T.G.I.M.

"you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."  ( 1 Peter 2:5 )

It's on my heart to share a story this morning: Yesterday the Farmer and I had the joy of attending a local church, Calvary Memorial where we heard the testimony of a surgeon who had been on the mission field with his wife and children for 37 years in a country that I won't name, even though he did. I'll just say it's known for being hostile to Americans and Christians. 

The doctor was soft spoken, not flamboyant in any way. In fact what he said didn't even center on his life. He had us open our Bibles to 1 Peter. He read the text and taught us about all we are in Christ alone as children of God, how Jesus is the cornerstone and we are the stones surrounding him. Rather than talk about himself, he taught us about Jesus. 

During his sermon, he shared only two stories about his medical mission work. One had to have been one of the most exceedingly painful in his life as it was about a child who died after an operation he had performed. He told how the family displayed mercy to him so that we may understand the mercy God has had on us in our sin in sending Jesus. 

The second story punched me in the gut as well. He told of a nineteen year old woman who was in labor. I couldn't catch all of the details of her condition because I was in the back and his voice was low. But it was a critical situation with her blood pressure bottoming out; he had to make the decision to remove her uterus to save her and her child without her husband's knowledge. She also needed blood, and there was not a suitable donor. He said that God blessed him as a universal donor, so he gave his blood to save her. 

Afterward, he knew he would have to tell the husband that he had a daughter but would never be able to produce a son. That wasn't a good thing in that culture. He told the husband that his wife had to have a serious operation, her blood pressure plummeted, and she died. He told the husband that he was able to bring her back to life by giving her his own blood.  

He said that the husband just stared at him and said, "You gave your blood to save my wife?" The doctor explained that in this country, people usually didn't do things like that except for family. The doctor replied to the husband, "I gave some of my blood to save her life, but there is One who gave all of his blood to save all of our lives." The husband came to faith in Christ. 

The point the doctor was making to us was that we can use everything in our lives to share the gospel with others, pointing the lost to Jesus. I thought to myself how Christ-like this man really is - he could have easily made himself the hero of this story. How many would have done that? 

Afterward the Farmer was able to talk at some length with the doctor, and he was just as humble, kind, and helpful off the platform. 

On the way home I told the Farmer that the doctor was a true example of the life of a Christian to me. He could have had a prestigious career here in America as a surgeon with plenty of wealth and safety for his family. But instead he counted the cost of following Christ, and it lead him to a foreign mission field in a country where the healthcare is substandard and very few people know the name of Jesus.

His sermon and his life were Christ-centered. I'm better today for having heard it. Am I like that? I want to be. 

In our church culture here in America with all of the celebrity pastors and word of faith / prosperity gospel preachers with their me-centered theology always about how we can live a successful life, be healthy, be wealthy, get the job, get the breakthrough, get the house, get the favor, pay them the money so they can show you how to do it, how to operate in the supernatural, experience God, get him to work for you.

It's gets so old, doesn't it? 

I'm finishing up the word of faith history blog, so I've probably been watching way too many prosperity "sermons" on Youtube. I'm not down on my country. I love America and Americans; that's why I want people to know the truth. Yesterday was an eye-opener and confirmation at the same time that I'm on the right track. 

Friends, we already have everything we need in our Savior. And we don't have to necessarily go to a foreign mission field in following Christ. That's not what this is about. We follow Jesus everyday in the sacrifices we make to care for our families and serve those around us, becoming involved in their messes and pain with the love and grace of Jesus that we've been shown. In trusting our Father for every need. This is what pleases our Father. Not being a superhero, but serving right where we are with the gifts and talents and resources God has entrusted to us. 

Happy Monday! 

Carry on! 

💜

"The Greatest Show on Earth" Part 4

The Word of Faith Movement 

"The most important aspect of any theology is its view of God." Robert Bowman

"until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will." ( Daniel 4:32 ) 

I'm still working on the history of the word-faith movement, and I'm sorry it's taking so long. I just want to be accurate and thorough. Today while I'm still researching the "roots," we'll take a look at a few of the "shoots." ( and fruits ) 

First let's read from the Book of Daniel because you'll see in one passage three doctrines distinctive of the word-faith movement shot down, as well as diseased fruit. There definitely could be more; you study the text and see what you learn. ( This was actually one of the Scriptures this morning in my one year Bible Reading Plan. ) 

King Nebuchadnezzar is walking on the roof of his royal palace in Babylon the text tells us: 

"Is not this the great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty? While the words were still in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, 'O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you, and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he wills'" ( Daniel 4:30-32 ) 

So the words of the prophesy came to pass - as all of them did in the Old Testament without fail. ( See Deuteronomy 13 and 18 for reference. ) We see King Neb living during this appointed time of the Lord's judgment out in a field with his hair plastered down to his head unwashed, long as eagles' feathers and his nails were like birds' claws the text tells us. He ate grass like an ox. 

Can you imagine? 

"At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever." ( Daniel 4:34 ) 

Okay here we go:

1.) Word of Faith doctrine says that God is not sovereign. It maintains that man, in fact, is in control and God can't do anything unless we give him permission with our faith. This text speaks for itself of our Mighty, Sovereign God from God himself. The Psalmist tells us in 115:3: "Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases." Job actually did speak with God and his summary was: "no purpose of yours can be stopped" ( Job 42:2-5 ) God's sovereignty is "declared" throughout the entire biblical narrative. To deny it is to deny the Bible itself. Not to mention putting yourself in a very scary place. 

God's sovereignty and man's responsibility are not at odds with each other, but we can make no mistake. God is sovereign over everything he has made. ( Proverbs 19:21 ) 

2.) Word of Faith doctrine says that God has faith. By definition faith is hoping for the things we can't see or know for sure yet. Word-faith doctrine contradicts the essential biblical doctrine that God is all-knowing. 

God does not have or need faith. This alone collapses the word-faith argument; however, they keep hobbling along on broken legs. 

3.) Word of Faith doctrine says that we operate in faith alone without reason. King Neb said, "my reason returned to me." God says in Isaiah 1:18, "Come let us reason together." God gave us a brain. He said that we are to love him with all of our mind. ( Matthew 22:37, Jesus quoting from the Old Testament. ) 

How did Kenyon come up with the word-faith doctrines? That's right, he used his reason. He reasoned wrong, but he still used his reason. The biblical narrative teaches us that faith works together with wisdom. ( Proverbs 1:7 ) The word-faith doctrine stresses to throw out reason because they hold to the trichotomy tradition which we will also investigate in later blogs.  

4.) Word of Faith preachers display the diseased fruit of pride and elitism much like King Nebuchadnezzar in this passage and they also teach others to pursue faith as a means to their own ends. In teaching their followers how to make God work for them in the areas of health and wealth, success and favor, they encourage self-centeredness. I know this also first-hand from being a part of the movement. 

I've seen the arrogance, as you may have seen as well, when preachers like Kenneth Copeland, Jesse Duplantis, and Andrew Womack, among the others, claim to have developed their faith to such a high level as to never see sickness or a financial need, living in the miraculous at all times. One has to wonder if the fact that they have not encountered a King Nebuchadnezzar moment is really in their best interest or their "best life now." 

"Thus says the LORD; 'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All of these things my hand has made, and so all of these things came to be, declares the LORD. 

But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.'" ( Isaiah 66:1-2 ) 

"Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. ( Matthew 7:15-16, Jesus' Sermon on the Mount ) 

"A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit." ( verse 18 ) 

The greatest displays of faith are the ones that are not put on display for everyone to see. They are you, dear ones, with your Bible opened on your bed and you on bended knees. 

I hope this was helpful! 

Happy Thursday! 

Stay biblical, my friends. 

I love my neighbor's weeping willow by the creek. 

The Greatest Show on Earth Part 3

The Word of Faith Movement 

"Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good." ( 2 Peter 4:19 ) 

I'm blogging a series right now on the The Word of Faith Movement / Prosperity Gospel, and this weekend, Lord willing, I hope to publish a concise blog on the history of the movement - the roots and how they came to be formulated by E.W. Kenyon. 

This morning though I wanted to address a couple of consequences from this movement for us to think about this week. 

One of the core doctrines of the Word of Faith movement, and I'll list them all this weekend, there's five Kenyon formulated, is that the atonement of Jesus Christ secured for us health and wealth is this life, not just the next, and we can have this perfect health and wealth by our positive confession with the God kind of faith.

Now here's the harmful effects of teaching this to people: 

1.) It's found no where in the Bible, so they're being taught a false narrative instead of God's Word and if followed, can never end well. In fact Jesus said that in this life we will have trouble, but to be of good cheer because he has overcome the world. We're going to have trouble, but he's giving us a way through it. His purpose was not to eliminate trouble, but to perfect his sheep through it. ( John 16:32-33 ) 

2.) It breeds an attitude of superiority. Have you ever heard a WOF preacher brag while preaching that they never get sick and have lots of money and a jet or are a multi-millionaire? "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." ( James 4:6 ) "Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." ( 1 Peter 5:5 ) 

3.) It looks down on people when they get sick, telling them that the sickness is their fault, not God's. Of course no one is going to argue that anything is God's fault, so by saying this, they are already condemning people and placing them in an impossible situation. But if people just knew their Bibles they would understand the complexity of sickness and suffering that God has allowed in his creation and at the same times does not indict God in any way. ( 2 Peter 4: 19 ) 

4.) It bears false witness. Word of Faith preachers always set up a straw man saying that others who don't hold to their theology, walk around saying that they are sick all the time instead of praying and believing they are healed. 

"Sir, no Christian is doing this. I have never seen a Christian outside of your WOF doctrine that when they were diagnosed with a sickness didn't pray for themselves and tell others to pray as well, call to get on a prayer chain, and call their pastor and elders to come anoint them with oil, lay hands on them, and pray for them as well as "entrust their lives to their faithful Creator." ( Again, it's that air of superiority. ) 

5.) To me this is the most reprehensible: It views God and our relationship with him as mechanical and cold. God just exists to "work" for us, to give us "results." 

6.) Since WOF doctrine teaches that it is not God's will for people to suffer and it is always God's will to heal and make one wealthy in this life, people are not prepared for suffering. When people go through suffering in these churches, they usually do one of these things because they have not been properly taught what God's Word says about suffering:

A.) Sink into depression because the faith formula didn't "work" for them as the pastors said that it should. Even though they may experience a spiritual meltdown, they remain in the church, believing that they were the ones who brought this on themselves as they've been told by leaders. They continue to believe the false narrative, becoming victims of spiritual abuse. 

B.) They get the heck out of Dodge and find the Truth and a gospel-centered church. 

C.) They leave the church, but do not find the Truth because they don't want anything to do with that kind of a God. They walk away from the faith. They deconstruct. The internet is full of their stories. Can we blame them? 

My hope is to unpack the main doctrines of the word-faith movement throughout this series, but this morning, I just believe we all need to be reminded of the truth. 

And yes, sometimes we do cause our suffering. When I was abusing alcohol I brought a whole host of suffering into my life, but that doesn't mean that God can't redeem it. He can and does through Jesus! That's the purpose of the cross! 

Repent and believe that Jesus forgives you because he does. Entrust yourself to your faithful Creator today! He loves you so much that he sent his Son to pay for your sins and to bring you to him. 

There is a cost to following Jesus - there always has been.  

And we can trust him with it. 

Jesus was and is and always will be "the greatest show on earth." 

Stay biblical, my friends! 

Carry on! 

Happy Monday! 

Healing Brook Farm is a firm supporter in doctors and medicine! And also super thankful for the healing ministry that God built into the body's immune system. Huge bark out to Bedford Animal Hospital 

The Greatest Show on Earth Part 2

"The Word of Faith Movement" 

"It's difficult to find the words to describe that moment when you realize that the prosperity gospel offers you everything that satan offered Jesus." Anonymous 

My original intent was to introduce the Word of Faith movement, which I'll use interchangeably with the term "word-faith," by starting with it's conception at the turn of the 20th Century, to lay out the doctrines and conduct a complete evaluation of each one, like a dutiful nerd using the technique I learned from theologian and apologist Robert Bowman. When evaluating a theology to see if it's biblical, he instructs his students to exam three aspects of the doctrine: it's roots, shoots, and fruits. 

Then I realized that I might be disingenuous if I didn't work this thing backward.

Fruits, shoots, and roots, if that makes sense. 

Today we'll look at the fruit. 

So in the hopes of brevity, it all began when I was introduced to the Word of Fatih movement as a 21 year old living on a military base in El Paso, Texas. With a new baby came the stark realization that life on this planet was no longer just about me. This urgency prompted the Farmer and I to visit the local mega-church we kept seeing advertised on TV. 

We were both new to the concept of the big box church experience. As an army wife of an enlisted man, I breast-fed my newborn son and used cloth diapers because I couldn't afford formula and Pampers. I'm not saying this to garner sympathy, but to show that coupled with my poor theology and biblical illiteracy, my financial situation made me a prime target for this movement. Sadly, my new found, coming of age wisdom, didn't extend to my doctrine. 

The distinctive theology of the Word of Faith movement is seriously flawed, but I couldn't see it. Neither could the Farmer at first, but I have to say that he was always more discerning than me. 

The worse part of it was that after we left the military and flew back to Virginia, we took the theology with us, sharing it with our friends and family, encouraging them to follow it too. Some did, some didn't. It's been one of the biggest regrets of my life. Ideas have consequences. 

In 2004 when my younger sister was diagnosed with cancer, I persuaded her it was the right course of action to embrace these word-faith doctrines. Would it have changed the outcome? No. 

After Kathy died, as if her death wasn't difficult enough, I came within inches of wearing an orange jumpsuit. Word of Faith "friends" told my parents that the devil got Kathy. Can you even? Word of Faith people said that you didn't have enough faith. Word of Faith people asked what sin my family was engaging in to deserve this? 

I want to be crystal clear that this did not come from my church family nor my parent's church family. They were both so good to all of us and have continued to love us. 

What kind of people do this? Who tells grieving parents who have just lost their 37 year old daughter, and will now experience the heart wrenching pain of watching their three young grandchildren grow up without their mother, that this traumatic loss is their fault? Who does that? Not a Christian, I can tell you that. 

Although there are many other verses that parallel this passage, here is our foundational text today and throughout this series: Matthew 7:15-20 Jesus speaking from his sermon on the mount: 

15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

A diseased tree can't bear good fruit. 

And the Word of Faith fruits are rotten. Why? Why do they have rotten fruit? Not because they spew this hateful language, that's the fruit. But because the 'shoots' ( theology ) are rotten which also proves the roots are rotten, but I'll dive into that one next blog. 

Word of Faith theology is a diseased tree, and diseased trees can't bear good fruit as Jesus told us. It's impossible. 

 Three important points to note before I go any further : 

1.) Word of Faith beliefs are so prevalent in American Christianity that we hardly recognize them as they have been snuck into the church unnoticed. Not everyone talks this awful; it is usually more implied in a round about sort of way. And remember, all false teachings carry a measure of the truth inside of them. That's how they get welcomed through the church doors. ( Jude ) 

2.) Some of us may have a couple of these Word of Faith beliefs in our theology, but yet do not adhere to the movement full sale. We must have grace and remember that God is working in all believers to rid us of impurities through the sanctification process. Again, the purpose of this series is to educate and bring the works of darkness to light against the truth of the Scriptures, and in doing so, exalting and offering the true gospel of Jesus Christ and the beauty and power it contains to genuinely change a life. 

3.) As a believer, we can fall prey to the Word of Faith trap just like I did. There are plenty of lost sheep grazing in this movement, it's not just full of goats and wolves. 

I'm going to work through many of these systematically over the next few blogs putting some flesh on the bones, but here is a "doctrinal dump" of the main Word of Faith teachings starting with their original founder E.W. Kenyon in the early 20th century and proceeding through the leaders up to now. You'll note how the beliefs begin and then become muddled before spiraling out of control:

"Human nature is spirit, soul, and body, but most fundamentally spirit. God does everything by faith, and we are intended to exercise the exact same kind of faith. In the fall human beings took on Satan's nature, and he took our dominion from us. Jesus took on Satan's nature, died and went to hell and got born again. We can have wealth and health in this life by our positive confession. God has a physical body like Jesus. We don't need reason, just faith. God is not moved by our needs; he's moved by our faith. We are little gods. We are just like Jesus. We can do everything Jesus did. God said I am, so I am too. Jesus laid aside his divinity when he came to earth as man. Our words have the same power as God's words, not just to harm or heal people emotionally as Proverbs teaches us, but Ex Nihilo, meaning our words carry the same power as God's to create something out of nothing, like he did when he created the universe out of nothing. So we can speak and change situations and circumstances by our words. We pray to get results. God is not sovereign; man is in control. God needs our permission before he can act on our behalf. We give him permission when we exhibit enough faith for him to act on our behalf. We can have what we say. Our thoughts and our words are where the real power exists. It is possible for believers to be demonized. It is always God's will to heal physically and mentally in this life. If you don't get healed it's your fault, not God's. It is God's will for you to be wealthy. Jesus became poor so you could be rich and successful in the things of this world, not just in heaven. God wants to fulfill all of your dreams. God has chosen a new set of Apostles and Prophets for the church in these last days. We receive visions and visits from Jesus and new revelations that God wants us to share with others. Some of us even get to take trips to heaven. If you buy our book, you can be prepared for the future and learn about these new revelations. God is raising up new Apostles and Prophets to lay another foundation on top of the one already laid by the New Testament Apostles and Prophets and to exercise authority over the current pastors and elders in the church today. If you don't listen to us you could be cursed because we hear directly from God and speak for him. Touch not God's anointed. If you oppose us you are a heresy hunter. We will aid in the great transfer of wealth as we usher in the return of Jesus; you'll see." 

I know, seriously. Did you notice the development? If you're appalled by this, remember we will be debunking through it all over the blog series. We need to do our homework and find out what the people and ministries believe we are following. And that's not always easy because they hide stuff, as Scripture tells us they will. ( Again, Jude and 2 Peter ) 

Some people in the word-faith movement, not all, but some don't hold to the doctrine of the Trinity or at best have a weird view and misunderstanding of it. I wanted to mention this because I hear people wondering from time to time after hearing discombobulated explanations of biblical truths from these word-faith pastors. 

The Word of Faith movement is a bit complex in that it really did start out with some structure to it, some core beliefs that I will detail next blog along with the story of their founder, a Baptist pastor named E.W. Kenyon. But the movement, as you can see from the above list, has morphed over the years from it's conception as a cluster of small cells into a Frankenstein monster that I don't think the original creator could have foreseen. 

Like a big, hungry blob it has sucked up all kinds of worldliness into its original ideology as it has slugged along, and its cuisine has included the American prosperity gospel, as well as televangelism that exploits the poor, vulnerable, and marginalized, schools of ministry teaching how one can tap into the supernatural, complete with grave soaking, fire tunnels, gold dust, and angel feathers ( I know, sounds like Hogwarts. ), new age Apostles and Prophets, and a string of continuous scandals involving indecencies with children, sexual misconduct, negligence, cover-ups, financial improprieties, lavish lifestyles, spiritual, physical, and verbal abuse.

When the shoots of an organization are bad, it not only produces bad fruits, but it continues to produce more shoots that can only bear even more diseased fruits of unrighteousness. As Jesus taught, a diseased tree can't bear good fruit. 

It reminds me of this invasive, annoying shrub I have by my porch that continues to have myriads of shoots propagating and popping up all around it disturbing my other plants. no matter how many shoots I manage to yank out, more and more shoots keep popping up and taking their place. It's impossible to control and contain them all. This is the nature of sin. It keeps propagating. 

Believing that you are a little god and that you are just like Jesus, desiring and insisting you can operate in the same power that Yahweh does, and control him like a puppet on a string by exerting the right amount of faith is not only a gross misunderstanding and twisting of Scripture, but the kind of thought that breeds an air of superiority and pride. 

The same sin that made satan fall from heaven. Think about that. 

Ideas have consequences. 

And you can't always hide the rotten fruit no matter how hard you try. I think of a video I saw just this week of Kenneth Copeland and his wife Gloria walking through a group of disabled people in wheelchairs at an event and as they prayed for people, and by the way no one was healed, they came to a young girl who looked like she had cerebral palsy and Gloria said, "Be normal." 

Do you see what I mean? It's that air of superiority that rears its ugly head. "Normal? You mean normal like you?" Imagine how the parents must have felt. These are real people with real lives. But this kind of behavior is just part and parcel of the Word of Faith world, and they can't hide their rotten fruit. 

After my sister's death, I abused alcohol to numb the pain and mask my anger from all of the questions I had about this word-faith doctrine. I don't blame anyone. I own it. I was also at the same time, because of my questions, driven into the Scriptures, studying with a tenacity and longing for the truth I had never experienced before. I began to realize how little Bible I actually knew and how much I had relied on word-faith pastors to point me in the right direction which I discovered was the wrong direction. 

After years of grappling and refusing to let go or give up, struggling with unforgiveness and bitterness toward the word-faith people who hurt my family, I finally found true healing. Like Job, I didn't find the answers to the suffering, but I found something infinitely better. I found God. 

"What the enemy meant for evil, God was using for good." 

Do you know how I found healing? 

Not by applying the Word of Faith formula or speaking healing into existence or manufacturing enough faith to get God to "work" for me. Or focusing on good thoughts, confessing them over myself and exhausting myself in a constant state of works-righteousness. 

No, God opened my heart to the true gospel of Jesus Christ. 

It was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard. 

When I understood that I was born a sinner and how much grace and mercy God had poured out on me in the giving of his Son to suffer the worst suffering the world has ever known, the Holy Spirit changed my heart. By his power, I could not only forgive the people who hurt my family, but I had a new desire to pray for them and the power to do so. Only God can produce that kind of fruit in a life. 

That's the power of the gospel. 

In closing: 

Jesus gives instructions to his disciples starting in Luke 24:46, after his resurrection and once he had "opened their minds to understand the Scriptures:"

"Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem." 

This is known as "The Great Commission." What should followers of Jesus be doing? Proclaiming repentance for the forgiveness of sins in his name to all nations. 

I will show over the next few blogs that the Word of Faith movement has not "moved" in this direction, but has in fact distracted and "moved" the church away from the gospel center as it absorbs more unbiblical thought in the process, moving the church away from the center that the Lord Jesus Christ himself, not only established, but gave his life to fulfill. 

I think it's time to "declare" war on the false narratives poisoning the Church today in America, so we can send the true message of hope to the nations. We've spread this bull butter long enough. Shame on us.  

I need to stop here, and we'll pick back up next time. 

Thanks for coming along on the journey, my friend! 

Until next blog, contend for the faith! 

Carry on! 

💜

New Baby Moo 

The Greatest Show on Earth Part 1

"The prosperity gospel is Christianity's version of professional wrestling: You know it is fake, but it nonetheless has entertainment value." ( John MacArthur's Strange Fire ) 

Back in the day, before all the glitz and glamor, my grandfather was a wrestler. Although I was never a wrestling fan, I listened with curiosity to his theatrical stories that detailed all of the tricks of the trade performed during the matches. 

Even when he retired and became a referee, he was still a major player in all of the drama, deception, and showmanship that took place inside of the ring. Dad remembers sitting in the old American Legion Auditorium watching the action as a small boy. I don't think Granddaddy could live without being involved somehow. He said that after the matches everyone went out eating and drinking together, winners and losers. "We were all friends," he would laugh as he recounted his crazy life.  

The Prosperity Gospel/Faith Healers/New Apostolic Reformation/Seed-Faith/Word of Faith movements have so many tricks, scams, and bad theology up their sleeves it would be impossible to explain and counter them all in one single blog post. 

I can't perform that trick, so I've decided to tackle one at a time. 

I also want to say that I  have repented of not always displaying graciousness in the process of blogging about these teachings. Even if I believe them to be false and harmful, even though they have caused me personal harm, that in no way gives me a license to sin in having a holier than thou attitude toward those who hold to these teachings. 

I also want to be clear that not everyone who follows these teachers or movements are whole sale believers of everything these ministries embrace. We all have bits and pieces of false teaching in our belief system simply from breathing in American air. I'll probably reiterate that every post. 

The thing I will argue, the thing that rings true of all of the above, the one thing they all have in common is that they all take Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, and his atoning work for the sins of the world, his beautiful sacrifice, and move our Lord from the center to the fringes. 

He's replaced with faith formulas, divine healing, prophecies, financial blessings, favor, success, material possessions, transfers of wealth, power, your dreams, your will, your goals, your desires, in other words: Me! They put me, myself, and I at the center. This is what all of their sermons or teachings ever consist of: How can I get what I want. 

Friends, if the true gospel of Jesus Christ isn't center, how can it be Christianity? 

This stirs up a hurricane of emotions for me as I was in a couple of word of faith/prosperity gospel churches for about eight years back in the late 80s and early 90s. When I left these churches, sadly, the false doctrines didn't stay behind. I carried them in my belief system for decades, even instilling some of them in my children. 

I apologize ahead of time if I get fired up, and I pray I don't come across with both barrels blazing. Please forgive me. 

The spiritual abuse we and others have experienced in these church settings, whether it be the guilt and blame placed upon us for lack of faith, not receiving our healing or other prayer requests, or whether it be the unapproachableness and arrogance of the leaders or the admonishment for simply asking theological questions, can evoke many bad memories when the pain resurfaces. 

It's counterfeit Christianity, and it hurts people. It deceives and keeps its followers from the truth, meaning those who believe these doctrines full sale can't see it. Again, I also want to be clear that not everyone who inhabits the charismatic world is involved with these teachings. In fact, I've found them to be some of their greatest opponents. Even though I'm "reformish," I can become quickly defensive of my Penecostal/charismatic brothers and sisters who are lumped into many of these ministries. That's not fair. 

We are commanded to contend for the faith and to help snatch others out of the fire. ( Jude 1-25 ) Remember, someone prayed that we'd be snatched. God extended grace to us, now we are to help lead others gently. And remember that we're still being sanctified as well. It's a life long process.  

There are at least ten main teachings within the Word of Faith movement that I plan to unpack and argue to be false; you be the judge. How this is different from progressive Christianity, and what makes it tricker to uncover, is that where progressives have questioned the authority and errancy of Scripture and the core doctrines of orthodox Christianity, the above mentioned faith/prosperity movements actually hold to them. However, I'll argue that they've been twisted and taken out of context. 

Not only do I have first hand experience with much of these teachings, I've also spent a great deal of time studying their histories and their organizations, and as I dive deeper and deeper into the drama and deception, I find fear replacing my anger. I told the Farmer that some of these movements are scaring me more than a secret society one might investigate in a dark corner of the underworld some place. I know, it smells of conspiracy theory. Why I wondered? 

Because we expect the enemy to attack the world. Satan is the god of this world, but we don't really expect him to infiltrate the church, and yet that's exactly what the writers of the New Testament warned us he would do. 

"I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw the disciples after them." ( Acts 20:29 - 30 ) 

My pastor, Milton Atkins, is taking us through Jesus's seven letters to the churches in the Book of Revelation on Sunday mornings, and he has pointed out the severity in which Jesus warned the churches to rid themselves of the false teachers in their midst. ( Revelation 2-3 ) I had overlooked this before. 

When these particular movements I mentioned above arose post World War 2, gaining momentum throughout the 1950s, and began to tempt the church with their sparkling promises of health, wealth, and power on demand, evangelicals swung open the church doors and welcomed the wolf inside. In so many ways, it began to dawn on me that we've done this to ourselves. And to our dismay, we've discovered that wolves travel in packs. 

They're sly and tricky. They honor and slap each other on the back. 

They're in sheep's clothing. They look like us. They talk like us. Someone is saying, "I don't look or talk anything like Kenneth Copeland." Okay, you know what I mean. Some laugh at all of the nonsense and parodies like it's a match on WWE network, my metaphor is more of a three-ring circus, but either way, I can't help wondering now after much research, if that buffoonery isn't part of the trickery as well.  

Whatever the case may be, Jesus warned and prepared us in Matthew 10:16 "Behold I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves." 

Here's an assignment for the rest of the year: I'm doing it too! I promise. Read deeply the four Gospels and Acts. Would you do that? 

Make a note as you read if you ever see Jesus or the Apostles telling anyone who needed a physical healing or deliverance to first make a seed-faith offering into their ministry so they could receive their miracle? Did they engage in such trickery? 

Did they pray for people, warning them that if they didn't receive their healing, it would be their fault? 

When their healing didn't manifest immediately did Jesus and the Apostles tell the sick person to just speak positive words over themselves, ignore the symptoms that persist, don't go to the doctor or take medicine because that exhibits a lack of faith? 

When they reached out to touch sick people, did they ever exhibit force, pushing them to the floor against their will and off their crutches? 

Did Jesus or the Apostles ever teach the people not to pray humbly but instead to demand and declare things from God? Did they ever instruct the people on how to fabricate a faith formula to get the Word and God to work for them?

Did Jesus and the Apostles ever preach sermons instructing the people to chase their dreams and follow their hearts or lay out steps on how to acquire wealth and success in this world? 

My friends, the Bible is so much better than this. Jesus is so good. No matter what you've heard, He is and always will be the greatest show on earth! 

Soli Deo Gloria! 

Stay biblical, my friends! 

Happy Tuesday! 

💜

The Farmer's Hibiscus and Butterfly Pea Flower Tea 
I know, seriously, I usually just make plain old Lipton

In God We Trust

"First of all, then I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way." ( 1 Timothy 1:1-2 ) 

I've seen this verse multiple times posted and quoted since the shots were fired yesterday at President Trump during his rally in PA, thankfully he's okay, and I wanted to add my blog to the mix. There are no better words today for the church to hear and obey.

Next verses: "This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved, to come to the knowledge of the truth." ( verses 3-4 ) 

"All people" - including "kings and all who are in high positions." 'All' includes our leaders.  

In the Book of Genesis, we see that God created and established the order of government. It's his design, as is male, female, marriage, the family and the church. So bringing these truths together in a broken world, we know that on this side of Jesus's kingdom, the one he said was not of this world, God's institutions aren't going to run perfectly. Perfect Designer - imperfect creatures. 

The Kingdom of God is already, but not yet. 

In the "mean" time we are called to pray that they will run smooth. It's that tension thing again. And we can see glimpses in this life of the life to come. But yesterday, I thought about this: It's works for good and evil. We can also see glimpses of the judgment to come. 

No matter what view we take on eschatology, or how anyone thinks we all began on this little planet, history is quickly heading toward a final "big bang." 

As God's people we must be praying more than ever for the salvation of souls. Pray against evil, so good may flourish that the gospel can be proclaimed and heard by all people. Historically speaking, we see that the gospel flourishes more in freedom than communism; although God can work anywhere. 

And we are commanded to expose the works of darkness whether they be in the Republican party, the Democratic party, or the church. God is burning the dross off of his people. We've seen this in the last year as two major false teachers were exposed and brought down. Judgment starts in the household of God. 

We have to look inward to our own hearts first. 

"For it is time for judgment to to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And 'If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?'" ( 1 Peter 4:17 - 18 ) 

Whenever I attempt to figure the evil events out in this world, when I ponder if this one or that one was a believer, did they believe in Christ in those last moments of life or were they rebellious to the bitter end, do you ever do that? I am reminded always of Jesus's words to the people in Luke 13:1 after they asked him if the people involved in a tragedy were worse sinners?" Like the questions I often ponder. 

Jesus says it twice as if to punctuate the importance: "No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." 

May this always be the church's sobering posture; as we pray for all people and fight the good fight of faith. 

Repent 

And remember who alone is Sovereign. 

💜

"Another Gospel?"

"Another Gospel?" 

Part 2

"For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one received, or if you accept another gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough." ( 2 Corinthians 11:4 ) 

On a Sunday morning in June of 1922, Harry Emerson Fosdick stepped into the pulpit of First Presbyterian Church in New York City and preached what would prove to be one of the most provocative sermons preached in 20th century America. If that sounds overly dramatic, just wait. It would be hard to estimate the damage this sermon inflicted on the American mainline denominations. 

In Part 1 I gave the data of the mainline decline that has been taking place in the last sixty years within the seven Christian denominations that were once the pillars of American society, but are now headed toward extinction. 

This is a very condensed explanation of the terminal illness and slow death of these churches, but as always I hope this inspires your own research and a return if necessary to the true, rich theological depth that marks genuine Christian faith. 

Fosdick was a Baptist pastor, which I know sounds a bit odd in a Presbyterian church, and his sermon that morning, entitled "Shall the Fundamentalists Win?" was in response to a decades old debate between those in the church who held to the core doctrines of the Christian faith and those who believed the church needed to adapt to modern ears. 

It was known as the "fundamentalist-modernist controversy." 

Today the term "fundamentalist" carries a bit of a negative connotation to it, but back then it referred to those who held to the core doctrines - the fundamentals - of the Christian faith such essentials as the inerrancy and authority of the Bible and the bodily resurrection of Christ. 

"Modernists" were those who believed that we needed to update the Bible for modern thinkers. We needed to be constantly changing our religious views and "progressing" toward not just a better understanding of Scripture, but new ideas outside of them to fit our culture and become more tolerant. "Seeker-friendly," you could say before that was a thing. 

The sermon would end with a call for the Fundamentalists to reach out to the poor and Foswick would call them to love. I'm not attempting to construct a straw man here - the Fundamentalists, known as today's conservatives admit there is work to do and areas needing major improvement. That's the journey of sanctification as we refuse to disconnect from the only power that makes us like Christ. This is why in a broad stroke today's liberal Christians are known as "progressive Christians." In changing with the times, they've disconnected from our core. I'm getting ahead of myself. 

Between 1905 and 1910, a series of 12 paperback volumes called "The Fundamentals" had been published defending the inerrancy of Scripture and the supernatural beliefs and character of the Christian faith. These were turbulent and scary times in the minds of many Americans who held dear to orthodox Christianity. I'll explain why momentarily. 

In the sermon that morning, Fosdick preached that "we now have new knowledge about human history" as if this is a reason to rethink the doctrines of our faith and be tolerant to others, watering down the Holy commandments of God. 

But we have to be clear here. Fosdick wasn't questioning secondary issues. He wasn't saying that we should show acceptance to those who believe differently about baptism or church government. No, he was arguing that the Fundamentalists should be tolerant of the modernists in their midst - not outside of the church, but inside - who don't hold to, namely. the inerrancy and authority of Scripture, the virgin birth, and the atonement and second coming of Christ. 

Maybe the Fundamentalists didn't always have a charitable attitude as they defended and fought for the core doctrines of the faith, but you can easily see why they would be passionate. These essentials are the whole of the Christian doctrine that we hold dear. Without them, there is no Christianity. There's just an empty shell. 

Fosdick admonished the congregation for "quarreling over little matters."  "Little matters?" No, my dear sir, a different gospel.  

I had a hard time wrapping my mind around this sermon at first because God is supernatural. Jesus said in John 4:24, "God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." It appeared God was being excommunicated from the church, so a more modern, tolerant deity could take his place. And I guess, one we could see? If we should only believe in what we can see; I'm not even sure how to take that. 

I recommend you google the sermon, reading it in its entirety, but this is the gist: Our beautiful faith was wrung, twisted, and hung out to dry in an already, hotly debated church climate where tensions had been stirring for decades. And Fosdick portrayed the Fundamentalists - those clinging to the core doctrines of Christianity - as bullies I felt. It's a piece of classic liberal rhetoric, and again, I'd love to address all of it.  But you read it and see what you think. 

If you're going to not believe the Bible is the true Word of God nor the sacred doctrines that are held within, why would you even try to hold onto Christianity? Just go start another religion. This has never made sense to me. What would cause a preacher to do this? 

Here's some of the backstory into why: 

The19th century's enlightenment period seemed to be slowly eroding all traces of faith in America, a country that had been founded primarily on biblical principles, replacing it with reason alone, the notion that science and religion couldn't exist in the same atmosphere, but more than anything I believe we can thank the introduction of Darwin's "Origin of Species" for paving the way to secularism and progressive thought in our nation's mainline denominations. After studying this for some time now, I don't think this is too much of a stretch. 

Never before had there been this idea so widely spread in a society that perhaps God didn't really exist after all. And it got worse; maybe we descended from monkeys. Think of the existential despair this must have led to. 

When a society begins to believe that there is no God, no Creator, and we are just the product of random processes blindly moving along with no rhyme or reason after an amoeba grows legs and crawls out of the primordial soup, the fruits of this thought can't yield a healthy crop. Ideas have consequences. 

Even Friedrich Nietzsche the atheist philosopher had the integrity to admit that if we throw out God we've just thrown out our basis for morality. 

I'm not insinuating that we should believe in God just because it's helpful. But instead, examine that fact. In and of itself this longing is a major clue.  And anyway, there is more evidence pointing to God than naturalism by the one simple truth that something can't come from nothing. That should put the whole debate to rest, because not just "something" but something so amazing and finely tuned, inside the universe, but also inside of us! 

I believe the doubts sown in Fosdick's sermon that day in the minds of many American church goers, already contemplating the idea of evolution, didn't at once cause the tidal wave to slam into the shoreline, but it did, as many historians note, give liberalism the push it needed to start the wave rushing toward the beach. 

Or to use another metaphor from God's creation, the seeds of doubt that we were not created by an all-loving, all-powerful and all-wise God from our increasing liberal environment received the manure they would need to germinate and grow. 

And John D. Rockefeller was all too willing to cultivate the weeds growing out of the dung. 

Many people know of him as a Christian, but what they may not realize is that Rockefeller was what we would call today a "progressive Christian" because he enjoyed Fosdick's sermon so much calling into questions the core doctrines of our faith that he had his publicist to print 130,000 copies and send to every Protestant preacher in America. 

Also known as a philanthropist, though his money for medical research and the like usually came with strings attached as he held control over his beneficiaries, Rockefeller would have been 83 years old at this time. He is responsible for helping spread a false Christ and another gospel throughout our nation, attempting to pollute every pulpit in the mainline denominations. He used his wealth to do evil. 

After Fosdick was fired from the Presbyterian church, Rockefeller built him a church of his own. Biographer Ron Chernow had this to say about Rockefeller: 

"What makes him problematic—and why he continues to inspire ambivalent reactions—is that his good side was every bit as good as his bad side was bad. Seldom has history produced such a contradictory figure."

The Presbyterians and Episcopalians were the first of the seven sisters to become embroiled in the battle for the authority and errancy of the Scriptures, fighting against their own seminary professors who engaged in higher criticisms of its content and sola scriptura ( Latin for by Scripture alone ) which our reformation fathers gave their lives to protect. 

I'm skipping a ton of history here, but again I hope this encourages you to engage in your own research. Please have the integrity to look into the church traditions you've grown up with as well as becoming more sure in the core doctrines of the Christian faith and the validity of the scriptures. 

We need to always be studying them deeply while also teaching them to our children; this can only strengthen our faith as we arrive at the knowledge of the truth. And I arrived at the answer to my question which started this whole theological journey. Why was Redeemer Presbyterian in Manhattan so unlike the Presbyterian church I grew up in? 

The answer: Redeemer was a part of the denomination that splintered off of the mainline Presbyterian church ( PCUSA ) finally in 1973. My childhood church was PCUSA, and that's why even though at that time our church still sang most hymns and recited selected passages from the Bible, the Apostle's Creed, and Lord's Prayer, I still had never heard the true gospel preached and explained or sat under expository teaching of the Bible. No sin, repentance, wrath, hell, just a short sermon with a bit of love, mercy and grace mixed in. Those are vitally important, but half a gospel is no gospel at all.  

I am thankful for a Sunday school teacher who took our class through the memorization of the shorter catechism, and for the liturgy and sacraments. Those seeds rooted and grew, late blooming, for sure, but still a tree grows in Bedford. I don't want to seem ungrateful because when I look back, I see God's hand in my life, his eye watching over me. I don't want to leave an ungrateful impression. God works everywhere.

Jesus is neither a liberal or a conservative, nor is he a third way. Jesus IS the way. Jesus supersedes our flawed, human categories. Jesus is the Word himself. When we embrace and are satisfied in him we are eating the sound doctrine of our faith. The two are inseparable. 

Since the late 60s and early 70s when I was a young girl, the mainline churches have slowly let go each passing year it seems of more and more of what makes us a Christian. 

There's so much more to say, but I'll just have to keep blogging. Here's a quote from the PCA's website: 

"It separated from the Presbyterian Church in the United States (Southern) in opposition to the long-developing theological liberalism which denied the deity of Jesus Christ and the inerrancy and authority of Scripture. Additionally, the PCA held to the traditional position on the role of women in church offices."

So, how are we doing without God? 

Someone may say that there are some who still believe and worship God in mainline churches, but I would argue that it is a god of their own making, not the God of the Bible. If they are worshiping the true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent, it's only a matter of time before their spiritual stomachs start to growl and like so many before them, vacate the premises. 

Without God and his gospel of the atoning work of Jesus Christ his Son for the forgiveness of our sins and for our redemption, mainline churches have nothing to offer. And people have better things to do on a Sunday morning. 

Sadly, the dwindling numbers each year of attendees in the mainline churches remaining open cause us to prepare and mourn their impending death, and for me to rest my case.  

For now anyway. 

💜

I want to offer two resources for anyone who is interested: 

In 1923, J. Gresham Machen, a New Testament Professor at Westminister Theological Seminary, published a response to Fosdick's sermon and to the liberalism that arose in the early 1900s. He thoroughly explains the importance of scriptural doctrine as his work has become a classic defense of orthodox Christianity. I highly recommend reading Fosdick's sermon and then this book. 

Also, Alisa Childers' "Another Gospel?" is an easy to read, charitable, informative response to progressive Christianity as well with a deep look into the essentials of our faith through her experience in a progressive Bible study. Check out her weekly podcast too! 

The Widow's Faith

Luke 18:  And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

This is a picture of faith.

Will Jesus find this faith when he comes? 
 

Faith is believing God and continuing to pray until you get the answer. 

And sometimes it's not so simple as, "yes, no, or wait." 

There's many reasons the Bible gives as to why we might not be receiving an answer to our prayers: shutting our ears to the poor, sin, doubt, pride, a violent temper, selfish motives, loving your sin, mistreating God's people, husbands not being understanding and honoring with their wives. ( Proverbs 28:27, James 1:5-7, James 4:6, 1 Peter 3:7, James 4:3, Psalms 66:16, Proverbs 3:31-33, Micah 3:2-5 ) 

In other words, it's more complex that what prosperity gospel and word of faith preachers would have you believe, not that they've ever been known for biblical integrity or scholarship, although they're full of special revelations outside of God's Word. Know your Bible; that's the best way to combat this stuff. 

And like the widow, believe and persist. That's faith. Our persistence demonstrates trust in God. Not in our faith, but in God. And in the process, we are growing in our sanctification process. 

And that's what the Bible has in view here. This is important; we can't miss this: 

"For this is the will of God, your sanctification:" ( 1 Thessalonians 4:3 ) 

Don't lose sight of the goal for believers in all the prosperity and word of faith propaganda that plagues our church culture. 

The Scriptures clearly teach us that our sanctification is what is in mind. Not our health, wealth, and success. They move the Gospel out of the center, and in doing so, remove the only thing that can bring eternal life. 

Along the way, as God completes the work he began in us, God meets our needs, more so than his birds and flowers because we are of more worth to him, and this is the beautiful relationship that we develop during our transformational process as a child of God.  ( Philippians 1:6 ) 

Trusting that God knows best for us. 

Not only must we be convinced that God is good, but that he always has good in store for us! We're his children, and if he is not allowing something into our lives that we want, there is a good reason. Trust him. And may we ask the Holy Spirit to teach us and show us our own hearts in our daily walk with him as he is the One conforming us. He knows us better than we know ourselves. 

Do not manipulate God or treat him like a vending machine as word of faith preachers would have you do. Trust him each moment of our lives. Notice that the persistent widow in Jesus's parable didn't attempt to work the situation or engineer any results. She simply kept "asking, seeking, and knocking." 

This is the faith Jesus will be looking for. "That they would pray." Not demand or command or declare or decree. Pray. 

Not getting God to "work for us" or getting the Word to "bring us results" or "act on it" or "be obedient" to get God to "work for you" like it's all based on our performance. It's based on Christ's work at the cross, not ours. If you hear any of these catch phrases, that's word of faith nonsense. Run. 

Who wants a relationship with God like that anyway? He becomes nothing more than a means to an end. It's beyond irreverent.  

Never does the Bible use this kind of language. Never. 

And neither did any of our church fathers throughout church history. In deed, they had their hands full fighting to preserve orthodox Christianity from heresies and false teachers. If word of faith doctrine was a part of the Bible, why didn't they endorse it? It wasn't; that's why they didn't. Think about that, my friends. 

I'm still working on part two of the progressive gospel series, Lord willing, and I'd like to give the roots and history of where some of this prosperity/seed-faith/word of faith theology comes from that poisons our church culture, and most importantly, share the Truth it attempts to replace. 

Happy Thursday Everyone!  

Contend for the faith!

Let's keep running our race! 

💜

This is No Joke

A man walks into a progressive church. 

He's been struggling with sin. He knows inside of him there's this moral code of conduct he should be keeping, but he can't obey it no matter how hard he tries. He's familiar with the Ten Commandments and with a Jesus whom others told him died on a cross for everyone's sins. He remembers hearing about him years ago as a kid at a neighborhood church's Vacation Bible School in the town where he grew up. A boyhood friend had invited him to go.  

Now the man is at the end of his rope and looking for that Jesus. 

The progressive preacher at the church gets up and preaches a fifteen minute message devoid of anything supernatural. He tells the congregation to follow their hearts because the truth is inside of them. The Bible is a myth, he tells them, but they are invited to live by the parts of it they like and disregard the outdated material or anything offensive. He tells them they must create their own truth and identity. "They don't need to change," the preaches says, "God accepts them just as they are."

The man knows he's not acceptable or worthy to stand before a holy God, and he doesn't trust his own heart. The man is further confused by the pastor's words. 

After the service when the man tries to explain the guilt and shame he is experiencing from his sin, the pastor responds that the "sin" the man has been engaging in is, in fact, not a sin at all. 

"The cosmic christ didn't die for sins because you're not a sinner," the pastor informs him. He died to show you love and forgiveness and to be a good example. We don't need all that "bloody sacrificial stuff" to be saved from any wrath of God. In the end God just forgives everyone. That's his job," the pastor asserts. 

The pastor suggests that the man volunteer to deliver food boxes to seniors for the church's food pantry or to help in their substance abuse support group or diversity program. Maybe those things would make him feel better about himself. The pastor said this to the man to encourage him. 

Except the man was anything but encouraged. The man knows deep inside the things he struggles with and the temptations he gives into are wrong; he's tried doing good works already to clean himself up to no avail. He knows he needs something outside of himself. 

The progressive church has nothing to offer to help the man. 

So the next Sunday the man decides he will visit the big box church near his home. 

He's seen the pastor on influential news media outlets and popular talk shows, surely, he thinks, this pastor can help him. When the pastor takes to the stage in the huge, packed-out auditorium, he doesn't mention the words "sin" or "repentance," because he has said that's not his style. 

The Pastor smiles a big, friendly grin and says, "Cheer up, friends, I believe that 99.9% of people are not bad people. Deep down you all have a good heart. You're not sinning; you're just making bad choices." 

Just like he had said on CNN and Oprah. 

Then he goes on to tell the crowd that he will be sharing several points from his new book on how they can all live a successful life and be healthy and wealthy. Those things seemed unfulfilling and shallow to the man; he knew they couldn't satisfy the hunger inside of him or repair his sinful, broken heart. 

To keep up appearances, the pastor cherry picked and then twisted a Bible verse to fit with his cotton-candy theology. Then he added quickly, as if an afterthought at the end of his message, for the people to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior if they hadn't already. 

The poor man leaves not only still discouraged, but now even more confused. He doesn't understand why the 99.9% of people born good would even need Jesus. 

The following Sunday, still feeling distraught and hopeless, the man attempts yet another local church on a wing and a prayer of finding the true Jesus. The preacher at this church gets up and actually preaches out of the Bible, an entire chapter, for forty minutes. In fact, this preacher calls a spade a spade and then some. He preaches the hell out of sin and the law. 

He hollers and admonishes the congregation that they need to stop playing church. He shouts at them that their problem is they don't take their faith serious enough. They need to read their Bibles more. Pray more. Stop smoking that weed and drinking that booze. Stop sleeping with their boyfriend and girlfriend. Stop voting for Democrats. 

They need to try harder the preacher reprimanded them.  

But the poor man knows he has already gone that route, and in spite of doing the best he can in obedience to the what he knows he should be doing, he still falls short. He understands it's God's law, but the weight of trying to earn God's favor is smashing him to death. It's heavy. He can't fulfill its crushing demands. 

The man leaves yet another church still empty. The loving, wise, and deeply unshakeable Jesus the man remembers from his childhood, the One holding children in his arms while rebuking religious leaders and forgiving sinners seemed to be a distance memory fading more and more with each passing week. 

"Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;'" ( Matthew 9:37 ) 

The man pulls into his driveway after the service. 

He sees his neighbor working to remove a tire from his car as his kids play around him in the front yard. Something inside of the man beckons him to walk over and see if the neighbor needs any help. The truth is that he is just lonely and desiring to connect to something greater than himself, something his sin or material possessions or any amount of good works or anything else this broken world has to offer just can't seem to satisfy. He's empty, in pain and out of options. 

The neighbor smiles as the man approaches. He has waved at the neighbor before and exchanged greetings and small talk when the man first moved in several months ago. The neighbor had invited him to a cookout, but the man had made up an excuse not to go. Now he felt sorry for lying. 

"Apparently I punctured a tire on our way home from, church," the neighbor tells him. 

"Really? I was just coming from church myself," the man admits. 

The neighbor looks straight at the man's face as it he could perceive his very thoughts. "Are you sure it wasn't a funeral?" the neighbor says smiling wide, but his creased brow revealed a look of concern. 

"Is it that obvious?" the man says, now smiling a bit himself. 

"Are there any churches in this town that talk about the real Jesus?" the man asked him.  I think I need him.

"Man, don't go anywhere," the neighbor says as he dashes through his front door returning almost immediately with a Bible in his hand. 

The neighbor sits down on the front steps and starts flipping through the thin pages. He stops and holds the Bible out, firm in both hands. "This is the gold standard, by the way, the neighbor says, "There has to be an authority greater than what we can come up with ourselves, and this is it. If you start cutting parts out you don't like, you've just become the authority, and you're back to where you started. 

The man nodded in affirmation. 

"The emptiness and conviction you're feeling," the neighbor begins to tell the man, is a very good thing. Jesus, the real Jesus you're looking for, tells us in John 6:44 "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them." So you're being drawn, man. That's why you're searching and hungry. 

"Sometimes God is referred to as "the hound of heaven," the neighbor said, smiling again. 

This is why the writer of Hebrews warns us by quoting Psalm 95, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion."  

The neighbor explained to him that God had created the world perfect and beautiful, and when our first parents, Adam and Eve, disobeyed the only commandment God gave them to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil for in that day they would surely die, all hell broke loose, so to speak.  ( Genesis 1-3 ) 

"Romans 5:12 tells us on that day "sin came to all men through the one man Adam, and death through sin, so death spread to all men because all men sinned."

In Romans 3:10 the Apostle Paul quotes the Psalms also, "as it were written: None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one."   

The man felt the weight upon his heart grow even more crushing. God's law had awakened in him conviction. "How can I be accepted then?" the man cried out. "Isn't there anything to help me? I've heard Jesus died for the sins of the world!" 

"You're experiencing the human condition," the neighbor told him. And this knowledge has humbled you; a person has no hope of finding the real Jesus if they are prideful and think they are born good, doing just fine on their own. 

Those folks don't need or want him, like the Pharisees and hypocrites. Jesus said in Matthew 5:20 unless our righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, we will never enter the kingdom of heaven. He didn't come for the righteous, but the sinner." 

And yes, there is help. That's why it's called the 'Good News'" 

"Did you ever wonder why Jesus came as a baby? You've heard the greatest and most well-known Bible verse, John 3:16. 'For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life?'

"Yes," the man said as he continued to listen.

"We're separated from God we sinned against a holy God. We have no idea how holy God is! ( Isaiah 6 ) The commandments in the Bible are God's law - his standard. They must be kept perfectly for us to be holy and be with him. Because of the fall after creation, not only can we not keep God's law, but we must be punished for not keeping it." 

"This is because God is just. If he allowed sin, evil and wickedness, to go unpunished, he would not be just. He would not be good. Who wants to serve a God like that anyway? That's the Christian hope, that one day God will right every wrong. We can believe one day there will be perfect justice executed by our Holy God." 

"And when you attempt to keep the law of God to achieve your salvation, you will always fail. The law teaches us that we are sinners, but it doesn't contain the power to save us. It's our signpost. It points us in the right direction. That's why you have been experiencing so much turmoil. If you know you need something outside of yourself to save you, hearing, "just try harder," only frustrates you more." 

The only thing that has the power to save us is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

So, back to Baby Jesus. That's why Jesus came as an infant, to live the perfect life we should have lived and that God requires. He experienced what it was like to be inside of human flesh, the temptations, the daily grind, the ridicule and rejection." 

"When we put our trust in Christ Jesus, his perfect life is imputed to us. In Christ, we are now accepted before God. Jesus is God, and his shed blood for our sins is the only thing that could save us." 

The man dropped his head into his hands. 

"Dear God," he sobbed, "I have sinned against you; forgive me. I'm so sorry. I repent of my unrighteousness and my sins. I need you, Jesus. I can't do this on my own. Jesus, I believe you lived and died for me, and I believe you resurrected from the dead. Now I want to live for you. Help me, Jesus. Oh, Jesus, thank you, thank you, Jesus." 

In that moment the man finally met the real Jesus; he knew the truth. And the truth set him free. 

He was searching for Jesus because Jesus was searching for him. 

He had once been lost, but now was found. 

All of a sudden the law was beautiful to him. He was now under grace, and wanted nothing more than to please God for all he had done for him in Christ and to never sin again. And even though he understood he would still struggle with sin and trouble until he died, he had a new desire and power to obey the commandments of God, and forgiveness when he didn't because he had been filled with the Holy Spirit at conversion as Jesus promised. He was sealed. 

He also felt a new power inside of him to forgive others since so much had been forgiven him. 

He knew it was the unpopular, hard path of life, narrow and less traveled, but there was no where else he would ever want to be. If he was mocked or suffered persecution for Christ's sake, he would praise God that he was counted worthy to suffer for the one who suffered the greatest pain of all for him. 

The neighbor invited the man to come to church with him and his family the next Sunday so the man could joyfully partake in the sacrament of baptism. 

He says that it's a small church, but healthy and thriving with people of all ages and backgrounds. He said they aren't perfect, but they love people and love sound doctrine. Their pastor is going through the Book of Romans currently in Sunday morning worship service, and he thought the man would greatly benefit from the study as a new believer. 

The neighbor said the church also had smaller Bible studies and life groups and community and global outreach ministries. He invited the man to join him at the next men's prayer breakfast.  

"All of the above," the man responded with exceeding joy,"And when is your next family cookout? the man asked." 

The neighbor smiled at him. 

"Soon, Brother, very soon." 

"'therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.'" ( Matthew 9:38 )