Where Is The Church Deceived?

There is a lot of buzz on the internet about deception in the Church. We know the world is deceived, but the Church? The Church isn’t supposed to be deceived, after all, isn’t the Church the repository of truth? Isn’t the “lost” being saved from the deception and lies of the world by the Church? What about the great masses of people that pack the Church buildings on any given Sunday, are they deceived? Are they still in their sins? These are good questions, and many more related questions could be asked like: Are deceived people saved? Are we saved from deception? Are we being lied to from the pulpit? Each of these deserves to be handled separately, but in an effort to get at the essence of the problem I just ask “Where is the Church Deceived?” When I say “the Church” I am speaking in broad general terms and do not mean the true Body of Christ that is small and virtually hidden by the large, highly publicized, and comfortable false Laodicean church. The deceived church I speak of is the church in general, associated with outward showiness and forms, and also most of what constitutes the new breed of post-modern house, mega, and emerging churches.

If Scripture is correct, we will look for the deception to appeal to man on a level that is palatable to the “outward man,” the man of the flesh, the natural man, the man of emotion, intellect, and energy, the man of the soul. When we look for the essence of deception, we look past the effects, or the symptoms and focus on the root causes and fundamentals. If we want to find a remedy we must understand something of the primary nature of the disease. So, when we want to determine the cause of the Church’s failure we have to go deeper than treating the outward manifestations that take place at the perimeter, we must understand spiritual truths, truths that are ignored because of its demands on the flesh, even though they are talked about in cell groups, book studies, and given complimentary treatment by preachers. We know these truths are ignored, and only symptoms treated, because we are witnessing a massive failure of the Church to be effective in changing the lives of people on a spiritual level, and we see the “gates of Hell,” not only prevailing, but driving back the Church at every turn, and as Isaiah prophesies Isa 59:14 “Justice is turned back, And righteousness stands afar off; For truth is fallen in the street . . . ” What is the essence of this failure? What is this “truth” that is being ignored? The failure, or the symptoms we see manifested at the perimeter, is the result of a lack of spiritual knowledge and understanding. Hosea 4:6 says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me . . . ,” and Amos 8:11 concurs, “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord GOD, “That I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine of bread, Nor a thirst for water, But of hearing (understanding) the words of the LORD,” and we are witnessing the truth of those words by the continual promotion of the flesh to a place equal to the spirit.

The Missing Meaning

There is a form of knowledge that is absolutely necessary for Christians to be healthy, and it is noticeably absent. There is a type of knowledge that exists that is unknowable to the unregenerate; it is impossible for them to know it. They cannot decide to know it. It cannot be grasped through reason or intellect, or by an act of the will. Humans cannot understand it any more than a worm can understand the life of a butterfly. Like the butterfly there has to be a metamorphosis, a change in the entire constitution of the creature; the Bible calls it a new-birth. A person must be reconstituted with a new nature to be able to begin to understand the language of the new nature. I do not mean to imply that this new ability comes to us complete at the new-birth any more than a little child comes complete with all the knowledge of a mature adult. The new nature merely provides the potential to understand spiritual things. It is not a blank check for us to fill in, or a license to experiment, the new birth only puts us over the threshold of the entrance to a vast deep sea of knowledge. This is a knowledge that must be mined like gold, and not gathered in the same manner as the world accumulates knowledge. Although this knowledge and understanding is necessary for proper Christian growth, it will often appear as “foolishness” to the unregenerate man and immature Christian, but Scriptures say that “the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of men.” So, we see that this is not the same knowledge that one would gather from study; the kind of knowledge that is applauded by men, or the kind that wins awards and earns certificates of approval from their peers. This is a kind of knowledge that is rejected and ridiculed by the world and, unfortunately, by most of the “church.”

Faith and Trust the Vehicle of Truth

Prov 20:27 “The spirit of a man is the lamp of the LORD, Searching all the inner depths of his heart.” John 7:16-18 “…My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.” By rebirth our spirit is renewed and spiritual communion reinitiated with our creator. It is our spirit that is made new, not our soul, and certainly not the flesh which has a death sentence attached to it. The spirit which was once dead, as a result of Adam’s sin and separated from God, is now made alive by the mysterious work of faith and trust in the work of Christ on our behalf. God is Spirit and those who fellowship with the Father must have spiritual awareness. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” God does not come to us on the level of the flesh, but of the spirit and truth. As we learn to be faithful to the truth that is revealed to us we are given deeper understanding, and the truth of God becomes a light unto our feet and searches out the recesses of the soul. The renewed spirit in man is now enabled, by a spiritual law, to regain control and govern the soul and flesh through faith and trust in the abilities of God to fulfill His will in our lives. It is this knowledge in our spirit, that God can be trusted, and that He is faithful to Himself and cannot lie, that is the great persevering strength of the believer, it is the belief that all the promises of God are yea and amen. Apart from this, all that remains is the machinery of men, i.e., will power, striving, effort, labor, strain, and struggle, and none of that is spiritual, at all. There is a deep divide between the technical understanding of God and the spiritual understanding of God, and there is no bridge crossing over the gap. The Jews were living proof of this principal. They had a tremendous amount of accumulated technical knowledge of the Old Testament and God, but when the Messiah, who they greatly anticipated, finally appeared on the scene they never recognized Him, and they missed out on everything. It is no different today! Our Bible Schools and Colleges are producing technicians by the truckload who have no clue about spiritual things. There is not one in a hundred who understand spiritual things, and that may be a generous estimate. Faith and trust are the only prerequisites of spiritual understanding.

How Do Christians Get Spiritual Knowledge?

Job 11:7 “Canst thou by searching find out God?” Eph 1:17-18 “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may GIVE unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know . . . ”“But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom . . . ” 1 Cor 1:30

Spiritual knowledge is a gift, but dead men can not receive gifts. Dead men must be restored to life first. There are worldlings trying to be Christians, and there are Christians trying to understand God through the flesh, and both are futile. Almost all of what Christians do today, and the decisions they make are based on what seems to them to be sound and right arguments, and reasons, and a judgment of what is good and desirable. When those judgments are found to be faulty, their conscience returns again and again to condemn them. Although their conscience may accuse them, and with practice excuse them, it cannot restore them to a right relationship or provide knowledge of God. Carnal Christians, living on the level of the flesh cannot experience the true Sabbath rest spoken of by our Lord, but are driven, by the flesh, to be accepted of God by performing things they “reason” are pleasing to God. Through our study, prayer, and obedience, God may give us understanding according to His will. As we walk in the light of Christ as our example, we will begin to understand the wisdom incorporated in the very life of Jesus Himself, who was “made unto us wisdom.” That wisdom becomes the spiritual affirmation that we can now rest from our own works, and be at peace, and experience joy unspeakable and full of glory.

Worldly Knowledge vs. Spiritual Knowledge

Humans are information gathering machines. We accumulate information consciously and unconsciously, intentionally and unintentionally. It is as if we had an invisible antenna sticking out of the top of our head receiving transmissions from everything around us. Psychologist, marketers of consumer products, and marketers of religion understand this concept and use this understanding to manipulate men for their own purposes. Most of the decisions we make consciously were already predetermined, at least in part, in our unconscious minds before we ever consciously decide anything. Men, yes even religious men, and Satan, use this “common” knowledge to create lures, to attract “customers,” and separate them from their valuables, both monetary and eternal, by breaking down unfavorable thought patterns and burning into their prospective customer’s minds slogans, logos, catch phrases, and mental pictures that foster instant recall. In the marketing industry this is known as “branding.” Men, and Satan, know how to best deceive and manipulate the natural man who lives on the level of lust and desire, to buy into their deception. They know how to present their product in the best light (which is actually a lack of light, or truth) to appeal to the “lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life,” and entice their customer to make decisions based on impulse and not truth. They use the weakness of the flesh as a hook on which to hang their particular product. Ruthless and unscrupulous businessmen, and Christians, know that everything is “marketing,” and that the wisdom of this world will produce success, in this world. The children of this world are very wise in the ways of their father, the Devil. Successful marketers, and I include most modern pastors and church planters, understand that decisions concerning their product were made long before they ever pulled out their check books, signed a membership card, took an oath, or made a conscious commitment to follow through on a decision. Marketing or advertising is virtually all designed as an enticement to the flesh, providing information that will sway a person to act on the level of the carnal nature. There is advertising that is information only, but strictly speaking, this is not marketing. The marketing and information, I speak of, is of the world, and not of the spirit; it is Devilish and evil. For example, I saw a tabloid the other day in the check out lane of the grocery store showing a line-up of female celebrities without make-up, it was frightening. All those Hollywood idols are just as bland and ugly as the lie they live; take away the marketing device of “make-up” and the ugly lie is exposed. Again, salespeople know that you make unconscious decisions as soon as you pull into a parking lot. The antenna on your head immediately begins picking up information about how the parking lot looks: the space markers being hardly visible; there are cigarette butts and trash laying around, or it is exceptionally clean and swept; the windows are dirty, etc.; the logo, the colors, the lettering are all evaluated, by the master marketer, to bring down barriers of resistance, and feed fleshly desires, even the aisles in grocery stores are laid out to tempt you to buy a certain product, and a certain quantity, at a certain time. Internal, unconscious decisions are made as to whether or not you want to purchase a product from this marketer, before you ever enter his store. Different types of marketing strategies target different market sectors (potential customers), after determining which ploy most easily deceives their target audience: should they be offensive or non-offensive, promote family values or not, or environmentally friendly; if it is good for business then it is “good,” and the list goes on ad nauseam. Popular sports stars promote hospitals, charities, and lead the unwary to believe these stars are super-spiritual as a means of worldly persuasion in attracting new customers to “church.” But, the point is this, everything in and of the world is trying to sell or deceive you, and the organized church is on-board with the world, and is no exception. Marketing lives or dies by deception. Marketing’s daily bread is the lie, and it lives to deceive.

Everything is Marketing

Jer 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked ; Who can know it?”
The hearts of men are wicked, and will, without encouragement, take advantage of his own brother. I said earlier that everything is marketing and it is true, from your earliest days as a child you learned to say just the right thing to get what you wanted, to your teen years of wearing the right clothes and smelling a certain way to entice a wanted reaction, to your graduate years of embellishing that resume to impress a future employer, to your years as a pastor to grow your church by appeals to the flesh through perfectly choreographed entertainment and advertisement. The nature of marketing is worldly, and the nature of this world is evil, and the nature of evil is sin. This is the knowledge of the world and church growth methods are no better than their evil twin, merchandising, only the currency of the Church are the souls of men.

Marketing has nothing to do with the Kingdom of God, but it has everything to do with deception and “perception.” What I mean is this; truth is secondary and is only implied in the world as a whole, and in the world of marketing. Prov 14:12 “There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.” They equate truth with “value,” but value is a relative quantity and can be different with everyone. Marketers, and again I include most modern Churches, are very familiar with the term “perceived value.” It is a term used by marketers which simply means that the value or worth, or truth of a product, exists primarily in a person’s mind, not the product. The truth or worth of the product depends, not on some absolute value, but how it was received or perceived. In other words the truth becomes relative to how the person feels about the product personally, it is defined by the flesh. Truth is no longer truth because it is true, it is true because we have either accepted it, rejected it, or modified it. All the skills of marketing “excellence” have come into play with the marketing of the Church as a product, to be sold through enticements and perceptions, and the “laity” are merely customers, of which merchants can never have enough of, and are always enticing potential customers to try their product.

If you can understand what has just been said then you should be able to easily understand why the Bible–the documented “truth” of God–describes Satan as the Prince of this world, the father of lies, and the Deceiver of whole nations. All of these marketing shenanigans are a mockery of the truth, which is a mockery of God, and God declares that He will not be mocked, and commands all true believers to separate themselves from what He aptly describes as prostitution.

The “rest,” “peace,” and “joy” that our souls desire is not to be found in these devises and perceptions of truth, even when they are brought into the Church and sanitized by attaching the name of Jesus to them. Is it any wonder the way is so narrow and excludes many, and the gate so strait and extremely difficult to pass through, and is it any wonder that Jesus asked whether He would find any faith, at all, on the earth when He returns? Will anyone be really believing in, and trusting the Father, to provide their daily bread?, not as long as we can promote, advertise, and market! We see great impressive numbers coming into the Church today, and we see bigness and boldness, and we see a visible production and promotion of spirituality, and it is all too obvious. If this is truly the last days, and the last hours, then all of this must be the world of perceived values, and consequently deceived values, and the really funny and dangerous thing is this, we love it this way; we wouldn’t have it any other way; we love our marketing and those sweet little lies that justify our indulgence. The Prince of Marketing is very much alive and well in the local Church.

The Gift of Knowledge

Spiritual knowledge is a gift, it cannot be bought or sold, because it is free. God cannot be found by searching. We cannot know God through mental or spiritual exercises (silence, mantras, contemplation, Lectio Divina, positive thinking), mood manipulation (candles, incense, lights, sound, art), or posture (standing, sitting, kneeling, dancing, rolling), or any other mechanics that might be determined as a reasonable approach of conjuring up God. Faith alone is the answer to how we acquire knowledge of God, as it has always been, and always will be.

Conclusion

The marketing department of Hell has, for many centuries, produced AWARD WINNING salesmen, and some of the best of them have been the very ones we admire as spiritual leaders. Where the Church is deceived is in the fact that it has bought into this magnificent manipulation of knowledge. The Organized Church is deceived in its thinking that it has true knowledge when, the fact is, that it has been sold a bill-of-goods, in supposing that the truth of God resembles the truth of the world. It is deceived in feeling that the “perceived” truth of Scripture is the “Truth,” even though every church on the block perceives it differently; and that truth is identified with a beautiful presentation of a speech, a building, or some particular way of doing something. God declares, in the midst of all the visible success, that His people are destroyed for a lack of (true) knowledge. There is a Knowledge that is Divine and bears no resemblance to worldly knowledge. Knowledge of the Holy is the only real knowledge, and it is not available as a commodity to be bought and sold at book stores, or on television, or on-line; it is a gift to those who truly seek it, with all their heart, mind, and soul. Truth comes to us, we do not go to it.

The whole Church is corrupted with the faulty knowledge that man can produce and package truth in such a way that will sell, not only automobiles when used by the world, but lure, and tempt, people into the Kingdom of God, and that these people will be surprised to find out that they have made a wise choice and purchased, by chance, a winning product or a ticket on the bus to Heaven. The Church is deceived in thinking that they can manipulate people into becoming Christians through marketing and advertising, and substitute man-made spiritual disciplines for faith and trust. The Church is deceived in thinking that, by way of a slick campaign strategy, that once it gets people into their store/church that they can then sell them on the Gospel. If it walks like a duck, and talks like a duck, we can know it is a duck, but for some reason if it looks like the world, and sounds like the world, we have been led to believe it is not the world, but the spirit. The Church is deceived in assuming that acquiring knowledge from any source, is valid knowledge, and that it doesn’t matter where it comes from as long as it is “Biblical” knowledge. They believe that being a good technician of Scripture will reveal spiritual knowledge; that the Spirit of God dwells with good methodology. Colleges subvert truth with their profane marketing and advertising on billboards and radio, and in magazines. Churches are deceived in believing that all the resources of the world have to be brought to bear in their promotion of Church growth, and that if it fails it was a lack of faith. And, like the world, they are judged by their size, or the amount of giving, or some other outward sign of success, that agrees with the world in gauging success. This is all deception, and not the truth; it is not trust, it is not obedience, it is not Christ like, because it is not Faith in God, it is rebellion against the Almighty, and is the open prostitution of the Church. Where is the Church deceived? It is deceived by not knowing the truth; it is deceived from a lack of knowledge; it is deceived in thinking it knows God, when in reality they have signed a covenant of death with Satan, the Prince of Planet Earth. The Church is deceived because they can not tell the difference between the world and the spirit, and they are being destroyed.

The Church, the Threshing Floor, and War

As we make our way through our tour of duty on planet Earth, should we think God is satisfied with our level of “Christian” participation? I think it could be safely said that God is not yet satisfied.

What I understand from God’s written message regarding His followers is that there have been, in the past, and are presently, many more supposed followers exiting from service (through various means), or stalling-out, in their service to God, than there are those eagerly enlisting and volunteering for what the Bible suitably portrays as hazardous duty. To be more explicit, no sooner has a man gotten a glimpse of some genuine truth than he is off on some rabbit trail of his own reasoning looking for justification to validate his own conclusions, and surrounding, and protecting his discovery with a whole troop of toy soldiers, believing he has soundly thought through his faith, and is safe in his own little citadel. Many others have deliberately thrown in with the enemy on a promise of security, and others are snared and held comfortably captive in the world of “Vanity Fair.” We are especially warned to NOT be deceived in these last days. Even we in the “watchman” camp have to be careful and continually re-examine our position as new light is revealed. Now that the “Church” has come under a microscope through current events, we simply cannot assume that old traditions and creeds will suffice; only the Bible is able to unravel the web of confusion that the Church has gotten into. It is easy to get mired down in external events: politics, heresies, statistics, organizations, and structures, and lose focus of God’s workings to effect the inner man.

The Preciousness of the Bride

The seemingly new discovery and realization that the Bride of Christ is much more precious than previously thought, due to the nearness of the Groom, has motivated some to come to the defense of her honor. What we must do now is come to the conclusion, God’s conclusion, that there is much more truth to be learned concerning the Church, and that God is not satisfied with a single discovery, or to prop-up old Church traditions and organizations, regardless that men hold them to be sacred. To fight a battle on a single front or a single issue does not constitute a war, or to believe that our Father wishes us to re-fight the battle of the Reformation and stop there is wrong; the Church must be more precious than even Luther or Calvin realized. To return to the Reformation, when you have been commanded to “do your first works over again,” is to stop short of understanding and complete victory. We are not told to return to the revivals of Wesley, Edwards, or Finney. We are not told to re-play the Reformation, or re-examine the “creeds” or the ecumenical councils of Constantine. We are not told to stop abortion, or build hospitals, or universities, or march on Washington, or to focus on the family, but we are told to be holy even as the Father is Holy, and to come out from among them and touch not the unclean thing. We are not to stop short of returning to the very foundation of our faith, which is the Prophets, and the Apostles, and Jesus Christ as the chief Corner Stone. To stop the advance of the Church, by getting involved in the battles of this world, is to be disobedient to Christ’s command and to fall short of true glory and the victory He intended. To re-discover the true preciousness of the Bride is to discover a foundation that has been covered over with many false structures and unsafe buildings that spell doom for them who depend too much on their offer of shelter. All these structures must be cleared from the foundation and a new Spiritual structure erected. The structure may be small and not have the outward glory remembered by the elders, but it will be the building that God builds and approves. Many things must go that we cling to for safety, thinking they will suffice in a day of severe trial, but only one thing is required, a return to the foundation and a rebuilding as per God’s instructions. The Bride is precious in God’s sight and she must be purified and the spots that spoil her appearance removed. Those spots are all the adornments with which she has clothed herself through the centuries, (creeds, councils, colleges, churches, and choirs) all the administrations of men and not the Lord.

What we have really discovered, concerning the Church, as the result of those who have paraded the Bride around as a prostitute, are obvious things that have served as a wake-up call to the Elect; it has only just gotten our attention. The truth that the Church is precious has been forced to the surface and demands a spiritual response. This present conflict should serve as a test of our resolve to fully finish our Lord’s desire of having His Church in a pure state and un-spotted by the world of men and Satan, and ready for His soon return. This foundational truth is a basic principal, which for the most part has laid dormant, but now is demanding that there be a forward movement into greater depths of Spiritual awareness. Purification has always come through crisis and it will be no different now.

The Threshing Floor

This initial conflict can be viewed as just the beginning of a threshing floor experience. Like David and the threshing floor of Ornan, the ground on which the Temple was to be erected, came at great cost, and would not be had for nothing. David well knew the cost and the lessons of the threshing floor, at the hand of God Himself. Mount Moriah forever symbolizes the place of testing. Is it a coincident that the Temple of Solomon (a picture of Christ) was to be built on a threshing floor? David would provide the raw material of which the Temple would be built. David was not the builder of the Temple, and could not be, he was a bloody man, proven and proven and proven again, over, and over, till the dross was driven from him, and made fit for the Masters use, as a living stone in the Temple of Christ. You see, this present process is but the beginning, there is much of man and the flesh that pollutes the Church, and it must be driven out. God is not satisfied with the Church yet, there is more threshing to come, more separating to take place, more chaff to be removed; it is the cleansing of the Bride.

It is no coincident that Solomon’s Temple was constructed on the threshing floor of Ornan. When David made the declaration to Ornan the Jebusite that he would not present something to God that has cost him nothing, he was speaking, not only of his immediate circumstance, but also to you and I, that the cost involved in the preparation of the materials must be paid at the threshing floor. What we see in the life of David is a picture of the Church, which is the building material that is tested repeatedly, and proven by many trials of faith and loyalty in God’s ability to purify and keep him. Our Father is calling out the Church, and this calling has much to do with purging, that is part and parcel of what goes on at the threshing floor. And so, we understand the calling of the Church to persevere, to maintain vigilance, and to not only start the race, but to finish.

Vain Imaginations

We must not allow ourselves the liberty of imaging that this present argument or disagreement is the war to end all wars. As bad as it may appear, and as eager as we are to respond, it may be nothing more than the wiles of Satan to draw the saints of God into the open and appeal to their flesh in retaliation; a temptation to resort to our minds and our muscle, and to fight a battle of the Devil’s choosing and on his terms.

We must not allow ourselves the liberty to imagine that this present battle is the main focus of God. It is important, without question, but don’t entertain the thought that it is about the battle. It is not the battle that matters, the victory is already decided, it is about the Church and separation, and testing, and purification. God will have His victory, with or without us. The true Church must look and see the falseness of what is happening, and know that the Spirit is winnowing out the chaff, that a separation and narrowing is taking place, a refining and purification process of the Bride of Christ. If we look too hard at the battle and allow the battle to become a thing in and of itself, and not a process of preparation, we will miss something priceless. It is not about the battle or the circumstances in which we find ourselves; it is about the Church, the Body and Bride of Christ, and about understanding spiritual things. Personal and corporate holiness is the chief aim now, as it was with David. Maintaining faith in a loving God while being prepared, sometimes harshly, and being found worthy to supply the raw, living material, for the construction of a Tabernacle, a dwelling place for God, fit to be called the inheritance of the Father, is no minor calling.

This present battle can easily be used by the enemy as a diversion, and used by men for self-promotion. We have discovered some faults, discrepancies, and flaws already in the Church, and we must not stop looking. The process of separation and sanctification must continue. The Church is still not prepared, and, I do believe that the threshing has begun in earnest. Many in the organized Church who profess to be watchman must do the hard work of self-examination then continue with the exposing of error and falsehood in the body. The Church needs to look inward and find other battles to wage, and in faith, allow God to destroy those idols that hinder the Church from moving in all of its glory, as magnified by a relentless belief in the sufficiency of Him who calls us. It is the Church that supplies the raw materials, as exemplified by David himself. It is Christ who builds the Temple, as exemplified by Solomon in all his glory of unlimited riches, wisdom, and grace. David was the warrior covered in blood, representing the many battles he waged, but in all of his obedience, purging, and purifying he was not adequate for the task of building a Dwelling place for God, that had to be left to another, even Christ.

The Real War is in the Heavenlies

The Church is re-discovering the real necessity of spiritual warfare, it is no longer an imagined thing or hypothetical, it is real, and it is a “clear and present danger” to those who do not understand Scripture. If the Church stalls-out here, which it appears to be doing, there will be many casualties. Not all watchman or followers will survive the coming conflicts. When Moses and Joshua led the people into battle sometimes there were few loses, sometimes there were many, but when fighters went out to battle the timid and weak, and those who had conflicts of loyalty, like newly married men, or those who had doubts or divisions in their own or other’s abilities were better left in the camp. And, so it is with the saints of God today; a lack of faith and trust, through improper understanding and preparation, spells casualties for those who think this is a war against flesh and blood. To speak of true Biblical holiness and separation will put you at odds with those who profess a more limited separation and still hold to traditional man-made Church values and organizational hierarchies. “Deep calls unto deep” in these matters and God is always, in all ways, calling His Church to greater measures of faith and into waters that require absolute trust and loyalty; this too is the threshing floor. Our preparation does not stop at the “new birth,” and sanctification does not stop with regeneration, but is a continually advancing experience of deeper trust in God. What we see going on in the Blogosphere is saber rattling; it is a faceless conflict of words, and at best is but a training ground for something more real, at a real time in the future, when our real adversary will bring real men, face-to-face, eyeball-to-eyeball, and test our resolve of loyalty. The war is not about Rick Warren, Brian McLaren, or Todd Bentley, it is about purging, preparation, and purification of the Temple building materials, it is about a bride fully awake, it is about the Church of the Living God, the Body of Christ.

If our desire is to dominate our enemy then we are deceived and no better off than the one we fight, because their goal is also to dominate the earth. Dominion on the other hand is spiritual. Dominion is the province of God, an area in which one has special knowledge, interest, or responsibility, and a wholly different way to govern. The dominion of God operates as usual, and is still in operation for the Christian by complete and total trust through faith. Our adversary wants nothing more than to wage war on his terms. If we expose error for the sole purpose of making our enemy angry, or as an insult to gain some advantage in the flesh we are failing the test and not serving Christ. To have dominion on the other hand is to present the truth boldly, for the benefit of the saints; to reach out to those who the Spirit of God has called, and to make their paths straight. When the conflict comes, and it will come, it is to NOT respond in like manner as our adversary, or to throw our hands up in defense, but to lower our arms and our tone, and turn the other cheek, and to portray Jesus all over again, and fill-up in ourselves what is lacking. There is no defense against dominion. Having dominion is God’s way of ruling, and purifying the Bride.

Religion: Satan’s Greatest Deception

It has always been a curious thing to me this thing called “religion.” I haven’t done a study on the number of religions that exist in the world: main line religions, their various branches, sects, cults, and spin offs, but the vastness has to be mind boggling, all claiming to be the truth, lead to the truth, or be a variant of the truth. Without a doubt, we are a very religious people. Our seeking after truth, and god, is endless. This persistent search for god and truth ends up being one of the classical proofs for the real God’s existence. C. S. Lewis said it something like this; desire is prophetic of its own fulfillment. Man has always desired a god, from the very beginning, as far as we can determine, and he has always been curious about the afterlife and the before-life: where he came from, where he is going, and looks for the answers in the sun, the moon, the sea, nature, idols, and anything else he can label “god.” Now, this desire, where did it come from? Do we desire things that do not exist? Lewis asked, if we were creatures from another planet, who had no knowledge or need of water and food, as we know it, would we get hungry or thirsty? The answer is, no! How can we desire something that does not exist? We get thirsty because water exists to satisfy our thirst. We get hungry because food exists to satisfy that desire. And, we seek after gods because of an innate desire and hunger for God. Our desire is a kind of prophesying that a satisfaction of that desire exists, even if we are not cognizant of its fulfillment. We cannot have a desire without a corresponding potential fulfillment of that desire. So, if men have always been in search of God by all their various methods, proper reasoning should conclude that, God exists. We may not have found God, just like a man in the desert may not find water, even though he desires it, but his thirst convinces him that it is needed and that it exists. A mirage is a false prophecy, a forgery of something he knows exists, a trick of the mind that draws the believer along on a worthless journey, and possible death.

Christians believe that in the beginning we were a different kind of being, spiritually united with God, having an intimate relationship and knowledge of his maker, and that through sin that relationship was terminated, but the desire or longing was left intact. And, since we are different creatures than what we were, it is necessary for us to be restored again to a proper relationship with God for us to know Him personally. Without that restored relationship man searches in vain to find the true God, and turns to trees, sky, rocks, money, sex, even demons, believing them to be God, and satisfy his desire. Although the methods and objects change it is the same desire. As a consequence we have all the wide variations of religion and the never-ending search for the truth about God and this thing that drives us. It is like taking all the fake gems of the world and putting them in a big fish bowl along with one authentic precious gem and trying to pick out the real one. It would be impossible, unless you had knowledge of gems, help from someone who knows gems, or inside information on what to look for. This is exactly what we Christians claim to have, inside information and help, from the true God Himself, the One who created the desire in the first place. This knowledge, and the answer to the riddle of religion, is not esoteric knowledge, given to only a few, this is knowledge that has been given to the whole world, and is simply a matter of accepting it and believing it, it is not a mirage. True Christians do-not have to extract this knowledge from the world, nor do they have to go into a trance, or contemplate, or meditate, or empty themselves, or walk a labyrinth, or recite a mantra, or decode ancient text, or practice Lectio Divina as a way to spawn communion with the Almighty. God Himself has made it very easy, just believe His Word, His Son, who is the final declaration of God and His will. In fact, God has made it so easy and obvious that it has become incomprehensible and ignored, when viewed along side of all the manmade beauty. A precious uncut gem, a diamond in-the-rough, is rejected for the glitter of cut glass.

Religion Does Not Satisfy Our Desires

Although we are a religious people most find that there is an unsatisfied craving for God, and an isolation from God, even of those who worship Him, even of His own people, and the ones called by His name, Israelites, and Christians. This is something well worth taking note of, this lack of satisfaction, seeing that there are so many, that have made so much of their linage, and have assumed so much, and presumed with absolute assurance that their religion will deliver them at the appointed time. A mirage of water will not satisfy your thirst, it only drives us further and intensifies our desire to be quenched. If we fail to see the significance of this we may very well perish in our deception. The deception I am speaking of is well documented in the Bible and we are warned to not allow ourselves to be tricked. Jews and Christians alike place much trust in the fact that they worship the true God, and this fact is justified by their pointing to an exclusiveness described in the Bible. But, nonetheless, the Bible is replete with stories of rejection by God when, to their surprise, they were found to be no different from all the other attempts of the pagans to fathom the deep waters of God, and ended up chasing an illusion, a mirage.

WARNING: Deceptions Ahead

For Christians, at this crucial time, we dare not ignore the numerous warning signs that declare that most of mankind will find that they have actually been in a league with the Devil. When Christ speaks of those who say, “Lord, Lord . . . ” He is speaking of Christians. When He speaks of those, who are in the “broad” way he is addressing those who think they are in the right way, the “narrow” way. When we are told to examine our self, it is to the Christian that it is spoken. These of whom we speak were all deceived. How can we know if we are among the deceived, the rejected? Jude 11 speaks of these deceived ones when he says, “Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.” Those who heard these words from Jude may have been offended, and considered him rude, cutting, and unloving, but they were, and are, words that need to be heard.

So, how is Christendom deceived, and how do we become undeceived? Let’s start at the beginning by examining what Jude calls, ” . . . the way of Cain.” The simple remedy for becoming undeceived is to displace error with truth.

Exposing Error

Is it possible to make a general statement defining or differentiating this deception? I think if there is such a statement it would have to include the concept that the deception comes about due to a wrong or misunderstood definition of spirituality, or by confusing spirituality with mysticism. First, we know that there are all kinds of ways to be religious, but God is very specific about what pleases Him and what makes followers acceptable. We can be religious and have great devotion, and appreciate the worship of others, and pray, and sing, and do mighty works, and at the same time be totally lost, while believing we are pleasing God. Secondly, we need to understand what is meant by “the way of Cain” as spoken by Jude. This understanding will give us light, as to where we are, where we might be, and on what road. The “Word of God” is sharp and able to divide asunder bone from marrow, and to distinguish between what is of the spirit and what is of the soul. Christians have much difficulty in this area, so understanding is crucial. And thirdly, it is nearly impossible for the common Christian to make the distinction between beauty, intelligence, the ascetic (characterized by the practice of severe self-discipline) and what is truly spiritual. They think there is an interrelationship between them, which would be a relationship between the world and God. In their minds they simply cannot imagine that these are two totally separate realms; two different countries, with two different kings, two different loyalties, and two different lives. Typically, When a person becomes a Christian all the burdens of the old life are hauled over into the new life and cleaned up some, and that is all. All their aspirations of making something of their “self,” dreams of success, fame and fortune, are all shaken out a bit, to remove some dirt, then repackaged and brought into the Church under the guise of now being Christian. There was no death, only a slight fainting spell or feeling of remorse. Now they’re Christians, trying to salvage something useful from that old life, like Achan, they bury and hide something that God has dedicated to destruction; it is hard to leave that life totally behind. The drive they had, and the enthusiasm to do something in the world, is now only redirected; now they will build something for God. Maybe they will build God a church, or save some souls for Him. This is what we see in most of the modern Churches today. All their activity is like cleaning up a harlot and her children for a Sunday Service, and today the Church is full of her offspring. This is the makings of religion, this is the “way of Cain,” and this is what is nearly impossible for “Christians” to comprehend. We don’t give Cain enough credit, we only remember that Cain killed his brother. Cain was no mere pagan, he was a devout man, and a sensitive man, and a craftsman, he had an altar, and he gave the Lord his best. I would bet that Cain’s produce was the best there was, and that his altar out shined Abel’s, and that he was meticulous in every way in his approach to God, and God rejected him. He worshiped God, then he killed his brother.

Christianity Today

Christianity today, as presented and practiced, is largely constituted and dominated by this sense of outward aesthetics and inward ascetics. In other words, when we apprehend or comprehend the “church” it is primarily received through its architecture, its rituals, its music, its adornment, its lighting, its tone, its atmosphere, its vestments, and how all of this is choreographed for maximum effect. All of this is confusing to men who initially went in search of the truth, but end up in the flesh. The Bible commands these men to be able to discern the things that differ, to be able to make a distinction between what is right and what is wrong, and good and evil. Christians have now accepted, without question or discernment, a presentation that is a false picture of the truth, and of what the Scriptures try to teach. This is all of the soul and it is the mark of spiritual death, and is what Jude calls, the way of Cain. I cannot deny that there are an intensity and emotion in worldly worship, which in many cases have translated into great organizations with resolve, dedication, commitment, and infectious influence. Great high thoughts and desires mark their devotion, but there is not a genuine long term character change. And, religion, as a whole, has this one thing in common, that repeated and changing appeals to the flesh must be maintained to insure the same quality of its adherents. With this attitude it is but a small step to a lethal dose of tolerance, contending that other religions, who appear to be just as devout and sincere in their own worship, should not be interfered with, that “truth” is not exclusive to Christianity and Christ, that some goodness and truth can be found in any of the other religions. Without a doubt, this is fatal.

Religion, in the checkered history of man, has had its highs and lows, but it is the same thing that causes both, we must remember that Cain worshiped God, then he killed his brother, and was rejected by the Lord.

Are you beginning to see how Satan has deceived us through religion, how the leaven has permeated the whole loaf? Religion is a mockery of the Truth, with all of it silliness and sadness, but don’t be deceived, the Bible says that God is not mocked.

Religion: God’s Enemy

Religion can be the greatest enemy of God, because it is Satan’s greatest deception. Whether it worships in all the beauty of an outward show, like Joel Osteen, Rick Warren, or Robert Schuller, or in the inner sanctum of the soul, like the desert fathers, it makes no difference, it is all the same deception. Aren’t we all aware by now how sublime thoughts of philosophy, poetry, music, art, and the stage go hand-in-hand with moral degeneracy and perversion? How very close to the truth all of this seems to come, but, ultimately reveals its roots in deception.

Mastering The Medium

Mysticism (vague or ill-defined religious or spiritual belief, especially as associated with a belief in the occult) is a great theme today and what wonderful inroads to the soul can be made by someone who is a master of the medium. But, it may all be false and of no value at all. It just ends up being an exercise of the flesh to satisfy your desire and to produce happy humans. Satan loves to put on a production, and to deliver to Christians a “likeness” or replica, a virtual Heaven on earth, and to keep them coming back for more. Cain took the bait and lost out on everything. Isn’t the Bible clear that God’s way is not like man’s way. God’s way is totally different than man’s way, yet everything we see in religion looks very much like something man would make, and the way he would make it, from the materials of earth, and if it is made of earthly stuff then it is earthly, not spiritual. Why is this so hard to see? Men are duped by skillful men who are themselves duped by the Devil. They are duped and defrauded by cheats and liars, making merchandise of men’s souls.

The Voice Of The Resurrected Ones

Those who have tasted of the sweet waters of this world and been brought to death’s door by the affliction of it’s poison see how all this is related, and being played out in the organized Church, and they understand the linage and the brotherhood of those involved. What we see as the wondrous elements of the arts: music, drama, literature, all created to arouse and stir, are the exact same elements in the explosive nature of contempt, hatred, depression, and murder. They are all the same, only on different stages with different actors, and at different times, but all crafted to stimulate the soul to move in the way of Cain: a little better music, a new program, new faces, new makeup, and new ways to worship. Wrap it up and present it to men, and tell them that God approves it as authentic and real, and the deal can be signed, sealed and delivered, without so much as a ripple being made. But, where has it gotten us, rejected. All this beauty and culture, although it may be preferred to the ugly and boring, as seen by the world, is no clue as to what and who is spiritual and knows God! Many of these individuals give the perception of being able to see deeper than most. They may be worldly wise and have an intuitive sense of what is around them or of what needs to be done. Through the use of the occult they may even be able to communicate with unseen forces. The way of Cain is complicated and very dangerous and draws the unwary out into deep waters where they are ruined mentally, morally, and physically. Jude was right, Woe, indeed.

Knowledge Of The Holy

How was Cain to know what God required? How did Abel come to know what would please God? What kind of knowledge was required to understand and to know God’s will? To answer these questions is to understand the difference between Cain and Abel, and the difference between “going” to Church, and “being” the Church, and the difference between presumption and faith, which is ultimately the difference between salvation and condemnation.

Abel’s knowledge of the Holy was a gift from God, not any different than today. It is impossible to know the un-knowable, unless it is revealed. Cain had much knowledge and was a believer, but it was in his “self” that he believed, as did Balaam and Korah. These three examples are for us today. They were believers in “self” and their religion was “self” worship. They had great faith in their abilities, their gifts, their potential, their destiny, and presumed a relationship with God which always allowed a freedom to exercise the unholy and still call upon His name. It was all an illusion, a shell game, slight of hand, a deception. They made assumptions about the world, as they knew it, and about God as they knew Him, that were entirely false.

Both Cain and Abel claimed to know God, but Cain was rejected.

Presumption And Ignorance: Friends Unto Death

The sin of presumption has a death sentence attached to it because assuming you’re a Christian is not the same as having faith in God. All three of the Characters mentioned by Jude in verse eleven, Cain, Balaam, and Korah assumed something about God and their religion that wasn’t true, and presumed upon a liberty that did not exist. We may present our beliefs with the beauty of Cain, the religiosity of Balaam, or the bravado of Korah, and be technically correct, and eloquently on cue, and end up in Hell. All the things that these gentlemen said or done may have been true and correct and receive great applaud, from their fans, creating large followings, with the end result, REJECTION, because you allowed yourself to be deceived.

Presumption and ignorance are deadly enemies of the believer, and are the foundation stones of all deception, and nearly all that has come to be called the Church. Those who presume too much, as Korah, and those who ignorantly followed him were all destroyed.

The Bible does not command you to try and find someone you like, who you feel is telling the truth, and then follow him. You are commanded to “know” the truth, for yourself, and to prove it by the only test you have been given, obedience, then you are to enter into fellowship with those who have done the same. The “Church” is then, for the sake of purity, to cast out those who rebel and cause division, like Korah, and to get rid of the Balaam’s and their soulish worship of greed, and not to tolerate Cain and his vanity and pride, but to separate yourself unto God.

These men and their progeny have diseased minds and hearts, much like a mentally ill person who believes a preposterous lie and cannot be convinced otherwise. You cannot reason with them, nor show proofs or documentation. To try and reason with them is useless and frustrating, and at a point even cruel. What these diseased people need, is not reasoning or apologetics, but a physician; they need to be healed.

As an end, and a positive conclusion, I want Psalm 107 to have the final word.

In His service,

Steve Blackwell

Ps 107:1-43

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the LORD say this - those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south. Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle. They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away. Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle. Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

Some sat in darkness and the deepest gloom, prisoners suffering in iron chains, for they had rebelled against the words of God and despised the counsel of the Most High. So he subjected them to bitter labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help. Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom and broke away their chains. Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron.

Some became fools through their rebellious ways and suffered affliction because of their iniquities. They loathed all food and drew near the gates of death. Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He sent forth his word and healed them;

he rescued them from the grave. Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men. Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy.

Others went out on the sea in ships; they were merchants on the mighty waters. They saw the works of the LORD, his wonderful deeds in the deep. For he spoke and stirred up a tempest

that lifted high the waves. They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths;

in their peril their courage melted away. They reeled and staggered like drunken men; they were at their wits’ end. Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven. Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men. Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people and praise him in the council of the elders.

He turned rivers into a desert, flowing springs into thirsty ground, and fruitful land into a salt waste, because of the wickedness of those who lived there. He turned the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into flowing springs; there he brought the hungry to live, and they founded a city where they could settle. They sowed fields and planted vineyards that yielded a fruitful harvest; he blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased, and he did not let their herds diminish. Then their numbers decreased, and they were humbled by oppression, calamity and sorrow; he who pours contempt on nobles

made them wander in a trackless waste. But he lifted the needy out of their affliction and increased their families like flocks.

The upright see and rejoice, but all the wicked shut their mouths. Whoever is wise, let him heed these things and consider the great love of the LORD.

The Voice: A New Bible For The New Age

2 Tim 4:3-5
“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations….”

It looks like we may not have enough Bible translations yet, another one is about to hit the market. We will eventually have Bibles enough to satisfy even the New Agers, a tweak here and a tweak there and the Gospel is actually disappearing before are very eyes.

In all fairness I have not read it yet, but in all fairness be careful. With the list of contributors and commentators we have every reason to be on guard. Chris Seay is highly regarded for his “innovative” thinking, and Chris Seay is a leader in the emerging church discussion and president of the Ecclesia Bible Society, the producers of this Bible. In The Voice Chris retells The Gospel of John with devotional commentary. Before you spend your hard earned money you may want to find out whose Voice it really is. BEWARE!

Steve Blackwell

Nashville, Tenn) June 17, 2008 – Thomas Nelson, Inc.’s Bible group is set to release The Voice New Testament in October 2008, featuring the first completely new Bible translation available to readers in several years.

The Voice represents a collaboration of historians, poets, storytellers and songwriters which provides a true interpretation of the traditional Bible text while including historical and cultural expansions of the story. With additional background on setting and characters, the project’s screenplay-like format is ideal for group studies and dramatizations, and the inserted devotional commentary will further help readers understand the context of the biblical story.

About 40 different authors are believed to have been inspired by God to write the Scriptures. The Voice retains the perspective of the human writers. Most English translations attempt to even out the styles of the different authors in sentence structure and vocabulary. Instead, The Voice distinguishes the uniqueness of each author. The heart of the project is retelling the story of the Bible in a form as fluid as modern literary works while remaining true to the original manuscripts.

Featured writers, scholars, artists and musicians for The Voice include the president of Ecclesia Bible Society and internationally acclaimed speaker and pastor Chris Seay (project founder); Blue Like Jazz author Donald Miller; internationally known speaker and author of over 12 highly acclaimed books Brian McLaren; theologian, author, and futurist Leonard Sweet; and nationally renowned author Lauren Winner. The translation and literary style of The Voice have been checked by biblical reviewers, theological scholars and a biblical archeologist, among others.

Replicating the manner in which the Bible was originally available in the church’s first century beginnings, The Voice translation has previously been introduced to the marketplace through the release of single books of the Bible, including Acts, Matthew, Luke, John, Hebrews, Mark and the soon-to-be-released The Voice of Romans. However, the release of The Voice New Testament marks the official launch of The Voice translation, bringing the previously released Scripture projects and the remaining Bible books together into one complete New Testament offering. The Thomas Nelson scholar/author team is also currently working on the Old Testament books which when finished will form The Voice Bible in its entirety.

For more information on The Voice New Testament and The Voice translation, visit www.hearthevoice.com or www.nelsonbibles.com.

God’s Secret Of Revival

The God of the Old Testament and the New Testament transcends all the ways of man, and at times has completely ignored men, and has made absolutely apparent His independence apart from the ways of men. Has this God, now in the days since Paul and the other apostles, decided to reveal His Glory through the magnification of men and their machinery? When we see, today, the fleshly exhibition of what men can accomplish, are we to believe that since Christ’s ascension , and the works of the Apostles, that God has turned over His Church to our own attempts at “revival” or “reformation”? Are we to accept that God has compromised His own abilities, to now accommodate the greatness and aptitude of men, and that men will now complete in the flesh what God started in the Spirit? Is God “not” the same today as he was yesterday? The answer is of course, yes, He is the same, but so is man!

These questions are presented here to make you think. Do we really see God’s finger prints on all of this we call the Church today. We see so much of what men have done though. Men’s dirty finger prints are all over the Church. Men and their machinery; men and their plans and programs; men and their money and monopoly, and some men have seemingly cornered the market on spirituality, and men follow men, and not God!

Much is being said, and many are praying for revival. With the carnival act going on in Florida, and the mega-mentality of the Church growth industry, it is being said and believed that, with the mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the people of God all problems would be addressed and remedied, all disabilities and debts relinquished, and all foolishness reversed, etc., etc., etc. Reference is made to past visitations and blessings, and loose translations of Scripture are trumpeted, with the intent that the sheep will draw certain conclusions as to God’s plans and their privileged position with the Almighty. True spirituality, as recorded in the Bible, invariably had the effect of making ridiculous many of the things of which the Church is so proud of today; calling childish most of what the Church requires as essential elements. True spirituality discounts many of the things the Church today takes for granted, and upsets the wagon of the status quo. This kind of revival only takes place when there is a real unity through connectedness, a commonness of spirit, and a foundation of oneness. Real revival is destructive and bold, and turns the world upside down. Revival is a great shaking, and causes things to come apart, and is not applauded by the world, but stomped on, and persecuted, and driven out, and extinguished– if possible.

Now, here is my point. If the Holy Spirit rejects and ignores most of what we think demonstrates, and makes evident, our Christian lifestyle, or transcends it, and makes it as though it were nothing in comparison, (and we know that the Holy Spirit will not compromise on what God considers essential), doesn’t all of this demand that we re-evaluate all that the Church has achieved? Doesn’t this demand that we look at it all again, and question the validity and the safety of the structure we have erected? Who has really built this thing we call the “Church?” Who owns the mortgage? Who collects a paycheck? Who has ordained its priesthood? Who has taught its teachers? Who has filed its tax exemption certificate? Who answers to a board of directors? Who choreographs the worship service? Who sends out missionaries? All of this is done while the laity watch, with their hands in their lap, sitting and standing on cue! Who? Who!? has built the Church that we see on every corner, God or men? Examine the bank account. Open the check register. Talk to the accountant; ask him who the church belongs to. Ask the little children: “whose Church is this?” and out of the mouth of babes come forth wisdom. This church belongs to Pastor John, or Brother Kerry, or this is the “peoples” Church, or the people of Eagle built this Church; their name is on it, and all the pastors stand in “their” pulpits, lifting their hands to heaven, and declare that “only God could do this,” referring to their own personal Tower of Babel.

When we have a very close hold on earthly and temporary things, like life in the flesh, things such as ritual, and buildings have a “more” and a “greater” place and prominence. Ceremony, Rites, Robes, Rules, and external things do not characterize a healthy and vibrant life in the Spirit. On the contrary, these characterize a lowering and a cheapening of the Spiritual life. These thing could very well be used as an index and a spiritual measuring rod; the more importance given to these things the lower the index. Spiritual strength and purity, on the other hand, identifies with Christ in His simplicity and emptiness of the things of the world, and in His meagerness, and humility, comes strength and power. This is what we see displayed in Scripture, and history proves it, by the flow of the Spirit, bearing the marks of God, and standing out in time. The days of the Church’s greatest spiritual power and impact were days when ecclesiastical forms, architecture and ritual were few, and the Lord Himself was everything.

God has not changed, and neither has man. When men see something that needs to be done, they do it. They just can not keep their hands off the things of God, they must count it, and weigh it, and sort it, and parcel it out to other men. This thing of the “Church” must be controlled and contained, it simply can not be left to the iffyness of the un-known. Has the Almighty, and All-Knowing Creator of all things really delivered the Church into the hands of men? Has God really switched plans and changed His mind, and now requires that churches be organizations instead of an Organism, a dead thing rather than a living thing? Has God now required that men only use the word “faith” as a religious word instead of really trusting Him for everything, even food and clothing? Has God now decided to have men build bigger barns and store up for the future, just in case of an emergency? Has God initiated a plan to use the Church as a social gathering place and government dispensing agency, and hopefully they will all have gyms and located in good zip codes, where affluence thrives? And, is He today even recommending that all symbolism be removed from buildings: crosses, pews, stain glass windows, and anything that might offend Pagan sensibilities. God has indeed changed, and only just in time, for the world has gotten really screwed up doing it the old way.

In times of true revival the Holy Spirit does not revive worldly religious things, He destroys them, and tears them down. All the machinery of men must go. Does it mean then, since we see the exploding of the mega-church growth movement, and the emerging movement, and the carnival healing movement, the massive machinery of men crawling over the earth, building God’s Church for Him, that we are in “Revival?” NO! It is the exact opposite, men have become mega-maniacs, gorged on their own foolishness, drooling all over themselves in their frantic efforts to reverse a world spinning out of control, and they dare not trust something so nebulous, as faith in God. They not only do not trust God, but teach others to not trust God. All these things of men must be left behind, but man has so much invested in his efforts that that is not likely to happen. The Bible just can not mean what it plainly says, there must be an answer elsewhere, and many men are vying for that cherished position, with preposterous presentations, and are winning great followings; it is insanity. The effects of revival is the smashing and tearing down of all our idols; the things that we have built up in our lives and in our heads as being necessary to the spiritual life. No sacrifice was ever made to God that did not die. To die is hard. To empty our selves is painful. To watch as God reduces to ashes our whole life, all that we have built and became attached to, it is nearly impossible to do. To take our most cherished possession and hand it over to God is a real stretch that throws our whole life out of joint. He doesn’t want our damaged goods, only our very best is good enough to give. That little lamb that would have been the beginning of that new flock, that would allow you the retirement you long for, that beauty, that had become the family pet, the one that was well beloved, it alone was good enough and you know it, spotless, without blemish, perfect in all his ways. You watch as your young son hands over the little lamb, and the priest puts the blade to his neck, and you watch as you see your retirement run out onto the ground, a scarlet red, and you watch as the body is laid on the altar, and you watch as your life goes up in smoke, a sweet savor unto the Lord. Then it is that you realize, you have been accepted of the Lord, and your life is in His hands, and you are truly safe and sound, in Him.

There is none of this in all the talk you hear today. There is none of this coming out of the pulpit, the cost is just too great, jobs could be jeopardized, funds depleted, and people lost. But, this is the message of revival. My heart aches at the thought of such a move of God. I am not satisfied with phoniness, the foolishness going on today to please the crowds and keep them coming, and giving. The delusional visions, and words from God about so-and-so, and such-and-such, sickens me. The casting out of demons, even from furniture and houses and cars, it’s lunacy, and it is dangerous. It doesn’t matter if it is false manifestations of the spirit or the manifestations of men, it is all of this world and God has discounted it, and weighed it, and found it worthless and vain. It is not only unimportant but it is a barrier between God and man. All of these methods have been found wanting, they just have not produced the kind of men that God requires, but God has found Himself some men and women, who will do His will, who know what God wants, and with His help they obey.

It is nearly impossible for Christianity to believe that anything can go on without the influx of men and machinery, marketing and management, and all the support from the organization! God’s mightiest and most fruitful works in nature and in His gifts to us are not done in a closet, quietly, inconspicuously, and they are done even before we realize there exist a need for it. We can’t appreciate the resurrection of nature every Spring-time without appreciating God’s mercy for an unworthy race. He knows what we need, even when we don’t deserve it. What God is trying to tell us is that we don’t need an organization, we need an organism, a real LIFE.

Bob Dewaay’s reply to Rick Warren Meeting

K Jentoft, a member of Twin City Fellowship, where Bob Dewaay is lead Pastor, has sent this letter as an introduction to the follow-up of Bob’s meeting with Rick Warren. There has been much speculation because of this meeting of adversaries in the “truth war.” Some were ready to write this meeting off as an alliance, treaty, or compromise, but Bob puts those thoughts to rest. Please take the time to read Bob Dewaay’s response, and be assured that no compromise has taken place, even though those in Warren camp are making much out of this “face-to-face” with RW.

Steve Blackwell

R. Abanes (Rick Warren’s apologist) says,”I applaud Dewaay for his candor, honesty, integrity, and spirit of genuine care/concern, and openness to hearing what Warren actually believes theologically. I am hoping that many individuals will see that this is all little more than an issue of ministry philosophy, rather than the emergence of some bizarre Warren Smith-esk, conspiratorial, one-world, New Age religion with Warren playing the lead Pide Piper!”

K Jentoft says

I am a good friend of Pastor DeWaay and attend his church. Bob DeWaay’s position on Rick Warren has not changed. Bob Dewaay never hated Rick Warren, he had concerns about his teaching - a ministry philisophy that doesn’t preach the gospel or confess Christ. This is NOT just a minor issue. Bob’s concern about Rick Warren was and still is that Rick Warren does not preach the gospel, not that he doesn’t believe it (I have to interject that I am a little troubled with this statement. I’m not sure if this is Bob Dewaay’s position or if this is K Jentoft taking too much liberty in speaking for Bob. Is it possible to really believe the Gospel and then preach “another gospel”?). Here is a statement prepared by Pastor DeWaay concerning the issues raised in this blog. K. Jentoft

May 31, 2008

Bob Dewaay wrote

I wrote my book, Redefining Christianity, assuming that Rick Warren actually believes the Saddleback Church’s statement of faith, but that he refuses to preach it because he wants to be popular with the world and grow his movement. I still think that could still be true—I give him the benefit of the doubt.

At the Saddleback Church conference he was speaking of winning souls for Christ and talking about his father’s legacy of building churches and winning souls. More than likely he believes Baptist doctrine. But along the way he was derailed by reading the church growth theory of Donald McGavran. While in seminary I studied under a disciple of McGavran. McGavran’s book was required reading. His philosophy hinges on this idea: “people do not become Christian for theological reasons, but for sociological ones.”

Rick Warren believed McGavran and set out to study people to find out what makes them tick so he could get them into church — thus “Saddleback Sam.” Purpose Driven is a franchise system to multiply this idea into other churches. Warren tells pastors that they do not have to change any doctrine to join his movement. The reason for that is that doctrine becomes unimportant because it is no longer taught. I don’t think Rick Warren changed his Baptist doctrine either; he just doesn’t allow it to determine what he teaches and what he does. When we met that is what I challenged him about.

So I have not moved in my beliefs nor have I changed my position on any doctrines I have preached.

I will not allow myself to be pitted against any of Warren’s critics. I read Warren Smith’s book and spoke with him on the phone. He is a wonderful brother. The New Age implications are in Rick Warren’s movement and are helping lead toward a One World church. But because he has publicly made statements besides his statement of faith that he believes there is a literal hell and that people without Christ will go there, I don’t believe Rick Warren is a true New Age believer, and neither does Warren Smith. Warren Smith simply says there are New Age implications to what Rick Warren is doing, and I agree with him.

Tomorrow morning I will make a statement clarifying what I mean when I said that we did not have theological disagreements in our meeting. Rick Warren did not disagree with my positions on doctrine in our meeting. But he did not comment on everything I said. Please read my book, because in it I point out that Rick Warren privately affirms orthodox Christian theology—he did so again in our presence. So this is not news worthy.

To set the record straight, for those who think I am suddenly okay with Rick Warren – I am not. I asked him to preach Christ and honor the idea of scripture alone – and I pointed out that he cannot have a “reformation” based on general revelation.

These are huge issues and he did not say he was going to change anything—but he did not disagree. Do Warren’s supporters really think that having an orthodox theology in private is all that God expects of a preacher? Do they think we should not hold Rick Warren accountable to sola scriptura? Do they think that we can have any old ministry philosophy even if doing so totally changes the definition of the church and her message from how the Bible defines them?

I challenge Rick Warren’s supporters to step up to the plate and demand that Rick Warren repent, as I requested him to do in my book. That statement is posted at http://www.twincityfellowship.com/special/appeal.pdf Otherwise they have no business claiming that I agree with them.

Bob DeWaay

Breaking Up Fallow Ground

As you may well know I have been inactive on this blog for a little while now. This was by choice, after writing Rick Warren and Richard Abanes an apology letter, because what I had written about them, was in the wrong spirit. In obedience to my Father I openly admitted my fault to both of them, and to everyone really. I offered no excuse for my actions, or tried to justify them in any way. I felt at the time that the Lord was directing me to let the blog lay fallow. The spiritual rest was needed and the responses to my absence were varied. Generally, it was seen as a cowardly move of compromise, and of a fear of battle. Rick Warren responded to the apology with an invitation to attend, the now past, elitist meeting of like minded Pastors, along with a few of his opponents. My apology was in no way a concession to the Truth of Scripture or of my stance, and so I simply refused the invite. I think Rick extended the invite from a sincere sense of generosity and gratitude for making the apology, but in my case it would have been a clear conflict of interest for me to have accepted. I want no conflict, I have but one allegiance, and that is to the Lord Jesus and the truth of His Gospel, and Rick’s teaching is in clear opposition to that Gospel, and is leading many down the wrong path, and it is at that point that -would be- friends become adversaries. There is a higher calling than the comforts of “friendship,” or even love, as understood by the world, and that calling is to stand in the rapidly flowing currents of error and deception, and hold up the banner of Truth.

Having publicly stated my regrets to Rick Warren and Richard Abanes, for accommodating the flesh in my past battle for truth, I want to now acknowledge my kinship and friendship with a few others who are likewise holding up the Standard, like: Ken Silva, Dave and Deborah Dombrowski, Jewel van der Merwe, Mike Ratliff, Ingrid Schlueter, Sandy Simpson, Bob Deway, and the list goes on…… , and all those who in their homes and in their Churches, are not afraid to speak out against error, and are rejected by men, but accepted by Christ. These people are the legends in the annals of Gods history, and it is with these that I will make my stand, by the grace of God.

These are the days that show whether or not we have understood the Gospel. These are the days that will show the value of the fruit we bear. And, these are the days that will prove our loyalty, and display the material of which we are clothed: a seamless blood soaked robe, or a mixture of many differing materials. We have opened the doors of the Church to the world, and now the world is closing those same doors to Christians. We have opened the doors to the world and now the Church is filled with abortion, divorce, drugs, pornography, teen suicide, and everything else that identifies the world, including the incessant  perversions of Hollywood and the entrepreneurial leadership of men . The gates of Hell are prevailing against the church of men, and our Lord is calling His people out, and the true Church is responding. Every foul bird can be found in the church of men, and as Paul says, their “meetings do more harm than good.”

Let this Memorial day be a recognition and remembrance that the Church is alive and that Jesus Christ is still the soon coming King.

And now, it is time to break up the fallow ground.

Steve Blackwell

A Rare Message: Will You Stumble?

Here is a sermon that most people, in the New Age Church of the 21st century, will never hear. Most church planters will find in this sermon instructions on how NOT to grow a Church. But, what we WILL find in this sermon, if we understand the Bible, is the laying of a solid foundation, on which God, Himself, will build the Church. Beware! You may be offended, at least I hope so.

A Letter of Explanation Conserning Rick Warren

This is a letter I wrote in response to an e-mail I received from an acquaintance of mine. I have changed the name to protect the person, but the letter carries a lot of what worldly Christians believe about themselves and other Christians. I have decided to post it here because of the many accusations of rudeness and intolerance that has been leveled toward myself and others who are doing the work of the Lord boldly in the presentation of truth. I have not put this letter here as a response to my critics, but for those who stand along the sidelines, watching the battle, and who have not, as of yet, chosen a side in this conflict. There is a remnant, even possibly inside the camp of the enemy, who have failed to see the truth, but God is working in all of this to reach His called out ones, and He will not fail.

John,

Every time I write you I tell myself that it will be the last time, but I am, at it again. I think if it were any one else I would have quit. As I write this I am praying that the Lord would give you the spirit of wisdom and understanding. This letter will be a longer one than normal, I hope you read it.

“For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:” Rom. 9:6. Just for a Jew to say that he is of the seed of Abraham means nothing in the final analysis. This truth is stated in different ways throughout the Bible: there is a separating of the sheep and the goats, wheat and tares, (Rom. 9:18, 2 Pet. 2:9, 1 Thes. 5:9, Mat. 11:25; 25:31-46) and there will be many Jews and worldly Christians among those goats and tares, but clearly the best illustration is when on that Day of Judgement the Lord declares, to all the deluded Christians who say Lord, Lord, “begone form Me, I never knew you.” This verse instills no fear in these worldly Christians to examine their lives, to be sure they are in the faith, because they don’t really believe it anyway. What I am trying to say is that not everyone who wears the label of Christian is a Christian. And furthermore, the Bible is plain, that most of those who claim the title of “Christian” are in reality deluded, they are walking in the “broad way” not the “narrow way,” as they think. To distinguish between the two we are told to look at the fruit, and the heart, and their words, and their deeds, and to look for the “old man,” because they will reveal who and what they really serve; so that is what I do, it is called discernment.

All these things mentioned will be different for the true “born from above” Christian than for the Christian born of the earth only. All these Christians of the earth have this kind of unwritten code of acceptance, honor amongst thieves, or brotherhood, that promotes universal tolerance, as long as it is done with what they claim is Christian love. As long as they do something good, it is Christian. They reason something like this: “Good comes from God; evil comes from the Devil; therefore, all good is from God.” That is overly simplified but it gets my point across. Using this example we look at the Freemasons, they build hospitals and help lots of kids, all very good things, so God must be pleased with them, right? We could say this about an endless list of good deed doing organizations also, churches included, all denominations, and lots of people, even the evil and the wicked do some good things, and God is pleased when they do good, right? It’s better to do good than it is to do evil, so God must be pleased, right? But, on the day of judgement they are rejected, their good deeds have purchased them nothing. Why? Because they have already been compensated in the flesh, while on earth, for what they have done. They were fleshly men working for fleshly benefits, hence the Lord’s words, “Be gone from me ye wicked, I never knew you, and I owe you nothing” (paraphrased). This is exactly where we find the Church, trying to win man’s admiration, and a little glory and respect for himself. They want to be approved for the deeds they do, and God allows them this reward in the here-and-now: a little respect from their peers, a little pride of accomplishment, a pay check, or recognition from the leaders, etc. Their great cross-platform ecumenical, unitarian, peace on earth programs will be their sole reward, and it is also the reason they hate the truth, and hate obedience to Jesus command to die to self and to live to God alone. They don’t understand truth nor can they obey truth, because they are creatures of this world only, and have never been born from above, and had the circumcision of their hearts. Their home is here on earth and only desire some better place here. Worldly Christians find no fault with these men or organizations because they think this is what being a Christian is all about.

The Bible tells us that we can know these false Christians by their fruits. It is because Christians can know these fruits that we are able to judge, and discern, and write, about men like Rick Warren and Richard Abanes, who you refer to, but there are many others. It is not that everything they do is bad, it is because they are evil men doing some good things, and convincing ignorant people that that is what it means to be a Christian. By doing this, they are leading many to eternal death. If they were not influential men and false teachers, I would not be sounding an alarm, and by so doing making myself the target of their godless chatter. Is this making any sense to you? I hope so.

I am going to say some things now that may offend you, that is not my intentions, but truth always offends our sensibilities. I will prove all my points by Scripture so you will not think I am just being rude. TRUTH, the word of God, always kills before it heals. I am going to say some things that will probably be painful, but as God is my witness, I will only speak the truth. I am going to take this last letter you wrote to me and examine it in the light of Scripture, where I want you to see that at the very least you lack a grasp of basic Christian teaching, and it may be at the worst that you have not been born from above, and are blind to what I am trying to communicate. I’ll take the time to go over this with you because I want you to see it. Honestly, this kind of sight is rare and most people do not see it, and do not accept what the Bible says when the light is revealing their true nature. So, here it goes.

Because of the differing natures of men of God and men of the world, meaning their DNA is different, they do things differently, like think, reason, believe, worship, and pray. Their difference is not like the difference between two differing breeds of dogs or cats, or like Europeans and Orientals, but more like Earthlings and Aliens, they are two completely different natures. Actually born again Christians have two opposing natures, they still have their old nature which is always in competition with their new nature, this old nature has to die. Those without the new nature have no choice but to obey the only nature they have, their conscience condemns them, which means life only on earth, and eternal death thereafter. Those without the new nature cannot obey God, it is impossible, and can not please God, regardless of their good works. Those with the old nature, who profess to be Christians, do not understand the Bible and think it is hard to grasp because of the conflict they have trying to get it to conform to their old nature. Jesus asked Paul at his conversion why he was kicking against the goad (a spiked stick used for driving cattle)? Before his conversion all his religious activity made so much sense, but afterwards he realized the futility and stupidity of what he was doing. The truth was that he could not have understood it even if he had wanted to, his nature was wrong; understanding is a product of a different life. The world does not understand God’s word and most of the Church is made up of the world. They do the best that they can, but only accomplish programs of men, or pretty buildings, or works, or idol worship.

Mark 8:31-33 “He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. ‘Get behind me, Satan!’ he said. ‘You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men .’”

Luke 16:15 “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men , but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.”

Rom 1:18-25 “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator — who is forever praised. Amen.”

Gal 1:10-12 “Am I now trying to win the approval of men , or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.”

Eph 4:11-15 “It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.”

1 Thess 2:13 “And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men , but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.”

Rev 18:11-13 “The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes any more— cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and bodies and souls of men.”

You will notice that in all of the verses above there is a common theme, and it is the things “of men.” When I said in the paragraphs above that there is a way to know men of the world, even those who call themselves Christian we only have to look at the heart of their motivation. What is the thing that moves them? Who is it that they want approval from? When, where, and how do they decide to imitate Christ? This thing “of men” is the thing I will focus on to show you that you are not where you should be, and definitely not where you think you are. The goal of this letter is let you know that you do not have to remain where you’re at, but you do have to recognize and know the truth, and that is the love that is spoken of in the Bible; it is to declare with boldness the truth “of men,” their pride, hatred of truth, love of self, and their rebellion against their Maker. Religious men are by far the hardest to reach, because their pride is bolstered by their presumed knowledge of God. Paul said that “through knowledge they knew not God.”

In your first paragraph you said:

“Thank you Steve I do mean well. I read that you have been challenged by a supporter of Mr. Warren to provide facts. This is your chance to quell any doubt that your ministry is a false one. You slapped them in the face and threw down the gauntlet with your statements, they picked it up and handed it back to you and said ” TEACH US THE TRUTH”. How can any one who leads a ministry turn away from a chance to teach where they have left the path?”

I do believe you mean well, but well from an earthly point of view. You make a few statements here that are very much the position that a man of the world would take to protect his ego or pride, or to get the advantage on an opponent. It is not as if I was lying in ambush waiting for some opportunity to destroy my opponent. On the contrary, I would like nothing more than to get word of a conversion in this camp. The ministry you speak of as being mine, I guess it could be called mine, because that is the way it looks to others, so I will not labor the point that it is the Lord’s and that I am merely His servant, trying to do it to the best of my ability. As far as trying to quell any doubt to this ministry, I will leave that in the hands of the Lord. You see, Jesus’ ministry was found, by the religious elite, to be a false, and He told me that if they hated Him, they would hate me also, “Is a student above His master?” Then you said I slapped them and threw down a gauntlet. You are speaking like a man; I did no such thing. I made no challenge to them, although the presentation of truth often looks like a challenge. I spoke to warn, by presenting facts. I neither challenged nor took up a challenge. I have no fear of these men, the Lord told me not to worry about men, only speak the truth, and be bold. 2 Cor 3:12-13 “Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold.” These perverts of truth handed me nothing nor did I take it, and as far as teaching them truth, they never asked that. Their goal is to draw me away from doing the Lord’s work and get involved in defending my honor; sounds like a tactic of Satan. Neh 6:1-3 “Now it happened when Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall, and that there were no breaks left in it(though at that time I had not hung the doors in the gates), that Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, ‘Come, let us meet together among the villages in the plain of Ono.’ But they thought to do me harm. So I sent messengers to them, saying, ‘I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?’” The men you speak of John have no desire to learn the truth; my ministry is not to them, and my honor is the Lord’s honor.

Next you said:

“I was in good spirits when I read that you took your comments (apology) and sent them to the pr