Christian Living
That is satan. He has conned many into a position of weakness, timidity and ineffectiveness.
He has lullabied us into a belief that following Jesus means turning up at church for two hours on Sunday – with a possibility of two hours on Wednesday if we’re not too busy doing other things.
Satan has us sidetracked. Rather than doing what Jesus said, to preach the gospel, heal the sick and cast out demons (not to mention raising the dead) he has cajoled us into a weekly religious exercise of polishing the spiritual weapons but never using them. We stand up, sit down, sing, then listen to someone speak for half an hour. We’d do far better to spend the whole two hours praying collectively. As it says in Timothy we have a form of godliness but are denying the power thereof. Oh yes we congregate, but not in the manner of those dynamic people in Acts.
The average church today puts on too many “socials” that have nothing to do with anything biblical. The “chief liar” has us on a path that leads nowhere. He chuckles as he sees us entertain ourselves. While we are so engaged, like the Pied Piper of Hamelin he leads the world outside to the cliff edge and eternal death.
Today’s preachers try to convince us revival is coming – but like the promised proverbial check in the mail we all know it isn’t; not until we change the status quo.
When the world looks at us they are looking at a B-grade movie compared with the blockbuster that Jesus wants us to be.
That old serpent has convinced us that to sit in the church is to follow Jesus. Satan knows we are no threat to him sitting there. What church today has teams visiting hospitals and nursing homes not just to offer sympathy but to heal them in Jesus’ name? The ones that do are surely few. When was the last time that your church had a team going into town, preaching the gospel and doing Jesus’ ministry?
The Early Church didn’t bother about opposition, they just ignored it. If that meant jail, then so what! Spiritual warfare for them wasn’t merely empty words from a platform; they were taking territory from satan daily.
The father of lies has weakened the Christian faith to the point we are now “just another religion” lumped with all the rest. He knows there are some vibrant, obedient churches, but he has the media portraying a TV scenario of robes, ritual and practices that are a million miles away from Christ’s intention.
Another lie of satan is that the dynamic Christianity of the gospels and Acts is not for today. “Healing the sick? Oh, that was just to get the church started,” someone said, and now many believe it. Such is the kind of trendy thinking that is destroying the church.
Likewise, satan has kept believers in the dark by the traditions-of-men refusal of many denominations to practise the spiritual gifts listed in Corinthians.
It’s time for us all to read again and again what constitutes “ministry” in the New Testament, in particular the Book of Acts. We need to get what Jesus and the disciples did into our heart and spirit until we step out publicly and do it. We should accept nothing less – and anything less is a lie from satan.
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This is an article that speaks the unfortunate truth about many churches. I am blessed to be part of a church that preaches the Bible and Salvation - we outreach to many areas of our community. But, not all of our members are involved. There are still those who think Sunday morning is 'enough.' I pray.
It's a sad truth. I would love to read article after article after article by people who insist on the entire truth of the Word of God as stated. Well stated, Brother. Keep on keeping on for the TRUTH!
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