I
recently saw a news headline that there was a 7.4 earthquake in Mexico, and the
threat of a tsunami along the coastline into the Honduras. I had recently seen photos
of extensive flooding in Alberta, and dangerous tornadoes in Oklahoma, US. The
weather has gone wonky. Where I live, we have had a very cool June with lots of
rainfall. With the rain has come large mosquitos and welts from mosquito bites!
Each
and every time I see the news headlines, I think to myself, that if the
pandemic is not enough to get people’s attention, then dangerous and unusual
weather is another way. Even our lake has had a scourge of dead carp washing up
along the shores. People are still fishing, but fewer all the time. There
aren’t as many beach goers either. Also, the world is hurled into a financial
downturn, since many people lost their jobs in order to stay home and stay
safe. The stock market keeps plummeting, as markets rise and fall. Businesses
that have been around for years have permanently closed. Tourist attractions in Europe and elsewhere
are like barren ghost towns. The airline and travel industry has plummeted.
I’ve
said it before, and I’ll say it again — It seems that whatever we have taken
for granted, and used and even abused, no longer holds the enjoyment or the
escape it once did. Everyone wants to get back to normal, but
I believe until we pay far more attention to God, and find out His will for us
at this time, things will not return to normal at all. We can do nothing to
circumvent the global change that is brought about by, I believe, man’s
inherent neglect of God, and the things of God. This includes Christians who
have strayed away from God and the things of God. Prayer changes things, and we
need a lot more faithful prayer warriors, who are more concerned about the
things of God than anything this world has to offer. In fact, without the prayer and faithfulness
of the few, I believe that things would be a lot worse off than they currently
are.
How did we get to this place?
Many
would agree that since we ignored God and left him out of schools, parliament
and government, business, the dept of education, the art world, etc., and even
church, God is trying to get our attention, and get back into our lives!
Instead, we worshipped sports and travel! Now they are severely curtailed if
not done away with altogether!
Agreeing with the world
I
believe in many ways, the Church is largely responsible for the current godless
state of the world. So, what happened? Instead of standing strong, we the
Church caved and wavered as wave after wave of ungodliness caught us by
surprise. Could we have done much more
through prayer and fasting, and be committed to a godlier lifestyle to stem the
tide of this wickedness? Gay marriages
became legal, the LGBQT (without apology or repentance) touted their ungodly
lifestyle as something to be celebrated, and saddest of all, abortion and the
killing of unborn babies became the norm. I watched the news in horror as New
York passed a law that is it legal to abort babies right up to nine months!
They celebrated it with a photo on top of the Empire State Building! Horrific
things have happened in our world. Pornography is the norm in movies. Human
trafficking & child porn abound as a business making money, or filthy
lucre. Many lives are and have been destroyed.
These things mentioned are pure evil,
the work of Satan through unregenerate minds, and degenerate people who pull
others down with them into the quagmire of iniquity.
The book of Jude talks about such people:
Jud 1:4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who
were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the
grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our
Lord Jesus Christ.
Jud 1:5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though
ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land
of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
Jud 1:6 And the angels which kept not their first
estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains
under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
Jud 1:7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about
them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after
strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal
fire.
Jud 1:8 Likewise also these filthy dreamers
defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.
Jud 1:9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with
the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a
railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
Jud 1:10 But these speak evil of those things which they
know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they
corrupt themselves.
Jud 1:11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of
Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in
the gainsaying of Core.
Jud 1:12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when
they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are
without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without
fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
Jud 1:13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own
shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.
Somehow
the church lost its voice and its power to change things as we watched them
unfold! Why is that? As a writer, one of the first things I ever researched and
wrote about had to do with backsliding. This is a term to describe when a
Christian starts straying away from the things of God, and eventually turns
away. It is always a heart issue. Our hearts become hardened by the
deceitfulness of sin. If we continue to allow compromise to creep into our
lives, this will affect our tenderness and sensitivity to the things of God. If
we keep ignoring the prompting of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and our hearts
keep straying, God will reach us through personal hardship to get our
attention. I believe it is happening
to the entire Body of Christ through this pandemic. It has happened to me
before all this when I strayed too far away. I am sure it has happened to many
others. But you can’t play with sin and come out unscathed. There will always
be regret, and a backlash of painful consequences to follow. Hopefully, a world-wide
revival and repentance will result when we allow God to work in our hearts!
I
began to see some definite changes in the church itself several years ago. I
could see that worship had become all about “us,” and less about God. We hardly
ever hear a hymn sung that we all know and love, let alone songs with Scripture
verses. So, there is no staying power or worship to God in the weak, personal
songs of today. Scripture encourages us to sing the Psalms and hymns so that we
remember Scripture and get lifted up:
Eph 5:19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and
hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
Christian
leaders talked about making the church “relevant,” for today. Rather than
strive for a church of humble people empowered with the truth of the Gospel, it
resulted in a lot of fanfare and entertainment to draw people in. Some church
leaders encouraged the church to resemble the ways of the world in order to
attract newcomers and young people. If God had been leading, wouldn’t there
have been more revival, repentance, and the demonstration of the power of God? Or
did I miss something?
When
I could see what was happening in the church overall, based on these two things
alone, a red light went on, and warning bells sounded for me.
Scripture
is very clear when it comes to our conduct in this world:
2Co 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with
unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and
what communion hath light with darkness?
2Co 6:15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or
what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
2Co 6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with
idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell
in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my
people.
2Co 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye
separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will
receive you,
2Co 6:18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be
my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
We
are to stand out amongst the crowd to draw them to the Lord, not agree with
their ungodly ways! I think back to my own youth, when I knowingly lived a
rebellious life against what I’d been taught. I always knew I had the safety of
the church, an “unsafe” place I could return to, where I’d be told the truth
without anyone worrying about hurting my feelings, or making me feel unloved. I
say “unsafe” because I knew I wasn’t going to get away with anyone agreeing
with me that it was okay to be drinking and doing drugs, etc. I never once
thought that I should be treated with kit gloves, but that I should be
encouraged to repent before I destroyed myself living the ungodly lifestyle!
Are there uncompromising churches today unafraid to confront people’s ungodly
and sinful lifestyles without apologizing for doing so? If so, they should be
commended for bravery, obedience, and uncompromising of God’s Holy Word. This is
all part of loving others, just not tolerating the sin, same as our Lord doesn’t.
Any
time the children of Israel disobeyed God and mingled with the ungodly world
around them, it was a complete disaster! Look at this account of what happened
to them after they reached their Promised Land.
Psa 106:34 They did not destroy the
nations, concerning whom the LORD commanded them:
Psa 106:35 But were mingled among
the heathen, and learned their works.
Psa 106:36 And they served their
idols: which were a snare unto them.
Psa 106:37 Yea, they sacrificed
their sons and their daughters unto devils,
Psa 106:38 And shed innocent blood,
even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they
sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.
Psa 106:39 Thus were they defiled
with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions.
Psa 106:40 Therefore was the wrath
of the LORD kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own
inheritance.
Psa 106:41 And he gave them into
the hand of the heathen; and they that hated them ruled over them.
Psa 106:42 Their enemies also
oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand.
We
need to get back to the old-fashioned religion. Jesus alone is all we need.
Everything belongs to Him, and this is His world. He knows the best way to
reach others.
Joh 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up
from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
And
we need to be reminded exactly of what Jesus has asked us to do without adding
to it or subtracting from it to suit our own comfort level:
Mar 16:15 And he said unto them,
Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Mar 16:16 He that believeth and is
baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
Mar 16:17 And these signs shall
follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall
speak with new tongues;
Mar 16:18 They shall take up
serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they
shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
All
of the above is for us, the Church, past, present and future, to experience,
and to do. It never says otherwise in Scripture. May we not be found wanting or wavering. As
we obey and pay far more attention to God and the things of God, I believe we
will see our own lives transform. And this will eventually rub off on the sad,
lost, and estranged-from-God world around us. Let’s get back to the basics, and
get real before God, spend more time with Him than any other pursuit. This will
be a good place to start to turn things around.
2Ch 7:14 If my people, which are called by my
name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their
wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will
heal their land.
God Bless
You, dear friend, as you ponder this, and take the next step forward.
