Many times I share these postings as a ministry for anyone that may be in need at a given time. I realize that they may be interpreted as being preachy (and if so I am fine with that.) In the day that we live it is apparent that there is a concerted effort of a broad coalition of “offended” and yet “tolerant” souls who have sought to silence the voices of those who subscribe to an “inspired” Bible, as the Word of God, and who believe that it is the authoritative source of Truth - not merely a truth, but The Truth.
Along with those who have a vehement objection to any public expression of Christian faith, there may be those within the church at large who have become more concerned with the church’s image than its scriptural and spiritual integrity. The fear of being labeled, ridiculed, written off, and even prosecuted, seems to have spawned an abandonment of Scriptural Truth among numbers of "believers" and "churches." These truths have provided the bedrock for society.
Others have invested much time in redefining scripture, re-inventing church, and creating God in the image that appeals most in the market place, the campus, the workplace, the church, and on the playgrounds of life. There are those in secular society who have made it their mission to remove God completely and even more troubling is that there are those within “the church” at large who are focused on creating a god that is much more palatable to the tastes of consumers - a lighter, less offensive, an all love, all grace, kind of Jesus - minus the Truth.
Bad representations of Christ in the past do not justify the abandonment of that which is essential. Our methods and the means may change but the essentials must not be watered down, given a lesser place, or disposed of. The revelation of Jesus Christ and the Gospel must not be dumbed down. Without Christ at the Center and the enabling of the Holy Spirit, our message is toothless and irrelevant. We hold the God given revelation of Himself in sacred trust as man’s hope of redemption.
Jesus is Grace and Truth (John 1:14) Grace and Truth are inseparable. Without Grace you have legalism. Without Truth you have licentiousness. Truth is the part of Jesus that most have the greatest difficulty with. The warped conception of grace, held by many, is that Grace is a license to indulgence without conscience or consequence.
If we subscribe to the teachings of scripture without compromise it will consistently bring us into conflict with popular thought or practice. When it does, we must chose not to hate or to defame, and yet we must not abandon the foundational Truth for living found in the Word of God (The Holy Bible.) The view that Scripture is the inspired and infallible Rule of Faith and Conduct in itself is enough to incite the “offended” and yet “tolerant” crowd to take arms. I fully subscribe to the Scriptures as the Inspired and infallible Rule of Faith and Conduct.
Every representation of Christianity is offensive to someone and that should not be a surprise. Jesus was not voted man of the year. He was crucified.
God help us to love righteously. My weakness and my flaws demonstrate my personal need for Grace and Truth. His Truth does not bend, but His Grace breaks my heart so that He can make it whole.
The church must not be silent and it must not go away.
John 15:18
“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.
John 6:60 Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?”
61 When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, “Does this offend you?
66 From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. 67 Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”
68 But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.
2 Thessalonians 2:3
Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,
Revelation 3:3
Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent…….
Along with those who have a vehement objection to any public expression of Christian faith, there may be those within the church at large who have become more concerned with the church’s image than its scriptural and spiritual integrity. The fear of being labeled, ridiculed, written off, and even prosecuted, seems to have spawned an abandonment of Scriptural Truth among numbers of "believers" and "churches." These truths have provided the bedrock for society.
Others have invested much time in redefining scripture, re-inventing church, and creating God in the image that appeals most in the market place, the campus, the workplace, the church, and on the playgrounds of life. There are those in secular society who have made it their mission to remove God completely and even more troubling is that there are those within “the church” at large who are focused on creating a god that is much more palatable to the tastes of consumers - a lighter, less offensive, an all love, all grace, kind of Jesus - minus the Truth.
Bad representations of Christ in the past do not justify the abandonment of that which is essential. Our methods and the means may change but the essentials must not be watered down, given a lesser place, or disposed of. The revelation of Jesus Christ and the Gospel must not be dumbed down. Without Christ at the Center and the enabling of the Holy Spirit, our message is toothless and irrelevant. We hold the God given revelation of Himself in sacred trust as man’s hope of redemption.
Jesus is Grace and Truth (John 1:14) Grace and Truth are inseparable. Without Grace you have legalism. Without Truth you have licentiousness. Truth is the part of Jesus that most have the greatest difficulty with. The warped conception of grace, held by many, is that Grace is a license to indulgence without conscience or consequence.
If we subscribe to the teachings of scripture without compromise it will consistently bring us into conflict with popular thought or practice. When it does, we must chose not to hate or to defame, and yet we must not abandon the foundational Truth for living found in the Word of God (The Holy Bible.) The view that Scripture is the inspired and infallible Rule of Faith and Conduct in itself is enough to incite the “offended” and yet “tolerant” crowd to take arms. I fully subscribe to the Scriptures as the Inspired and infallible Rule of Faith and Conduct.
Every representation of Christianity is offensive to someone and that should not be a surprise. Jesus was not voted man of the year. He was crucified.
God help us to love righteously. My weakness and my flaws demonstrate my personal need for Grace and Truth. His Truth does not bend, but His Grace breaks my heart so that He can make it whole.
The church must not be silent and it must not go away.
John 15:18
“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.
John 6:60 Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?”
61 When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, “Does this offend you?
66 From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. 67 Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”
68 But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.
2 Thessalonians 2:3
Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,
Revelation 3:3
Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent…….
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