Discernment

Saving the Starfish

6 Comments / May 13, 2019

This morning’s post is really specifically for my fellow discerners. For those that have a passion for discernment, who see what’s going on, and feel frustrated that so few seem to care.

What brought it to mind recently was a story someone shared with me. They had been falsely accused by a local newspaper. They decided to meet with the editor, complete with stacks of files in hand of proof that refuted what had been said. As the conversation progressed, this statement was made: Well, our reporters don’t get paid enough to do research.

Come again??

They don’t get paid enough to do research? But isn’t research over half the actual job of a reporter??

This is a ridiculous statement and yet it was made. At least according to my story-teller. Whom I don’t know very well.

But this story made me think of something I’ve run into again and again. I’m sure many of you have, as well.

I’ve noticed an interesting trend among many believers: They will often make assumptions without doing any analysis.

They, too, don’t have time to study the scriptures and compare it to what a certain book or author has to say and yet they will tell someone who has done that research that they are wrong.

I’ve run into this more times than I can tell. When you share that a certain author or teaching isn’t biblical, they will disagree with you and then say something similar to the reporter, perhaps like–

“Well, that’s all fine, but I don’t have time to do research like you.”

or

“I don’t have the gift of discernment.”

Somehow the implication is that we do not need to discern if we are lacking the time or the “gift of discernment”.

Of course we know that scripture would clearly show that this is not the case. No one, no matter where they are at in their Christian journey, has the right to be lazy when it comes to anything we allow to impact us spiritually. We have no right to make assumptions and develop opinions about authors, biblical passages, pastors, and blogs without proper analysis. And, yet, so often we encounter those that declare that there isn’t anything wrong before actually doing the proper research to see if the sharer is wrong or right, according to scripture.

Just as a reminder for us all, I Thessalonians 5:21 reminds us to:

Test all things; hold fast what is good.

We are to test all things. All. Things. Nothing should get into our heads or the heads of our children before it is put to the biblical test.

You can also check out Ephesians 5:8-11 and Romans 12:9. Honestly, Paul makes the case in many places for the need to be on our guards. To not accept things at face value. And to stand firm on the Word.

Let me add here that should someone take the time to study the scriptures and prove me wrong, I would gladly–yes gladly!–change my mind. I know many of you feel the same way. You, along with me, are committed to scriptures and not to your own opinions.

We get no joy out of pointing out false teachers or spending time focused on compromised celebrity Christians. No joy at all. In fact, it deeply saddens us. Those of us who truly have a heart for discernment and see the big picture of what’s going on are not relishing this at all. We are heartbroken at the direction it’s all going and totally baffled that so few people see it.

The question so many of us wonder is why do we so often encounter Christians who are utterly unwilling to look at any proof we may offer regarding a popular book or author or preacher that shows clearly that they are not teaching truth?

And what do we do with this?

What can we do?

We can’t change their minds. Just as we can’t make a reporter do research before printing something as truth in a local newspaper, so we can’t make a Christian study the scriptures and fill them with conviction about their favorite author.

It’s probably one of the hardest things we encounter, quite frankly, this stubborn refusal to see the danger with nary a glimpse at the biblical proof.

I’ve learned there isn’t really anything we can do. We can speak up once or twice. And we can pray.

Until a person is willing to open their eyes to the truth of the state of Christianity in this current culture, there is nothing else we really can do. And to try to do more will often destroy relationships.

But every now and again, God will put someone in our paths who wants to know. Someone who is willing to lift their head out of the sand and face the truth of what’s going on in popular Christian culture. These are the ones we have the joy of serving.

And it is a joy, isn’t it?

If someone would have told me even ten years ago that I would be here–ridiculed and hated for presenting clear proof of the departure of favorite teachers and authors from the scriptures I am not sure I would have believed them. It has changed so fast it makes my head spin. So few people unwilling to see the truth. So few people who care about discernment at all. And then there are those self-proclaimed discerners who care more about attacking and maligning people than they care about God’s Word–destroying and ruining the reputation of anyone who would even lean that way.

It’s a frustrating place to be. And many have backed away because it is just too painful. I get it. I have, too, to a certain extent. And yet, Satan would like nothing more than for us all to back away and let it all happen right under our noses.

Someone once said–

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.

Let us not be good men and women who do nothing. Let us gather strength from each other and encourage one another on in this road that God has put us on.  And may we remain passionate about staying true to God’s Word. May we never be about our own glory or about ripping people apart. May being unkind never be a part of our ministries. May love be the heart of our ministries.

Stay strong, my friends. The train has left the station, so to speak, and Christianity will never be the same again.

I’ll close with a familiar story–

A boy and his Grandpa were once walking on the beach where thousands of starfish lay marooned. The tide had gone out and left them helpless. They would dry up and die without intervention. The Grandpa started throwing the starfish back in the ocean one by one.

The boy, scanning the ocean shore, said, “you aren’t really even making a difference.”

Grandpa replied: I am making a difference for that one.

One by one, we, too, can make a difference.

 

 

 

 

Five Lies Satan Really Wants You to Believe

4 Comments / May 7, 2019

Last week I wrote about my conviction that much of today’s music that is labeled Christian really isn’t Christian at all (You can find that post here). I then shared a bit of my journey out of my addiction to that style of music and the difference it has made in my life.

Part of this journey has led me down the path of searching for worthwhile music to listen to. As I mentioned last week, I am very much a “music” person. There is a lot–I mean a LOT– of music labeled Christian out there. I started exploring some of this and have found some real gems. Amazon Prime Music (where I can often listen to the whole album) and Itunes preview option (where I can listen to a nice long clip) have revealed some real favorites.

Last weekend I saw a new family singing group pop up on the side bar of Amazon Prime Music. There were two CDs there, so I clicked on the first one. I really liked it. I was pretty sure I had found my newest favorite! I clicked play on the second CD to see if I would like that one, too.

And I did. Until–

I heard something like this: “Somehow you saw something worth dying for”

Wait! What??

There it was again. The song was implying that the reason Jesus died was because He saw something of worth in us. There–right on this nice, sedate, Christian family album–was that insidious lie Satan has been trying to sell us on since the beginning of time.

Satan is in the business of selling lies. You see, if he can get Christians to believe them, then he has rendered true Christians ineffective and defenseless; and professing, fruitless Christians comfortable and feeling secure when they shouldn’t.

What are some of his most crowd-pleasing (and dangerous) lies?

Well, let’s start with the one I ran into last week: We are worth dying for.

Since the garden, Satan has been trying to sell us on our self-worth. This lie has taken on exponential influence with the advent of the self-esteem movement.

But what does the Bible have to say about this?

Let’s go to Romans 3:10-18 to find out–

As it is written:

“There is none righteous, no, not one;
11 There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
12 They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one.”
13 “Their throat is an open [d]tomb;
With their tongues they have practiced deceit”;
“The poison of asps is under their lips”;
14 “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways;
17 And the way of peace they have not known.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

 

There is none righteous. None who seeks after God. None who understands. Let the impact of that word settled into your heart.

None.

If there are none then that means you, me, your friends, your kids, your parents, your pastor, your mentor–and any godly Christian you can think of–is not righteous. They are sinners.

Oh, thank God, we are sinners saved by grace and given a new nature. But all the glory goes to God and we don’t deserve any of it.

The amazing grace, the incredible love, the awesome gift of salvation is so wonderful because we weren’t worth it. Because we don’t deserve it. Because there is nothing good in us.

How the Gospel gets distorted and pride starts to take over when we start thinking that somehow we deserved to be rescued.

A second lie Satan is trying to get us to believe is that scripture is no. big. deal.

He is diligently trying to take our attention off of the Bible, because as soon as he does that, he knows he wins. Christians are anchorless without the Word. We lose all of our moorings, boundaries, and solid footing without the Word. When we start playing loosey-goosey with the inspired Word of God and begin to change age-old interpretations to match the culture, Satan has scored a huge victory.

We are also powerless to win souls without the Word. We lose the heart of the Gospel and our ability to truly know and understand God.

But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for [c]instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:13-17)

Third, love is all that matters and true love is determined by how someone feels. 

Satan wants us to believe that love is the only thing that really matters. But, even the definition of love is warped and wrong. He would have us believe that if we speak the truth in love to someone, we actually aren’t loving them if it makes them feel bad. Do you see how twisted this has gotten? Loving someone has come to mean making someone feel good. But is this love?

Of course not.

Love does sometimes bring wonderful feelings. Remember that feeling when you received warm words of approval from your mom or dad when you were a kid? Or looked into the eyes of your groom or bride on your wedding day? Or held your child that first time? True love does feel great sometimes.

But sometimes, true love doesn’t feel so good. Sometimes our parents needed to discipline us and make us feel very un-good. Sometimes, we have to talk about something really hard with our spouse or our kids and it doesn’t feel good at all. But we know it is in their best interest.

Satan would have us believe that this isn’t really showing love. So we must always go back to scripture. What does scripture teach about this?

 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. (Ephesians 4:14-16)

God has designed us to be truthful with one another as a protection. We can help each other. What you see, I may not see. What I see, you may not see. True love speaks the truth so that we may all grow up together in Christ. But, oh, how pride ruins God’s plan.

Fourth, salvation is just a prayer.

How many people believe they are saved because they said a childhood prayer and then went on to live sinfully, without remorse or repentance for the rest of their lives?

The Gospel without taking up our cross is no Gospel at all (Luke 9:23).

The Gospel without some kind of life transformation is no Gospel at all (2 Corinthians 5:17).

And yet we now have a thousands–maybe millions?–of people who believe they are saved because they said “I believe in Jesus.”

Anyone can say it. True belief is shown by actions. This is clear from the Word.

The fifth lie is that conflict is bad.

Satan would have us believe that all conflict is sinful. And yet, we know that in order for the truth to prevail, there will have to be some conflict. We read this all through scripture. Christ first showed us this by his declaration in Luke 12:51:

 Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division.

Christ knew that his first coming would not bring peace to the earth but would bring division. And, oh, how it has!

Paul also shows us that conflict can be expected if we are preaching and teaching the truth (2 Timothy 4:9-16). He also shows us in many places how to deal with the conflict as a believer–such as loving our enemies, having much patience, and not letting anger get the best of us. That’s probably worth a whole post on its own. But the point here is: We will have conflict and conflict, in and of itself, isn’t bad.

The conflict we experience in our lives is either due to selfishness or to standing for the truth. It is one or the other. We can determine which it is when we take a look at what we are fighting for.

If we are fighting over something we personally want or desire, that conflict is wrong and sinful. However, if we are standing for something the Bible clearly teaches, then this conflict is due to our stand for the truth and we mustn’t get too upset about it. In fact, the Bible teaches that we must expect it.

_________________________________________

And there you are! Five of the lies that Satan wants us to believe. If he can get us to believe them, then Christians will be rendered ineffective and the lost will hear the true Gospel less and less…

He’s been pretty successful, thus far.

There are more lies. Many more. Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44). And he is seeking to devour us (I Peter 5:8). Be vigilant! Be aware! Be watchful!

 

 

What I Learned from Jury Duty

10 Comments / February 11, 2019

A few months ago I got the letter. I was called to serve the county as a juror by showing up at the Courthouse at 8:15am on Monday, February 4, 2019.

I sighed. Jury duty is such an unknown. Will it be for one day or will it be for two weeks? It had been quite a few years since I had been called and my memory was not serving me well. I really didn’t know what to expect.

But whatever I did expect was nothing like what actually happened–to say the least. But we will get to that.

A month or so after that first letter, I received another letter. “You do not need to come for jury duty until Thursday, February 7, 2019.” I was so excited. I didn’t know why they changed it, but that meant I got half of my week back. I thanked the Lord and prepared to go on Thursday.

Going into a room of strangers and having to come to a consensus on a decision with them is not my idea of a fun time so I really wasn’t looking all that forward to this. But Thursday came and off I went to the County Courthouse to do my civic duty.

Here are a few things I learned that day–

1. I can live without my cell phone for a whole day. The first thing I saw when I arrived was a sign that said “Absolutely no cell phones on Floor___”. Ughhh. Now the day was going to be realllly long. I traipsed back to the car and said good-bye to my connection to the outside world.

After it was all over I realized that, not only did I survive a whole day without my cell phone, but I actually kind of enjoyed it. There is something extremely freeing about being without it. I do appreciate my phone and the communication it allows me with family and friends near and far, but to take a break for an hour or two or eight is definitely not a bad thing. It is truly amazing how your concentration level deepens without that thing calling your name all the time.

As I headed back to enter the building, I ended up behind two twenty-something girls yacking away. They lead me to my second lesson…

2. Give yourself plenty of time. I thought I had left in plenty of time (and I did) but I did not plan on a) having to park so far away, b) having to walk back to the car parked so far away to put my phone in it and then walk back to the building or c) having two girls ahead of me that took–literally–5-7 minutes (or more?) to get through the security at the Courthouse.

There were two rather elderly people manning the security and, although friendly enough, they moved about as fast as molasses in the winter. They pulled things out of purses, requested the girls remove their cigarettes from their jacket pockets and a few other various items; unhurriedly putting some of the unapproved items in plastic bags and tagging them for pick-up on their way out. It felt like an eternity. At this point, I am noticing that I am the only one in line behind them. All the other jurors must already be in place. I had no clock but I knew time was ticking away. When I finally rushed upstairs, I found my room and hesitantly entered, expecting to be greatly frowned upon for my tardiness. It was then that I learned another lesson…

3. Friendliness goes a very, very long way in setting people at ease. I walked in the door to receive a big smile from the lady there. “Hello, can I have your name?” She kindly joked and made conversation with all of us sitting there so stiffly and, in so doing, washed away a great deal of the nervousness most of us were experiencing. I knew the importance of friendliness before that day but it was a definite reminder that this goes a long way to make people feel at ease and cared about.

And, as believers, who should be more kind, thoughtful, and generous than we? It always greatly pains me to hear that so many in the world view Christians as unfriendly, stingy, and mean because of how some Christians act. How tragic! Today, let’s determine to be friendly to that mom in the store with the screaming toddler or to the grumpy store clerk. Let’s be extra-kind to the irritating co-worker or the mean neighbor. Let’s give a decent tip to that waitress who works hard for a low wage, depending on tips to make a decent living. And–perhaps the hardest thing of all–let’s treat our families with kindness and courtesy. Let’s not be one thing when we are out and another when we are at home. A real challenge, for sure, and one I am sure we all need to work on, but so very important. But I digress…

Anyway–

As we all sat there, the judge came in and told us that we would be serving as jury on a civil trial and it was a bit different than normal. Along with this information, he assured us that we would only be there for one day. I thanked the Lord right there and then (silently, of course!) I was just so relieved. And then the judge started asking a few questions. Does anyone know anyone related to the case? Did they ever hear of this case? A few raised their hands and were excused to leave. That left twenty of us. We walked into the courtroom to take some questions from the lawyers. After they had asked us questions, a few more were excused to leave. That left fourteen. At that point, the judge asked us if any of us would like to be excused due to personal convenience or schedule. (I mean..yeah…I wanted to go home, but I didn’t really have a pressing reason…) None of us raised our hands. “Okay, then we will just have fourteen on this jury. Let’s just pull up two more chairs.” Uhhhh….what..??

Which leads me to my next lesson…

4. When your mind raises a question it is probably for a reason. It was around this time that my mind started to turn. Either things had drastically changed since I was here the last time or there was something unusual about this case. It just didn’t seem quite right. I think this is often how God gets our attention about a false teacher or teaching. Our mind raises a question but we squish it down. Instead of researching and looking for the truth, we just ignore it and hope it will go away. Unfortunately, those questions often do go away, and in that process, our discernment muscle becomes weak and useless.

Okay, so back to the story…

Without giving too many details, the case was one where all fourteen of us had to come up with a single amount of money to award the plaintiff.

We spent the entire morning listening to both sides and then it was lunchtime. They brought us subs which we ate in the actual courtroom while we deliberated and tried to come to an agreement. We had about an hour and ten minutes to agree on an amount. Thankfully, in civil cases, you only need a majority. We needed 12 of us to agree. Doesn’t seem too terribly hard, right? Which leads me to my next lesson…

5. Every single person is remarkably different with greatly varying life experiences. Again–I knew this. Very well. But I was reminded of this as recommendations were hundreds of thousand dollars apart and consisted of everything in between. That was because everyone came at it from different perspectives. We finally were able to get nine of us to agree. But there were five more who wouldn’t budge. They felt very strongly and they refused to move even an inch. I started to realize that we would probably be there for most of the day and great frustration started to settle into my heart. It was just about that time I learned another lesson…

6. Just when you are ready to give up hope, there is light. Oh, this doesn’t always happen, of course, but, eventually, there is a little light or a silver lining or a bright spot that helps carry us on in a hard time. In this particular case, just when we were ready to throw our hands up in despair at ever agreeing, the judge came in and told us we don’t have all day (?? Another indication that this was not a normal trial!) and that we should all fill out these little pieces of paper with our juror number and the amount we thought should be given. I wrote down what I truly believed was the right thing to write down and I thought that was that…

However, I had one more important lesson to learn…

7. Be ready to defend your answer. Would I have written down the same answer if I knew I was going to have to give my reasons for writing it? I think I would have because I believed it to be the best answer, but I would have definitely thought twice.

But let me back up for a moment. We filled out our little papers and went back to our seats in the jury box. Those involved in the case gathered back into the courtroom. And then the judge proceeded to read each juror number and their answer.

It was around that time that the judge finally filled us in on what was going on. It was a new-ish thing to do–at least in our county–and had only been done a few times before. I am not sure of the real title of it, but it was like a “mediation trial.” They had gathered a jury to hear the case and to give their opinions, in order to give both sides a “reality check”, as the judge called it.

It is actually a fantastic idea. Instead of taking three to five days to listen to testimonies of doctors, police officers, and others involved (along with wasting hours of time and thousands of dollars) we listened to one testimony and saw two PowerPoint presentations. From this we made our decisions and these decisions were read by the judge. He was going to then take both parties, now that they had heard realistic settlement amounts, and try to come to some kind of settlement with them. It was a rather old case and I think all parties involved were ready to wrap it up.

After he had explained this to us, he did something else very unusual. He allowed the lawyers to ask the jurors questions. He even asked us one or two himself. It was completely unexpected but also very interesting. It was at this time that I was asked why I had written the specific amount that I had. I had to explain why I had written what I had written. I did feel like I gave a decent answer and I do hope they found it helpful.

But this made me think of how often we say or do things without being able or ready to give a defense. Especially as believers we should be able to take people to the Word and explain. It reminds me of I Peter 3:15–

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;

Yes! I was caught off-guard and had to defend my answer. So, too, we may be caught off-guard as believers. It is so very important that we know why we believe what we believe, so that we are ready to give an answer at all times.

And, there you have it. An unusual day in the life of me. Thankfully, before we were excused the judge told us that this did count as official jury duty and we wouldn’t be called for another three years. Whew!

 

When God Opens Our Eyes

4 Comments / January 28, 2019

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of going to Florida with a couple of my dear friends. It was planned before I knew I was headed back to work and, at first, I stewed a bit. Could I really afford to give up five days to vacation in Florida? And then I realized that God was well aware of what my situation would be and perhaps He thought I needed a bit of down-time before jumping from one busy season to the next. I decided to just enjoy it.

Before I left I realized my favorite shampoo was running low. Thankfully, I thought of it while I was at the grocery store and I hurriedly grabbed a bottle from the shelf while shopping a day or two before. I took it home and squeezed a bunch of it into an emptied travel shampoo bottle to tuck into my carry-on. The bottle still had a little water in it from trying to rinse out the previous shampoo so I wasn’t sure if that would mess up the shampoo or not. I wasn’t too worried.

The first morning, as I began to wash my hair in the shower a bunch of water came out of the bottle. Oops. As I took the rather gloppy shampoo and rubbed it a bit in my hands it didn’t feel quite right. As I rubbed it through my hair it was even more weird. Would a little water make that much difference?? I didn’t think so. But, of course, I was using unfamiliar water, as well. Maybe it was harder…or softer…or just different than what I was used to. My hair was notoriously flat and lifeless that day and every day of that vacation because of this weird shampoo experience.

It wasn’t until the final day that it FINALLY hit me!

Like a lightening bolt, it hit me.

As I rubbed that lifeless, watery formula through my hair for the last day, my eyes were suddenly opened. This wasn’t shampoo at all. It was conditioner.

How could I have been so stupid not to realize it before? I still couldn’t confirm it but the more I thought about it the more certain I was that this must be the problem.

When I got home, I pulled the “shampoo” bottle from the shower. Sure enough. The company that manufactures it uses the exact same bottle for shampoo and for conditioner and I had carelessly pulled one from the shelf, never checking to make sure it was actually shampoo.

Now besides feeling really stupid, I felt…well…enlightened.

I finally had solved the puzzle.

And that was a good thing.

And–you know by now–I can’t let such a good analogy pass me by without talking about it here. Even if it does let the whole world know my rather embarrassing story.

Because I think this happens to us. We are listening to our favorite preachers. Reading the books of our favorite authors. Following our favorite celebrity speakers on social media. Perhaps we are in the habit of doing a favorite activity that we’ve never thought about being wrong before. But then something doesn’t seem right. Red flags are raised but we can’t quite put our finger on it. And then God opens our eyes. Through His Word, through a concerned fellow believer, or any other number of ways and, suddenly, we realize and we connect the dots.

What we do at that point is critical. If I had continued to use that conditioner even though my eyes were opened to the truth of the situation, you would have wondered about my intellectual capacity (you may already be wondering that, anyway, given my admission above!) Of course–like anyone else would–I stopped using conditioner and started using shampoo.

And, yet, do we respond this same way when it comes to spiritual things? Do we stop listening, reading, following the wrong things and very intentionally fill our minds with the right things? Do we stop doing something that we know is wrong even though we love to do it? Do we then replace these things with things that are true, righteous, and good, as we evaluate them according to God’s Word? It’s easy to make excuses. There are plenty of ways to rationalize why we can continue to follow someone or continue on in an activity that we know is unpleasing to the Lord.

Now, of course, I would never rationalize using conditioner for the rest of my life.

But we all know why. Conditioner made my hair lifeless and dull. I never use it. Ever. And so the consequences of using conditioner were not pleasant for me.

So no big deal to switch. My life is much more pleasant using shampoo than using conditioner.

And there is probably the real difference. What some of these false and/or compromising teachers teach makes our lives seemingly more happy. What they bring us is attractive to us, if we are living only in the temporal and not considering the eternal. They offer us popularity; pleasing philosophies; encouraging, uplifting (and extremely self-centered) messages. They allow us to have our cake and eat it, too. No turning from the world, no self-denial, no concern for turning from sin. These things matter not as long as we are happy.

And our entertainment and activities make our lives more fun. We look less weird and we are more popular if we just watch, wear, and do what everyone else does.

It is incredibly hard to turn away from teachers and activities that would seem to make our lives more pleasant and enjoyable. It truly is.

But, of course, the question to ourselves should never be: “Is this too hard for me?”

But should always be: “Is this the right thing for me to do?”

We sometimes get a little mixed up about which question to ask. Especially in this self-obsessed world.

And so I encourage you to follow through. If the Lord has been opening your eyes, submit yourself to the pain, acknowledge the hurt, and then turn away and move on. It will be a very real hurt if you choose to turn away from someone you have trusted to teach you the truth. It will be a real hardship to give up an activity that has bonded you to people you love to be with. Yes, it will be a very painful process. But, in the long run, you will be so thankful you did. Just like pouring alcohol on a wound stings dreadfully when it provides a necessary cleansing, so, too, does ridding ourselves of false teachers and ungodly activities.

But when God opens our eyes, He has given us an amazing opportunity. We need to grab hold of it and take it!

 

 

 

A Disturbing Trend

13 Comments / January 21, 2019

I have been noticing something recently. It’s quite worrisome and I wanted to bring it to your attention.

The Christian world is currently broken down into three categories of people:

1) Those who believe discernment and speaking anything negative about someone (even if it is true and necessary) is evil.

(I am still unsure of where someone finds this viewpoint in scripture? And, yet, so many Christians believe this. Read more about this here.)

2) Those who try to stay balanced–practicing and encouraging discernment while not making it their life’s mission.

(This is where I try to stay because discernment is truly just one part of a healthy Christian life. Although, I have to admit that this can be a challenge when you recognize all that is going on to draw people away from the only true God.)

3) And those who are extremely passionate about discernment and see it as their ministry.

(This is where people can become a little and sometimes a LOT unbalanced if they aren’t very careful.)

But in this third circle, where we find some really good discernment bloggers, I have been noticing a trend. Not with all of them but with some of them.

And it is this: Their refusal to write about certain leaders and authors.

It has been an interesting thing to watch– to say the least. While they will easily (and rightly) give a biblical critique of someone like Beth Moore, Joel Osteen, or Bill Johnson, they say nothing about what’s going on in the Southern Baptist circles with Al Mohler, Russell Moore, J.D. Greear, and others as they change their views on homosexuality and promote the “woke” movement or any of the many other things going on in that circle. Nothing.

Thankfully, there are still a few brave souls who will speak up. But this group is quickly shrinking.

Now, in some ways I get it. To do so would, in a very real way, be to commit blogging suicide.

Many of these bloggers have the ears of certain popular folk that reside in the reformed and/or Baptist circles. And these certain popular folk not only also refuse to speak up about what’s going on but, in fact, join with these men at conferences, on radio shows, and in many other ways.

So to speak up against them would be to, most likely, lose your {relatively small} bit of fame, your preferred “discernment blogger” status, and the support of those who refuse to break with men who are headed pell-mell in the wrong direction.

While these bloggers refuse to say anything, some of them then proceed to tweet unkind words about those that do, indeed, have the fortitude to stand up and speak out. I have seen it and it is just…so wrong.

I don’t really have an answer. I just wanted to go on record saying that I see this happening and it is beyond disturbing and most disheartening.

And I wanted to make you, my small circle of readers, aware of this, as well, so that you can be on the look-out for this, too. It is amazing what someone can say by silence.

And, once again, I just encourage you to not hold any person up as your idol. No matter how they helped you grow or helped you see, they do not deserve your undying loyalty.

All of us are sinners that are still fighting with the flesh. All of us fight the desire to be popular and liked and praised. And, as bloggers, this desire can and often does drive what we choose to post or to not post. Blogging for the Lord and His glory alone is not as easy as you might think.

So I’d really encourage you to not rely on just one or two people for the whole story these days. Just as we diversify our assets in financial planning, so we should diversify our sources when it comes to this topic of discernment.

I know this is not a biblical post, per se, but I just felt this needed to be said. Hope it helps. I’ll get back to my normal type of post next time. Thanks for reading.

Test all things; hold fast what is good. (I Thessalonians 5:21)

Is There More Than One Way to Interpret Scripture?

5 Comments / December 10, 2018

A few weeks ago, a friend asked me this question: How do I respond to those who say we can interpret scripture however we want? She had been talking with someone and they had claimed that there are many interpretations to scripture and people just interpret the Bible however they want to make it fit with their viewpoint. While the second half of that sentence is true (people try to make the Bible say whatever they want), it is the first part of this sentence that I want to examine today: Is there more than one interpretation?

This is a great battle in Christendom today because almost all false Gospels rely on the answer to this question being yes. If we desire to stick to the traditional view of the Word, we will often have to deal with people saying to us: Well, that’s your interpretation.

So let’s take a look at this so that, hopefully, we will be a little more prepared the next time someone makes a statement like this.

If you write a letter to someone, does it have one meaning? Or are there several?

When you were in high school or college, did your teacher claim that there was more than one interpretation of the Iliad and the Odyssey? Or Shakespeare? To any other literary source?

They did not. Because there isn’t.

While there may be principles and applications that we can find under the surface of any written work, there is never a completely different meaning.

But for some reason, people use an argument they would never use for any other written work. If we remember that the Holy Bible is God’s very word, inspired and inerrant, then we can understand their need to have more than one interpretation. For this is how a rebellious man can do a work-around and still call himself a Christian.

And we can see—as we have seen in the past few years—that the Bible can be twisted to mean anything anyone wants if we disregard the normal approaches to understanding written documents.

2 Timothy 2:15 counsels us to correctly handle the Word of Truth. This then would lead us to the understanding that there is a right and a wrong way to interpret scripture.

John MacArthur puts it this way in regards to scripture interpretation: “You can be right and I can be wrong or I can be right and you can be wrong or we can both be wrong. But we can’t both be right.”

Exactly.

We have a grave responsibility to use proper hermeneutics to figure out what each passage’s proper interpretation is. (Hermeneutics is the study of the principles and methods of interpreting the text of the Bible.)

I am almost finished with Roy Zuck’s Basic Bible Interpretation (one of the resources I will recommend below) and he says this:

“Interpreting the Bible is one of the most important issues facing Christians today. It lies behind what we believe, how we live, how we get on together, and what we have to offer the world.”

Interpreting the Bible correctly is key.

So how can we be sure that we interpret the Bible correctly? What are the steps? First, there are some qualifications for us:

  1. We must be regenerated. We read in I Corinthians 2:14 that the natural man cannot understand the things of God. So in order to interpret and study scripture correctly, we must be saved. Not only does God open our spiritual eyes upon our salvation but it is also at this time that we are indwelled by the Holy Spirit. He is our Helper in all things, including scripture interpretation (John 14:26).
  2. We must be humble. If we come to the scriptures with a proud heart we will severely limit our capability in understanding God’s Word (Proverbs 16:5). A proud heart leads to an unwillingness to surrender our will to the Father’s. Instead, we find ourselves looking for scripture to promote our ideas and our agendas. This has led to many a wrong interpretation.
  3. We must be reverent and sober-minded. If we have a lackadaisical and careless attitude towards the Holy Word of God (2 Timothy 3:15) we will have the same attitude in interpreting it.
  4. We must be willing to obey all that we read. Ahhh. So now we get to the heart of the matter. We must be willing to obey. If we take a look at almost any twisting of God’s Word or false system that uses Bible verses, what do we see? We will always see obedience to only part of God’s Word. Usually, the parts that elevate, bless, or otherwise make their lives easier. The parts that are hard, that are negative, or that require one to look and be different than the world are soundly ignored. Scripture can only be interpreted correctly if we are willing to obey it in full. (Psalm 119:1-16)
  5. We must approach the scriptures with sound judgment and reason. We must seek to be objective rather than subjective. We must try, as best we can, to come without prejudice or preconceived notions.
  6. We must pray. We must ask the Lord to give us insight and lead us to the correct understanding of what we are studying. We must recognize that, in and of ourselves, we are helpless and hopeless. We need His help and guidance for all things.

Now that we know how we should personally approach the scripture, let’s take a brief look at the best way to interpret the scripture—

  1. It should be interpreted literally. This means that it should be interpreted in its most natural form. If you pick up a letter from a friend, you are not looking for hidden meanings or allegories. You are reading it and taking it for what it means.
  2. It should be interpreted in context. This means we take some time to study the entire passage, we determine the author and who they were writing to, we find out why they were writing to that group or individual. We must study the verses surrounding the favorite verse. We must find out all we can about the context of the passage. It is only after studying these things and understanding the context that we can then look for principles to apply to our own lives.
  3. It should be interpreted with regard to its historical understanding. In the recent years, we have so many “new interpretations”. Tossing tradition and rules out the window has led to a completely different kind of Christianity. But Paul makes it clear that we should pay attention to what has been historically taught when he writes this in 2 Thessalonians 2:15: Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.

Dividing God’s Word rightly takes work. I believe whole-heartedly that much of the error and heresy we see in the church today is due in great part to people not being willing to learn the Word for themselves. I find myself talking to more and more people who want to base their interpretation of scripture on how they feel (I just can’t believe in a God who…) or on what they have been taught by a teacher (But my teacher says…)

Whenever these two things become our guidelines we are in grave danger. Feelings have their place, after all they were created by God. They are not evil. And teachers can be most helpful to us. They can make us think and they can open our eyes. But we must, in a mature and objective manner, take responsibility for our own learning of the scriptures. We must leave milk behind us and feed on meat, always growing in our knowledge of the Word (Hebrews 5:13).

I hope that this has been helpful. There is so much that could be said regarding this subject and I feel like I have been woefully inadequate in what I have written here–like I barely scratched the surface. I will add some resource links below for those of you who would like to study this subject in a deeper way.

 

HELPFUL RESOURCES:

Principles of Interpretation by Pastor Dean Good

Got Questions: What is Biblical Hermeneutics?

Basic Bible Interpretation by Roy B. Zuck

 

 

Don’t Be Just Another Fan

7 Comments / December 6, 2018

If you are on Facebook, you may have noticed that I have been sharing the posts of others less and less on the Growing4Life Facebook page. Why is this? Do I think I am the only one who is right? By all means NO. I don’t think this at all. And I am truly grateful for those who have the courage to stand up for the truth. I am just so hesitant to promote others because, in this strange new world, I never know where someone will end up and I don’t want to be responsible for promoting someone that leads another astray.

I have been thinking more of this because of what I have observed in the recent days: We not only have false teachers who gain huge followings of undiscerning people, we also have teachers who are teaching the truth in the wrong way who have gained huge followings. They are snide, prideful, and rude. They are careless and make jokes about things they shouldn’t. They are not sober-minded nor are they handling the Word with the care and awe with which it deserves. They write about certain false teachers, but leave others free to do their own thing. If a teacher is backed by a favored denomination or favored for some other reason, blatant evidence is ignored and we hear…nothing.

Does that mean we shouldn’t read and learn from them? No, of course not. But I want to remind you of how careful we must be when we follow anyone. We should never be an undiscerning fan and simply imbibe what someone says (and, yes, this applies to Growing4Life and what I write here, as well). I can’t stress how important this is. We must take responsibility for our own beliefs about God, His Word, and what is going on in the world around us.

Of course, most of us don’t want to do this because this means work. And we don’t have the time or the will or the desire to do the work necessary. We are tired, busy, or lazy.

Hopefully there are a few of you out there who care enough to do the work to study. And it is for those few that I offer the following tips to get started in discerning on your own rather than simply ingesting anything a favorite author or blogger has to say.

1. Read, study, and memorize your Bible. I know I say this all the time but that is because it is the most crucial component to being a godly Christian with proper discernment in this alarming church culture.

2. Do not assume that just because something or someone is labeled “Christian” they actually are. It is almost unbelievable how much self-worship has been cloaked as “Christian”. This should be the first test: What does this person teach about self? Are they promoting the way of the cross or the way of self-realization and self-glory?

3. Don’t follow a favored author or blogger without discernment. Pay attention to what they are posting. This doesn’t mean you stop following them at every small disagreement. We will never agree fully with everyone. But we must not only watch for accuracy in their posts, but also for attitudes and character. The key is that we don’t want to ever let down our guard as we choose authors, teachers, and bloggers to follow–even those who specialize in “discernment”.

4. Don’t let charisma trick you into believing someone. I could write a whole post on this and maybe someday I will. If you put two teachers side by side and the first is teaching truth in a rather dry and matter-of-fact way and the second is taking one Bible verse and then expounding on it falsely but with charisma and excitement, most Christians will choose the second. Certain people have what is appropriately called magnetism and we are drawn to them. It explains why so many false teachers have been wildly successful. It is critical that we don’t let this be our determination of who we follow. Charisma is utterly and completely irrelevant to truth.

5. Read and study the works of old preachers and pastors who wrote before the chaos that is the church today. We tend to be people who are obsessed with the “latest and greatest”. And we have probably been trained that way by Apple and Microsoft over these past twenty years. But I have found that, when it comes to spiritual material, the latest is rarely the greatest. Some of the best works were written over a hundred years ago and they are free from the politically correct garbage and the self-worshiping and self-exalting filth that clutters almost every modern-day offering. I recommend you start with J.C. Ryle and Charles Spurgeon. They are both not only generally solid, but they are easy to read, easily found online for free, and their books are often only .99 on Kindle.

6. Determine to only be loyal to God’s Word. While some people are fickle and easily move on to the next church, teacher, or author, many of us are super loyal. We find someone we trust and we never think about it again. I am so incredibly saddened to say that the days for this are over. I have seen many trusted pastors, authors, and bloggers start to go a wrong direction. It is subtle and almost imperceptible at first. While I don’t want to encourage an attitude of mistrust or constant skepticism, I do recommend a healthy dose of discernment for anyone we choose to follow. Only the Bible deserves our loyalty in full.

7. Pray. Ask the Lord to help you in this treacherous time. Ask for courage and strength and abundant wisdom. I have never seen such a time where truth is mixed with error in such a subtle way. I have never seen a time where Satan’s lies of self-exaltation, self-gratification, and self-glory have been so subtly cloaked and taught as “Christianity”. I have never seen a time when those who call themselves Christians are swallowing the lies and being deceived by the thousands. And I have never seen a time when those who would teach biblical truth would be so ostracized, persecuted, and outcast.

—————————————

You know, I understand why people want to just ignore all of this and remain in ignorance. Some days I wish for that, too. But as believers who have the opportunity and responsibility to impact our children, grandchildren, fellow believers, co-workers, and all others around us, for the cause of Christ we cannot afford to make the choice to put our heads in the sand.

Yes, it can be unpleasant and distressing. But we must be sure we are following and teaching a biblical faith in order to make a difference for Christ. We must keep our eyes and hearts focused on God and His Word. For only from this source will we receive the pure and unadulterated truth. Don’t blindly follow any human. Don’t be just another fan.

 

There’s More to Christianity Than Doing Good Works

6 Comments / November 29, 2018

“The reason Social Justice is attractive to the church is because it doesn’t invite criticism.” My brother (Pastor Dean) said these words as we talked on the phone yesterday. I immediately realized just how profound his words were.

Perhaps they are words each and every one of us should reflect upon.

There are many good things the church does that all people love. It matters not if they are Christian or not Christian. Nothing matters as we work hard with our fellow man to make the world a better place. This includes things like–

Feeding the hungry ♥ Adopting orphans ♥ Caring for the homeless ♥ Providing fresh water for third world villages ♥ Providing food, clothing, and shelter to needy families ♥ Giving money to charities

Who in their right mind is going to oppose such things?

And, just to be clear, I am not opposed to these things. And neither should any of us be. The Bible is clear: We are told to care for orphans (James 1:27); we are to help our fellow man– and particularly our Christians brothers and sisters– who are in need (Ephesians 4:28; Hebrews 6:10). These are good things to do.

But these aren’t the only things Christians are to be doing. Doing good for others is just a part of what it means to live a godly, righteous life.

There’s so much more. But the “more” doesn’t often draw the praise of man.

As soon as we go out into the world and preach the Gospel–the clear, unadulterated Gospel as the scripture teaches it–we immediately invite the antagonism, the scorn, and the hatred of the world.

And as soon as we try to teach and live out the Christian life that is clearly mandated in scripture among the murky and muddy waters that is the mainstream church we invite the antagonism, the scorn, and the hatred of that church.

When we bring a message the world doesn’t want to hear, such as you cannot be reconciled to God without believing in Jesus Christ (John 14:6), we will be criticized, mocked, and labeled. We may even be persecuted. By both the world and those claiming to belong to the church.

When we bring a message the mainstream church doesn’t want to hear, such as encouraging believers to practice discernment (Hebrews 5:14), be separate from the world (James 1:27), and strive for holiness (I Peter 1:15-16), criticism and animosity will often rain down upon our head from within the church doors.

This is why so many of us choose to do the Christian things that invite the praise and laud of people. And it’s also why we avoid doing the Christian things that invite criticism.

How much do you care what people think about you? Does this change what you stand for or stand against?

I have to be honest and let you know right up front that this has been–by far–my biggest battle in this ministry.

It is natural for people to want to be liked and I am no exception. I don’t want to be labeled divisive, negative, unloving, arrogant, and whatever other words I have been called.

And yet, over and over again, God continues to remind me that my job is to please Him, first and foremost. As believers, our priority is to do all to the glory and pleasure of our Lord, irrespective of the opinions of man.

The opinions of those around us are, in essence, irrelevant.

Now reflect on that truth for just a few seconds. Why do we do what we do? How do we feel if we do something good and it goes unnoticed? How do we respond when we are faced with a choice to speak out against something we know God hates or a false teacher that is leading someone we love astray? Do we have the courage to share the Gospel unapologetically with the lost all around us? Are we truly living like no one’s opinion matters but God’s?

Inside each of us, a battle rages between the flesh and our new man. And the flesh wants to be pleasing to our fellow man. It is just how we are. But when we are saved, we have a new purpose. We seek first God and His Kingdom (Matthew 6:33). We are new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17). Everything is changed.

In theory, that is.

In real life, it doesn’t just happen. It is a daily struggle.

However, as new creatures, we must fight this fight. For if we let the flesh win, it is not without deadly consequences. Think of how many children in Christian homes have grown up and gone out to live ungodly lives in the world because parents didn’t want to be unpopular? Think of how many inroads Satan has made into the lives of believers because they want to be cool to their friends? How many have followed false teachers because their Christian friends are afraid to speak up? Think of the light that has gone out in the church because of the desire to win the praise of the world?

If we aren’t willing to be different than the world and if we are driven by a passion to please the world (or the compromised, mainstream church), we will be rendered ineffective for the cause of Christ.

Sure, we can do all sorts of nice things for others and make this temporal world a better place to live in, but if we aren’t sharing the Gospel and pointing people to biblical Christian living, what eternal good are we even accomplishing?

Are we more likely to do the things that draw the praise of man? Do we shy away from the righteous and good things that draw criticism?

Pastor Dean’s words really made me think. And, once again, I was reminded: My priority is to please God.

Am I living to please God or are my daily life choices based on pleasing those around me? It is an important question that we should probably all give some thought to.

 

Are You Mowing the Wrong Lawn?

2 Comments / October 18, 2018

Our lawncare business office got a phone call the other day. It was one of our customers complaining that we hadn’t mowed her lawn that week. We asked the employee who was scheduled to do that lawn if he had mowed it. He most certainly had, he assured us. We told her that she must have missed him.

The next week she called again complaining that we had missed her lawn again. Once more, the employee told us with certainty that he had mowed her lawn. We were getting a little confused at this point and thought there might be more to the story.

The next time the employee returned to her lawn he took a selfie to prove that he was mowing this woman’s lawn. He confidently sent it to the office.

And that’s when we realized what was really going on–

He was mowing the wrong lawn. Somehow, he had gotten her lawn confused with a neighbor’s lawn. Her lawn had not been mowed and her neighbor had some free mowing for a couple of weeks.

How in the world did that happen? And go on for more more than a week? That’s never happened before.

Well, really–it’s kind of the same way we get deceived by false teaching.

We are over here mowing a lawn and when someone tells us it’s the wrong lawn we don’t believe them. It’s that simple. But if we take a “selfie” with that lawn (or, in other words, hold it up to the scrutiny of the Bible) we will see pretty quickly that we are most certainly mowing the wrong lawn.

And here is where humility comes in. Can we be humble enough to admit we were wrong and move to the right place? Hopefully.

But I find that many people aren’t willing to consider that they are even on the wrong lawn.

I just read a quote this morning. I guess it was Providential because it fits in this post perfectly:

Truth invites scrutiny; but error doesn’t like to be challenged.

Biblical truth will stand up to any challenge. If it doesn’t stand up under scrutiny then we are mowing the wrong lawn and we need to move.

Of course, there are so few of us who are even scrutinizing. We aren’t even making sure that we are at the right lawn. We are banking on our families, our friends, our pastors, and celebrity pastors to feed us the truth instead of using our Bibles.

The Bible. The only source for truth. It trumps everything. If what you believe doesn’t match it, you are wrong. If what your favorite teacher teaches doesn’t match it, your favorite teacher is wrong. If what your pastor is preaching doesn’t match it, they are wrong.

So, once again, I encourage you to get in the Word, praying that the Holy Spirit will give you insight as you make a sincere effort to run all through its grid.

Our employee was so sure he was mowing the right lawn that he never even considered the possibility that he wasn’t. Not even a call from the customer caused him to doubt. May we never be so sure of ourselves and our own opinions that we aren’t willing to scrutinize it when we get that “call” to tell us that we may be off on something we have always believed or about someone we have always trusted.

We surely don’t want to be “mowing the wrong lawn” when Jesus returns!

I’m Not the One Who Moved

12 Comments / October 10, 2018

This is for my Christian critics. The ones who label me narrow-minded and arrogant because of what I believe. I hope that this post will also encourage and aid my readers who are also labeled in this way.

There is a really important thing that our critics have forgotten–

We aren’t the ones who moved.

Seriously.

While there was always a remnant of believers who lived according to the Word even during the Dark Ages, we saw that, with the Reformation, there came a return to the important five solas–key doctrines of scripture.

These five solas returned a wayward mainstream Christianity back to its core and we owe much gratitude to men like Hus, Tyndale, Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin (and so many others) who were persecuted and even died because they stood firmly on the Bible and its precepts.

I am watching the first three of these five solas slowly being eroded away by mainstream evangelical Christianity but I still believe them. Many of us have always believed them–even without a history lesson on the Reformation– because they are what the Bible teaches.

The first point, Sola Scriptura (Scripture is sufficient and authoritative) is being ripped to shreds all around us. Belief that God is still speaking flies in the face of Sola Scriptura. Scripture cannot be sufficient if we are still receiving revelation from God. So is scripture sufficient or isn’t it?

I believe it is both authoritative and sufficient. I do not make that statement lightly and I have given the issue both research and prayer. Here are four key reasons why I absolutely believe it is sufficient. I have attached a link after this section that goes into this a bit more–

1) If scripture is not sufficient then we have a veritable Pandora’s Box of chaos. Anyone can say anything and claim it’s from God. And yet there is no way to prove any message is from God. Some will say that if it agrees with scripture then we can know it’s from God. Well, if that’s the case, then why do we need to be told this same thing in a supernatural way? Why not just read the Bible? And here’s another thing we know: Satan masquerades as an angel of light. He can–and does–use these things to pretend to be our godly advisor, only to eventually draw us off the narrow path. My rule: Don’t trust the voice inside my head. There is absolutely no way to know if it is God or isn’t. None.

2) If scripture is not sufficient or the authority of our lives, then we are going to be driven by things outside of the Bible like culture, felt needs, and other dangerous doctrines. Because if scripture is not sufficient then we naturally have to concede that scripture does not tell us everything we need to know. This kind of thinking leaves a very dangerous door open. And it’s the door that brings in most, if not all, false teaching. In fact, this door is the one that Joseph Smith walked through, deceiving millions. He claimed to have further revelation and started the Mormon church. I can’t think of one false religion that did not begin with “special revelation” or a vision from “God”. There may be one, but I can’t think of one.

3) If we are hungering for supernatural experiences directed to us personally, we naturally have to admit that this takes the focus off of God and puts it squarely on us. Our religion becomes about our purpose, our dreams, our needs, our wants. This is in complete and utter contradiction to what scripture teaches, where we read that we are to deny ourselves and take up our cross. (Matthew 16:24)

4) Special revelation breeds pride and division. When we think we should be hearing from God but aren’t we grow envious and jealous of those that are or we grow discouraged that somehow we aren’t spiritual enough. When we think we are hearing from God, we grow prideful and arrogant, thinking that we have some special connection with God that others do not have. The fruits of this movement are clearly disturbing, a fact we must face.

You can find a more in-depth article that I have written on this topic here.

We also see the second and third solas disappearing: Sola Fide (by faith alone) and Sola Gratia (through grace alone) (Ephesians 2:8) If we believe that salvation is by faith alone through grace alone then we must conclude that any religion that doesn’t teach this truth is a false one. And, yet, there is this powerful effort from well-known leaders that would encourage us to unify with Catholicism (faith plus works), Mormonism (works plus faith), and even Islam (works and a little faith). We are all to be one big happy group together serving God. Any refusal or even hesitation to follow after this movement brings accusations of divisiveness and intolerance.

But let’s be honest: Their God cannot be the same as the One, True God. And the real Jesus is obviously not the same as their “Jesus”. How do I know this? Because they require other things besides faith for salvation. Because what they are teaching is not what the Bible teaches. And because their religious rules and regulations are in direct opposition to what Jesus taught in the scriptures (John 14:6).

This is what Orthodox Christianity has believed for thousands of years because this is what the Bible teaches. But sometime in the not-too-distant past, things started to subtly change. Special revelation, hearing the voice of God, dreams and visions–a claim made by only the heretical fringes of Christianity throughout history–became the norm while pastors we loved and trusted started to push us to be joined together with false religions and false teachers.

What is going on??

And then there is the whole moral shift. Two big things come to mind, although I know there are more. First, since the inception of Christianity, the main goal of a Christian was to grow in holiness and godliness (I Peter 1:15-16; Titus 2:12). We were to separate from the world and to set ourselves apart for God’s service (James 1:27; I John 2:15-17). What has happened to these principles? Where is the separation from the world? Where is the encouragement to be holy and sanctified? It has all but disappeared in a “Christianity” that takes the focus off of the Gospel and puts it on fixing the culture. That tells us to follow our dreams and that we deserve our best life now. A warped “Christianity” that ignores true doctrine and bases its false doctrines on felt needs, feelings, and human wisdom and that encourages a sensual, earthly type of worship.

And then there is the latest thing I have to confess I didn’t really think I’d ever see. But here we are. Did you ever think you’d see a day where someone who claims to be “evangelical” would say it is normal to be gay? That God created them that way? Whatever happened to Romans 1 (Romans 1:24-27)? Where does that fit into their premises? And, yet, this is what we have. Respected leaders of the evangelical movement assuring us that it is okay to be a celibate gay person–that God made them like that. (If you need proof, check here and here.)

In light of all of these things we find that–

by default, the narrow road is becoming even more narrow.

Those of us who haven’t moved are not the ones making it narrow. We are standing where we have always stood. But with so many people walking away from biblical Christianity and heading for the broad road, the narrow road has naturally become more sparsely populated.

Those of us who hold to biblical Christianity find ourselves growing lonelier and lonelier. We find ourselves mocked, marginalized, ignored, and sometimes even persecuted. This narrow road is becoming more and more difficult to traverse. It is a rocky, difficult road and it is easy to see why so many leave it.

(Please keep in mind that I am making no judgments on why those who are moving away from biblical Christianity are doing so nor am I speculating anything about their eternal destinies. I am simply, like you, watching, broken-hearted, as so many turn away from all they’ve ever taught and believed. A sad thing indeed.)

As more and more people defect to the mystical, ecumenical, and communist/left evangelicalism, it naturally makes those of us who have chosen to stay where we have always been look narrow-minded and arrogant.

But, again, I want to remind you that we are not the ones who moved. We are not the ones re-defining Christianity. We are not the ones changing how we interpret scripture. We aren’t the ones going against what scripture teaches, teaching unbiblical things such as: Christianity is here to change culture, that Christians deserve to have their dreams fulfilled, that worldliness has nothing to do with godliness, and that the local church is to be designed around the needs of the lost. We are not the ones who are speaking at conferences with those who are clearly false teachers, giving validity to their ministries by speaking alongside them.

What is wrong with this picture? Why are those of us that refuse to move the “bad guys”?

Actually, I know why.

Peer pressure is a very powerful thing. And those that don’t fit in the mainstream have never been and will never be popular. Whether you are talking about church issues or work issues or school issues. The one who won’t fit in with “group think” is inevitably marginalized, maligned, ignored, or persecuted.

And, so, here we are.

If someone out there can give me a valid explanation based on scripture on why I should change my views, I am here to listen with an open mind. If someone wants to show me how my traditional Christian beliefs, backed by thousands of years of Christian history, are no longer correct with an argument that is based on the Bible, I am willing to listen. I am not closed-minded, nor am I hard-hearted or arrogant. I know full-well I don’t have all of the answers.

But here is what I do know: The Bible does have the answers. It has the answers for the here and now and it also has great insight into the future. And its predictions about the last days are becoming a shocking reality more each day in a way I never thought I’d see in my lifetime.The Bible is true and real-life events are most definitely confirming this.

So, forgive me, if I don’t hop on the mainstream evangelical bandwagon. I don’t belong there and I firmly believe that you don’t, either.

 

 

Scroll to Top