“The whole idea that God expects us to build character in our lives is a foreign thing to so many people because it hasn’t been taught and explained from our pulpits.”
The Christian Post – Many U.S. churches today have “forgotten” their purpose, becoming entertainment-driven social organizations eager to blend in with secular culture instead of focusing on biblical discipleship, Pastor David Jeremiah warned.
“The Church is coming under attack; it’s forgotten what the Church is supposed to be,” Jeremiah, founder of Turning Point Radio and Television Ministries, told The Christian Post. “We’re not an entertainment service; we’re not here to see how close we can get to what the world does. But there’s so much of the world in the Church and vice versa that we can’t tell a difference. We have to hold to the truth. We have to get nourished. If it’s not happening, you’re a social organization and not a church.” [snip]
The New York Times best-selling author pointed out that ironically, churches that focus on entertainment and fail to present the whole Gospel are actually driving millennials and Generation Z away. He cited research from Barna Group and the Cornerstone Knowledge Network which found that 67 percent of millennials prefer a “classic” church over a “trendy” one.
“Here in California, we see interest on the part of millennials and younger for the Bible and for truth,” the pastor said. “Most of the time, we see statistics about how people are leaving the Church, but in many respects, young people are demanding more truth, more teaching, and less entertainment. They’re not interested in shallow expressions of religion.”
Finish reading here.
Leftists-libtards destroy everything they touch, even houses of worship.
Unsound doctrine is a key part of last day prophecies.
No man can know the day or hour, but all who study the prophecies, and pay attention to them, can know the times.
This is just another sign of the times we are in.
‘Fear God and keep his commandments’
^good advice
A Christian who confronts their church leadership about doctrine is soon drummed out.
I find this characterization to be charitable.
Last Christmas season, the Generalina and I were invited to a “celebration” in their huge church by some Baptist friends…
…nothing personal, MJA, but…
…all we can say is, their “Las Vegas Jesus” show
was *not* our cup of tea….
The “end times” have been the times for 2,000 years now. “Bad to worse” is no indicator to go by, that’s nominal baseline conditions. Always has been. But we can be a lot more specific on knowing how soon:
Paul was inspired to warn Timothy with a list of widespread traits that will be seen just before the wrath of God falls. At the very end of that list is the capper: the wicked people he’s talking about will alao have a veneer of godliness that will be completely fake and without substance. They’ll name His name but be none of His.
When he wrote that, it could have had only two possible contexts; pagans and Christ-rejecting Jews…and professing Christian believers.
The first two have not even the appearance of godliness as they are identified by being without Christ, who IS the believer’s righteousness. So they’re out.
That means Paul had to be talking about how Christendom (as we call it) would look just before the end…bright, shiny, busy, bustling, full of “praise God” and “Oh how I love Jesus” but utterly false, lifeless and bound for Hell.
Proof?
Q. What does almost all of professing Christianity/Christendom look like today?
A. Exactly like everything Paul forewarned to Timothy.
Yes we’re close, but not for the reason most of you think. Forget looking at times and seasons, just look around at Christianity. ALL of it, including in your own backyards.
“Leftists-libtards destroy everything they touch, even houses of worship.”
Yes, but only when the unsaved already within those houses allow them entrance. The Left only took full advantage of this situation, they didn’t create it.
I don’t know why you can’t have both. I went to several churches that preached the gospel and also kept you awake and inspired with lively music. (NOT Christian rock).
It’s meaningless to preach the truth if everyone is asleep.
I was traveling a few years ago and thought I’d get my Sunday sermon via the hotel tv. OMG! That wasn’t a sermon on how to please the Lord; it was a pep talk on how to get God to give you what you want. Hint: It involves giving the megachurch preacher money and adulation.
Sheep in wolves clothing (ref. Matthew 7:15) have indeed invaded the Church, yet there is a remnant of Christians faithful to the Gospel.
The fact that a false doctrine, incorporated by social justice millenials is now predominant in most American churches is definitely an indication of the end times.
Moose,
The focus of music has gone from exalting and praising God, to entertainment designed to put asses in pews and to keep them emotionally hyped (also making them more easily manipulated) .
Check it for yourself. Much praise & worship lyrics are very subtly ME centered…focused on how I feel about God, how He makes me feel, not on God Himself and His works.
The old hymns, on the other hand, are almost invariably focused on God and what he has done FOR us, with our joy as the response, not the focus.
Good hymns exalt God and Christ, and humble Self.
PW exalts emotion, subtly making Self the focus.
Analyze a random sampling of ten popular PW song lyrics and you’ll see what I mean.
“….67 percent of millennials prefer a “classic” church over a “trendy” one….”
That would be good news for Catholicism and bad news for all the heretics.
BTW, the satanic driven, “I’m Ok, You’re Ok” doctrine started in the 1960s. The offshoot of this became, “the prosperity gospel” in the 1980s which has now manifested as “social justice gospel” in the 2000s – all attempts to manipulate God. these false doctrines ignore the effects of sin and the Christian’s responsibility to submit to God’s will – not our desires. All false doctine deny the Sovereignty of God and His Word.
And gays in the pulpit…
An eye opening “evolution” of worship music;
https://youtu.be/2SaBhN2idbM .
Dramatic change after 2000s begin.
Well, if it ain’t got it a good pipe organ, I ain’t a goin’.
“That would be good news for Catholicism and bad news for all the heretics.”
Which Catholicism is that? The one run by a communist with a fish hat, where you won’t know your diocese did the Pedo Shuffle until your son tells you he can’t ride a bike for a few days?
99th Squad, Paul as recorded in Acts warned about what you say. And AAdams it is as you say. Critical thinkers who do not conform to the religious status quo are not wanted in a church deceived by apostasy teaching. Seminaries’ teachers were Communists planted to teach false doctrines to vulnerable students who believed and idolized them as “having a direct line to God.” This is also what church-goers are led to believe about their teachers. I have been there and have experienced it. Am still looking for a truthful place of fellowship in my own community. A person must know truth himself to be able to discern lies.
They put video screens, and bands and other Jimcracks and Geegaws in church to follow the crowd.
They should lead instead
I wanted to post this article because I have experienced this just within the last decade. I was attending a wonderful, Spirit-led, Sola Scriptura (the Bible is complete, authoritative, and true), teaching church. When the pastor left to work as a missionary in Asia, the new pastor was very good for the first year. He was being mentored by the previous pastor who was also a teaching pastor.
After he was released from oversight, things started to slowly change. His sermons became more socially related and less Biblical. He had no theology training and began to use other people’s writings to preach from. I thought about leaving when others started to leave, but wanted to do what I could to help things instead of giving up.
Then two things happened within a few months. MN was going to vote on same-sex marriage and when we asked the pastor to talk about it and use God’s word to educate the church about it, he refused. He said he didn’t want to offend anyone. That’s when I realized that all he wanted was to create the church into one of those mega churches with professional music and a production to draw people in.
The second thing that happened is that they adopted a ministry that was a current fad that was not Biblical. I wrote an article about how it was a heresy (using the author’s own words compared to what the Bible said), gave it to the pastor and all the leadership. When they said I needed to try it before I condemned it, I felt that there was nothing more I could do, so I left. It was very hard for me to do that, but I couldn’t keep going when I knew they had lost their way.
I now attend a church here in MI that is a wonderful, Spirit-led, Bible believing, teaching church. I will act sooner if I see the same thing happening!
Finally, this is Satan working on the fallen nature of man who listen to his temptation to make their lives about them instead of serving God. I pray for them still.
Letgodbetrue.com is a good site for truth
It is impossible or almost impossible to find a pastor that really preaches the solid Word of God. Or a church that sings the old hymns. I feel very badly for young people. I’m fearing the Holy Spirit is leaving.
Mine does.
The old hymns are, for the most part, built from Scripture–so that when you sang, you were hearing the message of Scripture as you sang it, which often deepens the impact.
Some of the older hymnals had an index that pointed out which sections of Scripture were in which hymns. I just quickly pulled five of those off the shelf right now:
The Hymnbook (PCUS, 1955)
The Worshipbook (PCUSA, 1970)
The Methodist Hymnal (1964)
Hymns for the Family of God (1976)
Songs for the People of God (1994)
There are undoubtedly others; and some without such an index listed the inspiring Scripture(s) at the top of each hymn.
The old hymns are Scriptural treasures.
I don’t know, grool. Maybe the very liberal state I live in that has something to do with it. I just can’t find a church like my childhood church from the mid-west.
Yes, Ann Nonymus, the old hymns mean so much and convey so much. Unlike those repetitive tunes they want to stick in now.
grool, you have been blessed and protected by the Holy Spirit.
But it is satanic, cultural Marxis/Communists who are this:
“Leftists-libtards destroy everything they touch, even houses of worship.”
It isn’t just political. It is outright spiritual warfare which must be fought as such. United in fellowship and prayer is the power of an obedient church, and that is what Communists fear most, for it is the power of God that overrides the power of Satan. And they actually believe it, too. They will do anything to stop believers praying together. So in your fellowship grool, encourage prayer.
Tuesday–
I agree. And when you sing the old hymns, their Scriptural foundations pretty much insure that you aren’t singing [i.e., loudly and publicly proclaiming] theological inaccuracies, if not downright heresy.
99th Squad Leader, do you have a special history that goes with your ID and serious, thoughtful comments? Being curious, I looked it up. Impressive info connected to the 99th squad.
“‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;
in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”
Matt 15:18-19
And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”
Isa 29:13-14
For a REFRESHING, BIBLICAL, perspective, stop in this Sunday. 😉
http://locator.lcms.org/nchurches_frm/church.asp
To borrow a phrase I see often these days…and water is wet, who knew?!?!?
There was a time when I was afraid to remove the lenses of “churchianity’s” doctrine and tradition. So very afraid that I would discover that it is all a lie, there is no god or truth and the world really is all there is, and we really are just random acts of chance.
Ha! The scales had been removed from my eyes, my hearing healed and my stony heart replaced with a fleshy one, ready to receive and know and guard (keep) YHWH’s Torah (Instructions). The instruction manual for a life set apart from the world.
Man’s own myopic nature is what has allowed ALL of this sliding scale of righteousness.
How far we have fallen since the 1st Century. Measuring ourselves against the generation (or two) before us, because we think THAT is the way “churchianity” should be. Slide that scale all the way back to around 30 AD and THEN you can see Whom you SHOULD measure yourself against.
There is only one author of the definition for living a righteous life and it is the Word of YHWH, written in the Tanak (Hebrew Bible). Our saviour, Yahshuah (Jesus), came to clean up the mess that the religious professionals had created with their Talmudic teachings. Yahshuah clarified, filled up with meaning that which the Pharisees had lowered to a letter of the law doctrine.
I find it sadly humorous that “the church” loves to quote that “we can do all things with God”, well, “except keep the law”. Wow, not much of a god they worship. My Elohim, El Shaddai even, says differently (Deut 30:11). “The Law” has nothing to do with salvation and everything to do with walking in righteousness and being worthy of the calling of which we are called (2 Tim 3:16-17). YHWH and Yahshuah used the words diligently/strive in regards to guarding Torah.
The most beloved men of YHWH did not walk perfectly. They were chastened, punished and stirred the anger of YHWH. But, as is His perfect loving, merciful and gracious way, restoration was always at the end of the chastening. YHWH chastens/corrects those whom He loves (He must love me a LOT).
The haughtiness of those who call themselves “the church” or “the body of christ”, and think that they have it all figured out and will not see any tribulation. I am afraid that the prophets are against you, and as Ecc 1:9/3:15 lets us know, history is cyclic and the shepherds who have taught against the everlasting, unchanging and perfect Word of YHWH, will pay the price in blood.
If I had not removed myself from the doctrinal errors of “churchianity”, I would not know of the coming Greater/2nd Exodus, or that the Mother of harlots is Jerusalem (most likely, still working through this) and there is NO rapture (per say) as taught in various sects of “the church”.
I will post a LONG letter that I mailed to numerous congregations we visited in our area several years ago regarding this very subject, of which this post only touches on. Read it or not, just might lend to the discussion.
May our glorious creator, bless and keep you and yours.
All glory, honour, power, praise and blessings be to Him, YHWH and His son, Yahshuah, forever. Amen!
Shabbat Shalom
Some of the new music is fine. My current church mixes it up for each service so we all get a little of what we want. The new songs we sing tend to have the more Biblical based lyrics that worship God’s character. They may not be a rich as the old hymns, but they are still Scriptural.
Jimmy, we do have an organ, but not a pipe organ! 😉
One other thing. I used to get a newsletter from a pastor in Minneapolis, Bob DeWaay, called “Critical Issues Commentary”. He would research the newest thing/fad (Critical Issues) that his church would ask him about. He would write an essay about each one exploring its origins and compare them to Scripture. He is the first person I heard talk about sola scriptura – The Bible is complete, authoritative, and true. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). That is his starting point for everything he writes. Here is the website if you’re interested:
https://cicministry.org/articles.php
The most current is on top and he started writing these in 1992. They are all there. Good reading. My favorite one: “Providence and Promise”:
https://www.cicministry.org/commentary/issue113.htm
tRuth, I was extremely blessed to grow up spiritually in a church that had solid Biblical doctrine. I’ve know Christ as Savior and Lord for over 30 years now, and matured by studying the Word of God to, “show myself approved” – (paraphased) 2 Timothy 2:15.
Unfortunately, my church has been corrupted by social justice – similar to Claudia’s experience. I’m in search of a new church, but until then, I’ve been lead by the Holy Spirit to pray that my church repents before it’s too late.
I love the Lord, and as mandated by our loving God, I let people know about the Gospel. The more people know how good and holy God is, the better.
BTW, My screen name is in honor of the 99th Squadron of Tuskegee Airmen fame. Although, I’ve never been in the military, I highly respect those in the service. Also, I just like the number 9.
I wrote this letter and sent a few years ago to numerous congregations of various denominations, which we visited at random. I was at the precipice of understanding the gross errors of the church doctrine, so there are mentions of things that are no longer part of my doctrinal understanding.
Pastor(s),
I am not really sure how to begin this letter as I am not completely sure what message I am trying to convey, but I do know I have a need to express a few things which have weighed on my mind these last few years.
First and foremost, let me express how being part of the CoC family has been a blessing to our family. From the first moment we entered the building, everyone was welcoming and friendly. Having been a couple of decades since either my wife or I had been in a Church, we were both happy to experience a calm feeling of a familiarity, like an old friend that you have not seen for decades but there is that moment, an instant when it all come flooding back. First the face recognition then memories of your friendship and the dynamics of your relationship. We both were able to use that to ease ourselves into a comfort zone. There was a lot of lip service, but no vocals with regards to the
song selection. No familiarity at all with many contemporary Christian music. This has long since been remedied.
It is to my shame that we did not begin our walk with Christ as a family sooner. We may have been able to have our eldest son included in our blood washed brood. We are working on him and see some sparks of possibility now and then, but is not a believer as of yet. Our two younger children both seem very much in a comfort zone with their faith, though still youthful in their full understanding, they both seem genuinely seeking to walk as our Lord has exampled for us. We should have long since become “Members” of the Church, but now with only about 2 years left for us in the area, we are not likely to make that leap just to leave in short time.
My wife and I have both grown much in our understanding of scripture and its messages with much more expository work in front of us still. As even milk fed saints soon come to understand, scripture is like an Ogre (Shrek: Ogres are like onions reference), it has many layers. Having grown up with the King James translation, I have always considered it the perfect inerrant word of God. It is still a primary reference for me and enjoy reading the King’s English.
Reading below this point may cause headache inducing eye-rolling and depending on how animated an individual you are, some pain in your neck from shaking your head. You have been warned.
Ah, but little did I realize that the KJ is tainted (IMHO) with the Anglican (and thereby “Roman Catholic”) presuppositions of man created doctrine and rituals. What I believe are purposeful translation “tweaks” to important passages relating to Christ’s resurrection and a few words within passages relating to important prophecies. But I am getting ahead of myself here.
We like to visit other Churches in the area from time to time and even watch some of our favorite Pastors and Theologians on YouTube from time to time. I grew up Southern Baptist and my wife was Methodist. My personal experience in these visitations has me set back a bit in how Homogeneous the message has become and not in a good way. I hear only the outer layer of the whole of the Bible being preached. In fact, this has been the catalyst for my not only digging deeper into Gods word, but researching into language, idioms and other variables which cause these translation variances.
It is with a heavy heart that I exit these congregations where the 5 to 9 member band plays and sings and is in a concert like setting, which seems to overshadow the purpose of the gathering. Even while the Lord’s supper is being given and the band is playing at a level which drowns out the words spoken by those holding the bread and wine. All of this followed by a hollow sounding sermon on walking inthe steps of the Christ, loving everyone and everything will be “Okeydokey”. Some sermons seem to border on the Osteen heresy of “God wants you to have more money, so you can buy more stuff, so you
can be happy”. It just seems that the more tithing received the more culture embedded the congregation allows itself to become. When friends describe and/or recommend their church it is all about the band, music, Building and free coffee, donuts and bagels. Their eyes so wide with pride as they describe things. Yet there is no mention of the sermon quality and message being preached, oh but the Pastor is so funny and entertaining. I could go on, but feel like this paints a clear portrait of my
experiences with multiple church visitations. This includes on-line video recordings of services.
That is not to say there are not good (even great) Bible based Churches out there, obviously there has to be. They just seem to be few and far between. I am at a loss of words for the quantity of formulaic “powerhouse” type of money making, practically commercialized “churches” there are in the area. I have a feeling it is not relegated to our area only as I see the same formulaic presentation on-line too often. I hear some say that at least it gets people in the door and then they can be brought into the
Lord’s open arms. Well maybe not so much.
There is no mention of the enmity between the flesh and the Holy Spirit residing in us. How even the most beloved men of God could not keep from falling into sins of lust (especially), pride and anger. How much more are we as fallen creations battling with these things in the world as it is now. I say that we are, even at the door of the days of Noah and of Sodom. The word sin or any reference to any specific sin seems to be avoided at ANY cost. As if they do not want to offend anyones sensibilities for
fear of loosing members. The full on usage of cultural “norms” allows for people to equate what they are doing in their daily lives as acceptable and no reason to look inward and measure their behavior vs the example provided by our Christ. How is anyone to discern the difference of living for this world and living apart from the world as we are commanded, if the bowels of our churches have no measurable differences from the world outside.
I believe this leads to an errant feeling of equilibrium in our behavior which suffocates the needed catalyst for real change. Why change behavior which is not spoken against. This is how a human (fallen creation) thinks, looking to excuse and/or rationalize things which we know are wrong. As in the Garden of Eden, paraphrasing, “Did dad (God) really say not to eat from the tree?”, “you will not surely get in trouble (die)”. Even Paul said that which he would he does not and that which he would not he does. Again, how much more are we struggling when we have distractions coming at us from
every direction and at a level beyond anything ever seen in the world. Without set boundaries we will by nature allow for an ever growing amount of wiggle room in our behavior. We need (at least I do) to hear the message as to Why we need a Saviour, How has God been Merciful unto us and what have we received by a completely undeserved Grace.
I grew up in the 70’s where our descent into this Abyss took a steep dive coming out of the 60’s progressive take over of everything. Sex, sex and more sex. Free love. No reason to be accountable for your actions. Everyone’s a winner! Roe v Wade!! We were over sexualized children then and I cannot imagine what the kids are sharing with each other today and what my own children have had to battle to stay even in the proximity of sound moral behavior (stumbling oft, as they are not angels) and remaining saved. Some of the stories I have heard from my kids regarding the rampant use of drugs and exchanging of porn at School, it just weighs on me. These things were done during my time in K-12, but we did not have mini computers capable of carrying Gigabytes of images, videos and music. The social engineering that is occurring in our Schools is so antithetical to biblical teachings it is no wonder we are at this point. As the proverbial snowball rolling down hill, it has grown into an unstoppable size and Judgment is coming.
Scripture is in the range of ~24-30% prophetic and the above cursory description of our times are expressed clearly in many these prophetic (End Times) verses. These things will and must come to pass, as it is a part of God’s sovereign will to complete his overall plan of redemption. It cannot be stopped and having our heads in the sand benefits no one. I do understand that not everyone believes as I do with regards to the literal (with allegories) interpretation of Revelation. I do not know whether I
am with the majority, though there are variances within the Futurist view, as I cannot find any empirical numbers regarding percentages of who believes what. It also seems, based on various sources and resources, that there are those coming out of seminary and Bible College who do not want to deal with the subject due to its (more likely our) divisive nature. I can empathize with that yoke as I have struggled with it myself the first two years of reading and studying the scriptures.
We are led where ever we need to be if we take the time to read and meditate on God’s word. I fear (but do not know) that many do not rely on our Lord’s guidance and leave it to the pulpit for all spiritual and doctrinal guidance. I believe that we err sorely with this modus operandi since I also believe that too many coming out of seminary, etc. rely too much, if not completely, on those who are educating them on doctrine. As with the 1 st Century Church having heresies and corruption slither in amongst them while the Apostles were still alive, our seminaries and Bible School curriculum’s are even more prone to this corruption. I believe that the liberal/progressive take over of education did not end nor begin with K-12.
The Bible is an historically factual document, written over the course of more than 1500 years by approximately 40 authors without contradiction. In addition scripture has proven to be beyond the capabilities of mere lowly creations or as the Materialist believes, a random act of nature. The sheer number of prophetic passages relating to the first literal Advent of the Christ, beginning in Genesis and coming to pass EXACTLY as testified, leaves absolutely no question as to the only possible source of such knowledge. These are not vague fore tellings of possible events which have to be twisted and contorted to almost, kind of, but not really fit an historical event, i.e. Nostradamus, which is more akin to daily horoscopes.
Only He who is outside of time and space and is the catalyst which caused all things, only God can stand as the narrator of all things past, present and future. No other writings in existence have had more positive affect on the world than the messages contained within the pages of God’s word. Hence why Satan and the forces of evil have attacked the word of God, from the days of Genesis unto today, from every possible direction and means available to him. Using our own fallen iniquities against us to
undermine that which the Lord has put on our hearts. It is these forces of evil that have blasphemed God’s word through the use of the corruption of doctrine, translation changes, sermons which challenge no one and professed Christian organizations which blaspheme God and his messages. If scripture had continued to hold the position as the greatest natural moral law of the universe into the 20 th century, things like the abomination of evolution and the “Big Bang” would have been put down in the first half
of that century.
One of the greatest testaments to the truth of the Bible is that after 2000 years, it has only grown in the confirmation of its factual historical references. It cannot be defeated or removed from history as they have attempted for centuries. Archeology and other disciplines have verified the people, places and events but Academia and the media ignore these confirmations, via a concerted effort to obfuscate and discredit scripture. But they are so very quick to sensationalize any outlandish postulation and run them on the 24/7 news cycle, but once proven false, no retraction or broadcast of the truth. The media walks hand in hand with the world of Academia which will allow wild presuppositions to accommodate the natural/materialist view, while removing out of hand anything which points to Creation. They areconstantly having to adjust, add to, delete , rewrite and overall twist their postulations to fit their narrative. If allowed to be compared to the inerrant word of God, all things would point to His truth and like a house of cards, their narrative would fall onto the dung heap of man created lies.
In the world today where all truths are relative, witnessing alone will fall on rocky soil at best. You may get a “Wow, that’s great for you, but it does not fit MY truth”. I believe we as children of God should be armed with His word, our witness and these empirically quantifiable contentions. It does shift slightly into the world of Apologetics, but using the worlds own postulations, methods and tactics against itself, they will fight against one another as a house divided. Perhaps such unfettered displays
of incoherence will plant the seeds of belief which our Lord and Savior will reap!
Much like the Pharisees of old who sought the approval of men, sucking in their cheeks to look emaciated as if fasting and praying continually with murmurings in plain view, for all to see. What Piety! No, they were Vipers and Hypocrites! Burdening their flocks by putting a yoke upon the members while unrepentantly excusing themselves from such a yoke. The pulpit seems to concern itself more with the doctrine/traditions of man and his relation to the world (culture), instead of the whole of God’s message and our relationship with Him. How, by the sovereign will of the Creator, He pours out His Mercy upon a creation which righteously deserves death, but instead receives a completely undeserved Grace.
My words here are not new thoughts, concerns or accusations. There is no revelation in my words. They have been expressed often by authoritative and more capable men than I. Having been blessed to hear and read sermons from these prolific Shepherds of the last three centuries, their words brought about cauterized moments in my walk with the Christ. These moments were like pieces of a puzzle, with only a distorted and smudged reference image, distorted by the watering down of God’s word to fit the culture. These pieces being put in place bring sections of the image into recognition, while the whole of the image was still uncertain. These moments assuaged angst rising in me due to the
differences between what I was reading in scripture which seemed in stark contradiction to what I see in the Church today.
Every generation has had its “signs of the end”, but never before have more important prophecies been fulfilled i.e. Israel reborn in one day, Jerusalem recaptured, growth of knowledge, capabilities of travel, approaching complete deviancy and moral decay, etc… Time is truly short and the Head of the Church comes for His Body soon, He is even at the door!
99th Squad Leader, I’m sad to hear about your experience with your church. It is heart breaking. I have no sage words for you except that I pray the God will visit that church with his Holy Spirit to ignite the latent fire for God which they once possessed. God, show them your Truth and have mercy on them. Thank you for your holiness.
Bob Rumsford, that was a mighty powerful letter. I can relate to your life-long search for the only Truth that redeems our fallen nature – God’s Truth. It will be constant, for as soon as we think, “Ah, I’ve arrived”, we find that we have missed the mark and must fall on our face in repentance. Thank you for sharing that. God is Good.
Thank you, so much for your prayer, Claudia. It really helps to have a sister in Christ like you who understands the pain of experiencing heresy in your church home.
You’re right, When I first realized my young PK pastor was following false doctrine, I was extremely heartbroken, discouraged, angry (at Satan), and sad. It took prayer and being guided by the Holy Spirit to recover and press on, faithfully. I didn’t have a crisis in faith, but I did ask God why.
It seems some people are not fully persuaded that God is the answer. In this case, my millenial pastor became a SJW, caught up in the spirit of the age/times. Like most of his generation, he thinks God needs his help getting things right. Very frustrating.
I will pray for your former pastor as well. It’s so critical these blinded church leaders get back to the Truth.
@Tuesday or others interested in some of the older gospel hymns, The Stanley Brothers (bluegrass) did a fine album of old “camp meeting” songs that have several of the old hymns we used sing in a country Baptist church in GA when I grew up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z02m_BLSF44
And Alan Jackson did a really good album of similar songs that is a little more traditional (mostly rhythm guitar and piano. Songs include Blessed Assurance, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms and several more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Wrh1lYmo98&list=PLOF_yXyKSbn5hbPztqFyXcwRf0oMHwq6G
And anyone interested in some great old Southern Gospel music from the 50’s and 60’s, go to youtube and search for groups like The Statesmen, The Blackwood Brothers, The Rebels, The Chuck Wagon Gang, etc. Great 4-part harmony
Thank you, Bubba’s Brother! 🙂
Traditional Latin Mass works for us and for a lot of young families we know. We feel blessed to be able to attend four or five times a week.
You’re welcome Tuesday. Most of the music I listen to for the last several years has been that kind of music. The Chuck Wagon Gang is one of my favorites – nothing but a guitar and voices in wonderful harmony together.