Preparing for the future

Turn on your TV or any device with internet and you’re pretty much guaranteed to see some sort of horror. I’m not talking about movies or books. I’m not talking about words you’d rather not see or pictures that offend you with just a glance. I’m talking about some kind of disaster. Train wrecks, riots, racism, beheadings…you name it, it hits the news.

Recently I was reading an online news article about something that, to me, has the possibility of affected our entire nation in a bad way. It has the potential to draw people to something that stands against Christianity by any definition. And so I read the article. But it wasn’t that article that wound up having such an effect on me. It was the link at the bottom of the article, one that warned of something to come. Out of curiosity, and thinking it was weather related, I clicked on it. I wound up watching a video that was actually very good and, from what little I know of the topic being discussed, factual.

I actually found myself interested in what I was watching and even considered sharing it with my husband, who wasn’t there when I was watching it, but what started out being pretty good and informative wound up being a rather long sales pitch trying to get me to buy a set of books. I exited the video before it ended. But I was left with the thoughts that watching it created.

You see this video spoke about terrorist attacks on America, it spoke of things that sounded completely plausible to me. And I knew just enough on the subject to know that most of what they were saying did indeed seem to be true.

But now, after having watched all of it I intend to, I’m thinking on things they said. You see the person that made the video is what they call a ‘prepper’ or a ‘survivalist’. Scripture tells us not to worry about tomorrow. It tells us that the Lord will take care of us. But I must admit to seeing some merit in being at least a little prepared for certain circumstances. I’m not talking about survival type end of the world scenarios. Nor am I advocating storing up five, or even one, year of food and supplies…have you ever thought of how much space you’d need to do that?

I’m talking about basic preparations. Most people put gas in their cars long before the gauge reaches the E. In doing so they are preparing for their future in the sense that they will have the gas needed to drive the next time they get behind the wheel. People on medications prepare by making sure to get their medication before they run out of their current supply. Most of us prepare for daily life by buying a week or more’s worth of groceries at a time.

I remember once, years ago, when I lived within two blocks of two major grocery stores. I had a refrigerator that was trying to go out on me and would keep food cold but not quite cold enough and the freezer wouldn’t freeze. I had no back up refrigerator, no deep freeze. So I shopped for groceries daily. I kept shelf stable foods like cereal and bread on hand but bought only what I would need for that day if it needed any kind of refrigeration.

That system worked well for us for months. There were days I didn’t want to go to the store and on those days we did have just enough in the refrigerator to make it until the next day. We also had enough shelf stable foods to make it a few days if need be. And so we did fine basically eating only what I bought that day.

But then trouble came. One day an unexpected ice storm hit. A storm that was supposed to bring rain brought ice and left us iced in for over a week. A tree broke in half and blocked my driveway, power lines snapped. And we were stuck at home without enough groceries to see us through. Somehow we stretched what little was in the refrigerator and the contents of the pantry out until I could get out to go to the store. We didn’t go hungry but we didn’t eat all that well either. And I had plenty of time to worry as I watched our already meager supply of food dwindle.

From that I learned to never let my food supply get that low again. What worked fine when everything was normal didn’t work so well when something out of the ordinary happened.

I have seen time and again since that storm that when the weather forecast predicts snow or ice people run to the store to buy groceries, batteries, flashlights… Some of them go to buy extra supplies just in case, some go because they don’t have enough to make it for a week or more if they can’t get to the store.

And as a result they prepare for what is to come. Not because they fear the disaster that could happen but because they want to be able to make it for a few days if something does happen.

I live in tornado alley. We are encouraged to keep a disaster kit just in case a tornado should strike our area. I’ve seen what happens after a tornado goes through our area. I’ve seen the devastation that can be cause by even small tornados. I understand the wisdom in having something in place should we get hit by a tornado…do I admit now that I didn’t follow the advice?

But that wasn’t the sort of preparation the man in the video I watched was talking about. He was suggesting that we be prepared before an ice storm, before a tornado, or even before the family reunion converges on your home. What he was suggesting we prepare for was a large scale terrorist attack or other disaster that could essentially end life as we know it. And the method this man suggested it could happen wasn’t some farfetched thing but something that very easily could happen.

But now that I’m no longer watching the video waiting for him to divulge the answer to this possible scenario I sit here thinking of it and how he essentially told people to prepare for the end.

And I’m reminded of a verse my husband likes to use often…

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28

There are lots of people that are what they call ‘preppers’ or ‘survivalists’ out there. There are people that stockpile weapons, food, machines, books, skills, and who knows what all else. I used to find that sort of thing fascinating. I never had the money or the space to do any of the things they suggested beyond putting together a bad to have on hand in a disaster. That did come in handy during the many tornado warnings we spent sitting in the hall for safety. We never needed them because we were impacted by the storm to the point of needing a survival bag but I did put the snacks, coloring books and crayons, flashlights and other items to use. It was nice having everything together when we were placed under a tornado warning. As the children ran for the hall I grabbed the bag that I knew would keep them entertained while we sat there.

But as useful as I found the items I had packed in the backpack, and I doubt a serious survivalist would have had any interest in the bag I had prepared. There’s a good chance it would have been little more than something to make them laugh. Really…who needs coloring books when your house is in splinters? But it worked for us as we needed it at the time. All that aside though…what good are any earthly preparations when our souls are in danger?

How many people that fill their basements, put in hidden floors in their homes, build indestructible shelters, and whatever else they do, prepare their souls with as much diligence as they prepare for the end of the world?

If we looked at statistics alone…what are the odds that any one person will experience a disaster of any kind that is so debilitating they can’t get some kind of help within a few days? National response teams say you need to prepare to survive on your own for three days, the average length of time it takes help to reach you in a major disaster. Three days. That’s the average time anyone would need to survive without help after a disaster. And how many people are effected to that extent in their lifetime? Thousands? Millions? We’re talking three days where you can’t get to any kind of outside help, store, business, phone…anything. How many?

What percentage of people in America must survive on their own in disaster type, life threatening situations? With no help or contact with anyone?

I don’t know the answer to those questions. I know there are many that are affected in disaster type situations in any given year but how many of them are completely cut off from the rest of the world so that they must rely only on themselves for survival for even the three days recommended? Whatever the number I’m absolutely positive that 100% of the population of America, of the world, will be effected by death. Not just by death but by their own death.

You might experience a disaster situation that puts your life in danger. You might find yourself in a situation where you are completely cut off from all outside help. You may wind up needing to use only what you have on your person, in your vehicle, or in your home to stay alive for hours, days, weeks, or less likely months or years as the survivalists fear. But I guarantee that you will be affected by your own death.

Survivalists prepare for what they call ‘the end of the world as we know it’. They prepare themselves to depend on no one but themselves for years (in some cases). They look ahead to what might happen, to what could happen, and they prepare for what they imagine might affect them in their lifetime.

Preparing for a disaster that could happen might come in handy someday if that disaster ever does happen. It might give you useful skills that can be utilized in your everyday life now. It probably will give you supplies that you can rotate through and use on a daily basis…unless you have a 5 or 10 year supply of what they call meals ready to eat or MRE’s, then you may not want to eat them if your life depends on it.

But what has all that preparing done to get them ready for the absolute, guaranteed experience that they will have with their own death and the judgment they will face as a result?

I know that the Lord has His chosen people. I know that He has determined who will spend eternity in heaven and who will spend it in hell. I know that. But I also know that Scripture speaks of faith comes from hearing the Word of God. I know that Scripture speaks of the Lord giving up the unbelievers because of their unbelief.

If any of the people that spend even a small part of their lives prepping for a disaster that may never come put the same amount of time into Christ…what would happen with their life? What kind of fruit might their preparation bear?

What kind of future should we prepare for?

Eternity?

Or a disaster that could happen?

What are you preparing for?

 

I'm not a Christian

Years ago I came to the conclusion that if 'they' were Christians than I wasn't. Who were the 'they' that came to mind as I said and thought that? All the professing Christians that seem to wear Christ like most people were dress shoes. The one's that put Him on when it suits their purpose and takes Him off when it doesn't. 

When I came to the conclusion that we couldn't both be Christians I had no idea what the true difference was but I could clearly see a difference. And those differences were obvious. These were people that I had always been taught were 'Christians', whether I knew them or they were strangers I crossed paths with made no difference. The reality was that either they were 'Christians' or I was. We were simply too different. Saying we were both Christians would be like saying the sky is blue and brown. It can't be both ways. Either they were. Or I was. 

And so I began to think 'if they're Christians, then I'm not' and I no longer thought of myself as a 'Christian'. Today I know the truth of that situation. I know they are professing Christians. I know that I am a Christian by Biblical definition.

But what if I had never discovered the difference? What if I still believed that I can't be a Christian because the 'Christian' label that 'they' wear is what being a 'Christian' looks like? 

Aparently that is exactly what is happening to some people. They still believe they aren't Christians because so many people wear the title who don't fit the description.

Last night I was on the phone with my sister our discussion was of a Biblical/Christian nature about prayer and why God does or does not answer it. I told her that people that expect the Lord to answer their prayers in the exact way they want them answered and who expect Him to answer them right this minute forget...or just don't know...a couple of things. First thing they forget that they are the creation and have no right to demand anything of the Lord, that they are told by Christ himself to pray 'Your will be done', and that just because they want something doesn't mean that it fits in with the Lord's will for their life or the life of the person they're praying for. And then I told her that those same people think 'God' is just sitting by idly waiting for them to decide to ask him for something. They think that they can live life on their terms, wrapped up in their own selfish desires, and then go running to 'God' when they want something. They think that He listens to them when they pray despite the fact that they live their lives chasing sin instead of Christ.

But those same people also claim that they are 'Christians' and it makes those of us that are Christians not want to claim the label despite the fact that we are the one's that can claim it.

The trouble with true Christians giving up the claim of being a Christian is that Scripture defines who are to be considered Christians...

26 and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And for an entire year they [a]met with the church and taught considerable [b]numbers; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. Acts 11:26 nasb

And it isn't the people that want to chase sin and live for the world then claim to be a 'Christian' because it soothes the place inside them that doesn't want to admit that heaven is reserved for true Christians. And so they go on believing...pretending...to be 'Christians' when in fact they are fakes.

A true Christian is someone that has been converted, given a new heart, that repents of their sins and would give their very lives for their beliefs.

How many professing 'Christians' do any of that?  

Around the world there are Christians that die not because they claim to be a 'Christian' but because they can't be anything but a Christian.

I just read where many so-called preachers are now using the term Christ follower. They ask people if they are 'christ followers' making some kind of distinction between following Christ and being a Christian. Trouble is...the so-called preachers listed in that article are men I would say are heretics. They preach a false gospel. And then they want to label what they are doing as being a Christ follower.

How long until the true Christians begin to wonder if they can claim to follow Christ...for fear of being lumped in with the heretics that say that's what they are? How long before the word believer can no longer be used by a true Christian because 'they' have taken it over so completely that it is no longer recognizable?

How long?

On the surface it would seem like this isn't all that big of a deal but it is. It's a huge deal. It's big because those people...like I used to be...that know their faith is different but don't know why or how find themselves in a position where they don't want to claim the title given to them in the Bible. But it's a much bigger deal than even that.

You see there are those that claim that you can be a 'Christian' by believing in any way and then you get to wear the label, put on the name brand of Jesus, and call yourself a 'Christian'. Not only that, but you get a lifetime shopping spree to the store of 'Jesus' where you can get as much of the label as you want, or as little, and wear it when the desire suits you. And it comes with the bonus of spending eternity in heaven.

I'm sad to say that a good number of those 'Christians' will be looking at a 'heaven' filled with fire and torment. There will be no paradise in their 'heaven'.

Touching their earthly lives

Children are such a wonderful blessing from the Lord that they bring us much joy and enjoyment on earth. They enrich our lives so much and are often our first teachers on learning to deny ourselves and put others first.

Through our children we often learn to enjoy the Lord’s creation. Through them we learn to see the wonder in a caterpillar or in the rippling of water.

And through our children we are given our best chance to live out our faith before others. Our children learn from watching us and our faith…as true, born again Christians…will impact them.

It is a great privilege to be entrusted with such blessings.

What we often forget in our enjoyment and day to day encounters with our children is that we aren’t just raising these little people that bring so much to our earthly lives….we are raising souls that belong to the Lord.

While we pray for our children’s salvation, while we live the examples we want them to follow, we may forget to stop and remember that this child that belongs to us is actually a soul that doesn’t belong to us at all.

Their souls belong only to the Lord and it’s His place to do with them what he wants. We can only guide those souls in whatever small way the Lord will allow us.

I am a homeschooling mother. Have…in fact…homeschooled my children since before they were old enough to need any form of ‘school’. In the homeschool world there is great stock placed in curriculum. There are conventions where all manner of it are displayed. You can order magazines about it, get catalogs delivered to your door that can eat up hours and hours of your days. There are hundreds if not thousands of websites offering everything from single subjects to all-inclusive curriculums. There are ‘Christian’ curriculums, secular curriculums, and more. You name it if you want to teach it to your child you can probably find it.

There are whole models of education formed around certain ideas of how you should teach your children. And there are complete models formed around the idea that you can’t teach your child, that children learn when they are ready and not before no matter what…or how much…you pump into them.

Some families are ‘homeschoolers’. That is their identity. It’s who they are and it describes everything about how they live their lives, much the way other people describe being ‘doctors’ or ‘world travelers’. It is…quite simply…who they are. And they take pride in who they are.

There are many families among the homeschool world that homeschool for the sole purpose of being able to pump ‘Christian’ content into their children. They believe that it is their place to be the religious instruction for their children and that that should include their children’s education.

Let me say…I agree with that…to a point. I do believe that as parents we have a responsibility to teach our children of our beliefs, to live out those beliefs to them, and to give them the gospel.

I don’t however believe that we can instruct our children into salvation…which is basically what some among the homeschool world are attempting to do.

Being entrusted with children…with souls…by the Lord is a privilege that comes with the added privilege of being able to live out our faith in front of our children and the ability to give them the gospel as we will probably never be able to give it to anyone else. Part of that privilege is the joy of watching our children grow and learn.

I have met many a homeschooling parent and curriculum provider that believed that getting ‘Christian’ beliefs into the ‘Christian’ child was the single most important purpose of home educating them.

The trouble with this philosophy is that it completely misses the Biblical teaching that salvation is of the Lord and that we can’t work our way into it.

If we could…if we had to…if our children’s salvation rested in our hands and in how much of the Scriptures we could get into their hearts…we would fail. Miserably.

Because salvation rests in the Lords hands alone. He is the only one that can save our children and He will do so at His will regardless of what we do or do not do.

The vessels of God’s mercy (Romans 9:22-23) are prepared for eternal glory by the Lord and they are prepared according to the plan He has in place for them. When the time is right the Lord will draw (John 6:44) or more accurately according to the Greek text…draw…their hearts and souls to Him.

What has gone into their hearts and minds prior to that moment is only what was placed in their lives so that the Lord could get them to the place where He would save them.

If it was required of us…as parents…to put everything into our children that would save them…we would fail. We simply cannot put the love of Christ into their hearts so that they will love Him above all else. Sin lives in their hearts from birth and it will take root and grow despite our best efforts to weed it out.

This sin kills our children’s hearts so much so that they are dead in sins. Only the Lord can give them life from those sins and it’s His will to do so or not and there’s nothing that we…or they…can do to affect that. While our children are dead in their sins they are in complete darkness, lost to their sins, so much so that the darkness they live in will keep them from Christ…aside from a basic head knowledge that will allow them to profess a belief that does not reach their hearts.

That is the best condition that we can hope to ‘impart’ to them through anything that we…or they…do. Everything else…salvation…is in the Lord’s hands. It’s a gift that he pours out into those that He chooses to receive it. A gift is something that is freely given, not something we work to earn.

The educating of our children in the ways of the Lord may give them a head knowledge, it may restrain them in their sins, but it will not give them salvation.

Oh, but if we could. How great it would be to focus all of our earthly time and attention on our children’s souls and know that we were giving them their very salvation.

I would gladly spend every hour of every day working the Truth of Christ into my children’s hearts if only it would save them.

But Scripture tells us that isn’t the way salvation works and that nothing I do will save my children. The good news in that is that nothing I do…no failure on my part… will cast them into hell either.

They came into this world souls that belong to the Lord, to be used for His purpose…whatever that may be…and they will go out of this world the same way.

I can only touch their earthly lives to the extent the Lord allows me to do so.

 

What I believe on who is going to heaven

A couple of my posts lately have spoken against Arminianism. I have nothing against Arminians. Having been raised with those beliefs I firmly believe that there are a lot of them that quite simply do not know that what they believe in isn’t in the Bible. Their faith rests in the beliefs that they have been taught and they’ve been shown Scripture in such a way that when they read the Bible the Scripture they read holds the same views as what they’ve been taught.

I truly believe it is a deep delusion that keeps them from seeing the truth. I also believe after having known many an Arminian that there are many different types of Arminian belief. Some believe in such a shallow way as to hold almost no belief at all while others hold so fast to the ‘God’ that they believe in that their faith seems very genuine. It isn’t my place to decide whether it is or not.

I’ve had loved one’s tell me that I believe that I’m the only one going to heaven or that I believe my husband and I are the only ones going to heaven. That couldn’t be further from the truth.

Who does and does not get to go to heaven is a decision for the Lord to make and it’s a decision I wouldn’t want to make.

I will admit that there are people that I truly believe at this very moment won’t go to heaven but even believing that in this moment doesn’t mean the Lord won’t save them in the next moment. And so I try very hard not to even make a guess as to who will and will not be saved.

I pray hard for the salvation of others. I hurt for the souls of those that are lost. I ache for the souls of those that will never be found.

But I do not now, nor do I ever, presume to make an assumption as to who will and will not go to heaven.

 

It got hard

‘I don’t believe in God.’

What do you say to someone that says that? How do you react? How do you respond? When I heard those words from someone I love my mind and my heart kind of froze. Before I could get them working again this same person said ‘I just want to be happy and be a good person.’

And still I didn’t know how to respond. What is the right response to that? On the one hand I’m glad this person wants to ‘be a good person’, on the other I wonder what that means. In my heart I want to tell this person just what they’re risking by denying God, denying Christ but in my head I know that it would do little, if any, good. I remind myself that replying that way might very well push them further away.

I remember how when I first started understanding exactly what it was that I saw in Scripture my husband told me ‘now it will get hard’. I’m not sure it gets any harder than to hear someone that holds your heart in their hands tell you that they don’t believe in God.

Last night my husband and I watched a video of a Christian man explain an encounter he recently had with three other people. These people didn’t believe in Christ. One of the things this Christian man said was something to the effect of… if the stories are true that Jesus conquered death, that he rose from the dead and escaped the tomb, then why would you chose not to believe?

What is there in a person, in their life, that would make them completely deny Christ? Scripture tells us that everyone believes in God they just suppress that belief. And so as I spoke with this family member I was reminded of the verses where I’m told that everyone believes. I was also reminded of the verses where it warns against hardening your heart.

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,

“Today, if you hear his voice,
⁸ do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
    on the day of testing in the wilderness,
⁹ where your fathers put me to the test
    and saw my works for forty years.
¹⁰ Therefore I was provoked with that generation,
and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart;
    they have not known my ways.’
¹¹ As I swore in my wrath,
    ‘They shall not enter my rest.’”

¹² Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. ¹³ But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. ¹⁴ For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. ¹⁵ As it is said,

“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

¹⁶ For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? ¹⁷ And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? ¹⁸ And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? ¹⁹ So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief. Hebrews 3:7-19

I know that this was addressed to the believer but it speaks of the unbeliever and so as I listened to this person tell me that they don’t believe in God I remembered the verses above. I thought of the hardening of heart that took place in this person’s life. I remember watching this person change from someone that confessed a fairly strong belief, even gave things up for what they believed, to someone that was telling me they no longer believed in God.

And it got hard.

My heart wanted to warn them of the torture waiting for them in hell if they continued in unbelief, my mind reminded me that that would do no good.

My heart wanted to beg them to open their heart again to believe in Christ, my mind reminded me that would do no good.

And it was hard.

It’s still hard.

I think back to that video we watched, think of the man doing his best to dispute the ideas the other people in the show held and having to do it long after the show he was on had finished being filmed because the other people on the show hadn’t given him the chance to voice his beliefs.

As I sat talking to this person that I loved, as I heard them say they don’t believe in God, I felt much the way this man must have felt only I wasn’t being prevented from voicing my beliefs by my loved one as those people prevented that man from voicing his. I was prevented from voicing my beliefs by my own mind that told me to voice those beliefs at that time would do no good and could even do more harm.

I was reminded of the children that were forced to write Bible verses as punishment and how they came to resent Scripture as a result. I didn’t want to create any more resentment in the heart and mind of my loved one.

So I walked through that conversation as a person might walk on very fragile, very thin glass. I knew one wrong step, one wrong word, would shatter the glass.

And it was hard.

I had to balance my own beliefs against the mindset of the person I was talking to. I had to tread with caution hoping to plant seeds that would one day sprout.

Unlike the man in the video that wanted only to express his beliefs…the man that did eventually express his beliefs by showing clips of the show he had been on in his own show as he discussed and debated each clip while voicing his beliefs…I wanted to plant seeds in the hopes that they would one day take root and sprout. To do so I had to carefully sift the soil and cautiously lay down the seeds I wanted to grow.

 And as I write this post I find myself struggling with my own thoughts and ideas. I find myself struggling with how to word what I want to say, struggling with the hard part of what I went through while hearing my loved one tell me they don’t believe in God, struggling with my own pain.

Because it got hard.

The video I watched with my husband has no bearing on the conversation I had with my loved one but that conversation came not long after we watched that video. And as I had that conversation I was reminded of the beliefs…or lack of…held by the three other people in that video. Particularly I found myself thinking of the beliefs…or lack of…held by two young women on the video.

In the clips used on the program we watched there were a couple of women that kept voicing their beliefs, beliefs that basically boiled down to let everyone live for their own happiness and just love everyone. It was after watching that program that I had the conversation with my family and discovered this loved one pretty much believes the way those women did. The only real difference that I could see was that those women had held their beliefs long enough to know what they believed and my family member was just beginning to believe that way and so was confused about exactly what they believed.

When I first began to understand what it was that I was seeing in Scripture my husband told me ‘now it will get hard’. I didn’t understand then. I do now.

When a professing ‘Christian’ finds out that someone doesn’t believe in Christ the answer is simple…convince them to choose to believe. That’s it. All they have to do is work their way around the heard headedness of the person they’re talking to and get that person to say they believe. They need only to convince them to say a five minute prayer. Once the prayer is said the person is saved and they can quit worrying about their soul.

It’s not like that.

And because it’s not like that…it gets hard. I can’t be mad at this family member because of their unbelief because the Lord has decided who he will save and who he won’t. If I get angry with someone for not believing then I’m basically punishing them for something they had no control over. Not that I came anywhere close to being angry. I was hurt. Hurt for them, scared for them, worried about them, but not even close to angry.

You see, I understand what that person didn’t. I understand that in their unbelief  they are risking their eternity, they are literally playing with fire. And yet…I know that only the Lord can save them. They have a part to play. I have a part to play. But only the Lord can save them. The decision has already been made. The Lord will either save this person or they won’t.

I have questioned myself many times about whether or not I should explain the truths of Scripture to family members that profess to be ‘Christians’. I’ve wondered if I should tell them what I know that they do not know. And I haven’t found the answer yet. In some ways I think it’s best to leave them with their beliefs. I think that it preserves family relationships and lets them happily hang onto what belief they do have. But then I wonder… I know I had never heard of the truths that were revealed to me before I was seeing them in Scripture. In all my days and years of going to ‘church’ I never heard them. And so I wonder if I might not be the only person in my family member’s lives to show them those truths. And if I am…is it my place to say something?

That is where my beliefs get hard. Hearing someone I love tell me that they don’t believe in God and that they just want to be happy and be a good person…got hard. If I had held the beliefs of most professing ‘Christians’ I would have tried to convince my loved one to just ‘chose Christ’ but because I don’t hold those beliefs there was nothing I could say. All I could do was try to understand where they were coming from. And reassure them that I held no anger toward them because they didn't believe.

And I knew, even as I reassured them, that I would pray hard for them. I knew I would beg the Lord to do something in their lives that they would never choose if given the choice. I knew that I would spend countless hours in prayer for this person because I knew what they did not.

I knew what they are missing out on. I know what their unbelief will cost them.

And because I know I will beg the Lord for this person’s soul.

And still…the pain was near devastating. As I thought of what this person may wind up suffering I emotionally staggered.

 I hurt.

 I ached.

 I bled invisible blood. Because I know the consequences to come if the Lord leaves this person to their unbelief.

And it was hard.

It hurt.

I wanted to do something but was powerless to change anything in that moment. I wanted to tell them how wrong they are, to beg with them, to plead, to convince them to change their minds but I knew it wasn’t their minds that needed changed it was their heart.

 I am reminded of the security my grandmother used to find in knowing that her children and grandchildren had said ‘the prayer’. And I’m reminded of how much easier it would be to believe that way. If I believed that way I would still have the security of knowing that this person will go to heaven because they once said ‘the prayer’. But I know that prayer did not secure this person’s salvation any more than saying I want to own that car makes it yours.

But as that person told me of their unbelief I almost wished I could believe that way because it would have taken away a good part of the pain I felt at hearing ‘I don’t believe in God.’

And for me…

It got hard.

 

 

False teachers leading false 'churches'

Not that long ago I wrote a post titled Peddling Christ. In that post I spoke about preachers and how they make Christ serve them rather than them serving Christ. Quite honestly this is a subject that I fell into rather than feeling any real need to write about. You see, that post was the result of someone asking me if I could take several verses and make a post out of them. This person did give me a general idea of what they hoped I could convey in that post. The rest…was up to me. It was a challenge but being as how the message they wanted conveyed was a belief I share I was able to actually pull it off.

 

From there I expected to be finished with the topic but found myself writing yet another post almost as soon as I finished that one. Then through discussions in life and comments on my blog I wound up writing even more posts. You see…it isn’t so much that I set out to speak against preachers but that I found myself sucked into a topic that had me doing just that. I have nothing against preachers in and of themselves. It’s what they’re teaching…or not teaching…and the way they’re doing it that bothers me.

 

Today…I was looking something up online and found myself reading someone else’s article on peddling Christ. And once again I got sucked into a topic I never intended to be in the midst of. But I write what’s on my heart and mind. I don’t foreplan anything, don’t usually do any research into what I’m writing about. I generally just sit down, put my fingers on the computer keys and…there’s an article. It’s that easy…and that confounding.

 

I don’t know where these things come from except to say that they’re given by the Lord…or at least the ability to do so is. And so today…I find myself writing on a subject I never thought to follow any further.

 

The more I think of what it means to peddle the Word of God…the more it hurts to even consider it. I don’t remember the days of true peddlers, have had very few encounters with door to door salesmen. I do, however, know the frustration of having people show up on my doorstep…usually when I’m trying to cook or something else that takes my attention…and try to sell me something I don’t want. I know the frustration of having them repeatedly try to convince me to buy what they’re selling despite the fact that I keep saying no. And I’ve learned the art of being rude by saying ‘we’re not interested’ and quickly shutting the door , cutting off their protests as I do so. It’s not ideal but sometimes it’s the only way.

 

I’ve had certain religious groups show up on my door and try to sell me their beliefs in much the same way. With these groups it seems that if you so much as say ‘hello’ they move in for the rest of the day. They tell you there stories, invite you to their worship buildings, give you there reading material, and…as I’ve had happen on one occasion…sit with you and tell you everything they believe and why, all while reading to you from their religious book.

 

As my grandmother is fond of saying ‘you can’t win for losing’ with them. If you’re nice to them in any way they take advantage of it. If you’re not nice to them…they take advantage of that too. And when you’re not nice you’re left feeling bad about whatever reaction you give.

 

As I think of those ‘religious’ people coming to my house peddling their beliefs…at least they aren’t actually trying to get me to buy them…I think of what it would be like to have someone actually come to my door and try to sell me ‘Christ’. I’ve seen the so-called preachers on television that tell you if you’ll just send them money ‘god’ will do x for you. And I can only imagine what my response would be if they were actually standing on my door trying to convince me to buy their ‘god’ and his blessings.

 

But that’s what so many are doing. They may not come to our door, they may not sit in our living rooms, they may not even stand in our presence but they’re doing it just the same. They’re peddling…selling…’Christ’ for their gain with little to no consideration for the souls of the people that buy into their ‘christ’.

 

It’s so easy…for most…to see the peddling that takes place by those television ‘preachers’…although the fact that they’re still on T.V. tells us that many fall prey to their peddling…but how many see the peddling that takes place within ‘church’ buildings every week?

 

Many years ago I was a regular in a ‘church’ that passed an offering plate every Sunday, they taught often on tithing and how it was required, they printed and mailed out little envelopes with your name on it and each weeks date so that you could ‘give’ your ‘offering’, and thy questioned you when they didn’t see your ‘tithes’ in the weekly ‘offering’. They went so far as to say that if you didn’t ‘tithe’ you weren’t ‘right with God’. But they didn’t stop there. Outside of your weekly ‘offering’ they had near weekly missions ‘donations’ where they profiled some organization that they felt the ‘church’ should financially support. And they put much pressure on each person to do just that. I have even seen them tell the congregation that a certain ‘offering’ for a mission organization wasn’t enough and pass around the ‘offering’ plate again, all while telling people to ‘dig deeper’ and ‘give more.’

 

Was that not peddling?

 

Unless it falls into the category of con artists.

 

The thing is…this kind of ‘peddling’ takes place every week, week after week, in ‘church’ after ‘church’.

 

I was a one time visitor in another ‘church’ building this past winter. My husband and I went for the sole purpose of listening to a quest ‘preacher’… that wasn’t really a preacher at all but a speaker…because he speaks Truth. Or mostly speaks it. While we sat on the pew, in the midst of hundreds of others, they passed an ‘offering’ plate. As expected many people put money into those plates. But like with the ‘church’ I attended so many years ago, they didn’t stop there. Once the ‘offering’ plates were collected, they passed around ‘offering’ baskets. This time was supposedly a special ‘offering’ so that the ‘church’ could use it to help their members that were in need. They explained how they used it to help those with financial problems pay bills, get to the doctor, buy medicine, clothes…whatever they may need.

 

And as I sat there watching this ‘offering’ being collected all I could think was…isn’t that what the regular ‘offering’ should be used for? And since it obviously wasn’t…what did they use it for?

 

About a year ago I was told of a preacher that told the members of his ‘church’ to give them the routing number on their checking accounts so that the ‘church’ could pull their tithes out of their account.

 

I have to ask…do any of these so-called preachers sound like men that are serving the Lord? Do any of the things I listed above sound like something Paul would have done? Do they sound like something Christ would have done?

 

Do they sound like men that are serving the Lord?

 

Or do they sound like men that are serving money?

 

For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ. 2 Corinthians 2:17

Paul clearly separated those that sincerely tried to preach the Word of God from those who were merely selling a product.  The Geneva Bible states that verse as…   For we are not as many, which l corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.   Notice the word corrupt in place of peddlers. The KJV also uses the word corrupt. Either version clearly portrays the message that Paul was giving…these men were taking the gospel and using it to their gain. One implies the selling of it, while the other implies the twisting and changing of it. As I read those two different versions I can’t help but think of what we get if we combine them…Peddlers that corrupt the Word of God…or the corrupt peddling of the Word of God.   Is that not what we have today in the majority of ‘churches’?   Basically Paul was saying that he…and the others…was giving the true gospel, they were speaking Truth with no twisting or changing of it. They weren’t watering it down, they weren’t making it fit man but were giving it so that it might man might fit into it. This was Truth pure and simple. It was Truth as Christ gave it and it was Truth as they delivered it.   And it wasn’t being delivered out of some higher agenda, out of some idea that they might gain from the Word of God. It was being delivered from sincere hearts with the sole desire to deliver the Truth as Christ gave it. Paul said that it was the ‘power of…salvation’ (Romans 1:16).   Paul understood what that meant. He knew what he himself had experienced in his conversion and he sought to deliver the Word of God in Truth and nothing but Truth.   Why?   A question we should ask ourselves anytime anyone seeks to deliver the Word of God is…what motivates this man? Does he stand to gain from what he’s teaching?   Paul’s motivation was to save souls and he gave up everything to do it. He sought no personal gain.   If a preacher delivers a message while being careful what he says so as not to offend his listeners…is he not corrupting the Word of God? If he stands to gain financially in any way…is he not peddling the Word of God? If he leaves out anything of Scripture because it might offend someone or keep them from ‘coming to Christ’…is he not watering down, thereby corrupting, the Word of God?   And if we have a corrupted Word of God…is it truly the Word of God? Is it Truth as Paul taught or is it a mere facsimile of Truth…one that will pull many to the wide path but leave few to find the narrow gate?   What purpose does the wide path have if walking on it makes you run head first into a narrow gate that you can’t get through?   Is this not what the many ‘preachers’ of today’s ‘churches’ are doing? Are they not pulling many onto the wide path by giving them a ‘gospel’ with a ‘God’ they can accept and love, because the ‘Christ’ they’re peddling requires little of them?   And if the ‘gospel’ being given by these ‘preachers’ isn’t the true gospel as Paul preached it…then is it the gospel at all? And what of the preachers that are giving a false gospel…are they not false teachers?   And what happens to the ‘church’ when a false teacher gives them a false gospel?   I know so many people that get every bit of their ‘Christian’ beliefs from the mouth of their ‘preacher’. They say things like ‘my preacher said’ or ‘my preacher believes’, or ‘my preacher teaches’. They put their very souls into what a man is teaching them…and most of those men are false teachers.   What then becomes of the ‘church’ whose pews are filled with people whose very faith rests in the teachings of the preacher on the stage?   Instead of the Church as Scripture defines it we have false ‘churches’ packed with false believers being fed a false gospel by a false teacher. And the Truth that they think they’re getting and believing in is a truth that Paul wouldn’t recognize.   Jesus himself called such false ‘churches’ "synagogues of Satan" (Rev. 2:9; 3:9). Whether or not the ‘churches’ of today would actually fall under that definition wouldn’t any ‘church’ that teaches anything that differs from the Truth as taught in the Scriptures be teaching a lie? And if they’re teaching lies and calling it the gospel…have they not fallen into Satan’s domain? Scripture tells us that Satan is the father of lies. And no matter how you want to look at that we can’t deny that Paul warned many times of false teachers. We’re told that they’re wolves in sheep’s clothing.   These false teachers are peddlers…hucksters…that corrupt the Word of God. Whether they do it for money, for man’s acceptance, to bolster their own numbers of ‘conversions’ and therefore their own pride, or even just for their own (false) sense of security…the end result is the same…a perversion of the Truth. And many of them do it while claiming to be ‘called by God.’ Would God ever ‘call’ anyone to teach and promote anything short of the entire Truth of His Word? Would He ‘call’ them to sell it, whether for monetary gain or some man oriented reasoning? The reality is that most, if not all, of today’s ‘preachers’ aren’t called by God but rather by themselves. They have some interest in preaching and believe that means they have been ‘called’ by God to do that. They then follow their ‘calling’ into expensive seminaries to get man-made certifications that will allow them to send out resume’s to apply for a job and thereby a paycheck to put their ‘calling’ to work.   Does that sound like a calling by the Lord or does it sound like men following their own desires?   Once these preachers have gained their expensive certificates and earned themselves a job through their resume’s they may then begin to preach (and ‘earn’ their paycheck) by leading ‘God’s flock’ through the ‘gospel’ that they have been taught to teach by men. They can use the very Word of God to create and promote a ‘gospel’ that looks nothing like the Truth as its presented within the pages of Scripture. And they preach not the gospel but a ‘gospel’ that is found nowhere in Scripture. Paul himself saw this happening and warned against it.   For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.  2 Corinthians 11:4 But it wasn’t just the false teachers he warned against. He clearly told those that accept it that they are putting up with it. In other words…by listening to it they are actually allowing it to happen. How many Christians sit in the audience of ‘churches’ and listen to a message being delivered that speaks something other than the Truth? How many sit idly by and listen as the very gospel our Lord gave his life for is corrupted and peddled…and do nothing. They put up with it readily enough. They put up with listening to a message being delivered that isn’t the Truth of Scripture. They put up with turning the solemnity of the Word of God into a form of entertainment designed to draw in crowds, to boost numbers, and to keep those crowds entertained so that they aren’t offended and will keep coming back. Was the Truth that Christ died for entertainment? Was it so inoffensive that it appealed to everyone? Was Paul beaten and imprisoned for a Truth that was careful not to offend? What of the many ways ‘churches’ fund their ‘ministries’ through worldly entertainments that are designed to draw in an even bigger crowd so that they can line their pockets for the purpose of continuing the perpetuation of the twisting and perverting of the true gospel? Did Christ die for that gospel? Did He teach that it’s okay to feed the carnal minds and hearts of people…rather lost or saved…at the expense of their pocketbooks to further any form of the gospel? And yet as Paul said…you put up with it readily enough. My husband just showed me a video about televangelists that buy multimillion dollar jets…now I ask…what possible need could anyone that’s supposedly concerned about the souls of the lost need with a high dollar jet. If…and I stress, if…they absolutely had to go somewhere that flight was required why wouldn’t they go by the cheapest flight available so as to put their ill-gotten gains to better use serving the people that they claim to care about? One of the ‘preachers’ in this news video is shown literally bragging of having bought not one but two very expensive jets and paying cash for it. I have to ask what the people that regularly give their money to this man think of his new ‘toys’. But that doesn’t happen in your average ‘church’ some might say. Maybe not in some but I personally know of a ‘church’ in a mid-sized town where the preacher owns multiple high end vehicles and his own airplane. And it was all bought with ‘church’ funds. And what of the ‘church’ that provides the funds for such extravagances? …you put up with it readily enough. These preachers peddle their versions of ‘God’ and the people put up with it. I can understand that when we’re truly talking about wolves in sheep’s clothes…or preachers that teach such subtle differences that a person would have to know the Scriptures well to know that what’s being taught is a lie but what of those that sit in the audience…or their living room…and listen to the blatant blaspheme of the Lord while hearing these men tell of ultra-expensive purchases? Even those that teach subtle lies as Truth are they not men who have a form of godliness while denying its power (2 Timothy 3:5). Are they not wolves in sheep’s clothing? Are they not teaching lies and therefore leading ‘churches’ that have fallen into the hands of the ‘father of lies’? I’ve heard many times…while sitting in the pew of a ‘church’…that Satan will attack the ‘church’ but I must ask…why would he need to attack the ‘church’ when lies are on the menu of every sermon? If anyone is saved out of such a ‘church’ it’s in spite of the ‘church’ and not because of it. The Lord can, and does, use all things to His glory. These false teachers and their false ‘churches’ may be responsible for the true salvation of some but it isn’t because of the false gospel given within its walls…it’s  in spite of it. It’s because that was the method the Lord used to save one of His own. But what of the false gospel being delivered week after week from the very men that claim to be working for the salvation of others?   They are false teachers delivering a false message that has no power to salvation except for that which the Lord gives to those that are his.   There is, in fact, a method to the madness that is preached from the pulpits. While these men are in their expensive schools earning their ‘calling’ they are actually taught to profile their targeted audiences and to tailor the message to those that will be listening.   They are in fact profiling their audiences straight into hearing a fake gospel that sends people straight to hell. But I’m saved, some might say. But I said the prayer, another will say. I chose Jesus is the reply of so many.   And that last part is the worst of all because it completely disregards the fact that Christ said you did not choose me but I chose you.   Even still…the sad reality is that most have no idea that Christ even said that. They don’t know because they’ve been taught the false gospel by the false teachers and they take those false teachers at their words. They lay their entire salvation into the hands of men. And those men hand them straight into hell.   They follow the wolf like slaves following their master. Where the wolf leads, they follow. And sadly enough heaven isn’t where those wolves are leading. They follow their masters (preachers) believing they are being given the gospel for salvation when in fact they are being fed lies that get them nothing but eternal damnation.   There are two very basic problems with what’s happening there…two things that are perpetuating the system. 1) those preachers have been so indoctrinated with the gospel that they preach that they don’t know they’re teaching lies to the very people they believe they’re leading to salvation, and 2) the people they’re leading don’t want to hear the Truth even if the preacher knew how to give it.   If a preacher actually got behind a pulpit and told his audience that the prayer they prayed didn’t save them, that their free will is a lie, that their salvation rests in the hands of the Lord and nowhere else…his audience would quickly disperse. If they made it through the first sermon, they wouldn’t return for a second.   Years ago I was given tickets to go and hear a classical pianist. I knew nothing about the woman but was told that I would love listening to her, that her music was amazing. I went to the concert and barely made it through it. What I had been told would be classical piano...which I don’t care for…was anything but. Rock and roll would have been a better definition. The next time that woman came to town I was once again given tickets to go listen to her. I made sure not to make use of those tickets.   How many people that pack the pews on Sundays would be sure to avoid those same pews if they ever heard the true gospel delivered from the stage they spend so much time in front of?   You see…most of those in the audience don’t want the truth. They want their false teachers giving them a false doctrine through an entertaining program that feeds on their own sinful desires.   They don’t want to be taught a gospel that teaches a saving faith. They want a false gospel that teaches they can have their hearts desires and still have faith. They want to be told that it’s okay that they think of movies and food before they think of Christ. They want to be told that it’s only normal for them to have reacted the way they did to a certain situation. They want to be told that ‘God’ loves the things they love. Because…they put up with it readily enough. Paul warned… For the time is coming when people will not endure sound[a] teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 2 Timothy 4:3-4 People of today have turned away from Truth and have followed myths. The biggest one that I can think of in the ‘church’ is the myth that man ‘chooses’ Christ or that he has the free will to do so. These same people have ‘itching ears’ that want to be give a gospel they can grab onto and because of that they ‘accumulate’ or follow teachers…preachers, authors, speakers, etc…that give them what they want to hear. They have turned away from truth and wouldn’t sit still to listen to it and they sure wouldn’t go back for a second helping. I sat in one such ‘church’ building about a year ago and heard the preacher tell the audience that whatever part of the Bible made them angry was the very part they needed to spend time in. I would have to agree with that preacher on that. But I’d also have to ask the question…why? Why does that part of Scripture make you angry? What is it about that part of Scripture that makes you angry? Are you scared? Threatened? Do you see something there that shakes what you believe? Why? I saw a headline online a few days ago that said a ‘church’ is ordaining homosexual ministers. I have to ask if that really sounds like a ‘church’ but then I would have to ask…is there any part of the Bible that makes those so-called ministers angry? And if so…why does it make them angry? Could those so-called ministers walk into a church of true regenerate believers and be allowed to preach or teach any sort of message? How long would they last before someone interrupted their message to correct them using the very Scriptures that probably inflame their anger? And so there are entire ‘churches’ that meet to support and encourage one another in the very sins that the true church would reject outright. The people that go to those ‘churches’ do so because their false teachers pat them on the back and tell them that what they believe is okay instead of telling them that they’re living in sin and they need to repent and beg the Lord to save them from their very sins. But it isn’t just the obvious things like homosexuality that falls into this category. There are entire ‘churches’ formed around certain lifestyles. The rich go to ritzy  ‘churches’, cowboys go to cowboy ‘churches’, country folks go to country ‘churches’. They all have their catagories and they pretty much stay within the ‘church’ that best supports their lifestyles. A farmer isn’t going to go to a ‘church’ that frowns on dirt getting on their fancy floor more than a time or two if he’s having to go straight from the field to the ‘church’. He will soon find a ‘church’ that welcomes him, dirt and all. Sin is the same way. The sinner is the farmer that’s looking for a ‘church’ that will welcome him sins and all. What does that say of the preacher of the church that welcomes the sin into their midst instead of rebuking the sinner and teaching him the Truth of Scripture? What does it say of the ‘church’ that embraces the sinner and his sins with open arms because ‘God would love him’? They are false ‘churches’ being led by false teachers and being fed a false gospel that caters to their wants instead of to the Truth.

 

What do you have to lose?

I’ve written quite a bit recently on hell, Arminianism, false teachers…

My husband tells me often that I should only write when the Spirit leads me. And I try hard to do just that. This blog started as a place to organize the many thoughts I had about the Lord and Scripture. It’s still that but it’s also more than that. Not all that long ago I wrote a number of posts on marriage, so many, in fact, that I began to wonder if I should stop writing about marriage for a while. As it happened the Lord led me in a different direction not long after I thought that. Now I’ve been on deep, hard issues lately.

There have been things in some of those posts that I hesitated to write or felt bad for writing. The reason I wrote those things despite my feelings was because my feelings shouldn’t be a factor in speaking truth.

There were many times that I spoke of hell in those posts. I have warned against hell in them, posted sermons by preachers that warned against hell.

Now I want to clarify a few things. I’ve been accused of believing that anyone that doesn’t believe as I do will go to hell. I don’t believe that way. I believe that it is the Lords place to determine who does and does not go to hell. I have met many an Arminian that seemed to hold a very deep faith in God. I don’t, nor do I want to, know where and how they fit in with some of the things I read in Scripture. If they are going to hell…I don’t want to know it. If they’re saved…that’s wonderful.

Salvation rests in the Lord’s hands and only in His hands.

I simply write what comes to me. I’m sure that there will be many times that I will write something and I’ll get it wrong. And I’m equally sure that there will be many more times that I will write something that offends the person reading it.

That may very well be the case in some of the posts I’ve written lately. Those were hard posts to write and they may well have been hard posts to read.

If they were hard for you as the reader I beg you…consider why they were hard. What I wrote on was the Truth straight from the Bible as I understand it.

If you believe in any of the beliefs I spoke against…please don’t take my word for it. I am but a fallen person writing about the things the Lord brings my direction. Please look those subjects up for yourself. Don’t take my word for what you read, test it against Scripture yourself.

But I beg you…

Test it against the black and white version of what Scripture says not against any interpretation of Scripture that you’ve heard. While you test what I’ve written…please…disregard everything you’ve been taught and take it straight from the Bible.

Many a professing ‘Christian’ thinks they’re going to heaven when in fact they believe in a ‘Jesus’ that doesn’t exist. Test your Jesus against Scripture. If He’s the Christ of the Bible everything you believe about Him will stand true but if he’s a ‘Jesus’ created in the mind man then he won’t be able to stand up to some of the deeper truths of Scripture.

Test everything you think you know if that’s what it takes.

How many ‘Christians’ are in hell today because they believed in ‘Jesus’? Many ‘Christians’ have been lied to and tricked into believing in a ‘Jesus’ that doesn’t exist. They followed their ‘Jesus’ straight into the flames of hell.

I don’t know what anyone’s beliefs are. I don’t know where you stand. I’m begging you to examine yourselves. Not for me but for you. Test yourself. Test that which you believe in. If what you believe in is the true Christ you will only gain a deeper understanding of your Lord. But if you’re believing in a farce…you stand to gain eternity.

What do you have to lose?