Steve Blackwell

oug Pagitt’s New Book: A Christianity Worth Believing – NOT Worth Believing!
by Ezra McGill
Free-lance writer

In his book, A Christianity Worth Believing, emergent leader Doug Pagitt presents a theology that is worth exposing, because it is neither biblical nor Christian. This is the unfortunate power of media-savvy emergent leaders–errant theology is couched in Christian terms, and the undiscerning are drawn in.

As others have noted, Doug Pagitt undoubtedly cares about his flock, the homeless, coffee farmers in Guatemala, and the environment. Yet, if the emergent movement could be summed up in one phrase, perhaps it is this: “Tiny men shaking tiny fists at the biblical God.”
The Bible tells us, “The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the LORD shall have them in derision.(Psalm 2: 2-4)

The author of A Christianity Worth Believing vigorously disputes the authority of Sola Scriptura–the Word of God. He writes, “The inerrancy debate is based on the belief that the Bible is the word of God, that the Bible is true because God made it and gave it to us as a guide to truth. But that’s not what the Bible says” (p. 65).

He further explains, “This is how it works. We are characters in the stories we hear. The living Bible invites us to step into the stories, not as observers, but as participants in the faith that is alive and well and still being created” (p.67).

That’s right. The author believes Christianity is still in the process of being created. Obviously, this theology that is being created is in total opposition to biblical Truth. Like the author of The Shack, Pagitt categorically denies the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ.

He states, “the early evangelists recognized they could help the Jesus story make sense if Jesus was seen as someone who was chosen to appease the wrath of God–hence, the ‘anointed one’ who could do what no one else could do” (p. 181).

So, minus our Savior, how does this emergent leader view receiving forgiveness for sins? Before we get to this, let us understand that he spends a good deal of time making the artificial distinction between Christians’ alleged Greco-Roman understanding of God (Pagitt sees this as a distant God), and the Old Testament Hebrew God (always present, understanding, and intimate).

Incredibly, the author presents the Old Testament as his “proof” that there has always been accessible forgiveness for sin. He notes that his wife was raised in a Jewish family, and she “tells [the congregation] each year that the Jews would celebrate the Day of Atonement by gathering lint from their pockets, every little corner of them. She invites us to do the same. Then we write confessions on pieces of paper or pick up leaves to represent each sin and walk to the edge of a stream. As we drop our leaves and papers into the stream, we read from the Psalms” (pp.163-164).

Psalm 103:11-13 is then read to Pagitt’s congregation: “For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.”

Following this, he writes, his wife, “reminds us that just as the water carries our words away, God takes our sins from us. As far as can be, sin is removed, taken, gone. Yes, sin exists, and when we find it, we should get rid of it” (p. 164).

But what defines “sin” if the Bible is not really the authoritative Word of God? If Christ is not Savior? Pagitt never really gives a satisfactory answer to this.

“Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee: and they have not discovered thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity; but have seen for thee false burdens and causes of banishment”(Lamentations 2:14). Pagitt assures us he understands this new theology can be upsetting. “This can come as a shock to those Christians who are so used to hearing that Jesus is the solution to sin that they assume that the remedy started with the death of Jesus. The Jewish Tradition tells us otherwise” (p. 163).

A Christianity Worth Believing is the presentation of a distorted version of our faith. It is the tepid celebration of a powerless, false “christ.” It is textbook emergent heresy. Those reading this book who do know and love Christ may feel disgust, disbelief, even scorn. Well and good. But may we also be very afraid for those who are exposed to such teaching.

“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14).

One gets the sense that Doug Pagitt seems compelled to deny the Truth–he simply cannot see it. He is the angry blind man striking out with his cane. He swings, he slashes; he jabs and stabs. Unfortunately, that sharpened cane has poked out many an eye.
And seems poised to pierce many, many more.

“And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch?’” (Luke 6:39)

Related Information:

More on Doug Pagitt’s spirituality, click here.

When They Say There’s No Blood Atonement

The Process of Reimagining by Roger Oakland

EMERGENT MANIFESTO: Emerging Church Comes Out of the Closet

If we look to the Institutional Church for answers to these questions we are unlikely to find the solution. The institutional Church is the problem, and it is in denial. If they are the problem, then looking for an answer from them will be fruitless. The fact that our country and world are failing, points, not to the worldliness of the world, or to the Religious Right’s inability to get their man into political office, but to a failure of the Organized Church as the Body of Christ, and their failure to please God. God always points to the failure of His people, when the nation is afflicted, and His requirement for healing has always been the same; He demands deep repentance.

What we see in the new emerging movement is not all-that-much different than what we have seen from the religious right and the organized Church in times past. What we see is their grasping for a lifeline, really anything that floats, that will give purpose, meaning, and sense, to what is happening in the natural world and the spiritual world. The young are not oblivious to the failures going on around them in organized Christianity, so the organizers offer a different program, something that has a new taste, a new feel, a new texture, a new marketing strategy that targets them (a new niche market), but it is the same old worldly building material and approach, only with new packaging.

The religious right has prostituted the Church, and their children have become prostitutes, what else would you expect. All the make-up that is worn can not hide the decaying body of the old organization. The  youth with their energy, and brand new ideas are following in their mother’s footsteps, and are bent on showing the old woman how to run the outfit. The old organization simply will not acknowledge the fact that its body is failing and that it can’t work the streets like it used to, it only sees how much more worldly, its own children have become. They insist that the problem rest on the youth, but like I said they are in denial.

A new program and a youthful presentation is not the answer; as a matter of fact no program or presentation is the answer. The answer is the same as it has always been, their failure to please God, and deep repentance. For the corporate Church to acknowledge this failure (that the whole body of their approach to God has been built with earthly materials and that the emerging church is just an extension of that) and to publicly repent, and cast all their worthless efforts into the dust, and then lead great multitudes of sheep to likewise repent of their own dead works, lack of faith, and trust in God to complete His own work (as He said He would), is incomprehensible to imagine, at this point in time. Only more and better programs are on the horizon, more sincere sounding prayers, more involvement and commitment to the institution, a face lift to hide the decay,  intellectual justification for its existence, and better marketing are all that are offered. They do not realize that the body is decayed from the top of its head all the way to its toes; a body waiting to fall over.

Many institutional Church people will look at the following article, and shake their heads, and maybe sense an urgency and alarm, or possibly see and acknowledge a need for a face-lift, but few will see the problem as a heart problem of the whole body, not just the new movement, and follow through with true repentance.

Jer 3:3-5
“Therefore the showers have been withheld,
and no spring rains have fallen.
Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute;
you refuse to blush with shame.
Have you not just called to me:
‘My Father, my friend from my youth,
will you always be angry?
Will your wrath continue forever?’
This is how you talk,
but you do all the evil you can.”

Steve Blackwell

____________________________________________

Evangelical Movement at ‘Head-Snapping’ Moment, Says Scholar

The evangelical movement is at a “head-snapping” generational change with younger evangelicals “revolting” against the tone of the Christian Right, says a prominent religious scholar.

Sun, Oct. 11, 2009 Posted: 12:14 PM EDT

Across the nation, young evangelicals are naming Rick Warren or Bono as their role model for social engagement, rather than a Christian Right leader, says Michael Gerson, senior research fellow in the Center on Faith & International Affairs at the Institute for Global Engagement.

Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forrest, Calif., is known for mobilizing evangelical churches in the battle against HIV/AID in Africa, while U2 frontman Bono is one of the world’s leading anti-poverty activists.

“We are seeing a head-snapping generational change,” contends Gerson, who was a top aide and former speech writer to President George W. Bush. “The model of social engagement of the religious right is increasingly exhausted.”

At the recent biennial Evangelical Leaders Forum, Gerson offered three reasons for the change: a recovery of scriptural emphasis, a revolt against the tone and style of the Religious Right, and the effects of short-term mission trips on young Christians. (Read rest of article here).

If Christianity is to receive a rejuvenation,

-A.W. Tozer

The issue threatening these preachers isn’t the sin that plagues their congregations and the country, or the persecution of devout Christians around the world, it is their treasured tax exemption status when the IRS reminds them of their obligation contained within their agreement.

The World Net Daily run a story that begins like this:

By Bob Unruh
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

Dozens of pastors around the nation are challenging an Internal Revenue Service rule that anti-Christian activists often invoke when they want to silence the message of churches, according to the Alliance Defense Fund.

The organization has announced that more than 80 preachers are taking part in its second annual Pulpit Freedom Sunday this weekend.

The pastors will preach Sunday sermons related to biblical perspectives on the positions of electoral candidates or current government officials, exercising their constitutional right to free religious expression, the ADF said.

They will do so despite a “problematic” IRS rule that activists use when they want to silence the message of Christians, the ADF said.

The rest of the story can be read at http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=111038

I know that I am not going to get a lot of support for my stand that the “Church” is in the failure mode, at the end of the age, and that this is just one of the many symptoms, but frankly, I would be quite surprised if more than a few see  the real issue here.

Let’s keep it simple. When they signed up for their “tax exemption” favor they should have read the small print. Also, they should have read the much larger print in the Bible, forbidding the unequal yoking of Christians to the world. Are these men, and others who didn’t have the guts to speak out, now wanting to renege on their promise? Doesn’t the Bible say somewhere something about “swearing to one’s own hurt”?

Where in the Bible does the “Church” become immune to taxes. These preachers sound like the Pharisees complaining to Rome about Temple infringements when the High Priest’s position was a political appointment.

Some are thinking that the article is not about taxes but about the right to say what they want from the pulpit. Don’t be so naive. This is about the IRS’s ability to jerk their tax exemption for not complying to the rules. Oh, it’s about money alright, and that scares them. The simple solution is to pay your property taxes like everyone else; Jesus did. If you take an oath or sign a contract then you are bound by that oath or contract. These men knew that going in to the process, but they were more concerned with the “windfall” of money that this would create, I mean, every body else was signed on with the world, so it must be O.K., right? These guys/gals just want their cake and eat it too. You can’t have it both ways. And, besides, who gave them permission to preach political sermons anyway, Jesus? I don’t think so!

Don’t they see that their silly little political speeches can not change the world, or are they ignorant of all who have tried before them. Their own disobedience to God’s word is the problem with the world and are country. God is not waiting for them to “get political” from the pulpit, He’s waiting for them to repent. “When a man’s ways please the Lord He makes even his enemies to live at peace with him.” They pretend that their pulpit is the tool used by God to get the lesser of two evil men into office, but the lesser of two evils is still evil. True Christianity and politics have nothing in common, they are of two different worlds, and the one has nothing to do with the other.

Christians talking of  dual citizenship is an illusion. You are either a citizen of Heaven or you’re not. You have no vote in this world, and you have no rights. You are a pilgrim in this world, just passing through. Let the world deal with the world, and let God deal with the Kingdom, that is the message of Scriptures. This world is on its way down and Christian politicizing will not prevent it, that is not what we are called to do. We were given a mission to go to the world with the message of salvation, and to pay taxes if told to, and to die if need be, not to get our man in office and secure some nice perks for ourselves. We are told to live at peace with the world as much as possible, and to stay out of its affairs, they are none of our business, it is not part of what we are called to do.

These knucklehead preachers think it their job to clean up the world and to make this place a fit place to live; they are deluded; they do not understand Scriptures, and they are convincing great numbers of people that that is what God wants Christians to do.

This country is the way it is because of them. They do not have faith in God, they have faith in the political process. Their faith is in man. All through the Bible it is God who effects change, not man!  But, these vipers will not have any of that, they must do things their way. God is not fast enough for them, nor does He understand what they need, or how to get things done. These false teachers use “faith” as a religious word only, and would not dare trust something so nebulous as faith, or the arbitrary nature of an unseen God; He may say something silly like, “Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s,” then what would they do?

But, let’s get down to the brass tax of the matter. What would happen if they had to start paying property taxes, like everyone else? Well, we can only imagine!

I do not vote. I will not cast a vote that I do not have, because I’m not a citizen of this world. I will cast my vote for the Man whose foot will split the Mount of Olives in two, upon His return to settle once and for all this matter of who it is that these so called Christians are trusting, the ballot box with all of its visible benefits, or the Son of God and His promises.

Steve Blackwell

It is a perfectly obvious fact that wherever the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ has been most faithfully preached and presented – while bringing hope and new life to many – it has almost invariably been the cause of trouble.

Wherever it has gone it has aroused antagonism. As it was a stumbling-block to the Jews and an absurdity to the Greeks in the first days, so, ever since, it has been unacceptable, not only to the men of the world as such, but to the religious communities also. This we unhesitatingly affirm to be as true today as ever, in spite of the fact that it is the most popular symbol in the world. There is hardly a city in Christendom where the architecture, galleries of art, collections of literature and conservatoires of music and religious institutions do not declare to the world a certain regard and honour for this sacred sign.

This may be a tribute to something deeper but it is that deeper thing which is absolutely unacceptable to the greater part of Christendom and the world.

It is found necessary even in certain phases of some missionary enterprise today to eliminate from the text-books and hymn books the mention of the Cross lest it offend.

Much of the preaching and teaching in the Christian Church is either confined to the “Historic Jesus”, which presents a Crossless Christ, or gives a very modified meaning to His death. And yet it is surely necessary to get rid of the Bible before we can get rid of the fact that it unites in all its parts to declare that the Cross is God’s Way of salvation, God’s sufficient and God’s only way.

It is, further, surely very clear that the Cross has proved to be the means upon which God has made to rest the full weight of His mighty saving power. It was dominant in New Testament days. The recovery of, or re-emphasis upon some vital and essential phase of that Cross gave rise to such movements as are signified by the names of Luther, Moody, Finney, Jonathan Edwards, Whitfield, the Wesleys, Spurgeon and many other especially God-honoured men.

Now we ask why has the Cross always been such a maker of trouble and such a cause of offence? And why is it that it is today behind much of the upheaval even in many of our professedly evangelical institutions and denominations, Christian homes, local churches and individual Christian lives?

This we will seek to answer, but first let us discriminate. It is not the heroics of the Cross or the aesthetics that cause the trouble. Sacrifice, suffering, unselfish devotion, self-effacing service for the good of others, enduring the penalty of setting oneself against the evil current of the times, etc.; these are romantic elements and are seized upon as the themes by which multitudes are captured and captivated. It is the deeper meaning which the Bible gives to the Cross which causes the aggravation, this can be seen in one or two clearly defined applications.

1. The Cross condemns the world.

In His Cross Christ created a great divide between the old world and the new, a divide which cannot be bridged. Two distinctly different systems, scales of value, standards of judgment, sets of laws, prevail on the two sides of the Cross, the system of each is not only entirely different, but irreconcilable and forever antagonistic to the other.

The Cross demands an absolute distinctiveness of interests and objectives, relationships and resources. It draws the final distinction between the saved and the unsaved, between the living and the dead.

The apostle Paul said that by the Cross he had “been crucified to the world” and the world crucified to him. The Word of God emphatically declares that the age is evil and that “the whole world lieth in the wicked one” and that its ways, motives, purposes, ideas and imaginations are all the opposite of God’s and that it is utterly incapacitated from either receiving the revelation of the divine mind, growing of itself into the divine image, enjoying and appreciating real fellowship with God, or being entrusted with the privilege of co-operation with God.

These are alone the consciousness, capacities, relationships of the newly-born or regenerated soul. It is this verdict, condemnation, and demand of the Cross which is unacceptable and irritating to a very great number of professing Christians. Further, it is the presence of much that is called “worldliness” both in the individual Christian life and in the Church which absolutely neutralises their effectiveness in the realisation of the essential purposes of the Cross.

2. The Cross crucifies the flesh.

By it the Word of God declares that “our old man has been crucified with Christ” (Romans 6:6). “One died for all, therefore all died in Him, that they which live should henceforth live no longer unto themselves, but unto him” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15). We have tried to bring some of the old creation life into the new creation and God won’t have it. The history of the fallen race was concluded so far as God was concerned at Calvary. From that time onward, God’s entire concern was the new creation, but alike our human capabilities as well as our infirmities; what we call our better side as our worse; our goodness and our badness have been included in that death. Henceforth we are called to live not on a human level but on a divine. Humanly we possess nothing which is acceptable to God.

It is always the assertion of some human element, some like or dislike, some fad or fancy, some ambition or some personal interest, which paralyses the real spiritual work of God. To regard not only our sins but ourselves as having been taken to the Cross by Christ is the only way by which those purposes of God can be wrought out through our lives. It is strange that while we ourselves are the bane of our own existence, the trouble of our own lives, we are so slow to accept our crucification with Christ, to have the Cross wrought out to our death in order that the life of Christ might be made manifest in us. Herein lies the offence of the Cross, not only for the worldling but also for the Christian.

3. The Cross casts out the devil.

Here we touch, perhaps, the deepest cause of the offence, for the world and the flesh are only the instruments and weapons by which the great hierarchy of Satan maintains its hold and its existence as the controlling force. Christ said as He approached the Cross, “Now is the prince of this world cast out” (John 12:31). Paul reflecting upon that Cross said that by it: “Christ stripped off principalities and powers, making a show of them openly, and triumphed over them” (Colossians 2:15).

It is perfectly natural, then, that the great hierarchy of evil should by every means and resource seek to make the Cross of none effect. By the “pale cast of thought” it will dilute the message of the Cross; by pushing in the world’s methods, its means, its spirit, it will sap the spiritual vitality of the Church; by stirring up the flesh, the self and the old Adam it will cause schism, strain and disintegration; or by making much of the human element in its artistic, aesthetic, heroic, humanitarian side, it will be blind to the need of regeneration. Reputation, popularity, bigness, the world standard of success, are all contrary to the spirit of Christ, but they are the toys with which the enemy engrosses the minds of many, even Christian ministers.

If, therefore, the Cross is preached in the full victory over and emancipation from the world, the flesh and the devil, it is to be expected that by hook or by crook the intelligent forces of evil will leave no stone unturned to stop it, and will stir up every cause of offence to lay to the account of the Cross.

In conclusion let us not forget that the enjoyment of the full life of God, the experience of victory, and executive co-operation with Him that sitteth upon the throne in the sure realisation that His eternal purposes are ours just in so far as we are one with the full and essential meaning of the Cross as set forth in the Word of God. “I have been crucified with Christ, henceforth… no longer I but Christ.” “They overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony, and they counted not their lives dear unto the death” (Revelation 12:11).

“And there was a great outcry of the people and their wives against their Jewish brethren. For there were those who said, “We, our sons, and our daughters are many; therefore let us get grain, that we may eat and live.”  There were also some who said, “We have mortgaged our lands and vineyards and houses, that we might buy grain because of the famine.”  There were also those who said, “We have borrowed money for the king’s tax on our lands and vineyards. Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children; and indeed we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have been brought into slavery. It is not in our power to redeem them, for other men have our lands and vineyards.” And I became very angry when I heard their outcry and these words. After serious thought, I rebuked the nobles and rulers, and said to them, “Each of you is exacting usury from his brother.” So I called a great assembly against them. And I said to them, “According to our ability we have redeemed our Jewish brethren who were sold to the nations. Now indeed, will you even sell your brethren? Or should they be sold to us?”

“Then they were silenced and found nothing to say.  Then I said, “What you are doing is not good. Should you not walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies? I also, with my brethren and my servants, am lending them money and grain. Please, let us stop this usury! Restore now to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their olive groves, and their houses, also a hundredth of the money and the grain, the new wine and the oil, that you have charged them.”

Paul ask, “What is my reward then? Truly that, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel.” 1 Cor 9:18. “If others share the right over you, do we not more? Nevertheless, we did not use this right, but we endure all things so that we will cause no hindrance to the gospel of Christ.” 1 Cor. 9:12 “Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you without charge?” 2 Cor. 11:7 “For in what respect were you treated as inferior to the rest of the churches, except that I myself did not become a burden to you? Forgive me this wrong!” 2 Cor. 12:13. Has the Gospel been hindered today by the profiteering of its professors?

Promo for a book by Joseph Farah:

“Our nation’s economic well being, homeland security and once-great culture are all in danger,” says Farah. “People want answers, now more than ever. And providing answers is what Taking America Back is all about.”

“Taking America Back exposes the weaknesses in America’s current political and cultural systems and offers practical solutions that will revive freedom, decency, and justice in our nation.”

“The founders put it all on the line,” writes Farah. “They were willing to sacrifice their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. What, if anything, are Americans (including Farah) today willing to sacrifice?”

Is this really about taking the land, or is it about profits? How do we know that the founders were sincere in their message to take back America? Because of their sacrifice, that is how! Did they simply write books to enrich their coffers? Or did they lay it all on the line?

Excuse me, but haven’t we had enough books and sermons? Isn’t it time for action? Where is all the big talk when it means walking the walk, not just talking the talk.  Few authors and preachers actually get off their posteriors and do the things they write and preach about. Are these writers and speakers waiting for those who listen to and read their stuff to lead the charge? Good luck with that! Where are those who really do the things they write and preach about? Is Joseph Farah ready to sacrifice his own life, his own fortune, and his own sacred honor? Words will not answer that question, only action. Joe may not promise to do the things he talks about, but he does promise that “While supplies last, all copies of Taking America Back and Stop the Presses will be autographed by Joseph Farah. Order your autographed copies today exclusively from Shop.WND.com and don’t forget to look for the “Personalized Inscription” box during checkout!”

Is this a war we are engaged in, or is this just more “sports talk,” like arguing over who will win the super bowl, and maybe picking up a few extra bucks on a bet, but never actually getting onto the field? Is this just profiteering, like the local grocer or gas station raising prices, when they anticipate a shortage?

Joseph Farah is not alone by any measure. Pick your favorite preacher or author, they are nearly all accomplices in this end time madness. Let’s look at a well-known favorite, of whom I have read and supported. Have you heard of John MacArthur? John has, recently, written a book called The Truth War. I liked the book. It was well written and informative, and I would recommend it to anyone wanting to investigate the deception that is taking place in the organized church. But, a few things concern me today that I really never thought about much in times past. This book is called The Truth War and I think that John really believes we are in a war for the truth; why else would he write such a book? Consider this; what would you think of a General, who recruited soldiers into his outfit, declared that we are at war with a terrible enemy, then wants you to go purchase the bullets needed to fight the war, manufactured by his company? Isn’t that what is happening here? Or is he just creating fear to sell books? Profiteering, it’s the American way, isn’t it? If I’m not mistaken, profiteering during times of real war could be termed “treason.”

I only mention these two because of their fame, wide audience, and large following, but the numbers of professing Christians taking advantage of their brothers and sisters are so many that they almost defy counting. Writing books and preaching sermons have never won wars. As the saying goes,  “wars are won on the ground.”  Precious few are willing to actually do the things they write about. Sooo many answers, and so few honorable actions. Are these “leaders” waiting for someone else to lay down their fame and fortunes? Maybe some “buck private” will step forward to lead the charge, maybe a “David;” but, I suppose this is, and has always been, God’s way. Are we looking for God in some earth shaking book or fire breathing sermon, or will we find God in the still small voice of some insignificant soul who couldn’t write a book or preach a sermon if his life depended on it, but knows how to discern the times, and what to do, and does it.

I’m anxious to hear all the varied reasons for protecting the bankrolls of these famous men. How did God’s will ever get done without radio, printing presses, and Christian book stores?

A few years ago I would never have written ths piece and would have justified all of these productions as needed “preaching and teaching,” but now it looks more like whore mongering, and the filthiness of the world system provoking fear and lusting for profits, in the name of Jesus. We despise the store owner who feeds on the fears of its customers and jacks up prices, or the man who creates shortages to increase prices, or the gas station who increases prices when a shortage is predicted, but the man with the pulpit, behind the microphone, or behind the typewriter is applauded when he does the very same thing.

I am reminded of how the Gospel is an offence to the rich and why it was preached to the poor of all sorts. What about your fame and fortune Joe and John? You are the men with answers; you are the declarers of war. What’s next, another book, another sermon, another declaration, another plea for funds?

Honestly the message of the Gospel is blasphemed because of the richness lavished on the organized church, and I cannot blame most of those doing the blaspheming. The Church of Laodicea is alive and well in America and you don’t have to be a brain surgeon to see it. The Gospel message is corrupted in many ways, not least of these is by profiteering. We have no example of lavish lifestyles being afforded to prophets or preachers in their pursuit to proclaim the Gospel. 1 Tim 4:1-3,6-7 (Phi) God’s Spirit specifically tells us that in later days there will be men who abandon the true faith and allow themselves to be spiritually seduced by teachings of demons, teachings given by men who are lying hypocrites, whose consciences are as dead as seared flesh… You will be a faithful minister of Christ Jesus if you remind your church members of these things. You will show yourself as a man nourished by the message of the true faith and the sound teaching he has followed. But steer clear of all these heathen old wives’ tales. Again: Gal 1:6-9 (Phi) I am amazed that you have so quickly transferred your allegiance from him who called you by the grace of Christ to another “gospel”! Not that it is another gospel, but there are men who are upsetting your faith with a travesty of the gospel of Christ. Yet I say that if I, or an angel from Heaven, were to preach to you any other gospel than the one you have already heard, may he be damned! You have heard me say it before and now I say it again–may anybody who preaches any other gospel than the one you have already heard be a damned soul! Those are strong words and these are the latter days.

Notice the motive of dishonesty:

2 Pet 2:1-3 (NIV) But there were false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies. Many will follow their shameful ways and bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up.

1 Tim 6:3-5 (Phi) This is the sort of thing you should teach and preach, and if anyone tries to teach some doctrinal novelty and does not follow sound teaching (which we base on our Lord Jesus Christ’s own words and which leads to Christlike living), then he is a conceited idiot! His mind is a morbid jungle of disputation and argument, things which lead to nothing but jealousy, quarreling, insults, and malicious innuendoes–continual wrangling, in fact, among men of warped minds who have lost their real hold on the truth but hope to make some profit out of the Christian religion.

Many are going to say that this letter is causing division, but am I causing division or being obedient? Wouldn’t you agree that preaching for profit is wrong? Wouldn’t you agree that using the Gospel to advance one’s own position in the world is wrong? Jude 1:19 (NIV) These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. The Laodicean Church is flourishing and is a mockery to real faith. It is easy to look at the Seeker churches, the Emerging churches, or the New Age churches and see the great deficit in faith and trust, but we wink at the conservative right-wing protestant churches that build that which Christ Himself said He would build. God says it is built in vain, but they refuse to see it. They claim to be protecting the “message” when they cannot see that they have also been deluded. God has allowed Satan to trick us into believing that if we obey God’s instructions, we are the ones “causing division”, instead of the false prophets and teachers (wolves) we are commanded to rebuke (Titus 1:11-2:1).

The conservative organized church, has created a dynasty, that has no intention of being shared with the new Emerging Mega church, who don’t play by the rules. They are like the Pharisees and the Sadducees, which neither played by the rules, and could not recognize the truth. The organized church today has been carried away with all kinds of strange teachings Heb. 13:9. What these men and their churches are doing does not pass the test, 1 Thes 5:21, Acts 17:11, 1 Tim. 4:11,16. The organized church does not look like the Church we see in the New Testament. Jesus commanded the church to return and do the first works over again. This command stands as our prime directive today, at this late hour. So, many of us have discerned that something is wrong with the organized church as a whole, but refuse to act in faith and separate from it, for fear of being found alone, with God. Our false hope of security in numbers will be our undoing, so we gravitate to popular places and people. Our hope is misplaced.

Don’t be deceived. God has hired many to do His bidding. Phil 1:15-18 (NIV) It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of good will. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Inside the organized church are some who God will call out, but don’t think that the great masses that now inhabit the walls of religious buildings are God’s Elect, it is not true, “Because (it is still true) strait (as in difficult) is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” Matthew 7:14

P.S. I hope I have to eat these words.

Steve Blackwell

This particular chapter has been a great help to me in the last few days, I pray it will be a balm of healing to you also.

Steve Blackwell

The Release of the Spirit

Watchman Nee

Brokenness And Discipline

CHAPTER VI

Brokenness And Discipline

For THE OUTWARD MAN to be broken, a full consecration is imperative. Yet we must understand that this crisis act alone will not solve our whole problem in service. Consecration is merely an expression of our willingness to be in the hands of God, and it can take place in just a few minutes. Do not think God can Finish His dealings with us in this short time. Though we are willing to offer ourselves completely to God, we are just starting on the spiritual road. It is like entering the gate. After consecration, there must be the discipline of the Holy Spirit, this is the pathway. It takes consecration plus the discipline of the Holy Spirit to make us vessels fit for the Master’s use. Without consecration, the Holy Spirit encounters difficulty in disciplining us. Yet consecration cannot serve as a substitute for His discipline.

Here then is a vital distinction: our consecration can only be according to the measure of our spiritual insight and understanding, but the Holy Spirit disciplines according to His own light. We really do not know how much our consecration involves. Our light is so limited that when it seems to us to be at its greatest, in God’s view it is like pitch blackness. God’s requirement so far exceeds what we can possibly consecrate, that is, in our limited light. The discipline of the Holy Spirit, on the other hand, is meted out to us according to our need as seen in God’s own light. He knows our special need, and so by His Spirit He orders our circumstances in such a way as to bring about the breaking of the outward man. Notice how far the discipline of the Holy Spirit transcends our consecration.

Since the Holy Spirit works according to the light of God, His discipline is thorough and complete. We often wonder at the things which befall us, yet if left to ourselves we may be mistaken in our very best choice. The discipline He orders transcends our understanding. How often we are caught unprepared and conclude that surely such a drastic thing is not our need. Many times His discipline descends upon us suddenly without our having prior notice! We may insist we are living in “the light” but the Holy Spirit is dealing with us according to God’s light. From the time we received Him, He has been ordering our circumstances for our profit according to His knowledge of us.

The working of the Holy Spirit in our lives has its positive as well as its negative side, that is to say, there is both a constructive and a destructive phase. After we are born again the Holy Spirit dwells in us, but our outward man so often deprives Him of His freedom. It is like trying to walk in a pair of ill fitting new shoes. Because our outward and inward man are at variance with each other, God must employ whatever means He thinks effective in breaking down any stronghold over which our inward man has no control.

It is not by the supply of grace to the inward man that the Holy Spirit breaks the outward. Of course, God wants the inward man to be strong, but His method is to utilize external means to decrease our outward man. It would be well nigh impossible for the inward man to accomplish this, since these two are so different in nature that they can scarcely inflict any wound on each other. The nature of the outward man and that of external things are similar; and thus the former can be easily affected by the latter. External things can strike the outward man most painfully. So it is that God uses external things in dealing with our outward man.

You remember the Bible says that two sparrows are sold for a farthing (Matt. 10:29) and that five sparrows are sold for two farthings (Lk. 12:6). This is certainly cheap, and the fifth sparrow is included free. However, “one of them shall not fall to the ground without your Father; but of you even the hairs of the head are all numbered” (Matt. 10:29, 30). Not only is every hair counted, but every single one is also numbered. Hence we may be sure that all our circumstances are ordered by God. Nothing is accidental.

God’s ordering is according to His knowledge of our needs, and with a view to the shattering of our outward man. Knowing that a certain external thing will thus affect us, He arranges for us to encounter it once, twice, and perhaps even more. Do you not realize that all the events of your life for the past five or ten years were ordered by God for your education? If you murmured and complained, you grievously failed to recognize His hand. If you thought you were just unfortunate, you were in ignorance of the discipline of the Holy Spirit. Remember that whatever happens to us is measured by the hand of God for our supreme good. Though probably it is not what we would choose, God knows what is best for us. Where would we be today had God not so disciplined us through ordering our circumstances? It is this very thing which keeps us pure and walking in His pathway. How foolish are those who have murmurings in their mouths and rebellion in their hearts at the very things the Holy Spirit has measured to them for their good.

As soon as we are saved, the Holy Spirit begins to deal out discipline; but He cannot act freely until our consecration is complete. After one is saved but not yet consecrated, and while he still loves himself much more than the Lord, the Holy Spirit is nonetheless working to bring him under control and break down his outward man that He may work unhinderedly.

Finally, there comes a time when you realize that you cannot live by yourself and for yourself. In the dim light you have, you come to God and say: “I consecrate myself to Thee. Come life or death, I have committed myself into Thy hands.” This will strengthen the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. Herein lies the importance of consecration: it allows the Holy Spirit to work without restriction. So think it not strange when many unexpected things befall you after your consecration.
You have told the Lord: “Lord! Do whatever Thou deemest best in my life.” Now that you have thus put yourself unconditionally in His hands, the Holy Spirit can freely work in you. To wholeheartedly decide to follow the Lord, you must pay close attention to the disciplinary work of the Holy Spirit.

The Greatest Means of Grace

God has been bestowing His grace upon us from the day we were saved. The ways by which we may receive grace from God are called the “means of grace.” Prayer and listening to a message are two examples, for through them we can draw near to God and receive grace. This descriptive term, “the means of grace,” has been universally accepted by the Church down through the centuries. We receive grace through meetings, through messages, through prayers, and so forth. But surely the greatest means of grace which we cannot afford to neglect is the discipline of the Holy Spirit. Nothing can be compared with this means of grace, not prayer, Bible readings, meetings, messages, meditation, or praise. Among all the God given means of grace, it would seem this is the most important.

Tracing this means of grace can show us how far we have gone with the Lord. What we experience daily, at home or school or factory or on the road, is ordered by the Holy Spirit for our highest benefit. If we are not profited by this greatest means of grace, we suffer terrible loss. None of the other means can replace it, precious though they all are. Messages feed us, prayer restores us, God’s word refreshes us, and helping others releases our spirit. But should our outward man remain strong, we give all who contact us the impression of being mixed and impure. People will recognize our zeal but also our mixed motives, our love toward the Lord but also our love for ourselves. They feel we are a precious brother, yet a difficult one, for our outward man has not been broken. Let us not forget that though we are built up through messages, prayer, and the Bible, the greatest means of edification is the discipline of the Holy Spirit.

Henceforth there must be on our part a complete consecration so that we submit to what the Holy Spirit orders. Such submission brings blessing to us. If, instead, we quarrel with God and follow our own inclinations, we shall miss the way of His blessing. Once we realize that all of God’s orderings are for our highest profit, even things troublesome to us, and are willing to accept these as disciplinary measures from Him, we shall see how the Holy Spirit will make use of all things in dealing with us.

Dealings of Various Kinds

Whatever the things to which you are bound, God will deal with them one after another. Not even such trivialities as clothing, eating or drinking can escape the careful hand of the Holy Spirit. He will not neglect one area in your life. You may even be ignorant of your affinity for a certain thing, but He knows and will deal with it most thoroughly. Until the day comes when all these things are destroyed, you do not know perfect liberty. In these dealings you can finally recognize the thoroughness of the Holy Spirit. Things long forgotten are brought to mind by the Lord. God’s works are perfect, and nothing less than perfection can satisfy Him. He cannot stop short. Sometimes He will deal with you through others, arranging for you to be with someone whom you are angry with, or whom you despise or are jealous of; or very often it is through those you love. Before this you did not know how unclean and mixed you were, but afterwards you realize how much “rubbish” there is in you. You thought you were wholly for the Lord, but after receiving the discipline of the Holy Spirit you begin to see how far-reaching are the effects external things have upon you.

Then again the hand of God may touch our thought life. We discover that our thoughts are confused, independent, uncontrolled. We feign to be wiser than others. Then it is that the Lord allows us to crash into a wall and hit the dust, all to show us that we dare not use our thoughts inordinately. Once we have been enlightened in this, we shall fear our own thoughts as fire. Just as a hand withdraws immediately from a flame, so we shall instantly draw back when we encounter our uncontrolled thoughts. We shall remind ourselves, “This is not what I should think; I am afraid to pursue my own thoughts.”

Further, God will so arrange our circumstances as to deal with our emotions. Some people are extremely emotional. When they are elated, they cannot contain themselves; when they are depressed, they cannot be comforted. Their whole life revolves around their emotions, with their elation resulting in dissipation and their depression in inactivity. How does God rectify this? He places them in situations where they dare not be too happy when elated, nor too sad when depressed. They can only depend upon the grace of God and live by His mercy, not by their fickle emotions.

Although difficulties with thoughts and emotions are quite common, the greatest and most prevalent difficulty is with the will. Our emotions run wild because our wills have not been dealt with. The root is in our will. The same is true with our thoughts. We may be able to mouth the word, “Not my will but Thine be done,” but how often do we really allow the Lord to take over when things happen? The less you know yourself, the more easily you utter such words. The less you are enlightened, the easier submission to God seems to be. He who speaks cheaply has proved he has never paid the price.

Only after being dealt with by God do we really see how hard we are and how ready we are to have our own opinion. God must deal with us to make our wills tender and docile. Strong-willed people are convinced their feelings, ways and judgments are always right. Consider how Paul received this grace recorded in Philippians : “Do not trust in flesh” (3:3). We must also be led by God to such a place that we dare not trust our own judgment. God will allow us to make mistake after mistake until we realize that this will be our pattern for the future too. We truly need the grace of the Lord. Frequently the Lord permits us to reap serious consequences from our own judgments.

Finally, you will be so stricken by your failures that you will say: “I fear my own judgment as I fear hell fire. Lord, I am prone to mistakes. Unless Thou art merciful to me, unless Thou dost support me, unless Thou dost restrain me with Thy hand, I will be wrong again.” This is the beginning of the destruction of the outward man: when you dare no longer to n List yourself. Your opinions usually come easily until you have been dealt with repeatedly by God and have suffered many failures. Then you yield and say: “God, I dare not think, I dare not decide.” This is the discipline of the Holy Spirit: when all kinds of things and all sorts of people are pressing in from all directions.

Do not think there will be any slackening of this lesson! Very often the supply of God’s word may be lacking or another means of grace may be insufficient, yet this special means of grace, the discipline of the Holy Spirit, is ever with us. You may say you have no opportunity to hear and be supplied by His word, yet this can never be true of the discipline of the Holy Spirit. Daily He is arranging ample opportunities for you to learn.

Once you yield yourself to God, this discipline will meet your need to a far greater extent than will the supply of His word. It is not just for the learned, the clever, the gifted; no, it is the way for every child of God. The supply of God’s word, the power of prayer, the fellowship of the believers none of these can substitute for the discipline of the Holy Spirit. This is because you need not only to be built up; you need also to be broken, to be delivered of all the many things in your life that cannot be brought over into eternity.

The Cross in Operation

The cross is more than a doctrine; it must be put into practice. Do not think that the way to humility is to be constantly reminding ourselves not to be proud. We must be stricken again and again, even if it means twenty times until we surrender and are proud no more. Let us never assume this comes about merely by following the teaching of a certain brother. No, it is because our pride has been broken through God’s dealing.

Through the operation of the cross we shall learn to depend upon the grace of God, not on our memory. Whether we remember or not, the fact remains, He is accomplishing a work which is dependable and lasting. Formerly, the outward and the inward man were not able to join hands; but now the outward man waits meekly, in fear and trembling, before God.

Everyone of us is in need of this discipline from the Lord. As we review our past history, we cannot but see the hand of God in dealing with the independence, pride, and selfishness of our outward man. We discover the meaning of the things that have happened to us.

The Virus of 1918, and Beyond

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• Virus of 1918 Discussion

Monday Night, November 22, 1999

A question, during a spontaneous time with Saints in South Carolina. The question came from a businessman with some serious international “responsibilities.” You’ll recognize the question, since I think we’ve all asked it…

“How can I stay focused in the midst of hectic everyday life in the workplace? There seem to be a lot of energy leaks and distractions for me. I know it can’t be right that I spend so much energy on my job and responsibilities and so little that is measurably productive for Jesus. I know I’m doing something wrong if my energy is used so completely on temporary things, and all I feel like doing when I get home at night is collapsing and going to bed early. Surely something needs to change radically in how I function. I truly want to change. What should I do differently?”

There are many ways to answer a question like that, I suppose. I could tell you something that would justify the sin of disconnectedness from the Father, such as, “Oh, it’s okay. As long as you do a good job with your work, and are not lying or stealing or cursing—then you are glorifying God by doing a good job, so everything’s fine. So, don’t worry about it. Just do an honest day’s work, and that will be ‘your ministry’.” I could tell you that, and such reason is so commonplace it almost sounds honorable, but God would be sickened by settling for that sort of reasoning, so I won’t.

I could also tell you, “Well, you just need to pray and read your Bible more, before you go into work. Then it’ll all be fine.” But, you must surely know from experience, that would be a shallow, religious, and unfruitful answer—even if there may be some truth to it. Somehow, it doesn’t get at the root of the issue, does it?

May I give you an example that might clarify the root of the problem that you and so many others face, and that might point us in the Right direction? Here goes:

Some Little-Known History

In 1918, a deadly influenza epidemic swept the planet. Soldiers returning from World War I brought the flu virus home with them—though it is thought to have started two years earlier in Kansas, during the burning of some manure. Seemingly, it then spread to Europe and back again, via soldiers coming and going. In less than two years, as many as 30 million people died, over 600,000 in the United States alone. Over half of the inhabitants of the planet were infected by this strange virus. Strangely, most of the victims were active, healthy teens and young adults, often in their 20’s (though millions of children and older adults died as well). In the morning, a person would have a bit of a cough and a fever. By afternoon they were bedridden. By nightfall or lunchtime the next day, almost everyone that inhaled the virus would drown on the eerie blue fluid in their lungs. Supplies of caskets were guarded by armed watchmen, toe tags, used to identify the dead, were placed on those infected when they checked into the hospitals (if they made it that far), open carts roamed the streets picking up bodies off of the front porches and sidewalks of cities and towns, and mass graves were dug with construction equipment.

This is only the story of the experience in the United States with this mysterious, incurable disease. This mutant virus ravaged the world with fury and an insatiable appetite for human life—particularly the strong and robust of every nation. Its origin was unknown, its cure never found, and its return cannot be ruled out. The virus eventually vanished, not because man had found any antidote or even slowed its advance. The virus sleeps only because it ran out of food. It had ravished every human on the planet that did not have whatever mysterious immunity was required to abate its death grip. The virus was not cured. It killed everyone it could kill, and simply ran out of human fuel on the planet. It starved itself into remission.

Why Did So MANY Lose Their Lives?

Now here is a very important question. Why did so many people allow this virus to spread to infect themselves, their family, and their friends, when its effects were obviously so lethal? This will lead us into the answer to your very serious and important—and common—question. How we can stay close to Jesus in a world living on the adrenaline of greed, fear, lust, ambition, guilt, and pride? It’s about the Virus. Stay with me. There were three primary reasons that there was such a broad road leading to death, and that so many were on that road.

Denial

Much of what led to millions of fatalities during the 1918 virus epidemic was due to denial. No one wanted to believe that anything was wrong. They were living in a prosperous age, and enjoying the fruits of the new technologies of air transportation and many other breakthroughs. Mail could be delivered from New York to Chicago in a mere ten hours! Babe Ruth had just led the Red Sox* (*not a typo!) to the World Series championship. Times were good, and no one wanted to think about “bad” things. Denial is a common response amongst the human race when tragedy is near. It’s in the nature of fallen man to “avoid confrontation at all costs” and to close our eyes and hope all the problems go away. We deeply desire to make excuses for our failures and others’, and to imagine that all is not so bad. Just a few years later, when Hitler was beginning his massacre, the leaders of the western world tried to play “make-believe it’s all not so bad…” until it was far, far too late and unimaginably horrible, and now undeniable things had taken place. When it was time to take a stand, cowardice and addiction to the status quo made treaties with the animal that was killing innocents. It was no different twenty years earlier when mankind was faced with this mortal virus. And it is no different today. We would generally rather deny the painful issues of life, “hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil,” than to take them head-on. Such denial allowed the virus of 1918 to kill additional millions…millions who would have lived, if it had been dealt with honestly in the early stages. Denial. Even leaders at every level, in order to keep the masses calm, denied that THEIR jurisdiction had a problem until it was too large to deny any longer, and orphans filled the alleys of life.

Lack of Understanding

Another part of the equation that led to the death of millions—a huge percentage of the human race—in just eighteen months, was just plain ol’ lack of understanding. In general, people had no idea what the problem was, or what any solutions might be. Photographs and film taken from this period show children wearing little gauze masks when they were playing outside, rolling wheels with sticks. Policeman and factory workers, at the height of the epidemic, finally took the radical step of wearing cotton masks and bandanas over their faces. Most were convinced that this was an “extreme measure” to stop the spread of disease, and were pleased with their efforts. They were wrong. Masks are futile in stopping the spread of a virus. There was no real protection in this. It was only good to make their fears go away, but it was no real solution. The influenza could only be seen with an electron microscope, which would not be invented until years later. The masks were no more effective in straining out the germs “than catching dust with chicken wire.” People would hang camphor bags around their necks, and drink sugar and turpentine as home-made “remedies.” Religious speakers made a fortune in both money and popularity by their dramatic appeals, and prophecies of the end of the world. Superstitious religious or medical activity was the most common response of those that were even willing to consider the perils of their day. The dangers of the invisible disease were far beyond their understanding, and the measures taken against it were little more than placebos. The facts and history bear this out.

Misplaced Priorities

Another huge factor in the spread of this fatal disease, however, was the misplaced priorities of so many. Parents continued to send their children to schools, parties, and ball games—into crowds teeming with the infection. “Education is important,” the reasoning went. “Recreation and a social life are essential to the well being of young people. We don’t want them to miss out on life. Everything will be all right. I love my child too much to deprive them of these life experiences and fun.” Does this sound familiar at all? Yet what good are education and social events when a child dies a hideous and gruesome death? And multiplied thousands did die, in great pain, coughing up blood. All within 36 hours of getting sick from the invisible fiendish disease, carried by infected friends. False priorities had exposed them to an invisible danger they shouldn’t have had to face.

The Plague is REAL, and is NOW!

The point? Remember our question: “How can I stay close to Jesus when my job is so demanding in this high-tech info age? How can I be at the top of my profession, and still have enough energy to serve God well at the end of a day?”

This deadly flu epidemic is very much a picture of how God views our planet and its treasured inhabitants. There is another, even more deadly, invisible plague going on, RIGHT NOW. This one actually kills 100% of those that it touches, that don’t have the Cure. The virus of sin has infected every last member of the human race. This contagion absolutely saturates our environment in this world. And, although Jesus paid the highest price imaginable to free us from this fatal illness, to deliver us from this virus of sin, few will receive His cure. “Few will be those who find it,” according to Jesus Himself. He has laid down the odds. HE said that MOST will perish. Most will choose to die, coughing up blood, and be buried in a grave where “the fire is not quenched.”

Do you see this world clearly? Are you willing to believe Jesus when He says there is an unseen realm? Do you accept His diagnosis that sin has doomed men and women to destruction? Do you realize what’s really at stake in our present daily lives? Do you believe in a VIRUS that you can’t see with your naked eye?

Denial

Most folk, throughout history, live in denial, unfortunately. It’s always struck me that Jesus spoke more of the hideous death of the Virus, hell, than all of the prophets and apostles put together. No one could have understood it as well as He, as our Creator and Messiah. And He was incredibly serious in His short time here, about letting us know of the very real existence of a very real devil (along with an army of demons), and a very real hell. He also went to great lengths to tell us how to conquer these foes, as well as equipping the Apostles and giving His People a Weapon, His Church, against which the gates of hell could not prevail. And yet man has lived in denial and revised Jesus’ goals. Now christianity and church are primarily about going to Heaven, and having nice friendly relationships a couple of times each week, staying out of trouble, and studying the Bible essentially (though unspoken) as an end in itself.

The real thing, that which Jesus brought to earth to “destroy the devil’s works,” involves some pain and courage. It comes “with much tribulation.” If we don’t want to face up to what Jesus said life and death and LIFE (“with a capital L”) are all about, then we’re going to make many wrong decisions, as our friends in 1918 did. We can’t avoid the conflict and making changes and self-sacrifice—and still avoid the plague. Instead of taking action, we’ll have the anguish of seeing many that we care about learn to “love the world, and become enemies of God.” If we fail our brothers and our parents and our friends by blindly allowing the weeds of “the cares and worries of this world, and the deceitfulness of materialism” to kill them, we are in denial of the realities Jesus spoke of.

The Master said MANY would say, “Lord, Lord” and do works in fine, christian fashion, and still be on the broad road to destruction. Why? Because they “didn’t DO the Will of My Father.” They knew stuff, were religious enough, but still maintained control of their own lives. And catch this: Even if a person is somewhat interested in going all the way with Jesus, they will become “hardened and deceived by sin” (Heb. 3:12-14) because of poor daily building practices. If the denominational and house church worlds won’t get out and deal with human lives one on one for Jesus (as in the Scripture just mentioned), the massacre will continue. It doesn’t take a Ph.D. statistician to go through these groups (whether in religious facilities or homes) and demonstrate that the problem is very serious. The singing and clapping and creative programming and “children’s church” and “youth groups” and “marriage counseling” and new buildings, or new carpeting and a new guitar in a living room…aren’t going to solve the dilemma of the Virus that is destroying lives. That will take personal involvement, on a daily basis, of a “Kingdom of Priests” representing Jesus and His Word personally to one another and those around them, “as if God were making His Appeal through you.” “In the race ALL the runners run.” No spectators or cheerleaders. This will take courage for you, at 5 o’clock in the evening. You’ll have to see the Virus for what it is, and rise to the call to “admonish one another daily, so that NONE are hardened and deceived!” “See to it, brothers!”

Avoiding conflict may pad pockets and egos, and fill the pews, and make many unsaved feel content and saved, but it will not deliver us from the Virus. The Teaching of Jesus, the Master, and the Apostles is very clear. It is also very different from 50% of what is taught today—and 98% of what is practiced in Christendom today. We really need Understanding of what GOD says a Christian is, what GOD says a Church is, and what GOD says a leader is. Or we shall feel destruction “in every home,” as our relatives in 1918 felt. Lack of Understanding and lack of Seeing (revelation) cause God’s People to perish, according to the Scriptures. Needless deaths of multitudes of teens, and marriages, and regular churchgoers that never gave their lives to Jesus are occurring at a massive rate in christendom. This is NOT what Jesus said, when He promised that His Church would not allow the Gates of hell to prevail.

Will this cost you? As Jesus said, DO “count the cost” of building His Way. Of course, any direction other than the cookie cutter version of today’s state-approved religion will be met with opposition—primarily by dear religious folks that are lukewarm, and love the world, and their sins. Jesus said it would be so. He promised that no one could ever be good enough, or loving enough, or wise enough to not be hated and lied about, and ultimately framed and murdered in one way or another. “NO one,” He promised, “is above their Master. If they did it to Me, (and if you are representing Me well), they WILL do it to you, too.” Avoiding conflict isn’t part of the Plan, while the dragon is seeking to kill the Woman and her Offspring. Only be concerned if you are NOT facing the cost of rejection and high-tech lies and slander and threats. Jesus said it would be so, IF we are representing Him accurately. It’s a supernatural issue, and inescapable for true disciples, according to Jesus.

Understanding

Jesus and the Apostles wanted so desperately to give us Understanding, so that we wouldn’t go on blindly not believing in what we can’t see—even with an electron microscope. They knew that we could never avoid the virus’ ugly death if we continue in denial, and in lack of understanding with all of its superstitious religiously programmatic placebo solutions. If we cling to the traditions and hierarchies and gimmicks of men, and peer pressure of religious culture’s “only way to do it”… we’ll continue to yield their results. “Cotton masks” of cell groups and other programs and non-programs don’t save men from a microscopic virus. Clearly, we’re in dire need of a cure that institutional religion, and make-believe dress-up, and flesh-catering to build “churches” will never provide.

The Way Jesus lived, and taught the disciples to live, and then the entire Church of several THOUSAND lived (“ALL” of them! (Acts 2:42-47, etc., etc.), is the Way from Heaven that not only cleanses the Virus, but also inoculates and protects us from most future exposure, or death! God laid out the Blueprints for His House, “the Pillar and Foundation of Truth,” the Church that “makes known the manifold Wisdom of God to the principalities and powers” and overcomes the very gates of hell. But we have continued over generations to build out of faulty materials, using man-made plans, borrowed from the world system.

God’s Word and Spirit “are not far from you”! We can correct our course in these days. And I am convinced that there is that cry, “The Emperor has no clothes!” worldwide, right now—in many languages and cultures. Many are looking for Understanding of how to build God’s way, so that we can see God’s Results of “from the least to the greatest, they all know Him!” in a “batch without leaven.” Sound impossible? It is, the way men build. But He came to bring us Understanding.

Priorities: SEEING IT RIGHT

So, “How do I have energy left over from my busy days with work—or with children and home-school and housekeeping? How can I ‘seek first the Kingdom’ when my life is tied in a Gordian knot of occupation, and obligations and debts and hobbies and relationships?”

If we see reality clearly, we’ll definitely keep our priorities straight. You’ll find a way to make the right decisions about what kind of job you’ll take, where you’ll live, and a thousand other subjects. You WILL find a way, IF you See Life clearly!

If someone asked you to stack twenty-five coins, alternating heads and tails in chronological order by the year minted on them, and offered to pay you for it, you might do it. But, if you heard your 9 year-old daughter outside the window screaming in agonized pain, I dare say you would forget the coin stacking! It wouldn’t be important, and you wouldn’t say, “Well, just let me finish this task first. I’m almost done stacking these coins. I’ll go take care of her in just a minute.” What a ridiculous thought! But why is that ridiculous? Because you know the Reality of Life to that extent, and would never have your priorities that far out of focus!

To solve the problem of too little energy for Jesus, should you set a time to get up early and read more and pray more? Oh, I don’t know. Maybe. That is not the real problem though. If you don’t do that a lot anyway, you just don’t really believe in the virus! You’re not seeing the world as it really is, if you’re not passionate about serving Jesus in your workplace, your neighborhood, and amongst the Saints on a DEEP DAILY basis. If we’re not about the Father’s Business, we’re just not seeing life as it really is! (Gal. 4:19; Col. 1:28-29; 1Cor. 15:10; Heb. 3:12-14; Jas. 5:20; Jude 21-23).

We’ll focus our energies and passions on what really matters to us. If your main focus right now is on your work, or entertainment, or social life—if you are allowing those things to drain away your Life and Love and time and energy and money—then you are not seeing the world from God’s perspective.

Misplaced priorities cause millions to find themselves “stuck” in so-called commitments. These “commitments” then take on a life of their own—eliminating the ability to choose something better because we are already “committed.” “I’d love to, but we’ve got to go here,” or “I know I should, but I already committed to…” So, we march ourselves and those we love diligently, year by year, into death camps because we chose “good” over God. “Education”… “social graces”… “making good money”… “advancing and achieving in the work place”… “living in the right neighborhood, near the right school district”… “playing sports well to expand the character”… “experiencing life in a college dorm”… “traveling the world to see the sights”… “eating health food and cloistering with your physical family”… and the like: if you consider these to be of much TRUE value, and make your decisions and practices out of these with no consideration of the fatal Virus, then you suffer from one or all three of the problems listed above. Either denial, or lack of understanding, or misplaced priorities have you disoriented and headed for trouble. These blinding errors will expose you, your children and loved ones to the lethal plague! It’s REAL. Don’t wait until it’s too late to wake up to the reality of what the world is, where the Answer lies, and the holy abandonment He calls you to, okay?

Of course there are practical things we can do to keep our focus straight. We can make time for concentrated conversation with God. We can read the Scriptures often. We can spend much time with people who love God and genuinely care about what He cares about. But the most important single thing we can do for starters is to adopt God’s point of view about this world—which will set our priorities accordingly. If your priorities are straight, you’ll be able to put in a good day’s work without letting it drain all of your energy and passion for the real reason you’re alive. And you’ll be willing to come home from work early to spend time with Jesus and His People—even if that project isn’t done. You’ll put in the effort and take the risks to offer the Cure to others, too. You’ll do what it takes, very naturally, as Jesus did.

Will you have the courage to see the world as it is? Will you do whatever it takes to respond to the certainty of the death plague that closes in daily on you, the world around you, and those you love? By His Grace and Spirit, for the Lamb and His Chosen? For real?

11/22/1999

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