Ignoring God

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.