Obviously,
I'm not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people
were my goal, I would not be Christ's servant. -- Galatians 1: 10 (NLT)
This was the question posed to me
this morning by a friend of mine. Is there any church you like? I have written
before about the unpopularity of writing in a discernment ministry. No one
likes their tree shaken. I get that; I really do. But the calling I have been
given is a burden and that burden is for people who are unsaved, sitting in
church pews across this country. People who are taught to play church. Who are
fed a steady diet of rotten spiritual milk. I know the Scriptures that clearly
show there will be people on the last day stunned that they are not in Christ.
People who may have spent a great portion of their time here on earth thinking
they were serving Jesus, only to discover in the end that He never knew them.
That is frightening to me.
Realize this has nothing to do with
me. Of these I am the least. I write all the time about the bar God found me
in. I am amazed that God uses me for anything. I am nothing but a sinner saved
by the grace of an unbelievably forgiving God. Whatever I have, I have because
God allowed it. Whatever success I enjoy, God has provided. I do not view
blessings in the future tense. God could do nothing else for me the rest of my
life and He still would have done everything for me. Also, this is not about
seeking perfection in the church. No church will ever be perfect because men run
them. But there is a stark difference between imperfect and apostate. There is
a stark difference between imperfection and heretical teaching that undermines
the Gospel of Jesus Christ and sends people on the broad path to destruction;
singing kumbya and thinking they are saved. I am not the one that said many
will say Lord Lord only not to enter the Kingdom -- Jesus said it. I am not the
one that said the path to heaven is on a narrow road that few find -- Jesus said
it. I did not say that many will arise from within the church system and lead
the elect away -- God did.
I
speak the truth in Christ--I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the
Holy Spirit-- I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. --
Romans 9: 1-2 (NIV)
What was upsetting Paul so greatly
here was the rejection of Christ by his own people, the Jews. Likewise I feel
great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart when I think about my people,
Christians, and their own rejection of Christ for the systems of man made logic
that so many of our churches have become. I gain nothing for this here on earth
but as the key verses always remind me, it is Christ that I must seek to please
and not man. I am not a servant of the church -- but rather a servant of God. So
is there any church I like?
Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. Therefore take heed
to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers,
to shepherd the
There were so many Scriptures I
could have turned to but these are from Paul's farewell to the leaders of the
new church he had formed in
Secondly, I like a church that
tends to the entire flock. We are not called to shepherd just those we like or
those that agree with us -- but all the sheep. The parable of the 99 and 1 could
not be clearer. I once heard a pastor tell a congregation that if they had a
problem with someone in the church they were unable to resolve they needed to
leave! And two weeks later he preached on the 99 and 1! The
Lastly, I like a church that
understands the spiritual war we are in. A church that understands that we will
be attacked by wolves from both the inside and the outside. Notice that in
these verses? We will have savage wolves from the outside coming into the
church and not sparing the flock. Additionally however, Paul warns us that
people will arise from within our own numbers, speaking perverse things, to
draw away disciples to themselves. Not for the cause of Christ - but for their
own cause. Perverse is anything deviating from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Prosperity heresy is perverse. Seeker friendly and purpose driven are perverse.
False signs and wonders and demonic "testimonies" about hanging out in the
throne room of God are perverse.
These are not my words beloved.
They are the Words of God. I did not write the Bible -- I only preach it. Some
have asked why point out the heresy? Why not just preach what is right? Because
like the
Rev. Anthony.
