Has the Church been sold back to slavery?
by Russ Welch
We live in a day when slavery has surpassed any other generation along with that we are faced with imprisoning vices on all sides. Has the Church grown powerless or has it in a large part sold out to the customs of this world?
We must, as radical Christians realize that “Though worldly cultures and customs are apt to change with each generation the culture and customs of the Kingdom of God are eternal!
There appears to be a war within the very House of God, the lines have been drawn and the gulf is getting larger and larger. The liberal Christians [Those accustomed to feeding the flesh] have drawn a line called legalism and regretfully many good intentioned Christians have taking a stance that any social justice is outside of their calling.
For a number of generations the Church has remained silent on subjects that it should have released the roar of Heaven over. Today we see human trafficking happening right here in the USA and the Church to a large part remains silent
Why? Has the Church become ruled by a King other than our Christ? Has in it in its attempts to avoid taxes sold out its sovereignty to the Government of this land? And in doing so has it sold its authority and power to that of the rule of mere men?
Immorality indorsed by national leaders!
When we see young ladies seated before the government of this world proclaiming a life of sexual immorality many are more outraged that people would question her life style rather than the fact that she is living a immoral life and expects others to pay for it.
We have the leader of this nation saying she should be proud. The very same leader who stated if his daughters had a “mistake”, he would not expect them to live with that mistake, rather that they should have an abortion! Since when is a creation of God labeled a “mistake?
This nation voted in the last presidential election with their first gripped about their wallets, while seated upon their morals and hide the Bible and any sense of Christian values in the closet. Saul this nation wanted, and Saul the Lord has giving this nation. And many Church leaders in this nation not only endorsed this mane, they proclaimed him as the hope of this nations future!!!
What has happened to America and especially the American Church (Maybe that is the problem ,it is the American Church and not Christ’s Church).
Idols of the American Church setting the stage for immorality.
Today sexual immorality has become a large scale erosion of the character of men and women within the Church it self along with greed and selfish ambition.
We have high profile pastors such as Paula White and Eddie Long who can divorce their husbands and wives and still be promoted as good, ethical, moral, holy and righteous Church leaders by the Main Stream Christian circles. We have pastors committing horrendous sexual acts and paying off their accusers and the stories swept under the carper. We have high profile pastors being brought up on corruption and tax evasion charges, yet told this is part of the persecution of the saints!
What this is a corrupted generation of leadership at its best and they are trying to hide under the guise of holiness and proclamations of self induced persecution because they have not only broken the laws of the land, they have broken the very laws of a Holy God!!
We can see that 1Timothy 6 states a clear picture of our day;
A godly life brings huge profits to people who are content with what they have. We didn’t bring anything into the world, and we can’t take anything out of it. As long as we have food and clothes, we should be satisfied.
But people who want to get rich keep falling into temptation. They are trapped by many stupid and harmful desires which drown them in destruction and ruin. Certainly, the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people who have set their hearts on getting rich have wandered away from the Christian faith and have caused themselves a lot of grief. (1 Tim 6:6-10)
Now Paul instructs Timothy how to battle such a plaque in verses 11-21;
But you, man of God, must avoid these things. Pursue what God approves of: a godly life, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight for the Christian faith. Take hold of everlasting life to which you were called and about which you made a good testimony in front of many witnesses.
In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and in the sight of Christ Jesus, who gave a good testimony in front of Pontius Pilate, I insist that, until our Lord Jesus Christ appears, you obey this command completely. Then you cannot be blamed for doing anything wrong. At the right time God will make this known. God is the blessed and only ruler. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. He is the only one who cannot die. He lives in light that no one can come near. No one has seen him, nor can they see him. Honor and power belong to him forever! Amen.
Tell those who have the riches of this world not to be arrogant and not to place their confidence in anything as uncertain as riches. Instead, they should place their confidence in God who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. Tell them to do good, to do a lot of good things, to be generous, and to share. By doing this they store up a treasure for themselves which is a good foundation for the future. In this way they take hold of what life really is.
Timothy, guard the Good News which has been entrusted to you. Turn away from pointless discussions and the claims of false knowledge that people use to oppose the Christian faith. Although some claim to have knowledge, they have abandoned the faith. (1 Tim 6:11-21 GWT)
If we opened up the Bible to Romans Chapter 1, we would see that we are living in the very days described therein.
Has the Church taking a step backwards?
Sadly many in the Church today have taking on the Garden Mentality” in that they believe they question every aspect of God’s Word if it intrudes in their own life style and agenda not realizing that they are surrendering the very liberty that the Word brings to their lives.
Those of the grace, grace, grace movement who cry out “legalism” the loudest have birthed a generation of rebellious, anti –obedience people who have set them selves in the very seats of those whose name they label all who would disagree with them “Pharisees”. They claim to live a life filled with grace, yet they attitude towards those who are not holding to their doctrines is nothing short of that which John the Baptist called the Pharisees of his day “Brood of vipers” for they would eat their own if they disagreed with.
We must take a radical stand in our day and open the prison doors!!!
Unless the Church radically falls upon it’s face and repents and returns the sovereign rule of the House of God back to Jesus and out of the hands of men, this generation will not see the Glory of the Lord falling upon the earth.
We must wake up for the harvest fields are white before us, we must be willing to go on radical fasts, spend radical amounts of time engulfed in the Word of God & in prayer. We must radically raise our voices in the face of such rebellious acts against the Lord and His Word.
We must be a people who are radical in grace and mercy, who radically change our life styles of comfort in to that of servants. We must go into the highways and byways. We must not cower before the calls of social justice rather we must radically grab hold of these causes and impart the compassion, grace and mercy of our God into these situations.
We must radically change how we tithe and give of gifts. We must radically change our self-willed lives into that of Spirit lived lives.
Yet in all these things we must realize that we, in and of ourselves can not do it.
No, my friends, we must take that radical step towards the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Radically surrendering our wills and picking up our own crosses that have been dipped in His blood, baptized in His death and walk the life of obedient disciples, laying our lives down daily for the sake of the Kingdom of God, for the sake of the Gospel Message, for the sake of a lost and dying world, for the sake of seeing our lives break forth in such a way that His Glory is released throughout the world via broken and surrendered vessels such as we are called to be!!!
Let us step out of the prison of self indulgence today and into that of Radical Disciples of Jesus Christ for indeed we do serve an Awesome and Mighty God!!!!
AMEN!