Col.2:8 - Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the traditions of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
For the last year I have been called by God to hear and speak out against the avalanche of apostasy that now passes for evangelical thought. These are a few of the things I have learned.
In the language of the new religious order, NRO, the Scriptures are a launching place and not the final, substantive authority. The Word has become an interesting literary piece that now encourages new and fresh looks, not as to deepen obedience and worship, but to find culturally inclusive ways to secretly spread whatever truth they might represent. Wow, that sounds like them doesn't it? I cannot fully convey how surprised, angry, and brokenhearted I am when I read some of the things that are now accepted in "Christian" circles. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself, Who should have the pre-eminence in all things, has been relegated to an afterthought and has been portrayed as someone who came as an example of how to live, with the cross simply a Spiritual post mortem. Oh how the precious Holy Spirit must grieve when He sees the worthless wisdom of man taking the glory that belongs to the Risen Lamb of God. The Apostle Paul preached Christ and Him crucified, and in today's "Mar's Hill" genre the crucified Christ is barely mentioned except to insist that they still believe in Him.
Can you imagine having to protest about your faith in Jesus the Christ, but in former generations they were persecuted for their open and committed discipleship of the Savior. You hear them on interviews, you read their articles, and you see them quoted by quasi-intellectuals who act like they are playing a Christian Dungeons and Dragons that only some can fully understand and interpret. When all the while they are the ones who have been pulled into the snare of the evil one by appealing to their fleshly mind and filling their hearts with false pride. Their is nothing new under the sun, and the Scriptures, written and preserved by the Holy Spirit, are the literal Word of the Living God. Simple, profound, gentle, powerful, guiding, life changing, and in the end it will be the same Word that will judge the universe. God honors His Word above His name and by this falling away we know it is the last time. Oh I know many have said that before and even today some claim the events of Revelation have passed already, but God will laugh and have them in derision. The Lord God Almighty gave His only begotten Son and He will not compromise His Son's glory.
The Father watched in agony as His Son, the mystery of the Trinitarian family, suffered an eternal death for all mankind while the Father himself turned His face from Jesus' face. We don't speak much of the Father's suffering, come to think about it we don't speak much of the Son's suffering either. It is an incredible and hostile slight to intellectualize the sacrifice of God - Father, Son, Spirit - and to purposely wander into an evil abyss called the mind and sit around a comfortable table of philosophy and muse about the coming contortions that the church must go through in order to appear relevant to this depraved and Christ hating world. Oh these Spiritual pirates have boarded the old ship of Zion and have pillaged and raped the truth and have drawn away disciples unto themselves and have become the last day profiteers selling their own falsehoods instead of God's Truth. No talk of all night prayer, no talk of heart felt contrition, no talk of delving into the revealed Word of God, no, these religious pimps offer the Hebrew before they even attempt to obey the English. And the lowly Son of God masquerading as the Son of man is maligned and misrepresented as some kind of new age wanderer who invites Spiritual uncertainty.
But this, my friends, is not the Jesus I met and fell completely in love with 31 years ago, and if any of them are truly saved this was not the Jesus they met either. This new Jesus must be learned and the attributes that He reveals to a new follower must be reprogrammed by wicked and evil men. Culture, the poor, church, music, and on and on go the subjects that men make verbal obeisance before without falling before the infinitely more valuable subject of the King of Kings. And I have learned that these men of a thousand faces cannot be changed or even affected by argument or Scripture, they have entrenched themselves in the dunghill of their own religious refuse and in fact they relish the endorphin rush of meaningless verbal combat, it feeds their flesh.
So let us continue to present the truth in power and love, and yes lifting up the written revelation of God's Word - unashamedly.
"The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds". "...they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise..." "For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth". "That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God" "Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord". "Having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof, from such turn away". "But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine". "For the Word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword...". "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God". "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost". "...even as there shall be false teachers among you who privily shall bring in damnable heresies...".
"And I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse, and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He doth judge and make war; His eyes were as a flame of fire and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written that no man knew but He Himself. And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood; and His name is called...
---THE WORD OF GOD---
If you have seen and heard what I have shared then you understand. If not, I ask you to open your heart to the Holy Spirit. And you are right, I am a nobody.
For the last year I have been called by God to hear and speak out against the avalanche of apostasy that now passes for evangelical thought. These are a few of the things I have learned.
In the language of the new religious order, NRO, the Scriptures are a launching place and not the final, substantive authority. The Word has become an interesting literary piece that now encourages new and fresh looks, not as to deepen obedience and worship, but to find culturally inclusive ways to secretly spread whatever truth they might represent. Wow, that sounds like them doesn't it? I cannot fully convey how surprised, angry, and brokenhearted I am when I read some of the things that are now accepted in "Christian" circles. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself, Who should have the pre-eminence in all things, has been relegated to an afterthought and has been portrayed as someone who came as an example of how to live, with the cross simply a Spiritual post mortem. Oh how the precious Holy Spirit must grieve when He sees the worthless wisdom of man taking the glory that belongs to the Risen Lamb of God. The Apostle Paul preached Christ and Him crucified, and in today's "Mar's Hill" genre the crucified Christ is barely mentioned except to insist that they still believe in Him.
Can you imagine having to protest about your faith in Jesus the Christ, but in former generations they were persecuted for their open and committed discipleship of the Savior. You hear them on interviews, you read their articles, and you see them quoted by quasi-intellectuals who act like they are playing a Christian Dungeons and Dragons that only some can fully understand and interpret. When all the while they are the ones who have been pulled into the snare of the evil one by appealing to their fleshly mind and filling their hearts with false pride. Their is nothing new under the sun, and the Scriptures, written and preserved by the Holy Spirit, are the literal Word of the Living God. Simple, profound, gentle, powerful, guiding, life changing, and in the end it will be the same Word that will judge the universe. God honors His Word above His name and by this falling away we know it is the last time. Oh I know many have said that before and even today some claim the events of Revelation have passed already, but God will laugh and have them in derision. The Lord God Almighty gave His only begotten Son and He will not compromise His Son's glory.
The Father watched in agony as His Son, the mystery of the Trinitarian family, suffered an eternal death for all mankind while the Father himself turned His face from Jesus' face. We don't speak much of the Father's suffering, come to think about it we don't speak much of the Son's suffering either. It is an incredible and hostile slight to intellectualize the sacrifice of God - Father, Son, Spirit - and to purposely wander into an evil abyss called the mind and sit around a comfortable table of philosophy and muse about the coming contortions that the church must go through in order to appear relevant to this depraved and Christ hating world. Oh these Spiritual pirates have boarded the old ship of Zion and have pillaged and raped the truth and have drawn away disciples unto themselves and have become the last day profiteers selling their own falsehoods instead of God's Truth. No talk of all night prayer, no talk of heart felt contrition, no talk of delving into the revealed Word of God, no, these religious pimps offer the Hebrew before they even attempt to obey the English. And the lowly Son of God masquerading as the Son of man is maligned and misrepresented as some kind of new age wanderer who invites Spiritual uncertainty.
But this, my friends, is not the Jesus I met and fell completely in love with 31 years ago, and if any of them are truly saved this was not the Jesus they met either. This new Jesus must be learned and the attributes that He reveals to a new follower must be reprogrammed by wicked and evil men. Culture, the poor, church, music, and on and on go the subjects that men make verbal obeisance before without falling before the infinitely more valuable subject of the King of Kings. And I have learned that these men of a thousand faces cannot be changed or even affected by argument or Scripture, they have entrenched themselves in the dunghill of their own religious refuse and in fact they relish the endorphin rush of meaningless verbal combat, it feeds their flesh.
So let us continue to present the truth in power and love, and yes lifting up the written revelation of God's Word - unashamedly.
"The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds". "...they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise..." "For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth". "That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God" "Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord". "Having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof, from such turn away". "But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine". "For the Word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword...". "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God". "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost". "...even as there shall be false teachers among you who privily shall bring in damnable heresies...".
"And I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse, and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He doth judge and make war; His eyes were as a flame of fire and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written that no man knew but He Himself. And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood; and His name is called...
---THE WORD OF GOD---
If you have seen and heard what I have shared then you understand. If not, I ask you to open your heart to the Holy Spirit. And you are right, I am a nobody.
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7 comments:
Rick,
What can I say except, "Thank you!" for a wonderful description of the decieved "christians" that we have been battling. Yes, it is heart rending to see the depths of deception there. Some of these people are actually quite nice. They have feelings that get hurt and they honestly believe that they are right and we are a bunch of old-fogeys stuck in the past. The closer I drew to them and went one-on-one with the more I realized that these people are not genuine Christians at all. In fact, they are decieved into thinking they are. They can quote scipture, but there is not spirit of truth in what they share. As I said, it was heartbreaking to see how sincere they are in their apostasy.
Well done.
In Christ
Mike Ratliff
Thank you Rick for the article. The support is greatly appreciated. It is weepingly sad to see the level of deception, and even more, the denegrating of the name and Person of our great and holy Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Been there, seen and heard that...
Thanks R.
Can you imagine watching your own son being spit on, laughed at, mocked, beaten, scourged, then crucified? Do people not realize what Jesus went through? He went through all this without one single complaint. He did something that NO PERSON LIVING IN THIS EARTH can do. To bring us to repentance that we may live in him! Thank you for bringing this up Rick.
He resurrected on the 3rd day. Just because his this happened almost 2,000 yrs ago does not mean we are to toss it away. Do people even realize that everytime we sin, it's like nailing Christ to the cross all over again?
Just wanted to let you know also, that I've read online newspapers where A LOT of Iranian Islamists are converting to Christianity. Because we have truth and so much evidence that their religion doesn't have. Some of these people can't go to churches because their government. So they stay home and read their Bible and rely on Christ thru the Holy Spirit to teach them. Not to mention these Christians have new found faith and hope and they are ready to die for Christ.
John 3:16
How refreshing! Your words exalt Christ and humble sinners. We don't hear much of that these days. God is glorified by your bold stand on the absolute truth of our immutable Lord.
Hi Rick,
Right on! There is to much compromising going on in Churches today. There is not enough rebuking of heresy flying around.
If I am wrong in my doctrine, I want my brother of sister to tell me, so that I can correct it, if I am wrong. I'm finding more and more churches watering down the Word Of God and it so bothersome.
Cristina
What a scripture from Revelation. I have read many of your entries and I like this one as much as any, because of the wonderful scripture behind it! I love you Dad MAY THE LAMB THAT WAS SLAIN RECEIVE THE REWARD OF HIS SUFFERINGS!
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