I Can't Hear You

I have been a Christian for 50 years. Yet never have I seen the attitudes I am seeing around me in the church world. It grieves my heart and it must also grieve the heart of God. I am talking about the “I’m right and you are wrong” attitude. It appears to be coloring every aspect of church life. It causes believers to be angry with each other, to leave the church and then go no where. I sometimes wonder how many folks are out there, who used to go to church every Sunday, joining their hearts in harmony to worship the God they love, but today finds them, at home, trusting the TV or radio to provide their spiritual nourishment. What’s the problem?
Eyes on Man
All too often the problems begin when we get our eyes off God and focus instead on man and his problems. We must ask ourselves when we find we are in the middle of strife in the church, “Why do I go to church?” Is it to listen to the preacher, to fellowship with my friends, to grow in my own ministry, to serve the Lord. Or is it to worship God? When we forget that the original plan of God was to gather the people together to worship Him, we often fall into patterns we call ‘worship’ but it often is not worship at all. While we are to be careful in what we adhere to in our doctrine, we must also be careful that we do not neglect the teachings of the Lord… And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul (Deuteronomy 10:12). For Jesus Himself told satan in the wilderness temptation… “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” (Matthew 4:10) When we cut ourselves off from corporate worship we invite all kinds of problems into our lives. Our focus at first seems to be self-preservation. We don’t want to be hurt or deal with people who continually seem to hurt us. So we remove ourselves from their fellowship. But all too soon, our wounded hearts rationalize that the risk is too great that we might experience more pain and so we go no where at all. As we focus on the problem man has caused in our lives, we are like turtles, pulling inside our shells to protect. But in fact we do more harm than good. We set a poor example for those who look to us for guidance. We fail to forgive, and we often live in continual pain because of it. Our children and grandchildren see that church and Christian fellowship is not important. We no longer have the encouragement of other believers to work together for the cause of Christ. Some fail to tithe. Others fail to serve. Some eventually turn away from God altogether...all because they got their eyes on the wrong things.
Ears to Hear
Too many today are getting caught up into cultic teachings. As the church becomes more and more passive in it’s approach to try to please everyone and not offend anyone, leadership often fails to declare the Word of God with boldness. People don’t know what they believe or why. When they pull away from the church they often turn to TV or radio and begin to listen to voices declaring their opinions instead of the Word of God. They lack spiritual discernment. I have met far too many in recent years who have slowly bought into such ministries as the “Shepherd’s Chapel” and Pastor Arnold Murray, and his non-biblical beliefs, which are based on the cultic “Serpent Seed Doctrine” which teaches that Eve had sexual intimacy with Satan to produce Cain, who began a ‘hybrid’ race of people who were cursed by God, called them Kenites, and are now the Jews, and dark skinned peoples of the world. This is pure racism and has absolutely no basis in proper Biblical interpretation!!! Yet folks watch his programs because he takes the Bible in hand and reads it verse by verse, explaining his ‘doctrine’ with the American flag behind him.
Another odd teacher some are heeding is Mr. Harold Camping on the Family Radio network. His voice comes across the airwaves via his 150 radio stations across the nation on this call-in talk show called “Open Forum.” Some find themselves buying into his odd doctrines which declared that Christ would return in 1994 but when that failed he re-evaluated and now has determine that the rapture will take place May 21st, 2011, and that the Lord will return on October 20th 2011. Some of his other non-biblical teachings include…. annihilation of the unsaved, the rejection of the total depravity of man in denial of Romans 3:12, no visible Return of Christ, no resurrection of the unsaved, no final judgment of the unsaved, no eternal hell, the Holy Spirit has already lifted from the church, God has abandoned his apostate church. Therefore he advocates that you no longer need to go to church—any church, just listen to his radio station and send your tithes to him, while you wait for 2011. One of his most ridiculous declarations is that no one in the world was saved between 1988 and 1994. We must remember the scriptures which teach us… (1 John 4:1 KJV) Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. We must be discerning in the body of Christ! We must know our Bibles. We must not neglect the teachings of Jesus Christ. One of the last things Jesus told his disciples is found in Matthew 28: 19-20 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” We are not to abandon the church, to stop making disciples, to stop baptizing the converts, because He, Jesus, is still with us, “even to the end of the age.” Time has not stopped and God is still with the church! The age of the church is not over! Just as we are to observe communion ‘’til He come”, so we must continually “occupy til he comes”. (Luke 19:13) We have work to do for God! There are lost souls who need to find the Savior. The Word of God teaches us “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 unto fables. (2 Timothy 4:3-4) And this culture today is abounding in fables. The more Biblically ignorant the world becomes, the more they become the victims of unscrupulous teachers of lies and fables. That is why Paul told young Timothy in the previous verse, “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.” ( 2 Tim 4:2) It takes courage to take a stand in the face of blatant error. Sometimes it causes divisions, especially when loyalties are stretched. We need a new generation of pastors and teachers who will fearlessly proclaim the Word of God, who will not be afraid to reprove and rebuke in love, those who are falling into error. Boards need to stand firmly behind their pastors as they preach the Word. Just as a shepherd would leave the 99 and go in search of the one lost sheep who has wandered from the fold, so must we, as servants of the Lord, seek to bring back into the fold, those who have wandered into spiritual error.
What are you listening to with your ears? Are you just listening for ‘something new and novel?” Or, are you carefully listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit who promised to lead us into all truth? One of the often repeated phrases given to John in Revelations in the messages to the churches was…”He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches;” (Rev. 2:7) The Spirit filled believer must be listening, not to the voices around him, but to the Spirit, who will confirm the Truth and reveal the errors. The Holy Spirit is still at work in the church and is still speaking to believers. He is going to do that until Jesus returns for his Bride, the church. That is why we must also be cautious today when we listen to those who call themselves ‘prophets’. Some would try to manipulate for personal gain. Others try to make a name for themselves. Both are wrong. The Lord left us with the Holy Spirit so that all of us could now serve the Lord as prophets, priests and kings. But that does not mean we fall into imbalance, to use it for selfish purposes. We are to ‘try the spirits.’ We are to ‘preach the Word.’ We are to ‘teach all nations’ and bring them to the truth. Jesus set the example… “And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.” (Mark 6:34) Parents, teach your children and grandchildren the Word of God. Take them faithfully to the house of God and teach them to worship and value the presence of God. Pastors, stand tall in your pulpit, and with holy boldness, declare the message God has placed on your heart without apologies. You are guarding your flock! Teachers, wherever you teach, use your gift to declare the truth! Be a student of the Word! Be aware of the dangers in our culture. Warn the innocent! Expect opposition! Be ready with an answer and let the Holy Spirit give you an answer when you have none. Be faithful! Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up. You're not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It's the same with Christians all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won't last forever. It won't be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are!—will have you put together and on your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, he does. 1 Peter 5:8-11 (The Message Bible)
J. Johnson

I change not!

We live in a changing world. From the moment of our birth until the day we die, we see constant changes. While my father lived to see the transition from the horse and buggy to the car, my generation has seen a transition from the lowly radio to the full blown electronic computerized era. Nothing seems to stay the same for long. As soon as we think we are up to speed on the latest gadget, it is already out of date as new technology leaps on the scene.
We have noticed the changing church too. Just a few years ago, when a church was looking for staff members, they looked for a senior pastor and a youth pastor. Today, churches are seeking preaching pastors, executive pastors, media ministers, worship and drama pastors, video projection and graphic artist pastors, children’s specialists and next ‘gen’ pastors. The stress levels for pastors and their families have risen along with the expectations of churches and their leadership. Today, pastors are vacating their God-given calling in record numbers, falling victim to demands they just can’t keep up with. Others, under stress, fall into the enemy’s traps of sin and disqualify themselves for leadership.
There have been some powerful factors that have been continually changing the face of the church and Christianity at large. In a recent study on how to reach needy groups in our community, I was drawn to information that stated that the most powerful factor that is currently influencing change in our culture is: 1. movies 2. television 3. the internet 4. books 5. music 6. public policy and 7. family. Only a few years ago, the family was the most powerful influence in our culture. We wonder why the family unit is breaking down, why the church is accepting alternate lifestyles and immorality, why churches who follow traditional methods are loosing ground so fast. They have stiff competition! Notice that nowhere in the list do we find the church as an influencer of our culture. Today, Hollywood puts out a movie about a fiction book, and millions believe it as fact. Television documentaries about topics of faith produced by spiritual skeptics raise issues with which the church struggles. While the people in our churches deal with the changing world around them, the pastors often feel like they are loosing ground to the immoral culture pumping out its filth on the internet, in movies, on television and in magazines. Ministries that seem to be succeeding today have bought into the cultural media changes, and they show movie clips on Sunday morning to make a sermon point, use dramas and illustrated sermons to “preach” the message, give book reviews, and the music used to worship the Lord is very much like secular music in rhythm and glitz. The more the church accommodates itself to the demands of the culture, the worse it seems to get. Its like having children demanding dessert for breakfast. Once ministries begin to yield to worldly demands, it is hard pressed to know when and where to draw the line.
It is interesting to note that before Jesus made His glorious appearance in Bethlehem, 400 years earlier, Malachi, under the anointing of the Holy Spirit wrote… “ For I am the LORD, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.” (Malachi 3:6) While we daily face changes, take heart—-God does not change! He is a Rock of unchangeableness. Jesus is unchanging too. Jesus Christ is "the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (Hebrew 13:8) So while we may not be able to count on people or pastors or music or churches to stay the same, our God is changeless!
His nature is unchanging.
God will always be a God of love, who is eternal, whose nature is truth, who is all powerful, ever present, and all knowing. His role and office is permanent. His love for mankind never wanes. We can find immense comfort in a God who remains the same while so much of His creation is in continual change and flux. There are no factors in the world around us that can ever change God. Science may make new discoveries. Governments may change. Wars may have a permanent affect on us and on our culture...but God still remains the same. New diseases may be discovered, new technologies may change the way we do things, but God is not moved! Our confidence can be placed in a changeless God who is not influenced by man’s skepticism, the atheist’s unbelief, or the dictators commands. When politicians change to try to win the popular vote, God is never striving to change in the hope of winning another vote. God never changes! He is not discouraged or depressed. He is never making plans to do things a new way. He sticks with the old. He is faithful to Himself. Because of His faithfulness, we can count on Him, no matter what we are going through. If you have a change of pastors… God remains the same. If your body gets sick… God is still the healer. If you feel alone...He is the One who sticks closer than a brother. If you are discouraged at the changes you see in your church, your family and your city… God has not changed!
He longs for your genuine worship!
While worship may have changed in your church—hymns giving way to choruses, and harmony giving way to rhythms—God still wants to hear you worship Him from your heart. You can do it on your own time. During your quiet time with God, worship Him from your heart. Sing Him a love song that expresses your praise to God. Don’t do it to show others how much you love God. Do it just to exalt God to His rightful place in your heart. He made you his temple. Invite Him into His house! Worship is the heart’s true expression of genuine love and exaltation.
He longs for your faithful obedience!
All God ever wanted from His creation was to be loved and obeyed. Yet man, from the Garden of Eden has struggled with this simple expectation. God warned Cain that ‘sin was crouching at his door’—-and sin is continually waiting for the unwary Christian who lets his guard down for just a moment, opens the door of disobedience just a crack, whose curiosity for sin drives him to unfaithfulness. Yet even in those moments, God remains the same, willing to forgive the repentant sinner and welcome him back into intimate fellowship once again.
He longs for your loving fellowship!
One of the things that has so dramatically changed our culture is it’s demands on our time. We are forced to schedule all our activities. We barely have time to go to church on Sunday mornings, let alone all the other programs at the church. We fill our calendars with movies, sports, conferences, school events, and are grateful when we find we have an evening at home to kick back and watch a little TV. We rarely take time to get to know our neighbors or play with our own family members. We rush here and there, trying to maintain a standard set by our culture. But God has another standard...one that does not change. He created us for His pleasure. He longs to have us choose to love Him… to take the time to place Him at the top of our priorities… to want to spend time with Him more than anything else… more than movies, more than television, more than the internet, more than music, public demands, and even more than your family. We can fill our lives with busy activities and fail to fulfill the divine plan God has to fellowship with us. We are here on earth for such a short time when we think of eternity. Yet we will be spending eternity with Him. Each of us will stand before this eternal changeless God in judgment. I can hear some folks now trying to excuse themselves…. “God, I meant to….” or “ I just did what everyone else was doing…” or “I was going to get around to it….” and then life was over. There is nothing more shaking than to go to a funeral and realize how brief life is. God gives us one life, one moment, one opportunity—-and then it is over.
When I stand before my Maker, I want to hear “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter in…” It may mean I have to die to selfish desires. It may mean I have to say ‘no’ to society’s demands. It may mean I have to walk a lonely road where few are willing to go. It may mean I must choose that higher pathway as I set an example for others to follow behind me. It may mean I have to pray when others play. He is looking for us to love Him back the way he loves us—without any variation or changeableness. Theologians describe the changeless nature of God as being immutable, that is, having to variableness. James describes the immutable God as the Father of lights. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." (James 1:17) While all may be changing constantly around us, God remains the same. Because He never changes, His promises remain true throughout all time. He is forever the healer of our bodies, the healer of broken hearts, the One who sets the captive free, the One who forgives our sin, the One who is our King and High Priest, the One who is our friend and intercessor, our Provider, our Guide, our Peace, our Righteousness, our Lord, our Savior, our Rock, our Redeemer and our Judge. And when we stand before Him on that final day, we will give an accounting of what we have done in this life. He is the changeless Lord of Lords. If we fail to make Him the Lord of it all in our lives, then He is not really Lord at all. We just fool ourselves.
We often say we want to see revival. If that is really true, then we must recognize that God is not the one who needs to change….we do! If we take the stance that we cannot change, we become like the ones God spoke about in the Word who were described as ‘stiff-necked’ or with ‘hardened hearts’. The only hope for such is to get a ‘new heart.’ "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." (Ezekiel 36:26) Is it time for a transplant? If we want to see changes come, let’s yield our lives into the hands of the changeless One, and let Him change us into His image and likeness. God does not change! But we must! Keep your eyes on the one changeless anchor in this changing world. He will never fail you for He remains the same from age to age, regardless of how much we change.
J. Johnson