The Spirit of the
Revelation 3:
14-17 "To the angel of the church in
A Methodist Church in Iowa last December displayed a nativity scene with two women serving as the parents of Jesus. The Presbyterian Church changed its constitution regarding ordination of ministers by removing all language about marriage being between a man and a woman and any references to the need to repent of sin. The 60 year old ministry formerly known as Campus Crusade for Christ has changed its name to "cru", removing Christ from its name. The Prophet Isaiah warns:
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Isaiah 5: 20 (NIV)
You have to realize the foundations these ministries and churches were built upon to truly grasp the sadness of the current state of affairs. The Presbyterian Church was founded in the 1500's by a man who studied with John Calvin, the force behind the Protestant Reformation which brought the church out of the dark ages and back to God. The Methodist Church foundation is credited to John Wesley in the 1700's. Campus Crusade for Christ has 25,000 team members, ministering in 191 countries today. In response to their firestorm, the Vice President for "cru" Steve Sellers said, "Cru enables us to have discussions about Christ with people who might initially be turned off by a more overtly Christian name. We believe that our interaction and our communication with the world will be what ultimately honors and glorifies Christ." Huh? So you are going to trick them into Christianity? Is His Word no longer powerful enough to break yokes and set captives free? "Cru" should consider the words from Job:
"Are you defending God with lies? Do you make your dishonest arguments for his sake? Will you slant your testimony in his favor? Will you argue God's case for him? What will happen when he finds out what you are doing? Can you fool him as easily as you fool people? No, you will be in trouble with him if you secretly slant your testimony in his favor. Doesn't his majesty terrify you? Doesn't your fear of him overwhelm you? Your platitudes are as valuable as ashes. Your defense is as fragile as a clay pot. Job 13: 7-12 (NLT)
Not only has the American church lost the terror of God's majesty but in many cases it is not even considered anymore. To Mr. Sellers it might seem like a sensible thing but we do not honor and glorify Christ be refusing to include His name:
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3: 17 (NIV)
Now, this is not an exercise of picking on one ministry or
denominational error. These are actually just a representative microcosm of
what we see throughout this country in mainstream churches. There are so many
parallels between the modern church and the nation of
