HeartCry!

Woe to those who call evil good!

I’ve just been following some of the posts on Twitter amongst the aptly named “Outlaw Preachers”. As I read through some of the sentiments expressed, I was reminded of the following Scripture:

Isaiah 5:18-24
(18)  Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of vanity, And sin as if with a cart rope;
(19)  That say, “Let Him make speed and hasten His work, That we may see it; And let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, That we may know it.”
(20)  Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
(21)  Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight!
(22)  Woe to men mighty at drinking wine, Woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink,
(23)  Who justify the wicked for a bribe, And take away justice from the righteous man!
(24)  Therefore, as the fire devours the stubble, And the flame consumes the chaff, So their root will be as rottenness, And their blossom will ascend like dust; Because they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts, And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

Originally posted 2009-08-11 18:15:30. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

How many is “many”?

Matthew 7:21-23
21  “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
22  Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’
23  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

I don’t know how ferociously the heart of God must be split in two at times, but just to have the faintest pang of the pain He must constantly bear, quite literally cuts me to the core. I look at a verses above, and my eyes are suddenly filled with the image of countless souls being ushered into hell fire with the name of Jesus on their lips. How can it be? How can so many claim to be His and yet at the same time deny Him?

There have been many times in recent years that I have been condemned by other Christians for being harsh. So much so that over and over, I have had to check my motives to ensure that they are truly for God and not against Him. Can those numbered amongst those called by the name of Christ, who will hear His words commanding them to depart be as great as the number I fear? Oh how I pray that it is not, but how much more I fear that it is. Unless the Lord in His mercy will shake us from our slumber vigorously, I fear that on that dreadful Day, the bosom of hell will be filled with countless professing Christians that were never known by the One they professed to know as their Saviour.

How many times are we going to be so deceiptful as to attempt to share the Gospel message and remain free of persecution, when the Bible tells us exactly that will happen? Are people really taken in by giving a few mince pies away at Christmas time, or us being really nice to those around us? Are the drug and violence addicted youth in our streets to be awakened by us meeting their social needs, and letting them walk all over us while we suffer silently? Are the homosexuals, the liars, the blasphemers, the paedophiles, the proud, the arrogant, the God haters, the adulterers, the thieves and swindlers, the money lovers, and all the other God forsaken sinners living in our own back yard, going to care less about our luke warm message of redemption? I think not, and neither do I!

Those who do not know the Lord, do not need to be told that He has a purpose and a plan for their life, other than the plan that the Bible proclaims to us. For His wrath hovers over the whole of the earth like a hammer waiting to fall on the ungodly, and the only loving, and compassionate thing a true Christian can do is to make them aware of it, by preaching His Gospel. And how can the good news of the Gospel be good news at all, when we don’t even know or believe what the bad news is? God’s Law is not obsolete because of the atoning sacrifice of Christ, it is only the righteous requirements of the Law that were nailed to the Cross of Christ for those who believe. Jesus Christ is the fulfilment of the Law for those abiding in Him, but according to Christ Himself, He has not come to wipe away one tiny letter of it.

If you are a pastor reading this article, and you know that much of your congregation are living according to the flesh, and you do not preach a message of repentance week in and week out until they get the message, then shame on you! Do you not realise that you are personally responsible for leading people to eternal destruction, and their blood will be on your hands before the Living God? How can you preach a message of abundant life, without first preaching the need to die to ourselves first? If your congregation are not dead to the flesh, and their lives hidden with Christ in God, then they are heading for destruction. There is no such thing as a “carnal” Christian, in the sense that a Christian can be saved and live for the world. There are simply those saved by the grace of God, and those who remain outside of that grace and under the penalty of His wrath.

The Bible commands those who profess Christ to examine themselves to ensure they are truly in Christ. It commands us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Yet we proudly boast someone saved eternally for repeating a few words after us, as though it were some magical incantation to guarantee our salvation. How many people are we going to continue to deceive in such a way? You can rebuke me all you like for this message, but it is not a rebuke I listen to any longer, for I know the source of this I am sharing, and it is God Himself, for all I convey is that which is found in His Word. The Gospel needs to be preached to every creature, and it needs to be preached and preached until it is grasped firmly by those who are listening. Therefore pastors of the flock, it is up to you to preach the Gospel to your congregation, not just once or twice, but constantly!

God is not interested in your wisdom or opinions. He is not interested in your positive confessions, your spiritual manifestations, your contemplative prayer, your being slain in the spirit, your holy laughter, your babbling in tongues, your spiritual warfare strategies, your ministry visions or any other thing. Not unless first of all you are totally and utterly devoted to preaching Christ crucified for our sins and risen again, and the reason it was necessary to happen at all. What’s more, if that is the message being preached constantly, you will have no need to preach much else, for that alone is the power of God unto salvation for those who believe, and the preaching of that message, and the understanding and accepting it by the faith God has apportioned, will be all that is necessary to bring about total transformation for the glory of Christ, to those who believe.

I did not truly know where this message was going until I had started writing, but now I realise only too well that it is addressed mainly to those who have been charged with leading God’s people. Put your selfish pride down once for all, let go of the reigns of your ministry, and hand it over to Christ. Cast your opinions, your wisdom, and all that you think you know away as the dross that it is. And instead feed the Word of God alone to your congregation, that they may be filled with an appetite that is insatiable for the righteousness of God, for His promise is that they may be filled.

I leave you with this final warning from the prophet Jeremiah, concerning those who are shepherds of the flock:

Jeremiah 23:1-22
1  “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” says the LORD.
2  Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: “You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings,” says the LORD.
3  “But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
4  I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking,” says the LORD.
5  “Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.
6  In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
7  “Therefore, behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “that they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’
8  but, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ And they shall dwell in their own land.”
9  My heart within me is broken Because of the prophets; All my bones shake. I am like a drunken man, And like a man whom wine has overcome, Because of the LORD, And because of His holy words.
10  For the land is full of adulterers; For because of a curse the land mourns. The pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up. Their course of life is evil, And their might is not right.
11  “For both prophet and priest are profane; Yes, in My house I have found their wickedness,” says the LORD.
12  “Therefore their way shall be to them Like slippery ways; In the darkness they shall be driven on And fall in them; For I will bring disaster on them, The year of their punishment,” says the LORD.
13  “And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria: They prophesied by Baal And caused My people Israel to err.
14  Also I have seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem: They commit adultery and walk in lies; They also strengthen the hands of evildoers, So that no one turns back from his wickedness. All of them are like Sodom to Me, And her inhabitants like Gomorrah.
15  “Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets: ‘Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, And make them drink the water of gall; For from the prophets of Jerusalem Profaneness has gone out into all the land.’ ”
16  Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They make you worthless; They speak a vision of their own heart, Not from the mouth of the LORD.
17  They continually say to those who despise Me, ‘The LORD has said, “You shall have peace” ‘; And to everyone who walks according to the dictates of his own heart, they say, ‘No evil shall come upon you.’ ”
18  For who has stood in the counsel of the LORD, And has perceived and heard His word? Who has marked His word and heard it?
19  Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD has gone forth in fury— A violent whirlwind! It will fall violently on the head of the wicked.
20  The anger of the LORD will not turn back Until He has executed and performed the thoughts of His heart. In the latter days you will understand it perfectly.
21  “I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
22  But if they had stood in My counsel, And had caused My people to hear My words, Then they would have turned them from their evil way And from the evil of their doings.

Originally posted 2009-10-12 03:05:01. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

The Fundamentals of our Faith

It’s been my heart for some time now for the church to return to a solid grasp of the fundamentals of our faith in Christ. Here is an excellent message from John MacArthur that highlights those things that should quite honestly be beyond dispute, but in reality are the very core doctrines that are being challenged more and more on a daily basis by deceived Christians across the denominations.

Pimping the Prosperity Gospel

For many years my wife and I have struggled financially, and still do even to this day. Don’t get me wrong, the Lord has always, always provided for our needs, and has always come through at the times we have desperately need an answer, but for reasons only He knows, He has allowed us to be in a constant battle with this issue.

Whilst it is my hope that the Spirit of God will suddenly open my eyes to see something that I need to repent of, and then suddenly it will all be over. But thanks to His great mercy and kindness, I have found the strength and confidence to fix my hope upon that which is to come when I see Him face to face, and willingly face this predicament for as long as He sees fit.

Upon watching the following video, it sickened me to think how long I had suffered this ludicrous and unbiblical teaching, and came to breaking point because of the reproach, shame, and hopelessness it puts upon those who so desperately need answers. These men are on the same level as drug pushers, and pimps in my opinion, but at least the pushers and pimps don’t lead so many astray from the Lord as these wolves in sheep’s clothing.

Bullhorn

I heard about this video and found out that it was rapidly being removed from it’s current online locations, so how long it will remain is anyone’s guess, as I plain refuse to actually download it and store it on my own webspace.

I hold my hands up high and confess that I am the “bullhorn guy”, or at least one of them, that Rob Bell is talking about, but when since when is it being unloving to yell “FIRE!” when the building is ablaze? Or can someone tell me how it is so loving to walk someone to the fiery lake hand in hand, and with a pleasant smile on our face, all the time knowing full well that the Eternal Wrath of God Almighty waits to consume forever those who refuse to surrender to the command of Christ to repent and believe the Gospel?

My hatred does not burn towards Rob Bell, for I don’t even know the guy, but I hate his messages of candy-coated poison pills that he, and others like him, are so fond of preaching. How he can sincerely read the pages of the Bible and come up with the conclusions that he does is quite literally beyond me! Decide for yourself.

Originally posted 2009-08-23 20:16:11. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

How sad is this?

Can anyone seriously considering themselves a Christian watch this video and not get angry? I am ashamed to hear a so called minister of the Gospel saying such things as this, and then to top it off, the applause from the congregation just made me want to thrown the PC out of the window!

Originally posted 2009-08-06 05:57:05. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

14 Ways To Become A Charis-maniac "Christian"

(Post sourced from the One and Only, Da’ Purple Soapbox)

1. Don’t interpret the Bible literally in its historical and grammatical context, but rather through the “in-season” word that comes from in your spirit

2. Forget learning about Church History since you are on the cutting edge of spirituality and everyone else didn’t have it right until 1906 at the Azusa Street Revival and thereafter

3. Neglect going to Bible school since you don’t need doctrine because it divides churches and you can know God by your own personal experience

4. Lay aside critical thinking since it has its place in almost every other aspect of life instead of matters of faith – who needs logic anyway?

5. Be sure to be blindly faithful to the heretical church you attend, since this is the way you can move up to a new spiritual level and be closer to God

6. Never correct your pastor or anyone else who has “spiritual authority” who may be in doctrinal error or moral compromise since you may be cursed by God for “touching the anointed”

7. Insist that you need to always see signs, wonders and miracles in order for you to constantly have faith

8. Whenever things don’t go your way or when something bad happens that you can’t explain because you don’t want to take time to think it through, blame it on the Devil, since everything bad in the world is his fault anyway

9. Whenever someone brings valid and scriptural criticisms against your pet preacher, tell them that they shouldn’t judge and ignore the fact that they may be under God’s judgment for leading people into sin and error

10. Make sure you learn how to speak in the “heavenly language” of unintelligible tongues since you may not be truly saved without proving to people that you can do it

11. When at church, be sure to dance ecstatically, shout to the top of your voice and act in a manner to draw attention from the worship on to yourself – since God doesn’t “move” in a church service without these things happening

12. Be sure to get slain in the spirit every time someone lays hands on you in prayer; you won’t “receive” unless this happens

13. Ensure that you are always in “that place” where you can get secret personal revelation from God that is not revealed and that contradicts Scripture

14. Before you follow any of the commands in the Bible, you need to have “confirmation” from a prophet, intercessor or a rhema word that you sense in your spirit

Sourced from: Da’ Purple Soapbox

Luke Warm and Loving It!

I think this is one of the most hard hitting messages I’ve been privilaged enough to hear recently, and I cannot stress too much how I long to truly and sincerely “get” this message myself!

Originally posted 2009-09-25 23:34:49. Republished by Blog Post Promoter