In 1955 my parents changed the course of their lives when they
gave their hearts to the LORD. At the
age of seven my life in the church began.
I was unsettled in my Christian life until August of 1967 when I felt
the call to the ministry and enrolled at Union Bible Seminary where I met my
wife and started our spiritual journey together. Since then I have earned my B.A. in
Communications, M.A. in Christian Education, M.ED. in Curriculum Development
and a Th.D. in Theology. I have been in
the ministry since I was nineteen years old.
I have served as missionary, evangelist, pastor, and teacher. I am presently pastor of a rural Independent Quaker
church where I have served for the past 28 years. I am a retired educator,
having taught in both public and private schools. I give this information
simply to provide my qualifications to speak to the issues within and outside
the church.
It is my observation over the 46 years of the ministry that there
are some major issues within the evangelical movement of the church that must
be addressed. There is a void in
understanding the principles of basic Christian doctrine and putting those
doctrines in daily practice.
Evangelical Christians, for the most part, are living their
spiritual lives in a vacuum of truth and understanding. The lack of spiritual knowledge has opened
the door to smooth-talking ministers who can use the pulpit to defraud the
majority of sincere follower out of their life savings and destroy their faith. This has resulted in what Paul called the falling away.
Within the Evangelical Church today there is a fear to speak out against
the deterioration within the church. I, for one, am finished with being polite. I am done
trying not to offend people who constantly teach a doctrine contrary to scripture
and think they are justified in doing so because it is their duty to push their
false-teaching on the church at large. It is better today to do a touchy feely sermon than to speak out against
the fact the church is failing in its doctrinal beliefs, there is a lack of
Scriptural knowledge, and an inability to exert our God-ordained responsibility
to stand for the truth courageously ignoring the criticism that comes from
those who lack a deep spiritual walk with the LORD.
Among the average believer there is the fear of raising
their voice against false prophets, maybe it is because they have a lack of
certainty of their own spiritual life.
After all, who wants to condemn people who teach about Jesus
Christ? However, the Bible has much to
say about the believer’s responsibility in addressing and responding to those
who corrupt God’s word. Teaching about
Jesus is not the same as rightly dividing the word of truth. The issue is whether or not their teachings
are correct according to the scriptures.
If they are not teaching and preaching the truth then we must react
against them.
The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah tells us that in the 14th
chapter, God has no patience whatsoever with those who profane his name. Nor is he tolerant of those who support such
by listening and following their false-teachings. In fact God has promised to pour out evil
upon them for following such teachings.
Lord said unto me, The prophets prophesy
lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake
unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of
nought, and the deceit of their heart. Therefore thus saith
the Lord
concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they
say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; By sword and famine shall
those prophets be consumed. And
the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem
because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have none to bury them,
them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their
wickedness upon them. Therefore thou shalt say this word unto them; Let mine
eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease: for the virgin
daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous blow.
There are many within the evangelical
movement that supports these ministers spoken here by Jeremiah. Some within these churches are concerned
about their pastors not getting involved in anything controversial but yet they
are content to support them with their attendance and offerings. Many of these same pastors are critical of
ministers who are standing for truth, getting involved in controversial issues
and are political.
Today all you need to do is look at the
largest crowds, the most lavish buildings and the richest ministers to see why
the church is falling away. These same Christians will not support
ministers or statesmen who are fight the good fight of faith. They will however, buy books, CD’s and go to
“spiritual renewal conferences” where these same ministers are making millions
spreading their false doctrines and destroying the message of the Gospel with
their unholy lives. These men and women
are no more than slick marketing gurus who play on the fears and hatreds of
people to make money and push their evil doctrines. Many of these same modern day prophets have
lives filled with scandal, adulterous affairs and divorce. Their families are broken and destroyed by
their evil living. Yet, they have the
follower in the thousands. What is wrong with this picture?
What is sad is that many of these
ministers have made their alliances with those who are out to destroy not only
the church but our country as well.
These same ministers have bowed to the power of mammon and no longer
stand for truth. There was a time in
this country where these ministers had the vision of what God can do but they
were drawn away by their own lust to fulfill their evil desires.
When the prophets are silent and the
Word of God is in short supply, the church withers and dies. When the church dies, so does the country. Is there hope? The hands of the true prophets of God have
their hands tied and their mouths gagged by the fear of being politically incorrect
or controversial. The prophetic message
of God is seldom heard within the body of Christ today. The message needed today must come by the
spirit of God and not by consensus or debate.
For our
society to be renewed, it is necessary for the church, and by that I mean
individual Christians together, to become a prophetic voice to our land. We
must remember the price of being a prophet. If people were given the choice of
straightening the wall or killing the prophet, they will usually kill the prophet
instead of straightening the wall.
In the Minor Prophets and Daniel each of these books had a
prophetic vision for the people. That
message never changed it was the prophets of God proclaiming the coming
judgment if the people or nation did not repent and turn from their evil
ways. That message has not changed
throughout the centuries. If the people
reject the message their nation was destroyed.
Solomon tells us that where there is no prophetic message the people
perish.
Judgment must first begin at the house of God. The reason
America is going down the road of immorality is it is allowed from the pulpit.
The reason there is a lack of scriptural knowledge in this country is the
pulpit is not proclaiming the scripture.
The reason our politicians are so corrupt is that righteous people do
not hold them accountable for their actions and this falls on those in the
pulpit.
I have lived long enough to see the past three generations
disregard what previous generations held to be the foundational principles of
faith. They have become the critics of
the church reminding us of our social obligation while telling us that we
should remain silent regarding political issues—which by the way do impact
social issues. The social issues that we
are told to stay away from are the very problems they expect the church to
solve. How can a minister preach about
the sanity of life without exposing the evils of abortions? How can a minister preach about the structure
of the family without exposing the evils that destroy the family unit? How can a minister preach about loving ones
neighbor without exposing hatred, malice and strife? How can a minister preach about honesty,
integrity, accountability and responsibility without exposing the social and
political issues of the day?
Our pulpits have become silent on the controversial issue of
the day because there are those who give lips service of wanting to hear the truth
but become angry and even hostile when the truth is given. Those wanting to hear the message from the
scripture are content to keep Moses in the bulrushes and Jesus in the manger
but do not want to her the message of Law and Grace as it relates to their
spiritual condition.
America is approaching another election year and true
Christians should vote into office men who are honest, upright and fit to be
trusted and not because they belong to the political party you support. Christians have been guilty of voting in the
“best of two evils”. It is time to stop
supporting evil men and expect them to do what is right. If America is to find
salvation and alter the coming judgment of God, we need a voice from the pulpit
that brings conviction upon the hearts of Christians. We need to stop the shallow platitudes and
slogans and become authentic in our relationship with Jesus Christ. This only comes when we hunger and thirst
after righteousness and have the courage to repent and turn from our evil ways.
We are living in uncertain times. Many have had their faith shaken from the
false-prophets creating disillusionment, disappointment and
discouragements. They have lost the
vision and have been distracted from God by a weakened message from the
pulpit. To change this falling away
there must be voices of truth from our pulpits reminding us of the basic
foundational doctrines of the Word of God.
We do not need preachers and politicians who are gifted speakers but men
unafraid to speak the truth in a manner that causes men and women to change
their lives.
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