Sunday, May 05, 2013

A Disgusting Disgrace

A DISGUSTING DISGRACE
 
Thursday, May 2nd was deemed the National Day of Prayer. It is a day in which ministers of all faiths are asked to participate. Yes, I said all faiths. All the current presidents pretend to believe in prayer and the entire spectacle is a show and a sham. And certain people are called to give testimonies and others are called to deliver messages. It is a self serving, back slapping demonstration of just how religious Americans are. But I am not sure there could be anything more irreligious and self righteous. Not only did the day after settle back down into the hedonistic norm, but the Day itself caused nary a ripple within a culture where man and his desires are god.

But here is a little news item which I believe is a prime example of how religious Americans can drum up a show of spiritual hubris during an orchestrated “prayer” breakfast which is more breakfast than prayer.

2013 HERE 

Now I do not know this rear admiral and I am sure he is sincere, but I want to point out just how deceived we can be. I will not address the paradox of a military man talking about faith in Christ. But this man was being “honored” because he shared his “faith” which sometimes crossed some legal code line. He clings to his constitutional rights. The chairman for the Day of Prayer, Greg Laurie, was also brought to the public forefront because he said that homosexuality was a sin and he was against same sex marriage. So far Jesus hasn’t even made a cameo. To be clear Jesus is conspicuously back pedaled since Muslims and Hindus and Jews are also asked to pray.

If you read the article the admiral received several standing ovations. Missionaries all over the world risk their lives to share the gospel and yet this man is revered because he "crosses the line" of constitutionality? Things like this serve to deepen the “us vs. them” attitude among believers. We applaud all these noble men and women who resist the laws in order to share their faith. Even if that were some form of authentic persecution we should not be sounding our own horns. Here is another man who was imprisoned because he preached the Lord Jesus and let us do a comparison after you read this.

1672 HERE 

I find it offensive to hold such self serving meetings, especially given that it took place on a blasphemous day dedicated to the celebration of all faiths and religions. That is pure idolatry. And yet this admiral is held in high esteem because he witnessed his faith? Allow me to present the Apostle Paul’s open assessment of Himself.

I Cor.4: 13 Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.
 
Offscouring? Can you imagine someone introducing Paal? And now our guest speaker named Paul, the offscouring of all things. I am not sure Paul would have been available. He was too busy travelling to bring the gospel across the entire Mediterranean while running for his life. He would have welcomed the buffet though since he was often hungry. What absolute shams we have concocted for our own entertainment.

These kinds of self adulations are in direct violation to the Spirit’s command that we should not think more highly of ourselves than we ought as well as being clothed with humility. And please notice that the admiral referred to the Constitution as securing his right to speak about Jesus to others. First of all any employer has the right to dictate what is permissible in his workplace, but secondly the atmosphere in such a meeting is decidedly self righteous and the applause on some level represents an approval of him exercising his “constitutional rights”. Yes, Christianity and patriotism continue to present a collective rather than two distinct and opposing truths.

But then recall the much different experience of John Bunyan. He had been called by God to preach and so he did…publicly. But he was warned over and over again not to preach unless he was formally licensed by the Church of England. Bunyan refused even under penalty of imprisonment. This man spent many years in prison but never acquiesced to the government. He was very poor and he had no nice navy suits and salary and pension. He was not asked to preach at a well catered banquet astonishingly called a “prayer” meeting. And he was never heard to complain or speak disparagingly about his guards or his plight. And while in prison instead of having people organize for his release, or people supplying him with food and necessities, he instead wrote “The Pilgrim’s Progress” which is the most widely read Christian book other than the Bible.

Once when his little ten year old little girl came to bring him some soup she almost tripped over a stool in the prison hall. The guard exhorted her to be careful but the little girl informed the guard that she was blind and could not see the stool. Go ahead and ingest that fact and compare it with air conditioned halls with fine linen table cloths and fruit cups and wonderful meals.

Interestingly enough Bunyan had served in the military for a few years and parts of his allegories drew from that experience. But instead of reveling in it Bunyan made a case for believers rejecting earthly violence in favor of doing battle in the Spirit for the cause of Christ. It is quite interesting how in this culture certain things are elevated and make a great impression of the masses. Money and power are predominant, but being a high officer in the military is also looked upon with great adoration even among believers. This violent culture appreciates violence when it is in the defense of that same culture. I believe the term is "self serving".

It is almost impossible to draw a complete picture of how incongruous these two narratives are. One is a wonderful party mixing nationalism with some kind of Christianity and everyone gets to go home and continue their lives having enjoyed a night of religious frivolity, while the other man goes to a dungeon and stays there away from his beloved family for years. Quite a contrast wouldn’t you say? To be honest this kind of modern self serving expressions of faith are most disgusting and do not in any way represent Christ.

But since the church has become so blind and deaf it embraces almost anything as long as there is no real sacrifice. And if perchance a believer gets some persecution that is so minor it cannot even be spoken in the same breath as men like Bunyan, well the mixed multitude called the community of faith will rise up and squawk like stuck pigs. Jesus bore the cross but we cannot bear even unkind words. The church in America is blind to a most important and obvious fact. The love of America has been one of the greatest and most clandestine forms of persecution the devil has ever employed.

Sit back and relax until May 1, 2014 when the next Day of Prayer will be held. Be sure and let the organizers know ahead of time whether you want chicken or steak at the banquet. Perhaps next year they will hand out bracelets with Bunyan's name inscribed on it.

6 comments:

Julie Wilton said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rick Frueh said...

Rick Wiles, Glenn Beck, and other men and women like them do not represent Jesus. They represent this hedonist culture and they are filled with hatred for a variety of people. You are correct.

Cherie c said...

This sermon Pastor Rick is the type of message the Church needs today. Julie wants to support your ministry as do I and I am sure there are others. It is time Pastor, time to return to the pulpit, only this time God has seasoned you with His truth. It will not be easy, it will at time break you beyond measure, but it is time. They are coming out and we need a place to go. This blog has become my church and I Thank God for it. One will not find this kind of preaching at their local church building. Preaching that points us away from ourselves and to Christ. Helps correct us and at the same time lifts us up because if we are right with God, we then receive blessing. No self serving preaching or back pats, only truth, even if its hard to hear.

I know I have been a thorn in your side, but I knew something was different when I happened upon your blog. Not filling your head with ego making words. I am asking you to do with a fellowship ministry that you do with this blog, and it may take all you have inside. I am asking you to make a sacrifice for His sheep Pastor.

Days are short and are evil. Jesus' truth is being killed off and the sheep perish will malnutrition from not having the true Word of God. His people are pershing because of false teaching, and those brave enough to preach the truth are becoming harder and harder to find.

When Jesus returns, will He find those with faith?

I keep you in my prayers.

Hi Julie, nice to meet you dear sister in Christ. My name is Cherie.

your sister in Christ Jesus,
Cherie c.


Lorena said...

Thanks for this Rick. The ecumenical farce, that day is.
I'm so far from measuring up to our Lord, I fall so short, and really, I'm a complete nothing. But Christ is everything to me. He loved me beyond anything I can understand, took my filthy sins, the colour of crimson and made them as white as snow. Forever grateful am I, He doesn't discriminate between sins. Unlike some of today's Pastors who can't get themselves past gay people and same-sex marriage. They just keep harping on it. Always condemnation; No grace. And the hearts of their congregations are hardened and closed to those very sinners, whom, Jesus, their own Saviour, gave His life for. Seems to me sin has been around since the Garden of Eden and 'gay issues' as far back as Sodom and Gomorrah.
I think they like the praise of an audience.
John Bunyan, what an example of love for Jesus!

Anonymous said...

The church crosses a line in the sand when it gets excited about superheroes, especially those it esteems in high positions. The church should be about God's business. When it becomes an invitee of government calls to prayer, it loses it's flavor and salt to the world.

Those who Jesus came for are not looking for a mighty army, or 'the friends of the friendless club' or a self help group, they're looking for the Lord whose the only one who can fill the void. They need attendance, shelter, healing, recovery, deliverance from sinful additions, and a new heart. These HAVE been left alone in their depravity to die without a savior, and while that one is committing suicide in a lonely motel room, the 'church' is congregating in the halls of great men patting each other on the back.

While it's true that these christians who speak to a prayer breakfast are doing their part in making a difference for Christ, it's also true that many unknown are among the many christians who are trying to do their part, but who are not applauded and do it when no man can see.

The church loves to be 'where it's happening' - cameras, lights, reporters, grandstanders, conferences, prayer breakfasts, but fail to go into the cracks and alleys and poverty-laden stretches of neighborhoods only miles from their Washington prayer clubs.

I remember listening to Billy Graham televised crusades with my parents, and I know it sparked a conviction in them, as well as it did me. In fact, in my heart, I did ask the Lord that I always be with Him and He with me for the rest of my life. And God did answer, praise His Name. I know that the BG ministry did much good. However, because men are prone to be respecters of persons and love to rub shoulders with the elite clergy, and the popular evangelist is now being sought out by presidents and dignitaries to have personal meetings with, things start to change. The savior is not exalted, but men's ministry names are exalted. The focus is on the ministry's worldly influence on high society and politics. If the church yields to the sense of being proud that men of power are now in the church's camp, they begin to revere the power men and the power evangelist rather that the Lord Jesus Christ.

Church people who become drunk with the sensation of power and great men in their ranks, or the NRA, or their Constitutional rights, or their entitlements, are in danger of falling into snares that catch their souls. If we are drunk with our own pride, and nationalism, and prosperous circumstances, and have the mightiest military on earth, and rejoice because we feel that nothing, no other nation can bully us or come against us, then we have lost our first love. And that is tragic.

Seems like the church wants to envelope itself with worldly carnal power and it fails to realize it's depending on mammon, rather than our One Lord, who came to save our souls, not to anoint us with dominant power over other men.

Cherie c. said...

We all come to salvation in different ways, God can save even in worldly situations. The Billy Graham Crusades made him a rich man and the so called preacher to the presidents. Jesus said that the world will hate us because it hated Him first. NeedI say more?

I believe some were saved through his preaching, but it wasn't his doing, it was God, and to give him credit for it is wrong.

Just like if we take credit for doing work in the faith. We are to do our reasonable service, snd I can almost guarantee, almost guarantee that the paultry things I do cannot compare to the work Pastor Bunyan and his little daughter or his wife have done in the Lord's service. I don't know if I could do what that precious brother in the Lord has done and if he were here he would be angry at us for giving him praise when it should all go to God.

I am ashamed thst I cannot do even a fraction of what he has done. Time Church to stop talking and start doing. Feed the poor, care for the sick, the widows, brothers and sisters in Christ. Stop making excuses, and get to the work of the Lord, and do it not for accolades, but because it is your reasonable service. Start with sacrificial prayer. That means that maybe we need to turn off the tv for intercessory prayer, or writing a chek to a viable ministry that feeds and brings the Word of God to the poor. Or maybe just maybe open the Word and spend some quality time with our Father. Fellowship with your true brothers and sisters in Christ.

And anyone who gives to the Hinn ministry because he is in debt deserves whatever judgment God brings upon them. Lets not be like them. Lets do what the Word of God says, not what the world does.

It is on my heart to start an intercessory prayer/Bible meeting once per week. I am willing to pay for a go to meeting type site so that we can all participate who are women. Women only because we as women cannot lead a ministry where men are included. However, it would be a blessing to have Pastor Rick lead this prayer meeting and if he is unable to a time or two, one of the other brothers could lead it. Otherwise it can be the women who meet. Please email me if you're interested. cchrinc@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Time to get busy for the Lord brothers and sisters, time to get busy. Goes for me too.

Love to all
Your sister in Christ,
Cherie c