About 30 years ago while my wife and I were overseas missionaries and preparing to come to the U.S. on furlough and itinerate (travel to churches preaching to raise support), I sought God for a message for the church. God gave me a message I simply titled Holy War.
The crux of the message is that there has always been and will always be a Holy War. A mistake many people make is thinking that Holy War was specific to a time, region or faiths. This is a mistake that leads to failure. Without going into a long teaching on the true meaning of Holy, let me just say that it is about understanding the total supremacy and unique nature of God, and the things of God, that are not open to compromise or dilution. To make it a battle exclusively between Islam and Christianity or Christianity, Islam and Judaism misses the mark. Holy War was, and often is, between a true biblical faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Jesus, and a counterfeit religion. It is the difference in "professing a form of godliness but denying the power, thereof," and a true faith in the power and authority of God and His people in the world.
In my original essay on Holy War, I said there are 3 prime enemies of God and His people today. Those are Islam, Secular Humanism, and a "New Age" syncretism. That has not changed. These are still the enemies of God and His people. Before we can combat the onslaught we must first recognize these exist and are in fact our enemy. We can try and make friends and hopefully win over our enemies, but we must NEVER compromise the essentials of the faith to accomplish this.
This brings me to 2017 and how this relates to what is going on with the anti-Trump movement. If you look at who the opposition is and why, you will find that it is either Islamists, Secular Humanist atheists, and syncretists. For those who do not know the term syncretism, it is the merging or ideas and giving equal value to any and all faiths. These are people that believe the foundational teachings and beliefs of Judeo-Christian thought are not something exclusive, and worth defending. These three entities have teamed up to bring an all out assault against President Donald Trump. Enemies within and without the Jewish and Christian ranks are bringing all manner of attack against anything Trump, while most orthodox evangelicals and Jews support and defend him. Many of those within those ranks fail to understand what Jesus said,: "he who is not against us is for us." Luke 9:50. Donald Trump has shown he is for us.
This is a really tough fight and I believe a fight which will determine whether America,Western Civilization and the world is saved or allowed to slide to its destruction.
Having said all of this, as this is a Holy War, a spiritual war, we cannot fight it by carnal means. I believe that those entities I spoke of are driven by spiritual powers that they cannot even see. We, therefore, must fight with spiritual weapons.
In that same prayer time in which God gave me this message, I believe He also gave me the prescription or battle plan for defeating these "forces of darkness."
I urge you to read and study the passages I am about to share with you and to share these with any and every, like minded, believer you know. Disclaimer: If you are not a believer in the full authority of God and scripture, please stop reading and leave this site now. I will not spend time arguing with you in this space. I can see you on FaceBook for that.
Please read 2 Chronicles 20:1-29, as here lies the key. The people of Judah were facing three enemies, just as we are. These three Moabites, Ammonites and Meunites surrounded the people of Judah with larger numbers and more force than the people of Judah could win over. Jehoshaphat knowing they had no earthly way of defeating these enemies, called for a fast. The people fasted and then, on behalf of the nation, Jehoshaphat cried out to God and confessed their powerlessness. The most important words of his prayer were as follows: "We have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you." This is very important to understand. First of all, the victory of Donald Trump was not, in my opinion, due nearly as much to anything he did, although he worked very hard, as it was to God responding to the prayers of the saints. We must now maintain that same humility and dependence on God to save and preserve our nation as we are under attack.
So, to get to it, we need to do as God directed Jehoshaphat. God directed him to go after the enemy with the army, BUT he was to set worshipers to lead them. Not only did he direct him to set worshipers in front of the army, he told him what they were to sing. God directed the worshipers to sing: "Give thanks unto the Lord for He is good AND His mercy is everlasting." What happened; you may ask? As the army marched to war and approached the enemy, they came upon encampments of thousands of dead enemy fighters. What happened? The enemy had turned on itself and the three destroyed one another.
I am convinced that the same will happen today as God's people seek Him and recite this same praise/prayer. Oh give thanks unto the Lord for He is good and His mercy is everlasting. These three enemies, I believe will be exposed and turn on themselves.
In closing, I leave you with one question though. Do you believe or better said how much do you believe?
Sunday, February 05, 2017
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
The Church Is Not Inclusive
Today I sat and heard a message on why the Church should be more inclusive. It came from someone that I love and respect very much, but I am convinced that the message was in error and they are very wrong in their interpretation. Let me say here, at the outset, that the situation with most believers who preach tolerance and inclusiveness is not that they do not believe in the Gospel, it is that they tend to be so filled with compassion that they are confused and impute things to the faith that were never intended. The essence of the message was that the reason that sinners are not drawn to the Church is that we (the Church) are too dogmatic and a turn off. Evangelicals in particular are to blame.
As I was sitting there listening to this message I had two immediate and overpowering thoughts. 1) The Church is not inclusive, it is exclusive to the saints. 2) The Church does not tolerate, It enthusiastically EMBRACES whosoever will come into the fold.
The examples used to show how the Church is supposed to be tolerant were Adam and Eve hiding from God and blaming someone other than themselves for their fall, Jesus' acceptance of Zacchaeus, His interaction with those who caught the woman in adultery and finally, the prostitute who fell at Jesus' feet and washed his feet with her hair. While these are each examples of God's love, compassion and forgiveness, they are not examples of inclusion and tolerance. Let's look at the example of Adam and Eve. While this example sounds good, warm and fuzzy, it leaves something very essential and critical to the message out. Adam and Eve were exiled from the Garden, separated from God and condemned to a life of work and then death. Wow, that's kind of harsh and intolerant of God isn't it? In His compassion God offered, through His grace, a way back to Himself and life eternal but only after He separated mankind through Adam and Eve from His presence. Then let's look at Zacchaeus. While Jesus told Zacchaeus to come down so He could eat at his home, Zacchaeus afterward said he would give half of his wealth and restore anything he took falsely. In other words Zacchaeus, acted upon his encounter with Jesus. In the case of the woman caught in adultery, Jesus ended that encounter with the words “go and sin no more.” Finally in the case of the prostitute who came to Jesus and washed His feet, by the context, she wept because she had received forgiveness and was showing by her actions that she understood and wanted to express her gratefulness for the grace and forgiveness Jesus offered. The fact that Jesus said “much is forgiven,” indicates that she wanted out from the burden of some great sin.
There was another example shared; that Jesus ate and drank with sinners, which is true, but here is where I believe the mistake is made. We, as believers have two responsibilities. First, as members of the Body are to assemble with “the Saints.” Secondly, as ambassadors we are also to go into “the world” and make disciples. Did you catch that? I will state it in reverse order. We are to go into the world and assemble with the saints. This is no little matter and should not be confused. The mistake is in confusing going into the world and congregating or assembling with the world. The church has become a “come ye” vs. a “go ye” proposition. Jesus said “go into the world and make disciples,” not, go bring people to church. I worked with Youth With A Mission in Amsterdam for several years, where we did “Friendship Evangelism” in the red light and drug district of the city. We would go into the streets and minister to the prostitutes and drug addicts and dealers. One of the things we did if a prostitute or drug addict wanted to come to Christ, was to remove them from their environment. We had specific facilities set up to deal with and minister to them. We did not bring them into the general body of believers until they were able to understand what they had experienced and were not a threat to the members of The Body. I know there are some who would say what threat and why should we be afraid of bringing people in. Jesus and Paul each warned about those coming into the assembly or among the flock. Wolves in sheep clothing comes to mind. I could tell you many stories of pastors who did not feel a threat at letting certain people into the midst of the congregation who sorely regretted it later. In a small tight group it is not as much of a threat but as the various entities grow larger so does the threat.
This leads me to a simple question regarding this message I heard today. I know that the message was directed at certain segments such as homosexuals, cohabiting couples and possible those wrestling with addictions. But if one wants to get real and take it for what it is worth, would we not have to and include pedophiles, serial adulterers, and drug dealers, not just users (who have or are sinning much) in those we need to reach out too and tolerate? What are we tolerating or including? Should we tolerate and include this behavior as well?
Finally, I take issue with the assertion that the Church is unable to attract people because we are not inclusive. Could it be the opposite? Could it be because we accept too much? That there is no longer a standard by which we are to live? As I said, I have seen friendship evangelism, but that is evangelism and not accommodation. I encourage believers to go and reach out to any and all sinners. Compel them to come into the Kingdom of God, but also what that means. If one wants to join the congregation or assembly of saints let them understand what saint means. As Jesus said, “go and sin no more,” and you are more than tolerated, you are not just included, you are fully embraced by the body of saints.
As I was sitting there listening to this message I had two immediate and overpowering thoughts. 1) The Church is not inclusive, it is exclusive to the saints. 2) The Church does not tolerate, It enthusiastically EMBRACES whosoever will come into the fold.
The examples used to show how the Church is supposed to be tolerant were Adam and Eve hiding from God and blaming someone other than themselves for their fall, Jesus' acceptance of Zacchaeus, His interaction with those who caught the woman in adultery and finally, the prostitute who fell at Jesus' feet and washed his feet with her hair. While these are each examples of God's love, compassion and forgiveness, they are not examples of inclusion and tolerance. Let's look at the example of Adam and Eve. While this example sounds good, warm and fuzzy, it leaves something very essential and critical to the message out. Adam and Eve were exiled from the Garden, separated from God and condemned to a life of work and then death. Wow, that's kind of harsh and intolerant of God isn't it? In His compassion God offered, through His grace, a way back to Himself and life eternal but only after He separated mankind through Adam and Eve from His presence. Then let's look at Zacchaeus. While Jesus told Zacchaeus to come down so He could eat at his home, Zacchaeus afterward said he would give half of his wealth and restore anything he took falsely. In other words Zacchaeus, acted upon his encounter with Jesus. In the case of the woman caught in adultery, Jesus ended that encounter with the words “go and sin no more.” Finally in the case of the prostitute who came to Jesus and washed His feet, by the context, she wept because she had received forgiveness and was showing by her actions that she understood and wanted to express her gratefulness for the grace and forgiveness Jesus offered. The fact that Jesus said “much is forgiven,” indicates that she wanted out from the burden of some great sin.
There was another example shared; that Jesus ate and drank with sinners, which is true, but here is where I believe the mistake is made. We, as believers have two responsibilities. First, as members of the Body are to assemble with “the Saints.” Secondly, as ambassadors we are also to go into “the world” and make disciples. Did you catch that? I will state it in reverse order. We are to go into the world and assemble with the saints. This is no little matter and should not be confused. The mistake is in confusing going into the world and congregating or assembling with the world. The church has become a “come ye” vs. a “go ye” proposition. Jesus said “go into the world and make disciples,” not, go bring people to church. I worked with Youth With A Mission in Amsterdam for several years, where we did “Friendship Evangelism” in the red light and drug district of the city. We would go into the streets and minister to the prostitutes and drug addicts and dealers. One of the things we did if a prostitute or drug addict wanted to come to Christ, was to remove them from their environment. We had specific facilities set up to deal with and minister to them. We did not bring them into the general body of believers until they were able to understand what they had experienced and were not a threat to the members of The Body. I know there are some who would say what threat and why should we be afraid of bringing people in. Jesus and Paul each warned about those coming into the assembly or among the flock. Wolves in sheep clothing comes to mind. I could tell you many stories of pastors who did not feel a threat at letting certain people into the midst of the congregation who sorely regretted it later. In a small tight group it is not as much of a threat but as the various entities grow larger so does the threat.
This leads me to a simple question regarding this message I heard today. I know that the message was directed at certain segments such as homosexuals, cohabiting couples and possible those wrestling with addictions. But if one wants to get real and take it for what it is worth, would we not have to and include pedophiles, serial adulterers, and drug dealers, not just users (who have or are sinning much) in those we need to reach out too and tolerate? What are we tolerating or including? Should we tolerate and include this behavior as well?
Finally, I take issue with the assertion that the Church is unable to attract people because we are not inclusive. Could it be the opposite? Could it be because we accept too much? That there is no longer a standard by which we are to live? As I said, I have seen friendship evangelism, but that is evangelism and not accommodation. I encourage believers to go and reach out to any and all sinners. Compel them to come into the Kingdom of God, but also what that means. If one wants to join the congregation or assembly of saints let them understand what saint means. As Jesus said, “go and sin no more,” and you are more than tolerated, you are not just included, you are fully embraced by the body of saints.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)