The Pulpit: America’s Tinderbox for Revival – Dr. John Diamond

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“The beginning of true liberty is Jesus Christ. And therefore, the first and last target of all subversion is biblical faith. Hence it is that the Church has been the first target of infiltration and subversion; and is the most subverted institution in the United States today.”

— Dr. R. J. Rushdoony

The United States of America is on the verge of political, social and moral collapse. While many Christian leaders are diligently praying for America’s Third Great Awakening, wickedness and immorality seems to continue to spread unabated across America with no apparent end in sight. How did this happen and who is ultimately responsible for preventing its demise?

The reversal of everything that our Founding Fathers stood for politically, socially and culturally began in earnest in the mid 1900’s, when America was invaded and infiltrated by a civilian army whose allegiance and loyalty were elsewhere. Their goal was to destroy the Judeo-Christian Constitutional Republic that our Founding Fathers created and replace it with a socialist/humanistic state to be ruled by a handful of judges. Therefore, if we are to defeat this enemy, we must understand their strategy in order for it to be countered.

Joseph Stalin shows us the tactic that they would use in order to undermine our nation: “America is like a healthy body and its resistance is three-fold. Its patriotism, its morality, and its spiritual life. If we can undermine these three areas, America will collapse from within.” The first attack occurred on our “spiritual life” when the Supreme Court invented the fictitious legal doctrine of “separation of church and state” which removed the LORD from His place as the highest authority in our nation. (See Romans 13). The second wave began when the Left unconstitutionally began to use the federal courts to attack our morality. After God’s law was removed as the foundation for American moral law, the sex / drug revolution immediately followed. America then began cascading into moral free fall. Abortion, legalized sodomy and gay marriage were all forced upon the nation by the Supreme Court.

The last wave was (and is) an attack upon our patriotism. This is the strategy behind the Colin Kaepernick protests. I fear if this last thread of resistance is severed, America will fall on the ash heap of history. Herbert Aptheker, Editor Communist Magazine Political Affairs, identified whose neglect was allowing this to happen: “Neglect of parents [and pastors] to teach our youth Christianity and Americanism has made the communist talk of deceiving American youth much easier.” Therefore, the course objective of Americanism: A Course in Citizenship and Ethics is to restore America’s 3-fold cords of patriotism, morality, and the spiritual life that has historically made America strong and great, thus restoring our American Republic.

If we are to pull America back from the brink of judgment and destruction, this movement must begin and be led by the churches and pulpits of America. – Charles Finney, The Father of Modern Revivalism had the following to say in his article The Decay of Conscience (1873)

 “Brethren, our preaching will bear its legitimate fruits. If immorality prevails in the land, the fault is ours in a great degree. If there is a decay of conscience, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the public press lacks moral discrimination, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the church is degenerate and worldly, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the world loses its interest in religion, the pulpit is responsible for it. If Satan rules in our halls of legislation, the pulpit is responsible for it. If our politics become so corrupt that the very foundations of our government are ready to fall away, the pulpit is responsible for it. Let us not ignore this fact, my dear brethren; but let us lay it to heart and be thoroughly awake to our responsibility in respect to the morals of this nation.”

I have interviewed hundreds of pastors over the last 25 years in an attempt to get them to engage the culture and the society outside the four walls of theirs church. My efforts were met with nothing but frustration, as many seemed more interested in building their own little kingdoms rather than advancing the Kingdom of God upon the Earth. I asked the LORD “What would you have me do? The LORD responded: “Write down the 12 lies that you have heard come from the mouth of a Christian leader and then refute that lying spirit.” [See 2 Chronicles 18:21 & 1 Kings 22:22]. From this conversation, the curriculum: Americanism: A Course in Citizenship and Ethics – The Social, Moral, Religious and Political Duty of the Church was born. For the next 12 weeks, join us as we address that 12 Lies that the Christian church has embraced as truth.

Dr. John Diamond

Dr. John Diamond is a nationally recognized teacher, motivational and inspirational speaker, author, theologian, and Christian apologist. He is the Founder and Director of Peacemakers Outreach, a non-profit, faith-based organization that is dedicated to pursuing reconciliation through video, social media, and biblical education. He is passionate, high energy and dynamic speaker whose subjects makes him relatable to both young and old, from the new believer to the most seasoned pastor. His teaching style makes him able to communicate the most complex issues in a way that is accessible to even laymen in the faith.  John’s sermons, teachings, and speeches have made him known as an articulate defender of truth and biblical morality.

He is a seasoned author who has written several books including An Appeal to Heaven: A Cry for Divine Justice and the 3-part discipleship series titled Unifying the Body of Christ. He is now being recognized as one of the nation’s experts in the areas of Christian Unity, Discipleship, Outreach, and Biblical Citizenship. This has made him an increasingly sought-out church and conference speaker as well as radio show guest. He travels widely across the nation working with a variety of evangelical churches and Christian organizations. His newly created educational materials and curriculum include several small group DVD studies such as Faith Training and The Mystery of Christ that educate, emphasize and expand upon the four-basic doctrine of the CM&A doctrines of Jesus Christ as Savior, Sanctifier, Healer, and our Coming King.

His 14-part DVD series titled Americanism: A Course in Biblical Citizenship and Ethics has made him known as one of the leading experts in the relationship between the Kingdom of God and the kingdoms of men. His book An Appeal to Heaven is being widely recognized as the only biblical solution for the restoration of legitimate biblical government by emphasizing the 3-fold role of Christ as King, Lawmaker and Judge. (Isaiah 33:22).

Dr. Diamond is presently the Executive Director of Peacemakers Outreach. He holds a Masters in Theology and a Doctorate in Christian Education. In January 2013, he created the first American Citizenship School which led to the forming of the American Christian Leadership Alliance (ACLA). He has served as the Director of Discipleship at Bible Community Church in Columbus, Ohio. He is a veteran of the United States Air Force.  

Peacemakers Outreach website here.

A Failing Movement – Pastor Sam Jones

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It has been said that if we do not learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it. I am afraid this statement is all too true in the conservative Christian culture. We are called to learn from history and to fix our mistakes, which brings me to some great concerns from what I am seeing today. I think of Henry Parsons Crowell who once said it would not be the “modernists nor the conservative who was tolerant of the modernists; but the conservative fundamentalist who was tolerant of those who were tolerant of modernists that would defeat fundamentalism.” Henry Parsons Crowell was the founder of the Quaker Oats Company and a lifelong Presbyterian who at the end of his life withdrew from the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. Crowell feared the reason fundamentalists were losing to modernists was simply because the fundamentalists “were tolerant toward those who were tolerant toward unbelievers.”

You may be reading this wondering what this has to do with today, but I assure you it has everything to do with today. In Christianity, there is a great battle going on and it is a battle that is very similar to the historic one of Modernists vs. Fundamentalists. This isn’t just something that I am seeing. There was a statement put together and signed by over 10,000 Christians, many of them being Christian leaders. This statement was titled “The Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel”, it is also known as “The Dallas Statement”. This statement has been a “shot heard around Christianity” and is the hallmark of Christianity standing against the false gospel of Social Justice (the newest incarnation of the Social Gospel). At this point it is imperative that you understand that I see the need for a movement in Christianity, I see Social Justice as a great threat to the church, and that I am all for standing against Social Justice and for Biblical truth. The issue that I have is that we seem to be racing to a defeated destination because we are unwilling to learn from the Fundamentalist movement and heed the words of Henry Parsons Crowell.

We need to understand that there is a difference in a movement and doctrine. From a doctrinal perspective fundamentalism is still very much alive today, but from a movement perspective it is dead. There are a few things that a movement needs. Firstly, a movement must recognize where the enemy is attacking (this was well executed through The Dallas Statement). Secondly, a movement needs a unified message to stand upon (this is how Christians from across the theological perspectives still claim the title of Fundamentalist). Thirdly, a movement needs a very distinct line drawn that is tied to their unified message and recognition of where the enemy is attacking. If you lose one of these elements it impacts the other two and completely stalls the movement. For instance, if you do not recognize where the enemy is attacking, you will either fight a strawman or have a battle front in disarray, both making it impossible to be unified in message or to have a distinct line drawn between you and the enemy. If you do not have a unifying message then you have nothing to combat the enemy with (so it doesn’t matter where they are attacking, they will win), and you have no substance to draw a line with. If we do not have a clear distinct line drawn between us and false teachers, it confuses the foot soldier on where the enemy is attacking and it makes it impossible to have a unifying message to defend our doctrinal position as our position itself becomes blurred. This is where the words of Crowell ring true that it would be the “conservative fundamentalist who was tolerant of those who were tolerant of modernists that would defeat fundamentalism.”

This is where I will present my great concern with what is happening in the movement that is fighting the dangers of Social Justice. So far, the biggest name pastor to speak out against Social Justice and sign the Dallas Statement is Pastor John MacArthur. John MacArthur has presented some good material on the subject and provided what should be one of the most lethal statements towards the false gospel of Social Justice. When in his initial article on Social Justice, “Social Injustice and the Gospel” he said, “Over the years, I’ve fought a number of polemical battles against ideas that threaten the gospel. This recent (and surprisingly sudden) detour in quest of ‘social justice’ is, I believe, the most subtle and dangerous threat so far.” Let me say, I love that statement, I agree with that statement, I have quoted that statement, but John MacArthur has betrayed that statement. John MacArthur has betrayed that statement through the speakers that he is allowing at the Shepherd’s Conference. This is an annual conference that John MacArthur’s church hosts (along with Master’s Seminary, Grace to You, and a host of other MacArthur related ministries). In this conference the list of speakers has some of the usual suspects who have spoken out against Social Justice (John MacArthur, Voddie Baucham, etc.), but there are also some speakers who have positioned themselves on the other side of the issue (Al Mohler, Ligon Duncan, and Mark Dever). Galatians 5:9 has never shouted louder in my mind, “A little leaven leavens the whole lump.”

John MacArthur has blurred the line of the movement. This makes it impossible to truly have a unifying message and it has started to confuse the foot soldiers on where the enemy is attacking. This has been made clear when he said in a Q & A with Mohler, Duncan, and Dever.

“I don’t think there is any difference theologically with where we stand we’ve navigated that together on every possible platform and every situation. How we respond to the culture around us and the pressures that come on us from the culture how we navigate those relationships that face us… you may have expressed yourself differently on the issue of social justice… look these are my friends these are men who have served Christ and have given their life to Him. (God) Has given each of you guys a formidable place in the kingdom and have had an impact on my life. I’ll fight error but I don’t fight my friends.”

I will let MacArthur speak to his own sin, “Over the years, I’ve fought a number of polemical battles against ideas that threaten the gospel. This recent (and surprisingly sudden) detour in quest of ‘social justice’ is, I believe, the most subtle and dangerous threat so far.” If this is true (and I believe it is), why would MacArthur bring the most subtle dangerous threat to the gospel into his conference? I wish I had an answer to that question, but I am afraid if I give my thoughts on that question I will only be diving into judging John MacArthur’s motives.

I don’t have an answer as to why Macarthur has blurred the battle lines, but I do have an answer in what we need to do if we want to see the movement march forward. We need to take the words of Henry Parsons Crowell to heart and we need to stop tolerating those who are tolerating those who are teaching Social Justice. I understand this is a hard statement and it is not fun, but do we fear God or man? Do our friendships mean as much to us as gospel purity? Is your admiration or friendship of MacArthur worth the souls of those in the nursery at your church? It is doubtful that the toleration of MacArthur would impact your church tomorrow on the issue of Social Justice, but it will have a long-term affect as the stance against Social Justice is weakened and the line is further blurred.

The best thing that could happen is repentance from John MacArthur, this is what I hope and pray for. The question each of us need to ask is if we like John MacArthur more than we fear the threat of Social Justice? If Social Justice is just a small doctrinal mistake, then keep on going as you are, but if you, like MacArthur and believe Social Justice is a big deal, then don’t kill a movement by compromising its integrity.

Pastor Sam Jones is co-host along with Patrick Wyett of The Shining Light Podcast found here.

The Purpose of Marriage – Pastor Mike

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The covenant of marriage is a testimony of love for God and the love a man and a woman share. It is a testimony to our love for God because He created marriage and said that it was good for a man to cleave to his wife.

The covenant of marriage has weathered a lot of storms over the many years since God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep, and from his side create woman whom Adam named Eve – the mother of all the living.

Marriage as God created it was never meant to be a burden or to create hardship. God’s design for marriage is that it becomes the standard bearer for what true companionship looks like.

What should be apparent to people and especially to Christians, is that companionship’s foundation is spiritual. That’s what Moses was describing when under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he wrote: “For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.” (Genesis 3:24)

God’s reasoning is very clear – two is better than one.

Now this raises a question. Namely, in what way or in what context are two becoming one better than one alone? In other words why did God determine that man and woman are better together than alone? What are they better at? The answer to that question gets to the real heart of the issue concerning marriage.

God designed marriage for a purpose, and He has determined that two are better than one in accomplishing that purpose. That being true, then it is wisdom manifested to pursue and gain understanding of what God’s purpose truly is concerning marriage.

Many people in America today would likely answer that God has designed marriage to bring happiness into the lives of men and women who make this commitment to one another. I believe they are right in thinking this for God does desire that His sons and daughters find happiness in their lives.

But I think there is something even greater than happiness that God desires for His children through the covenant of marriage. What if God desired marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?

What if God designed marriage to draw us closer to Him? What if God is inviting men and women who come before Him, making vows and promises of love, commitment, and companionship, to draw into a most holy and righteous relationship through the challenges, struggles, joys, and celebrations that marriage certainly affords?

What if marriage in God’s eyes, is part of the grand plan of sanctification for those who choose this path?

Indeed, one Reformation era writer says that marriage is a perpetual exercise of mortification. That word mortification is an old Puritan word meaning to die to sin, and specifically to deny the desires of the flesh that ruin us all if we indulge them.

The Bible states it this way in the KJV: “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die. But if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” (Romans 8:13)

Friends, if the purpose of God in marriage is simply to make us happy, then what do we do 2 years in, or 10 years in, or 30 years in when suddenly we determine that we just aren’t happy anymore? If happiness is the litmus test then most people would need a new marriage every 3-4 years.

The truth is friends, the philosophical movement called the age of Romanticism high jacked the biblical view of marriage and took it places that God never intended it to go.  Love became all about emotions and as we all, well know, emotions are a very untrustworthy gauge of almost everything.

Love, friends, is a gift from our great God and it is designed to be best expressed in the covenant of marriage. But love must have a constant companion. That companion is holiness, and holiness is most beautifully expressed in our relationships with others.

I want to share with you a brief excerpt from Francis Schaeffer found in his book The Mark of the Christian. Schaeffer writes:

In John 13:21 Jesus said “We are to love all Christians “as I,” Jesus says, “have loved you.” Now think of both the quality and the quantity of Jesus’ love toward us.”

“The point was that, if an individual Christian does not show love toward other true Christians, the world has a right to judge that he is not a Christian. Here Jesus is stating something else which is much more cutting, much more profound: We cannot expect the world to believe that the Father sent the Son, that Jesus’ claims are true, and that Christianity is true, unless the world sees some reality of the oneness of true Christians.”

“Let us be careful, indeed, to spend a lifetime studying to give honest answers…But after we have done our best to communicate to a lost world, still we must never forget that the final apologetic which Jesus gave is the observable love of true Christians for true Christians.”

“This is the whole point: The world is going to judge whether Jesus has been sent by the Father on the basis of something that is open to observation.”

“The Christian really has a double task. He has to practice both God’s holiness and God’s love. The Christian is to exhibit that God exists as the infinite personal God; and then he is to exhibit simultaneously God’s character of holiness and love. Not his holiness without his love: that is only harshness. Not his love without his holiness: that is only compromise.”

“…we should never come to such difference with true Christians without regret and without tears. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Believe me, evangelicals often have not shown it. We rush in, being very, very pleased, it would seem at times, to find other men’s mistakes. We build ourselves up by tearing other men down. This can never show a real oneness among Christians.”

Schaeffer is right in stating that love, true biblical love, without holiness becomes compromise.

The Bible tells us in Ecclesiastes 4:9-12:

9 Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. 10 For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. 11 Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? 12 And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.

Friends two is better than one but a cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart. This is a marvelous truth from the Scripture and it is applicable most especially to marriage.

Sanctification is a lifelong process whereby God makes us holy. How does He do that? He does that through the transforming events of everyday life. Marriage as those of you who have been married for a while understand, calls us to an entirely new life of selflessness. When God said the two shall become one He really meant it.

Once married, your thoughts and your actions are refocused from self to your spouse. As a pastor I can testify that many issues couples face in marriage that threaten their commitment to one another, are centered on the inability to make this transition from self-focus to spouse-focus. Wives are to honor, to respect, and to love their husbands, and husbands are to love their wives as Christ loves the church. That, friends, is the epitome of selflessness and it is a very tall order because our flesh fights against that.

So the question becomes this: can a man or a woman love and honor one another that way without Christ being their mutual focus? Can men and women become one as God intends them to be, without the third strand which is Jesus Christ? The answer is simply no, they cannot.

Schaeffer again:

Marriage is wonderful, but unless both are children of God through faith in Christ, and unless both put Christ first as Lord in their lives, then a marriage can never be what the Lord meant marriage to be. This would always be true, but it is doubly true in a day such as our own which is so filled with confusion and tensions. It is only when each one puts Christ first that there can be a sufficient base. And though at first it might seem as though this would be disruptive to a marriage – to have even Christ put before the other one – yet it is not this way. This is so because, if we put Christ before the other person, we will then be able to love and be thoughtful of the other person in a way that would not be possible if that person was not put first.

Friends, the marriage relationship in which Christ is the third strand cannot be quickly torn apart. With Christ as the foundation and focus of your marriage you will experience the deep rivers of the fruit of the Holy Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

You will understand the wonderful blessing it is to take responsibility to tenderly nurture the other’s heart; always watching over it to protect it and to defend it.

The beauty of Christianity is love. Love is expressed most clearly by the Father in Christ. For those who follow Christ, marriage is the most radical test of whether or not we, His followers, are becoming more like Christ every day.

Christians must understand that marriage is a testimony to the world of what pursuing God looks like. Marriage as God intends it to be, is a soul-deep companionship that grows stronger and deeper, year upon year, as we are drawn closer and closer into intimacy with Christ.

May God bless you, dear listener, as you embark on this great adventure of holiness. May your marriage point each other to what you need most of all in life – God’s love and active presence day by day. 

Dr. Mike Spaulding

Itching Ears that Hate the Truth – Rob Pue

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In one of the apostle Paul’s last letters — the one he wrote to Timothy — he gave some vitally important words of caution and warning.  2nd Timothy 4, starting at verse 2:  “Preach the Word;  be instant in season, out of season;  reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine;  but after their own lusts, shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears.  And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned to fables.”

   Then, he added, “But watch thou, in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.”

   I have been working in full time ministry for nearly 20 years now.  I remember when I began, I was astonished at the many churches that were no longer enduring sound doctrine.  The “seeker friendly” movement, which morphed into the “Emergent Church” movement was on a “fast track.”  Mega churches were springing up with massive buildings.  So large, in fact, they call them “campuses.”  And many of these mega-churches have MULTIPLE campuses in various areas of their cities, because one building will not hold all those who want the feel-good, false “love gospel” message that is preached there.

   I was saddened in those early days of this work, to see so many formerly rock solid, Bible-based, Scripturally sound churches DEvolve into nothing more than “happy fun time.”  A “feel-good experience,” where one could go and see a show, lift their hands in mock reverence to God, dance and sway, while being promised all manner of prosperity, health, wealth, and a life of abundance.  “Your BEST life NOW.”  This is just SO contradictory to everything God’s Word says about the Christian life.  Sin is no longer a word allowed to be spoken of in many churches, and if it IS spoken of, it’s only to say that once we simply say a prayer or walk an aisle (or worse yet, just raise our hand “with all eyes closed and all heads bowed”); we are “good” with God.

   We can then go about our normal lives as usual.  Except now, we are told, we are assured of heaven… just because we repeated a few words and sheepishly raised our hand while no one was looking.  COME ON folks!  Talk about biblical illiteracy.  Talk about wolves in sheep’s clothing…. HIRELINGS lulling fat and happy fools into a false sense of eternal security.  This is so sad.

   But you know, we cannot put all the blame on the pastors.  They’re just giving the people what they want.  Look again at the Scripture from 2nd Timothy:  it says THE PEOPLE will not put up with sound doctrine any longer, and so THE PEOPLE heap up for themselves teachers to tell them what they want to hear, to soothe their itching ears.

   It is the great apostasy, the great “falling away.”  And I have watched it begin as a tiny sprout many years ago, and I’ve watched it grow, blossom, flower and then re-seed itself many times over the years…  Today it is so prevalent in Christendom that one is hard-pressed to find a faithful congregation of true believers anywhere.  I guess that’s why God’s Word says there will only be a small “remnant” that stand firm to the end.

   During my time in ministry, I have seen the old timers, the pastors who were faithful in teaching the WHOLE counsel of God’s Word grow older and retire from the ministry… or in many cases, be FORCED OUT of their ministry by church boards and elders — only to be replaced by somebody younger, more “hip,” more “in step” with the culture and times we are living in.  In other words, a more CARNAL “pastor.”  These “cool” new pastors often use Hollywood films on their big projection TV screens to illustrate their sermons… they make off-color jokes from the pulpits.  They wear t shirts and ripped blue jeans as they speak, to appeal to the average “Joe six-pack” in the audience.  They have a “hot” worship team, complete with electric guitars, drums, smoke and mirrors and in some cases even laser light shows.  “It’s all about the EXPERIENCE,” they say.

   Friends, I’m not some old fashioned stick in the mud.  I’ve been around.  And I can tell you, this ain’t “church.”  At least not a biblical church.  It MAY be a “synagogue of Satan.”  But it’s not church, and it most certainly is not God-honoring.  There is NO reverence for Him; no fear of God there at all.   I have seen youth leaders take their group of kids to R-rated movies as their Youth Group “activity” for the week;  I have seen pastors hold community events called a “car smash,” which apparently the kids love… they get an old car, put it in the middle of their parking lot, and let the kids destroy it with baseball bats, spray paint, and tire irons.  This is their “entertainment” for the evening — a way to get kids to “come to church.” 

   I’ve seen pastors dress up like Hollywood movie characters, or the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus.  I’ve seen the bounce houses and carnival games and rock concerts… nowadays, they will do ANYTHING to get kids — AND ADULTS — to come to church, and KEEP coming to church… KEEP RIGHT ON filling those collection plates.  Just don’t DARE tell them what the Bible REALLY says…. are you KIDDING?  That’s MUCH too harsh.  That’s no fun.  Who would want to hear THAT?!

   So when it comes to doing things of any real significance; when it comes to being SALT AND LIGHT and IMPACTING our society and culture with what our society and culture is in DESPERATE NEED OF — the TRUTH, for heaven’s sake — they are all AWOL…  oh NO!  They CAN’T “go there!”  People don’t want to hear about sin and evil, or the consequences of sin and evil in their lives.   They don’t want to be CONVICTED in their hearts.  They want to be COMFORTED and entertained.  And they call this “going to church.”  Preach the WORD?  Are you kidding?  Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all LONGSUFFERING and DOCTRINE?  WHO in the world wants THAT?!  Endure afflictions for the sake of the Gospel?  “NO, thank you.  I’ll take a large coffee, please, and if it’s not too much trouble, please make sure the service is over with by noon, because we need to get home to watch the game.”

   If you want to know why our world is the way it is, it’s because professing Christians have given up.  It began at least a generation or two ago — and maybe longer.  But at some point, we stopped taking God and His Word seriously.  And the Great falling away began.  Instead of serving CHRIST and HIS KINGDOM, we began seeking after things we perceived to be “good, fun, enjoyable, entertaining.”  Instead of afflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted, we BECAME the comfortable, …and we like it that way.  So as for those old time preachers who just want to preach the “hard stuff,” “hit the road, Jack, we’ve decided to go a different direction.”  Yes, indeed, they have.

   Over the years I have known countless faithful men of God who have been run out of town by these congregations that no longer wish to hear the truth.  I, myself, have been “disinvited” from more churches than I can count.  But let me tell you about a friend of mine who has recently experienced this at his church in California.  His name is Pastor Justin Hoke, and he is a faithful truth-teller, a watchman on the wall.  He doesn’t allow political correctness to dictate his message.  He speaks the WHOLE counsel of God’s Word — out of love for the lost, and to inform those who profess Christ of the spiritual culture war we are SUPPOSED to be fighting — as we stand our ground against the enemy and his demons.

   He recently put a message on his church sign stating common sense, simply TRUTH.   The sign read: “Bruce Jenner is still a man.  Homosexuality is still sin.  The culture may change.  The Bible does not.”  According to a news story by PulpitAndPen.org, LGBT activists swarmed the church recently, claiming the sign was “hateful.”  They later vandalized the sign.  And less than a week later, Pastor Hoke made the following announcement on his Facebook page:

   “As of today, I am no longer the pastor of Trinity Bible Presbyterian Church.  After much prayer and counsel, I have decided that it is best to briefly communicate what has taken place.   1)  I was informed by our other elder that he felt he could no longer follow my lead as pastor.  2)  I was informed that essentially all but one couple in membership would leave the church if I continued as pastor.  3)  Our other elder and the couple felt that those who left would likely return if I would leave.”

   Pulpit And Pen commented, “Apparently, the public outrage was enough to cause discontent within the local congregation, which appears to value the opinion of men more than the Word of God.  May it not be said of us.”  I should note that this came after the pastor gave one of the most powerful sermons I’ve heard in a long time, entitled “Love Warns.”  In his sermon, Pastor Hoke noted that to “accept and affirm” what the culture embraces, but which God’s Word calls abomination is NOT to love those trapped in sin; but rather WARNING the wicked of their need for repentance and forgiveness by the shed blood of Christ is the definition of truly LOVING your neighbor.  It was an incredibly powerful message he gave.   And then he was immediately tossed out of his role as pastor.  For simply telling the TRUTH, straight from God’s Word.

   I’m reminded of the prophet Jeremiah, known as the “weeping prophet,” because he wept for the nation of Israel.  God sent him to declare His Word and Truth to the people, and sound the warning regarding all their iniquities.  But the people did NOT want to hear.  Instead they demanded, “Jeremiah, tell us something GOOD for once… tell us what we want to hear!”

   Let’s read just a little bit from chapter 7 as God explains things to Jeremiah:  “But this command I gave them: ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people.  And walk in all the ways that I command you, that it may be well with you.’  But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward.   From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have persistently sent all My servants the prophets to them, day after day.  Yet they did not listen to Me or incline their ear, but stiffened their necks. They did worse than their fathers.”

   And so God continued, “So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. You shall call to them, but they will not answer you.  And you shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, and did not accept discipline; truth has perished; it is cut off from their lips.”

   Does that not sound like America today?  Truth has perished.  It’s DEAD!  Evil is called “good” and good is called “evil” and we LIKE it that way.  And anyone who DARES defy the celebration of sodomy or speak TRUTH on this matter is virtually crucified by all — even those you would THINK would be on your side — the “church” people.  Indeed, we are at a place and time now where even those who profess to be people of God will no longer endure sound doctrine.  Instead, they heap up for themselves teachers who tell them what they prefer to hear.

   I can tell you, from PERSONAL experience, being a watchman on the wall puts a target on your back — for Satan to aim at, AND, sadly today, for many church-goers to aim at as well.  You WILL be persecuted for speaking truth.  It is SO SAD realizing just how many — I dare say, the VAST MAJORITY of regular church-goers today — have NO IDEA what the Scriptures actually say; nor do they have any intention of finding out, of “studying to show themselves approved.”  They would rather just attend the weekly meetings at their local “Religious Service Provider” … as long as it’s a message that makes them feel good about THEMSELVES.

   In the Gospel of John, Jesus said, “IF YOU HOLD TO MY TEACHING, you are really My disciples.  THEN you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  You see,  every church-goer claims to want to follow Jesus — until they find out where He’s taking them.  If the truth be told, they don’t really want Jesus, nor do they want His TRUTH.   They just want the benefits.  They just want to feel good.  But apart from Jesus you can’t even know the truth…  and unless you HOLD to His teaching, you are not His disciples at all.  So if you’re not serious about being His disciple, then by calling yourself a “Christian” — you are actually taking the Lord’s name in vain.  So stop it.  America is in the midst of serious judgment.  We are a nation of depraved minds.  God has sent strong delusion upon our people because we refused to hear and heed His Word. 

   If you want to know WHY the world is in such a mess, I can tell you.  We have deserted our Heavenly Father, and shunned His Son.  America will never be great again, unless we turn back to God, — who promises if we do, THEN He will heal our hearts and our minds, and our land.   America needs Jesus.  And men and women of true faith and courage, willing to preach the Word — in season and out.  Reprove, rebuke and exhort with all longsuffering and SOUND doctrine.  Unfortunately, in our world today, TRUTH sounds like HATE, because our people hate the truth… 

Posted with permission of the author.

© 2019 Rob Pue, Publisher

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