91. to demean/remove the power of the Cross
Posted by:
SeLahGirl on
September 12, 2008 at
1:45PM EST
From a discussion about the emerging church.
...I have
only skimmed the last two pages of this thread, but it is speaking to
so much that has been turning over in my heart recently. There is a
strong move that has entered mainline Christianity that is really being
shoved into the faces of believers... it's not really new... it just
has new names and new denominations and new movements hiding it's
face...
it's an attempt to demean/remove the power of the blood/sacrifice of Christ and his teachings,
to redefine it, to rewrite it based upon a different truth, a different
doctrine, and yet to call it by his name, still confessing him, but in
reality -- still rejecting him.
4Jesus answered: "Watch
out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming,
I am the Christ, and will deceive many. 6You will hear of wars and
rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things
must happen, but the end is still to come. 7Nation will rise against
nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and
earthquakes in various places. 8All these are the beginning of birth
pains. (Matt 24)
our weapons against spiritual forces
are the word of our testimony and the blood of Christ. Remove the power
and significance of the blood and we have no testimony. My current
sunday school teacher spends week after week demeaning the Bible and
elevating the positive culture of Islam... the philosophies of men and
tossing of eccentric Greek and Hebrew words are used to present the
Bible as a book of myths created by the error of well meaning men. Two
of the four pastors are voting for liberal, pro-abortion candidates and
have stated so. The other two may be as well, I just haven't asked.
something eerie is happening in the mainline church... the word of God
is being denied and the work of the cross is being demeaned... and the
ppl of God sit and scratch their heads, shrug their shoulders, and
watch the clock until class is over. The Trade Center was bombed, our
nation attacked by terrorists, years were spent in talks to politically
approach the matter without violence... and while the wonderful Islamic
nation chattered away feeding the egos of mild-mannered mediators and
peace-seeking agendas... they plotted and attacked us on 9-11.
" 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace. "
(eccl 3)
We are not to initiate violence, but when attacked we can defend to
stop the violence committed against us and our loves ones and the
innocent. There is a line that we can defend with violence if
necessary. The error comes when we fail to use restraint and to reel in
our emotions so that we don't cross that line and enter into vengeance
and revenge. That is when it requires sacrifice and loss and Godly
character to refrain from lashing out in our anger to the point of
becoming the aggressor driven by greed and selfishness rather than the
sole desire to protect and stop the violence of injustice. Sometimes
the ppl of God must be violent in order to quell violence and genuine
injustice, just as David and Israel and the Allied Forces were against
Hitler. We're not perfect at it... but we must try, we must do our best
always remembering (Micah 6:8)
8 He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
I thought perhaps it was just the church I left several years ago... or
perhaps it was this specific EMERGENT movement... but I think perhaps
it is a smell that is drifting into every denomination and every form
of organized religion everywhere. Here are some thoughts I wrote to a
friend recently...
...so I luv them, just don't receive
their yuck into my life. I know that sounds angry, and there are some
elements of anger that remain, but I am at peace with God about it. I
have asked him to hold nothing against them for the sins committed to
me and my children... but that if they continue ripping ppl and
families apart that God would stop them from committing further evil...
according to His mercy and His wisdom. There is nothing that I can say
that matters to them or their ppl... they serve their own little
kingdom and I leave them with God until God tells me differently.
Actually, I fear for them because they have closed their ears so
tightly and refuse all accountability as they continue in their sins.
Ppl track me down at the grocery and other places (as much as I try to
avoid it all) and they begin to weep and share how their family has
been bullied and manipulated and out of church for months now. It's
heartbreaking. I have no answers for them, tho I cover them with prayer
and with love.
Life goes on, and God is Good all the time
and he has beautiful ppl every where. I feel like I am breathing fresh
air now that I am outside the walls of Vineyard. There are so many wide
open doors to minister for Christ, to reach out to the hurting, to
share the love of Christ. These last days are full of deception and
counterfeits. Every thing my family and I have walked thru has equipped
us to recognize the fruit of everything that calls itself of God, as
wool or wolves. We live in a scary hour for the ppl of God. I often
wonder if the organized Church is not nearing the end of it's
existence. There is a counterfeit that has emerged calling itself
contemporary, and the new face of the church. But it is full of
compromise and disdain for the word of God. It wears a mask of
false-humility and calls itself a follower of Christ but it does not
follow his teachings...
It seems to me that the true
believers are scattered across the world. So much so that the face of
it, isn't really visible yet. It feels as though she is so much closer
to being that Acts church than ever before. The signs and wonders are
soon to come and perhaps she will finally be without spot or wrinkle
like she was when she was first handed the commission by Christ. As
fulfillment of it nears completion, perhaps she will no longer dwell in
the palaces and kingdoms built by men... perhaps she will be pilgrims,
wanderers, actually watching and waiting for the return of her Lord to
take her Home. Homelessness... that seems to be the emerging state of
true believers...
(Phil 3)
" 17Join with
others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who
live according to the pattern we gave you. 18For, as I have often told
you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of
the cross of Christ. 19Their destiny is destruction, their god is their
stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly
things. 20But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a
Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ..."
