Post by Cindy on May 30, 2019 9:37:05 GMT -5
Today we have many churches that look an awful lot like an exclusive country club. There's one in my area that just makes my heart break. Their worship time is made to look like a rock concert. Total blackness except for the flashing colored lights, extremely loud music... so loud that I couldn't hear either of my daughters sing and they were on both sides of me! You could only hear the band singing. When it's time for a sermon, they watch their pastor on a large screen and it's streamed live to them from another city. I did hear the pastor say a quick prayer, and that's the only one I heard the whole time there. Outside the so called sanctuary, they have video games for the kids, a store that sells everything from clothing, dishes, books, to knick knacks; and of course they have coffee and donuts for everyone, even before church starts and you can take them into the sanctuary with you. The Sunday school feeds the kids with expensive video games and movies. For Easter they have a helicopter drop tons of candy filled eggs for the kids! Now, if you read their "beliefs" page, it all sounds quite scriptural, but when I spoke to their "on site pastor" who's there in case someone needs to talk to an actual pastor, he didn't seem to have a clue about what the Bible says about much of anything! While I'm sure he could probably quote passages from the Bible, he didn't seem to know anything about applying them to life.
The one time I went to that church, I did so because my oldest daughter goes there and she wanted us to see her youngest get baptized. She told me she loves the church because she no longer had to fight with her kids to get them to go, that they loved going! That sounds great doesn't it, yet it raised red flags to me, especially after seeing the actual service. Believe it or not, at one point just after the sermon, they had a video commercial we all had to watch as part of the service that was all about how great this church was! A commercial!
I've learned since then that some of the folks that go there don't believe in the Bible as anything more then just a book, and that can't be good. Yet, while all the churches in our area do well to have one service each Sunday, this "church" has 3 and packs people in for each of them - literally! We went to the middle one at 10am and as we arrived, people were being rushed out of the "sanctuary" so the next group (us) could go in. When our time was up, we too were rushed out so the next group could come in. You didn't have to leave the "church", you could go in the store or wherever else... you just had to leave the vicinity of the so called sanctuary. I felt like I'd just been to a rock concert/movie, not church! I pray for those people as it breaks my heart to see it.
I want to share some scripture with you though that sheds light on this and other things like it. I'm going to break it up a bit though so I can explain:
Jesus told us that we're not to be part of this world. We obviously have to live in it, but we're to be different then the people who aren't saved. That difference is what should cause them to wonder about us and eventually as they experience our love, want to have what we have. We're told over and over that if we're living the way Jesus wants us to, that the unsaved people around us are not going to like us. In fact, they'll hate us! Oh, they may try and hide their hate and be civil toward us, but it will eventually show up. So when the majority of the world (the unsaved people) love us and want to be around us, it should be a HUGE red flag that something is very wrong in our lives. God doesn't lie and He said they'd hate us and He promises us that He will make things right in His time:
“Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.” (Luke 6:22–23)
Then Jesus spoke to the unsaved world that's doing the persecuting:
““But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.” (Luke 6:24–25)
But this is the scripture that always gets me, as it's a very strong warning that many today seem to have forgotten. Especially those who cater to the world and yet call themselves Christians:
“Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.” (Luke 6:26) That word, "woe" means a state of intense hardship or distress—‘disaster, horror.’ Jesus meant what He said!
The people who go to the church I told you about think it's great because it's literally filled with unsaved people. They come for the rock concert and the goodies. There are literally more unsaved people there then saved. (so why is it called a church?) These people think they're evangelizing the lost, but instead they're the ones that are being evangelized into the world.
“Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”” (1 Corinthians 15:33)
“He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.” (Proverbs 13:20) "Fools" are people who don't know God or don't believe in Him.
But remember, this isn't just about the church I told you about. This is about each of us individually too. Our lives need to reflect the Lord we live for. If they do we will be persecuted and hated. If they don't, we may live quite comfortably here, but we won't be so comfortable in eternity.
When we are persecuted in some way, it's really the best news of all, because now we'll have a tremendously special reward stored up for us in heaven! Our name will be linked forever with the prophets, and our reward will be "great" and will last for eternity. It just doesn't get better than that! While that may not help us right now physically and materially, it will help mentally, emotionally and spiritually if we keep this in mind. Remembering that God is in control too will remind us that He will take care of the physical needs we have as well.
The one time I went to that church, I did so because my oldest daughter goes there and she wanted us to see her youngest get baptized. She told me she loves the church because she no longer had to fight with her kids to get them to go, that they loved going! That sounds great doesn't it, yet it raised red flags to me, especially after seeing the actual service. Believe it or not, at one point just after the sermon, they had a video commercial we all had to watch as part of the service that was all about how great this church was! A commercial!
I've learned since then that some of the folks that go there don't believe in the Bible as anything more then just a book, and that can't be good. Yet, while all the churches in our area do well to have one service each Sunday, this "church" has 3 and packs people in for each of them - literally! We went to the middle one at 10am and as we arrived, people were being rushed out of the "sanctuary" so the next group (us) could go in. When our time was up, we too were rushed out so the next group could come in. You didn't have to leave the "church", you could go in the store or wherever else... you just had to leave the vicinity of the so called sanctuary. I felt like I'd just been to a rock concert/movie, not church! I pray for those people as it breaks my heart to see it.
I want to share some scripture with you though that sheds light on this and other things like it. I'm going to break it up a bit though so I can explain:
Jesus told us that we're not to be part of this world. We obviously have to live in it, but we're to be different then the people who aren't saved. That difference is what should cause them to wonder about us and eventually as they experience our love, want to have what we have. We're told over and over that if we're living the way Jesus wants us to, that the unsaved people around us are not going to like us. In fact, they'll hate us! Oh, they may try and hide their hate and be civil toward us, but it will eventually show up. So when the majority of the world (the unsaved people) love us and want to be around us, it should be a HUGE red flag that something is very wrong in our lives. God doesn't lie and He said they'd hate us and He promises us that He will make things right in His time:
“Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.” (Luke 6:22–23)
Then Jesus spoke to the unsaved world that's doing the persecuting:
““But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.” (Luke 6:24–25)
But this is the scripture that always gets me, as it's a very strong warning that many today seem to have forgotten. Especially those who cater to the world and yet call themselves Christians:
“Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.” (Luke 6:26) That word, "woe" means a state of intense hardship or distress—‘disaster, horror.’ Jesus meant what He said!
The people who go to the church I told you about think it's great because it's literally filled with unsaved people. They come for the rock concert and the goodies. There are literally more unsaved people there then saved. (so why is it called a church?) These people think they're evangelizing the lost, but instead they're the ones that are being evangelized into the world.
“Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”” (1 Corinthians 15:33)
“He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.” (Proverbs 13:20) "Fools" are people who don't know God or don't believe in Him.
But remember, this isn't just about the church I told you about. This is about each of us individually too. Our lives need to reflect the Lord we live for. If they do we will be persecuted and hated. If they don't, we may live quite comfortably here, but we won't be so comfortable in eternity.
When we are persecuted in some way, it's really the best news of all, because now we'll have a tremendously special reward stored up for us in heaven! Our name will be linked forever with the prophets, and our reward will be "great" and will last for eternity. It just doesn't get better than that! While that may not help us right now physically and materially, it will help mentally, emotionally and spiritually if we keep this in mind. Remembering that God is in control too will remind us that He will take care of the physical needs we have as well.