Jesus is the bridge to balance. \u00a0This is a thought I believe the Lord gave me yesterday.<\/p>\n
I believe that that majority of the churches today that actually preach and believe in salvation can be put into two categories. \u00a0First is the “Feelings” Camp. \u00a0Second is the “truth camp”. \u00a0I addressed earlier there instead needs to be a\u00a0balance\u00a0\u00a0worshiping\u00a0God in both SPIRIT and TRUTH.<\/p>\n
If you are not in the\u00a0Pentecostal\u00a0or\u00a0Charismatic\u00a0movement, but you have a bible-believing worldview, you may be able to see that these denominations over-emphasize\u00a0the Holy Spirit \u00a0office of the trinity. \u00a0 This represents the majority of the “feelings camp” though almost all of the modern mega-church movement could be added here. \u00a0Many are also leaving the “truth” camp and embracing their “feelings”.<\/p>\n
On one side, it is never good to neglect the spirit, and many churches neglect the Holy Spirit all together. \u00a0You are left with dead orthodoxy and lifeless religion. \u00a0Dead man’s bones in whited sepulchres. \u00a0However, just as dangerous is to put the emphasis on experience and feeling and the gifts of the spirit. \u00a0They may not necessarily be\u00a0worshiping\u00a0the spirit, nor will they necessarily think they are neglecting Jesus Christ. \u00a0However, by being involved with these circles you will have to fight the crowd and go against the grain to not go astray and end up with the unstable results from seeking signs and wonders.<\/p>\n
I have heard a lot of criticism about this camp from those “not in their camp”. \u00a0What I don’t see from any camp is for those inside the camp able to recognize where they are off and adjust before they get out of whack. \u00a0These “Spirit-focused churches” do have some strengths as when you tend to emphasize the spirit over truth, you get very little\u00a0judgmentalism\u00a0 \u00a0However, with little judgmentalism you get little discernment. \u00a0 They love everybody, but without truth, you now have all kinds of confusion such as a brand new ministry where an actual husband and wife bodybuilder couple started a ministry to reach out to those in the swinger lifestyle. \u00a0By becoming swingers.<\/p>\n
The feelings camp tends to not harp on what people look like. \u00a0They tend to accept people how they are. \u00a0 People pack stadiums to hear Joel Olsteen smile and say how wonderful they are or to rock out at a Jars of Clay Kingdom Bound concert filled with strobe lights and marijuana smoke. \u00a0Amateur\u00a0positive\u00a0preachers get thousands of web hits and hundreds of likes after an hour of their post. \u00a0However, they then think everyone is saved and when everyone is saved there is no reason to evangelize. \u00a0And often they are content to leave people as they are.<\/p>\n
I really think THE or maybe just a big problem in all the churches of America today is the emphasis on Jesus, God the SON, is minimized. \u00a0OK, so the mega-church touchy-feely love-everyone God-loves-us-too-much-to-care-about-our-sin rock-n-roll circus we have created in the last 30 years that puts the emphasis on the Holy Spirit, feelings, and the gifts is unbalanced and partly to blame. \u00a0But is this camp completely responsible for America’s\u00a0idolatrous\u00a0backslid condition?<\/p>\n
I think the truth camp is just as guilty, if not more so. \u00a0They don’t know what the truth is. \u00a0We have the truth, but our attitude repels more people than it attracts. \u00a0I think those of us in the Bible believing, King James preaching, sin hating, fundamental, standard holding, doctrine honoring circles can just as easily have Christ knocking to be let in and not realize it. \u00a0The late\u00a0revivalist\u00a0Leonard Ravenhill said of our generation’s churches, “You reek with pride.” \u00a0He said there is no cost of being a Christian in America. \u00a0None.<\/p>\n
We too have neglected Christ, but just here there is a different emphasis. \u00a0It is just as dangerous here in the “truth camp” because I don’t think we really are lifting up Jesus Christ 100%. \u00a0Some churches may be better than others, but in general we seem to give out the love of God to a lost and dying world, but present the harsh and just God the Father of the Old Testament to the church. \u00a0 I believe that is the opposite of what they did during the Great Awakening. \u00a0 I believe you exalt Christ after you lay the foundation of how they offended a Holy God by their actions using the Law and the “God of the Old Testament”. \u00a0IE, the “law to the proud, grace to the humble”. \u00a0 \u00a0Instead, we have a play or a performance or a special Christmas program that appeals to people’s emotions instead of the conscience and give them the cure before they know they truly have the disease. \u00a0They “pray the prayer” and in their unrepentant state perhaps come to church. \u00a0Then they are introduced to the harsh God the Father and interpret that you please God by your actions. \u00a0And we have successfully made another two fold child of hell. \u00a0And we have been doing that for the past 100 years.<\/p>\n
I think you need to exalt the holiness of God to a lost and dying world that causes people to cry out, “what must I do to be saved<\/em>?” \u00a0After you are saved you want to cry out, what must I do to please God? \u00a0The answer is “This is my beloved Son. \u00a0Hear YE Him! \u00a0It is Christ in you, the Hope of Glory<\/em>!” \u00a0 To mix it up, and give a lost and hardened world the CURE of Jesus before they are convinced of the disease creates a majority of spoiled, hardened, cynical,\u00a0presumptuous\u00a0 prideful externally controllable “pseudo-Christians” who know the “love of God” without actually knowing God. \u00a0Nor do they have genuine love for others.<\/p>\n Hence, we have goats and then we try to use after “God the Father” to raise them up to act like sheep. \u00a0And the lost and dying world looks at all this and we wonder why they aren’t getting converted.<\/p>\n Putting the emphasis on “God the Father” instead of on Jesus seems to be the message of today’s churches that are trying to preach something. \u00a0It might not be the only message, but it comes off louder and more\u00a0authoritative\u00a0than lifting up the Lord Jesus Christ. \u00a0 What I mean by that is there is so much confusion today over the wrath and angry God shown in the Old Testament and what people see as this loving soft and cuddly white Jesus that the Catholic paintings portray. \u00a0 The biblical Jesus had a balance of law and grace, truth and love, truth and spirit, and mercy and judgment.<\/p>\n However, the new circles reject the OT God of holiness and create the “Shack” version of Jesus who cares less about our sin. \u00a0So to counter act that, it seems, we in the “Truth” circles sometimes in our actions and by our preaching present God as he was in the OT. \u00a0 \u00a0The OT law is used to expose our sin and bring our knowledge for salvation. \u00a0It is to get us to look to Jesus. \u00a0After salvation we are to look at the Cross for victory! \u00a0I believe that if we only instead live by OT principals, and think we please God by our services and have a “try-harder sanctification by works” type of Christianity, it will produce either those that\u00a0continually\u00a0struggle and are always on the verge of giving up, or it will produce self-righteous holier-than-thous who think they are better than everyone. \u00a0 I think we are\u00a0plagued\u00a0with raising the majority in the church house either as closet sinners, in-your-face rebels, or look-down-at-everyone else who have fewer standards than you. \u00a0And want to punch anyone with more standards than you.<\/p>\n Yes, God is holy and judges sin. \u00a0However, when we study Jesus, we notice he had compassion on the sinner, patience in dealing with people, and yet a consistency of giving law to the proud and religious and grace and mercy to the humble. \u00a0Contrast how Jesus treated the Pharisees\u00a0and\u00a0Sadducee\u00a0and then how Jesus dealt with the woman at the well, the woman caught in adultery, Nicodemus or the thief on the Cross. \u00a0 Jesus handled everyone perfectly because he was God.<\/p>\n I first find the “truth camp” is inconsistent in the treatment of sinners. \u00a0Sin that makes us uncomfortable or steps on our toes is given the wrath of God and the hammer falls. \u00a0 The lost come in and either have a “go get ’em! I don’t like those kind of people either!” and we feed on their self-righteousness\u00a0or they feel shame and that they are never good enough to be saved. \u00a0The saved have trouble showing grace and mercy and have no idea how to deal with people struggling with the “unpopular sins”. \u00a0 Or if they are guilty of them, they then put on masks and act the part and spend years in church as hypocrites.<\/p>\n There seems to be sins God hates but I don’t think that is how God deals with sin today. \u00a0He doesn’t wink at sin, but I don’t see Jesus railing on the sins of the flesh like the Preachers today. \u00a0 I do see him only “railing” on the sins of the heart, and the sins of the Pharisee. \u00a0We who have struggled with overcoming addictions hate our sin and want to repent. \u00a0What I think is true about addictions is they are symptoms that something is off. \u00a0If I struggled with\u00a0pornography\u00a0before I was saved, I will struggle with it when my marriage is in the toilet and when I keep my struggles in the dark.<\/p>\n However, when things around me are being dealt with biblically, and I am biblically loving my wife, I will not have an interest in pornography. \u00a0To preach hard on the subject seems to rise up our self-righteousness. \u00a0I think then I can beat it on my own and “just say no.” \u00a0 Then we start harping on everyone else’s sins, and comparing ourselves among ourselves. \u00a0“I’m glad I have victory over MY sin. \u00a0Look at poor Billy over there, still stuck on his. \u00a0Praise God, I am the better Christian!” \u00a0If we simply keep looking to Jesus and see how He became sin who knew no sin, we would know and see we have nothing to glory in. \u00a0Not our talents, not our abilities, not our church attendance, not our performance. \u00a0The only thing we can glory in is Christ, and Him crucified.<\/p>\n The New Testament church seems to be about lifting up Jesus and drawing sinners to Him, not railing on the sins that WE hate and the sin that make us mad. \u00a0 More and more young men growing up in the conservative circles are closet homosexuals or addicted to pornography. \u00a0I don’t know why all that is, but part of it is there is often a judgmental atmosphere where those struggling do not think they would be accepted if they “came out” to get help in dealing with issues and getting victory. \u00a0They only see a cold, unforgiving\u00a0church\u00a0and outside they have a world calling them and willing to accept them. \u00a0Or they find a denomination out there that accepts their “lifestyle”. \u00a0Which are getting easier and easier to find.<\/p>\n They can grow up with wrong desires because the forbidden is a lure the devil uses, and if someone is different and feels rejected by everyone around him he may be prone to fall for anyone -or anything- that gives him attention. \u00a0 Is there an environment where they can address confusing feelings and get loving, grace-filled hope? \u00a0From stories I read, the answer is generally NO. \u00a0They feel like they can’t tell anyone and they leave the church and they fall into “the lifestyle” and grow up hating the church. \u00a0Yet, is the church there for them to woo them back? \u00a0Is the church able to offer hope? \u00a0Or is the church convinced that there is no restoration<\/em> when there is an\u00a0abomination<\/em>?\u00a0 \u00a0Usually the church shuns them and really if they ever did come back, the average church wouldn’t know how to help them anyhow.<\/p>\n Further, the church has very little answer for treating “mental illness”. \u00a0 They claim they have the answer from the pulpits. \u00a0Often, it is taught that depression or bipolar or whatever is either a sin, or from lack of faith, or from some judgment. \u00a0Medication is condemned. \u00a0The only problem then is when someone after seeks an answer. \u00a0“OK, Pastor, I struggle with being Bipolar and I don’t want to take my medication any more. \u00a0What is the answer?” \u00a0“Um, you don’t want to quit your medication without your doctor’s approval. \u00a0Maybe talk to him.”<\/p>\n I don’t have an exact answer right now either, but the appeal of the pharmacy industry is that it offers a quick-fix hands-off symptom-minimizing substitute than the awkward, gut-wrenching, lengthy maintenance\u00a0of dealing with the\u00a0enormous\u00a0emotional\u00a0issues that someone with major life struggles have. \u00a0 You see a doctor, he prescribes\u00a0substitutes\u00a0for the promises of God, and get refills and see him again in 6 months. \u00a0Sooner if you are a more serious case.<\/p>\n We have Xanax instead of the peace of God, Prozac instead of the joy of the Lord, Suboxone for drug addiction instead of Jesus who came to set the captives free, and Lithium for mood and mind stabilization\u00a0instead of “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace who’s mind is stayed on thee”.<\/p>\n Yes God hates sin. \u00a0 That is why he poured out his wrath on Jesus Christ. \u00a0While God hates the sins of sodomy, and God hates pornography, and God hates the sin of child molesters, and God hates the sin of church dividers, and God hates those that rebel against authority, \u00a0God also hates the sins of pride, self-righteousness, idolatry, gluttony, lying,\u00a0covetousness,\u00a0and love of money. \u00a0 But God does not have the sinner’s in his cross hairs. \u00a0The cross hairs were aimed at the CROSS!<\/p>\n The way it is often portrayed\u00a0is that God could never love someone who\u00a0committed\u00a0those unpardonable sins in man’s eyes. \u00a0We might not say that, but often in our actions, we shake our heads when people fall, we remove certain lay people from\u00a0ministries\u00a0at the hint of some moral failure yet defend others no matter what they have done. \u00a0For example, a big name Pastor who’s father was one of the biggest names in the Independent Fundamental Baptist Church, was a proven and chronic adulterer. \u00a0Things were washed under the rug and he was moved to another church and repeated the process. \u00a0Another story is a young girl got impregnated by a church leader and she was blamed and moved away out of state. \u00a0Yet when a person who tries to take a stand against injustices or tries to say this behavior is wrong, \u00a0he is attacked and labeled a church divider. \u00a0Sins against the church are treated harsher than sins against the Lord. \u00a0Or against anyone else. \u00a0That is another reason why so many are completely disillusioned about the movement. \u00a0It is not just\u00a0Independent\u00a0fundamental Baptists, as my first youth pastor at the Wesleyan megachurch I attended\u00a0committed\u00a0some sort of immoral act with one of the girls in the college group.<\/p>\n I am not calling out the falling leaders as much as I am saying there needs to be an atmosphere of healing, of where you can be honest and open without being labeled for life, and where you are given hope not hate. \u00a0 \u00a0There across the board is a general better treating for the predator –someone in authority that takes advantage of a vulnerable young man or lady — than the victim. \u00a0And for someone not in authority, they are often treated like how the\u00a0pharisees\u00a0treated the woman caught in adultery. \u00a0In my Wesleyan example, the head pastor instead of apologizing for the youth leader’s behavior instead rebuked the entire college group who attended and said we should have reported anything unusual. \u00a0 We had no clue anything was going on, and yet we were blamed for not preventing it.<\/p>\n And more disheartening, this often translates to the belief that God can never use someone who fell. \u00a0 Ministry today is more character based and more a reward for those that have put everything else on the back burner for the cause of the church. \u00a0God used Paul, God used David, God used Moses, but in our version of a more powerless Christianity, we claim to believe God can change anyone, but the reality is we are full of unbelief and tough love. \u00a0However, I think we are creating a self-fulfilled\u00a0prophecy. \u00a0 The truth is someone with struggles who genuinely wants to serve God generally will thrive in an atmosphere of acceptance and opportunity. \u00a0It is more\u00a0fulfilling\u00a0to serve God than to give into sin. \u00a0 When one feels God has rejected them, they are cut off from the only source of victory and they either serve God to “feel right” or they give up all together and feel God abandoned them. \u00a0 No matter what someone did, if they\u00a0genuinely\u00a0have a love for God and show they really did indeed meet God, who are we to hold them back? \u00a0Jesus came not to call the righteous. \u00a0Yet that is who “we” call. \u00a0Those that fit the mold, and those that say, do, and wear everything right. \u00a0I’m not saying if you work at BurgerKing, I should still be allowed to be a manager though I refuse to take off my McDonald’s uniform. \u00a0What I am saying, is it seems our circles are better at training people to be Baptists than they are letting the spirit of God mold and shape a man. \u00a0And the true molding and shaping might produce some ugly, embarrassing moments. \u00a0Those who are Christ like, put an arm around that person and see their potential if \u00a0Christ can get their hearts and if Christ can get them back on track. Those that are “religious” think, “see that is exactly why we never gave you a Sunday School class!”<\/p>\n I am a pharmacist, and work 6 days straight. \u00a0A Christian brother I knew called me to help out here and there. \u00a0Business is slow-growing, but since I have a young family, it is a good idea to have a back-up in case of emergencies. \u00a0I had a semi-urgent need for him last week, and called him that morning to come in. \u00a0He sounded off in the morning, but I brushed it off. He came to relieve me and seemed off, but I was focused on getting out the door. \u00a0Fifteen minutes later, I get a call from the owner that I need to get back to the pharmacy. \u00a0My relief Christian friend came to work DRUNK!!! \u00a0I was\u00a0aggravated\u00a0but prayed and knew I had to show compassion. \u00a0The following week I gave him another chance as my wife and I wanted off for a wedding. \u00a0 A couple days before the wedding he called to cancel because he was in the hospital with kidney stones and stomach problems which were likely related to the alcohol!! \u00a0Yet, I still want to give him a chance and know God can change him. \u00a0 It was an eye opener because I saw that\u00a0tendency\u00a0in me to think I was better because I never sinned like that. \u00a0No, and I probably did worse.<\/p>\n Church is confusing, because on the other hand, sinners who practice the “treatable sins” that are controllable and fixable without a lot of effort are given a lot of mercy on. \u00a0Across the board, you will be treated better at the average Baptist church for certain sins practiced “after salvation” (when yet they don’t have a biblical claim to salvation. \u00a0“such were some of you”) than if you committed certain sins before salvation. \u00a0 For example, in the Baptist circles sitting in service holding your pregnant girlfriend’s hand raises less eyebrows today than if you were a practicing witch, lesbian, or Democrat 20 years ago. \u00a0Sins of fornication, being unfriendly, being a drunkard or drug addict, gluttony, and other sins are in general acceptable. \u00a0 Also, when you get saved, you are allowed certain sins and others are forbidden. \u00a0For example, you can watch DVD’s of Hollywood. \u00a0You cannot go to a movie theater. \u00a0You can be a Coke addict. \u00a0Or a Pepsi junkie. \u00a0 You are only allowed to drink beer the first 48 hours you are saved. \u00a0You can smoke cigarettes for the first 5 years after you are saved. \u00a0I am not quoting actual rules, obviously, but in general there are certain “rules” that each church emphasizes, and sins that are acceptable and sins that are forbidden, and we tend to get our holiness from our church statement of faith and\u00a0mimicking\u00a0the spirituality of others instead of the Word of God and the Bible. \u00a0I had heard that the Southern Baptists were so shocked by the way the Baptists of England had beer at their bible studies, that they choked on their\u00a0cigarettes. \u00a0And the Northern Baptists snorted out their coffee.<\/p>\n We need to instead just fall back in love with the Lord Jesus Christ and let that push us to look to Him for what is right and what is wrong. \u00a0What is wrong for me might not be wrong for you. \u00a0And vice-versa. \u00a0Instead of advice on our vices.<\/p>\n In general we are too external focused. \u00a0We need to be Christ focused, Christ centered instead of church centered, and ETERNAL focused instead of EXTERNAL focused. \u00a01,000 violins all tuned to the master violin will automatically be in tune with each other. \u00a0And will produce a beautiful angelic orchestra. \u00a0We need to raise up a generation that is fine tuned to Christ, not made to be a man molded cookie cutter who feels like a failure if he doesn’t fit the mold. \u00a0Tuned to Christ, letting God use one’s individual God given talents and God given abilities to bring forth a symphony that will touch the world.<\/p>\n And when you aren’t looking down at the world, and especially those in the church, you can impact both for eternity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Jesus is the bridge to balance. \u00a0This is a thought I believe the Lord gave me yesterday. I believe that that majority of the churches today that actually preach and believe in salvation can be put into two categories. \u00a0First … Continue reading