differences are only distinguished by the head or tips at maturity.
A reason for not removing a Tare before harvest season, is the farmer risks damaging the roots of the wheat, for the roots of both may have become entangled while growing side by side.
Darnel flour is poisonous and gives a bitter taste to bread in which it has been mixed. It also possesses the ability to make one feel poisoned with drunkenness. Also according to the encyclopedia, Tares parasite wheat fields. A parasite is an organism that grows, feeds, and is sheltered on or in a different organism while contributing nothing to the survival of its host.
The Kingdom of Heaven
The farmer sows good seed, but while the plants are developing, weeds sprout up. The true and the false are mingled together in the same field.
It is interesting that the bad seed is sown while everybody is asleep. Consider this in relation to Matthew 25:1-13, the Parable of the Ten Virgins.
Notice, too, that God clearly shows that the sowing of bad seed was a deliberate act. An enemy did this! To understand this correctly, we have to recognize that God permitted it and it will continue. Both will remain until God separates us at the resurrection.
This parable is fulfilled in the visible church. If we compare this to Revelation 2 and 3, we can conclude that in some of the churches, the tares dominate.
This does not mean that true Christians are not there. For instance, in Thyatira, tares are running things! The same is true of the Pergamos church, where Satan’s seat is. How about Sardis? They have a name that they are alive, but they are dead!
Jesus says that only a few among them are still awake, who have not left the faith.
We can also conclude that all of the churches of God have tares in them. It is entirely logical to think (also) that every one of those churches have a variety of true Christians in various stages of development. They contain a mixture of seed, good and bad, in various stages of growth.
This left me pondering..
I dreamed I stood upon a hill, and, lo!
The godly multitudes walked to and fro
Beneath, in Sabbath garments fitly clad,
With pious mien, appropriately sad,
While all the church bells made a solemn din—
A fire-alarm to those who lived in sin.
Then saw I gazing thoughtfully below,
With tranquil face, upon that holy show
A tall, spare figure in a robe of white,
Whose eyes diffused a melancholy light.
“God keep stranger,” I exclaimed. “You are
No doubt (your habit shows it) from afar;
And yet I entertain the hope that you,
Like these good people, are a Christian too.”
He raised his eyes and with a look so stern
It made me with a thousand blushes burn
Replied—his manner with disdain was spiced:
“What! I a Christian? No, indeed. I’m Christ.”
CHRISTIAN, n. One who believes that the New Testament is a divinely inspired book admirably suited to the spiritual needs of his neighbor. One who follows the teachings of Christ in so far as they are not inconsistent with his life or sin.
Source: Project Gutenberg, The Devil’s Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce (The Devil’s Dictionary was begun in a weekly paper in 1881, and was continued in a desultory way at long intervals until 1906)
It was written as nothing more then critical satire, but you have to admit there are grains of truth..
After posting the article, The USA is a Christian nation, I stumbled upon a reference to something called The Christian Identity Movement. Not being familiar with the term, I decided to look into it.
Though there are important differences, I could not help but be struck by at least some similarities to those I hear who insist we are a Christian Nation, and who cry out concerning ‘taking America back’. (Vicki brought this point up in her comment under the post, ‘The USA is a Christian Nation)
In particular,
-The belief that sections of the U.S. Constitution were divinely inspired
-That America was divinely established as a Christian Republic
-The talk, activism, and open rebellion coming from some quarters of society (sadly, some Christians are involved) concerning a plan to overthrow our current government.
There are others but I’ll stop and let you the reader, take note of any others you may notice.
The title for this post was chosen because of the eerie similarities between the old CIM and the Christian political conservative movement and even the Patriot movement, in the last few years.
This has left me questioning if there is not a ‘new type’ of Christian Identity movement in the US–one that is not (like the old) made up of white supremacists who adhere to the beliefs surrounding Anglo Israelism, but nevertheless, is made up of those who believe America was and is, intended to be ‘set apart’ (as was Israel in the old testament) as a theocracy.
The jury of seven men and five women deliberated for only 37 minutes. Roeder faces life in prison after being convicted of first-degree murder….
Whether Roeder shot Tiller at point-blank range in the forehead at Tiller’s church in Wichita last May was never at issue; Roeder had admitted it to reporters, in court filings and finally to a jury on Thursday. He also said he had been stalking Tiller since at least 1999.
Roeder, the only witness called by the defense, said he felt relief after shooting Tiller on May 31. After the murder, he drove toward Kansas City, stopping for a pizza along the way.
more at the LATimes
Argumentum ad nauseam: argument to the point of disgust; by repetition: the fallacy of trying to prove something by saying it again and again. But no matter how many times you repeat something, it will not become any more or less true than it was in the first place. (source)
From Christian Newswire, Christians & Churches Receive God’s Forgiveness for the USA on January 31
quote..
On January 31st, Christians nationwide are uniting online to receive God’s forgiveness for the USA’s sins.
This special national reconciliation is part of a national campaign that Christians across the USA are participating in to get the USA right with God and for God to deliver the USA from our enemies.
Pray Daily America says the success is because the Church is to be accountable with God for the USA. This includes three steps: confession of sin, receiving forgiveness through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and taking responsibility between God and the USA – -to obey Him going forward.
Participants want every American to look at our national and personal sins the way God does.
Pray Daily America points out: Being divided right and left instead of united in Christ is damaging our nation;
82% believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came to earth and died for our sins (Rasmussen Reports, 2009).
The USA is a Christian nation.
“You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder” James 2:19
In the Presence of God’s Holiness
In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.* See Isaiah 6 – John 12:34-41 – Ezekiel 10 – Acts 9:4
See video: I SAW THE LORD, AND HE SAW ME
The Mystery of the Glory of God.
“Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the River Chebar, that the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity, The word of the LORD came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was there upon him.
And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire…“ *Read Ezekiel chapter (1) – Revelation 4
I’m old, out of touch, over the hill, living in the past…or something; because I just don’t ‘get’ these things at all. In fact, this leaves me feeling uneasy.
Pastor Otoneil Font, Senior Pastor of Fountain of Living Waters Church in Puerto Rico, has signed a contract to break digital ground on an exact replica of his church to be constructed in the Universe of Faith, the premier, browser-based virtual world for the Christian community.
Developers at Entertainment Arts Research, Inc, the creators of Universe of Faith, will be working with Font to construct the church and city in the virtual world as it appears in real life. This will allow users around the world to have access to Fountain of Living Waters Church as if they were actually attending and participating in worship.
Universe of Faith introduces a diverse and immersive experience for users to create a life beyond the tangible world. With opportunities to connect with people across the globe, Universe of Faith will quickly become the most intriguing venue for social networking available. Never before has there been such a revolutionary tool that allows people to go beyond their means and limitations and explore the world in ways they had only dreamed.
(Wonder how much he had to pay for that digital piece of ground?)
In this instance, Terry’s antics could end up insuring a stiffer penalty for Scott Roeder. But I don’t believe he cares one ‘wit’. His goal is to be seen…the man is despicable in how he seeks out media attention.
After three days of a relatively quiet trial, Randall Terry and three of his supporters showed up with signs in front of the courthouse this morning, as prosecutors prepared to wrap up their case for murder against Scott Roeder.
Signs reading “Tiller killed 60,000 children, Roeder’s reason, The Babies” and “Give Roeder a fair trial” greeted people arriving to the Sedgwick County Courthouse this morning.
The present leadership of Operation Rescue, which has not been present at the Roeder trial, denounced Terry’s visit this week:
“Sadly, Randall Terry has chosen to abandon the Christ-centered principles contained in the historic Operation Rescue Pledge of Non-violence,” the group said on its website. “By refusing to condemn the actions of Scott Roeder, Mr. Terry has completely abandoned the core principles of Operation Rescue.”
Lee Grady’s written a good commentary this week.
Recovering the Axe Head of Genuine Anointing
We’ve faked the power of Pentecost long enough. Let’s set aside the imitations and reclaim the real deal.
Shortly after Elijah was carried to heaven in his fiery chariot, a group of young prophets asked Elisha to go with them to build new living quarters near the Jordan River.
While one of the young men was cutting down a tree, the blade of his axe fell in the water and sank into the murky depths of the riverbed;
“And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us. Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye. And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go. So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood. But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed.” - 2 Kings 6:1-5
The construction project came to an abrupt stop. This was before the days of flashlights and sonar devices. These guys were in trouble.
Knowing that his friends could not replace this expensive iron tool they had borrowed, the young prophet cried to his mentor Elisha for help. The wise prophet threw a stick in the water where the axe head had sunk. Immediately the heavy iron blade floated to the surface-defying the laws of physics and proving that nothing is impossible with God.
“And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim. Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it” - 2 Kings 6:6-7
As I have meditated on this passage in recent days I’ve also applied it to our current situation in the American church. It illustrates how desperately we need to recover what we’ve lost.
Perhaps you’ve noticed that our blade is missing. I don’t know exactly when it fell off the handle, but it seems as if we’ve been trying to build God’s house without the sharp edge of His genuine anointing. We’ve traded the real for the phony. We’ve cheapened Pentecost to the point that it’s been reduced to dry religious programs and circus sideshow antics.
While browsing around reading the latest news headlines, I came upon this interesting story posted at both Haaretz and the Daily Mail:
(what is just as interesting are the comments left under the story at Haaretz)
A leading Polish Catholic bishop has risked controversy by claiming that Jews had ‘expropriated’ the Holocaust as a ‘propaganda weapon’.
The comments by Bishop Tadeusz Pieronek, a former head of the Polish bishops’ conference, prompted concern among Jewish leaders in both Poland and Italy after they were published on the conservative Italian Catholic website www.pontifex.roma.it.
‘It is undeniable that the greatest number of dead in concentration camps were Jews but there are also Polish gypsies, Italians and Catholics on the list,’ he was quoted as saying.
‘It is not right to expropriate that tragedy for propaganda,’ Pieronek was quoted as saying, adding that memorial days should be held for the ‘victims of communism, for Catholics, for persecuted Christians and so on.’
He continued: ‘But they, the Jews, enjoy good press because they have powerful financial means behind them, enormous power and the unconditional backing of the United States and this favours a certain arrogance that I find unbearable.’
Pieronek, asked if the Holocaust had been exploited, said: ‘Certainly it has. It is used as a propaganda weapon to get advantages that are often unjustified.’
Piotr Kadlcik, head of the Jewish community in Poland, which was the largest in Europe before World War Two, said he hoped the controversy over the publication would not hurt the upcoming Holocaust memorials.
He said: ‘It really has provoked many harsh comments from both sides so it just shows how fragile the dialogue between the two religions is and that’s really worrying.
More at the links above.
It would appear some folks who quickly jumped to sign the Manhattan Declaration, have had second thoughts.
You can read about one person’s difficulty at having his name removed, at TeamPyro: Un-signing the Manhattan Declaration: a PSA from Pyro
*Link fixed*
Pastor Chuck Baldwin has finally done it; he’s jumped the shark and landed in the murky waters of the ‘Conspiracy Zone’.
It was bad enough when he was spouting off about imaginary Christian Internment Camps, or promoting Christian militancy and violence, but now he’s proposing the theory that Haiti didn’t experience an earthquake, but instead what occurred was man-made, created by “rogue elements within the US government”…”maybe” even manufactured by ‘Black Ops personnel’.
And why would he think this?
Because he thinks it may have been to cover up to what he is convinced is a fact; that the Bush and Clinton families have been international drug smugglers for decades, and the ‘man-made’ catastrophe was to hide their illegal activity.
Pastor Chuck Baldwin has once again allowed his imagination to run amok in this article. Frankly his reasoning and lack of common sense is spooky. I wonder if this is the type of stuff his congregation hears on Sunday morning.
“Do not call conspiracy everything that these people call conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it.” (Isaiah 8:12)
“Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5)
Also see:
Received this from the Wagner Leadership Institute today:
WLI COURSE
Healing and Miracles
This class offers a look at healing, miracles, signs and wonders in the Old Testament, the Gospels and the Book of Acts. Learn how God can work through you to use these gifts to benefit others.
Impartation will be an integral part of the class, releasing students into this type of ministry. A public healing service will be held Friday evening as part of the class.
Course Cost: $200.00 Student, $225.00 Audit
(From the website) -
Recognized as an apostle and member of the International Coalition of Apostles, Dan has traveled the world helping plant and develop churches in many nations including India, South Africa, Uganda, Cuba, Israel, Poland and Russia. Dan is the state coordinator for the United States Apostolic Alliance with Dutch Sheets. Dan is the Chancellor at Wagner Leadership Institute-Seattle Campus, and has co-founded the Northwest New Wine Network, a monthly regional gathering of pastors, intercessors and leaders. (link)
I can’t say why this struck me, but it did. After all, these type of things are sent out daily. Most likely it was the mental image I received at reading it, of the Apostle Paul holding a class and charging the equivalent of $200 – 225.00 a ‘pop’, to teach the early Church about how to operate in the gifts of the Spirit. We know that didn’t happen, but I wondered what an ad for Paul would read like:
Recognized as an apostle and well known figure in the Church, Paul, formally known as Saul of Tarsus, has traveled extensively preaching the Gospel, making disciples for Christ, and helping to plant and develop churches in many locations (Acts 14). Paul also has first hand experience in understanding the Power of God, as he personally witnessed a great light, was thrown to the ground, and heard the Lord speak to him while on the road to Damascus, (Acts 9). Paul is not affiliated with any group, being content to only know Christ and Him crucified, (1 Cor, 2). Paul does not promote himself nor glory in any accomplishment, knowing it is Christ who deserves all Glory, (Galatians 6:14).
What will he teach: – Christ
Course Cost: – Your time and an open heart. For the Kingdom of God cannot be purchased with mammon. Neither can the Holy Spirit and His gifts, (Acts 8:18-23).
“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. …Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots” - Titus: 3-4,12
The Old Doctrine
The kingdom of Christ is not a kingdom of this world, otherwise would his servants fight! It rests on a spiritual basis and is to be advanced by spiritual means. Yet Christ’s servants gradually slipped down into the notion that His kingdom was of this world and could be upheld by human power.
Charles Spurgeon, “Christ’s Universal Kingdom and How it Comes,”
The New Doctrine
“[T]he time has come when evangelicals are going to have to think about getting organized corporately….I’m for evangelicals running for public office, winning, and getting control of the Congress, getting control of the bureaucracy, getting control of the executive branch of government.” (Billy Graham, April 29, 1985 appearance on The 700 Club)
“The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force.” “Zealous men force their way in. That’s what it means.” (Pat Robertson, The Secret Kingdom, Page 82)
“God’s plan is for His people, ladies and gentlemen to take dominion…What is dominion? Well, dominion is Lordship. He wants His people to reign and rule with Him…but He’s waiting for us to extend His dominion…And the Lord says, ‘I’m going to let you redeem society. There’ll be a reformation….We are not going to stand for those coercive utopians in the Supreme Court and in Washington ruling over us any more. We’re not gonna stand for it. We are going to say, ‘we want freedom in this country, and we want power…’ (Pat Robertson, 700 Club, May 1st 1986)
Dominion theology is a Utopian ideal.
It is a belief that this world can, and must, be conquered for Christ by militant action undertaken by the Christian Church. To get a good sense of what is happening in the established Church today see the article Dominionism and the rise of Christian Imperialism by Sarah Leslie.
Dominion Theology incorporates a Crusader mindset. It teaches that it is our Christian duty to take over the world, in a political sense, and if necessary, in a military sense, in order to impose Biblical rule. Christ will not return, (they say), until the church has “risen up” and “taken dominion” over all of the world’s governments and institutions. Dominionists affirm that this is not a matter for us to discuss. As they see it, this is a mandate from God.
Where is the authority for advancing such a notion?
Those who embrace Dominion Theology base it on a passage in Genesis.
“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:
and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle,
and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing
that creepeth upon the earth.” – (Genesis 1:26 KJV).
Of course the idea of “dominion” that they have in mind is a strained and unnatural interpretation of this scripture. Most evangelical Bible students believe that a plain reading of this passage shows God setting forth man’s responsibility to exercise faithful husbandry of the earth. God is charging mankind with the responsibility nurturing and caring for the ecosystem He has created. This includes the land and seas with their plants, animals, and fish.
Dominion Theology has it own take on the Great Commission. For them it is more than the preaching of the Gospel and the nurturing of new believers in the Holy Scriptures. It is more than promoting the personal walk with God. Dominionism gives place to an inner human compulsion for pyramid building. Inherent in this is a desire for control over others.
Carnally-minded men seek to increase their power over their fellow man. They want to build their own hierarchies with themselves being installed at the top. Carnal Christians often show themselves quite willing to resort to violence to fulfill their dreams of dominion. They are dead set on achieving “success” in their goals.
Have we seen this in Church history before?
Oh yes, we certainly have.
The quotes below are from a recent article posted at Charisma titled:
When Jews Assimilate Into the Christian Faith
In the early 1970s, a significant number of Jews committed their lives to Yeshua and came to the conviction that they should call themselves Messianic Jews rather than Christians.
There were several reasons for this. One was the history of institutional Christianity and its impact on the Jewish people. From a Jewish perspective, Christianity was a movement of semi-paganism, oppression and anti-Semitism.
In addition, we really wanted to promote the truth that Jews who come to faith in Yeshua are still called to identify and live as part of the Jewish people. Romans 11:29 states that the Jewish people are the subjects of an irrevocable election and calling from God. Romans 11:1, 5 identifies Jewish believers in Yeshua as the saved remnant of Israel.
Planting Messianic Jewish congregations was considered a central part of the vision. We also saw Jewish believers in Yeshua living and identifying as Jews as a key to ushering in the last days and the catalyst toward all Israel being saved.
Some of us also understood how important it was at the same time to live out the truth that we are one with the body of believers as a whole. This was somewhat controversial since we were the only movement that professed oneness with the body of the Messiah that did not use the word Christian as our self-designation.
This has to be the most ignorant comment, coming from an elected official, I’ve ever read.
GREENVILLE – Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer has compared giving people government assistance to “feeding stray animals.”
Bauer, who is running for the Republican nomination for governor, made his remarks during a town hall meeting in Fountain Inn that included state lawmakers and about 115 residents.
“My grandmother was not a highly educated woman, but she told me as a small child to quit feeding stray animals. You know why? Because they breed. You’re facilitating the problem if you give an animal or a person ample food supply. They will reproduce, especially ones that don’t think too much further than that. And so what you’ve got to do is you’ve got to curtail that type of behavior. They don’t know any better,” Bauer said.
From CFNews13,
ORLANDO — A new audio tape has surfaced with explosive conversation between the Orlando pastor who took in runaway teen Rifqa Bary and his church board members.
During the 40-minute conversation, board members fired Pastor Blake Lorenz and his wife, Beverly.
Blake and Beverly Lorenz: “You’re not sorry! You guys are crazy. You guys are evil! You guys are the most evil people I’ve ever heard!”
Board members said the Lorenzes’ personal crusade to help Bary turned into a church matter, and legal lines were crossed.
Board Member: “We know the right and wrong way to do things legally, and you guys take it upon yourself to just go, ‘Oh, let’s just do it this way,’ and we find out you’ve done all this stuff illegally.” (more and audio)
Also at Bartholomew’s Notes on Religion: Pastor Blake Lorenz: Former Church Board “Demonically Possessed”
Cedntral Florida News 13 has posted online an audio of the meeting at which Pastor Blake Lorenz and his wife Beverly were relieved of their positions by board members of the Global Revolution Church. Lorenz, it will be recalled, was the pastor who arranged for 17-year-old Christian convert Rifqa Bary to flee from her Muslim parents in Ohio to his home in Florida; the board members (Brian Smith, Tom Sanchez, and Jeff Parker) complain that while he undoubtedly had acted with the best of intentions, (a) his way of doing it had been illegal, and his actions meant that the church and its board members were now liable to civil suits brought by Bary’s family; (b) his actions had put the board members in an uncomfortable situation, as their home addresses were on-line on the church website (and a promise to have them removed had not been honoured); (c) the Lorenzes had lied to the board, destroying trust, and they had lied to the authorities with the story that Bary had hitchhiked to the bus station in Ohio when in fact an associate had driven her there.
Lorenz responds to this with the claim that the board members are “demonically possessed”, “evil”, and “crazy”. (more)
(interesting stuff)
*Edited to add: If time allows be sure to listen to the audio of this meeting*
Congregations may look forward to the pastor’s sermon, but when it comes to bringing about a change in their attitudes or lifestyle, preaching appears to have little impact.
That is the finding of a new study by the CODEC research center at St. John’s College in Durham, U.K., commissioned by the College of Preachers to mark its 50th anniversary this year.
Of the 193 Anglicans, Catholics, Methodists and Baptists surveyed, only 17 percent said sermons frequently changed their attitudes towards others or helped them look afresh at controversial or topical issues.
More at The Christian Post
Not surprising, is it?
For,
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. John 6:63
What’s equally not surprising is we can read the text sermons of many long-gone preachers…like those of Charles Spurgeon, Jonathan Edwards, Billy Sunday, R.G. Lee, George Whitefield, etc. and hearts continue to be stirred and changed today by their words.
Something to think about…
THE FALL of man was utter and entire. Some things when they have become dilapidated may be repaired; but the old house of mankind is so thoroughly decayed that it must be pulled down even to its foundation, and a new house must be erected. To attempt mere improvement is to anticipate a certain failure.
Manhood is like an old garment that is rent and rotten; he that would mend it with new cloth doth but make the rent worse.
According to the Word of God, man’s heart is by nature like a stone; but God, through his grace, removes the stony heart and gives a heart of flesh.
The stony heart and its dangers
Why is the heart of man compared to a stone?
First, because, like a stone it is cold. Few persons like to be always treading upon cold stones in their houses, and hence we floor our habitations; and it is thought to be a part, of the hardship of the prisoner if he has nothing to sit down or rest upon but the cold, cold stone. You may heat a stone for a little season if you thrust it into the fire, but for how short a time will it retain its heat; and though it glowed just now, how very soon it loses all its warmth and returns again to its native coldness. Such is the heart of man.
You may think you have heated it for a little season under a powerful exhortation, or in presence of a solemn judgment, but how soon it returns to its natural state! We have heard of one who, seeing a large congregation all weeping under a sermon, said, “What a wonderful thing to see so many weeping under the truth!” and another added, “But there is a greater wonder than that—to see how they leave off weeping as soon as the sermon is over, concerning those things which ought to make them weep always and constantly.” Ah, dear friends, no warmth of eloquence can ever warn the stony heart of man into a glow of love to Jesus; nay, no force of entreaty can get so much as a spark of gratitude out of the flinty heart of man. Though your hearts renewed by grace should be like a flaming furnace, yet you cannot warm your neighbour’s heart with the divine heat: the warmth that is in your heart you cannot communicate to him, for he is not, while unconverted, capable of receiving it.
Jan passed on this bit of news. (Thanks!)
It appears Peter Wagner is passing on the Wagner Leadership Institute to fellow NAR member Che’ Ahn. (Read here)
It was just one year ago this month that Wagner passed on the role as leader of the New Apostolic Reformation to Dutch Sheets. (Dutch Sheets, new face of the NAR)
He’s getting up there in age so must be dividing up his organizations now between his ‘heirs’.
