The Scourge Of Racism
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As the Lord has led me to write many times, removing the artificial and stuffy inventions of manmade Christianity that serve as barriers to unsaved folk coming into the churches to hear about Him is a good thing. However, many in recent years have gone much further than this and are among other things, altering biblical Christianity’s core message, the Gospel (if not eliminating it altogether) along with the Lord’s commandments and instructions to make the faith more amenable to especially those born after 1980. Tinkering with or setting aside the biblical Gospel no matter how noble the motive is still to fall under the apostle Paul’s God approved anathema (Galatians 1:6-10)!
Departures from God’s Word to accommodate human worldly interests and tastes are legion. They come complete with light, video and sound worship extravaganzas and dress code fit for the Holy One? I mention a few of the heretical departures from God’s Word in this edited 2012 repost that along with tinkering with the Gospel is clear evidence of widespread succumbing to worldly peer pressure by many professed Christians and their church leaders to fill large meeting venues. In the end though, besides the temporary display of the ability to draw a crowd by the leaders, what will the ostensible crowd of Jesus followers have to stand firmly against the world when they are still of it?
Originally Posted April 22, 2012
The pressure to conform to someone else’s standard of whatever begins early in life when as newborns, in spite of our best efforts to have our way, those giant people called parents insist that we behave as it pleases them. Then, it is siblings and finally school age peers that start applying pressure for us to share their interests, likes, dislikes, etc. Not only did I experience the foregoing for myself, of course, but as a parent I had to endure what I now know is every parent’s nightmare, the dreaded: so and so’s “parents let them do it.” This is followed by the not so subtle, “they have one.” This may be funny because at whatever level, you can relate to peer or other pressure to conform.
However, the issue turns deadly serious when others are attempting to pressure us to do evil. Contrary to worldly standards of political correctness and tolerance, evil is whatever goes against the written Word of God--period! Knowing my own exasperation at times with the yielding of my children to worldly peer pressure, I cannot imagine God is very pleased with how easily His children cave in to it. Oh, we try hard to rationalize and justify our worldly compromises even using Scripture at times and saying, “I don’t see anything wrong with…” or “that was back then” as if God changed; seeking any tiny sliver of release to line up with the world’s standards and what we want to do.
A major example of compromise is the removal of the Gospel for salvation from sin as the central theme of witnessing and preaching. As their defense, many corruptly cite the apostle Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23. Yet, he did not mean that he changed the Gospel, adopted worldly practices or did evil to bring about the good of saving souls in his witnessing. He did mean that he began his work where the people he was dealing with were at in their spiritual, cultural or occupational lives so he could connect to them. He then proceeded to work the Gospel into his conversation and preaching to the end of some believing and being saved (Acts 13:4-12, 16:20-34, 18:1-11). The Gospel is God’s first priority for preaching (Acts 2:14-41; Romans 10:13-15)!
Another example is how--contrary to Scripture--many professed Christians do not believe all of Scripture’s ancient commands and instructions are still valid lest the world be offended (Isaiah 40:8; Mark 13:31). Among these are God’s order of mankind and the related roles of men and women in the home and churches (Ephesians 5:22-24; 1 Timothy 2:11-15).1 And very popular at this strategic moment is the false teaching and inspired movement that makes Christ a fulfiller of personal dreams and selfish ambitions contrary to His demand of self-denial to follow Him (Matthew 16:13-27). Selfish ambition is a flesh work whose practitioners will not inherit God’s Kingdom (Galatians 5:19-21).
The fact today is that many professed Christians and their churches are downright worldly as the norm! This is purposeful on the part of guilty leaders to fill seats and offering plates. It is also an effort especially of younger congregants to show their observing worldly peers they are still just like them. Nope, Christianity has not made these folk change one thing of this world that is precious to them. In so doing, they deceive themselves into believing they have made God more appealing and the Gospel less judgmental of people’s lifestyles. The truth is, they love not being left out of the world’s fun and having to stand out as weird in its eyes. That is classic submission to peer pressure.
God the Father would remind His wayward children that we are His peculiar people who are not to be ashamed of Christ or the Gospel (Mark 8:38; Romans 1:16; 1 Peter 2:9-10).2 He has called us out of the world no longer to conform to its standards, but in all self-sacrifice, His and supplies the Holy Spirit to us to make it happen (Romans 12:1-2; 1 Peter 1:13-16)! The ways of this world are of the sinful, selfish nature we enter it with; ways parents are hard pressed to restrain as we develop and peers work hard to get us to indulge.3 The ways of this world are also deadly as a holy God has already condemned them. He calls us out of the world to save us from that condemnation (1 John 2:15-17).
Therefore, the Lord commands the guilty young and old to repent from the demonically deceitful doctrine that you can have God and the world too! Come out from under the condemned false teachers that with syrupy sweet words make God’s whole reason for existence to be all about you (2 Peter 2:1-3). They prep you for the fire that waits for all who fail God’s final exam in not loving and walking in the truth of His Word (2 Thessalonians 2:9-15; Revelation 14:9-13). God is the Creator; you are the creature. God is the Savior; you are supposedly the grateful saved creature that is eager to please and serve Him in doing His will,4 not He to serve you in doing all your bidding! The risen, living Christ continues His cry among American churches, "Who is on the Lord's side?"
1 As an unforeseen and unintended consequence I am sure, these guilty Christians find themselves on the side of the world in rebellion against God and His Word (they
may not see it that way, but God does--Psalms 2:1-3, 50:16-23; Matthew 12:30; John 14:15). They must also accept responsibility in this for such developments as
today’s gender identity confusion and the transgender movement. Sin, like seeds planted in the ground, always produces a crop of consequences because a holy
God will never be outsmarted by any of His creatures!
2 Read The Peculiar People, posted May 22, 2016 under the category, Instruction.
3 Fellow Christian Baby Boomers will recognize the frontal assault here on the worldly notion that sin is only learned behavior as captured in the lyrics of a song from one
of our favorite bands from back in the day and world, Earth, Wind & Fire. In That’s The Way Of The World, they sang, “Child is born with a heart of gold, way of the
world makes his heart grow (so) cold.” However, the Word of God is clear that we are born sinners learning only how to fine tune our methods as we get older (Psalms
51:5, 58:3)! For this reason, the wisest sinner that ever lived charged parents not to spare the rod (Proverbs 13:24, 22:15, 23:13-14). God also “now commands all
men everywhere to repent” and believe the Gospel to receive among other benefits, deliverance from His eternal rod of punishment for sin and a new nature wrought by
the Holy Spirit (Acts 17:24-31; Titus 3:1-8; 2 Peter 1:1-4, NKJV)!
4 This is the heart of every aspiring strong man and great woman of God in the image of Jesus Christ I write about in my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics.
It is available at all major internet booksellers, by order at your favorite brick and mortar bookstore or in the Strong Man Store.
On this thirty-third anniversary since the Lord led me to found Open Door Communication Ministries, Inc., the organizational parent of Strong Man Ministries, He has me continuing to deal with two themes: violence against young black males and folk practicing Christianity as a religion of manmade invention. In this post of an edited 2012 Commentary,1 however, the violence against and killing of young black males comes purposely at their own hands, while it is predominantly black Americans as professed Christians in many churches practicing their own form of Christianity completely powerlessness to reverse this evil to any extent that are addressed.2
Without repentance, total community self-destruction is assured! With repentance and embrace of biblical Christianity in genuine Holy Spirit empowered revival, there is still some hope and a little time left to make a difference for good among our spiritually lost, young black males and entire community. This hope is not a fantasy like that of the fictional, comic book Black Panther king, his other world magical flower and cloaked kingdom of Wakanda. Our hope is fully grounded in the reality of the Son of God, His anointed King, Jesus Christ, revealed from Heaven who died on the cross for our sins, was buried and rose again to bring salvation and its exceedingly great benefits including His eternal power and Kingdom rule to all mankind now (Luke 24:44-49; Acts 1:8)!
Originally Published August 2012
The mostly Portland, OR area black American men and pastors that walk the streets to intervene with our boys and that recently came together to address how churches should handle gang related funerals are to be commended for their efforts. Formerly in my pastorates and through Strong Man Ministries I have witnessed to gang members. Eight years ago, I also attended a community meeting in the aftermath of yet another uptick in gang violence and was pierced deeply by the statements of one gang member who shattered all of our presumptions about gang bangers. His words made me realize Spirit led Christians can help curtail gang violence, but must be more assertive about it.
Let me be clear that I fully understand the problem with gangs and all forms of lawlessness in our communities are complex and multi-faceted. Even so, at its core, the criminal enterprise of gang banging with all of its associated lifestyle props is a spiritual issue of sin and evil. For example, the gang member that greatly disturbed me and others in the community meeting said that they are not all from single female led homes and poverty. This particular gang member had come from a two-parent, middle class home and was banging for the thrill of it--so much for viewing and solving the problem solely as a matter of political, economic, social and educational victimization!
Secular governments and police agencies are frustrated along with the few engaged church leaders that deal with the gang problem having rejected a biblical worldview and approach to curtailing it. Biblical Christianity is plain that gang bangers are sinners and need the Gospel like all other sinners to face up to the fact that a holy God has condemned them and their wicked behavior (criminality, violence and murder are sin). However, God loves and sent His Son, Jesus Christ into the world to save sinners that will repent from their sins and believe in Him (John 3:16-18a)! Those who believe become new creations with renewed minds by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:17-24).
Sinners who refuse to repent and believe in Christ from the heart remain condemned before God (John 3:18b-21; Romans 3:9-20; Galatians 5:19-21). With our continued attempts to reach gang members in and out of prison,3 they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law to include receiving the death penalty when they harm and murder others respectively (Genesis 9:4-6; Romans 13:1-4). Churches mocking Christ's words should not provide a Christian burial service to those killed while banging (Matthew 7:21-23). But such tough love will never happen until pastors repent from not preaching the Gospel and the whole counsel of God with a unified voice into our communities.
Again, in having rejected a biblical worldview, secular governments and police agencies are outwitted and gunned in their struggle with the gang problem while too many church leaders appear to be willfully ignoring or helpless against the reality of the evil that supports it. Biblical Christianity also presents lawlessness as the spiritual outworking of evil (2 Thessalonians 2:3-9). According to the Bible, Satan is the original gangster as well as author of gang violence among angels and murder among men (Ezekiel 28:11-16; John 8:44). Because of this reality, faithful Christians or the world will never totally eradicate gangs for lawlessness even increases as the Lord foretold (Matthew 24:12).
However, just as our Lord went about destroying the works of the devil for the love and liberation of oppressed humanity, so must we for the sake of our sons, families, churches and communities (Acts 10:36-38; 1 John 3:8). Aspiring strong men of God in the image of Christ understand that we are not as a first priority wrestling against human beings, but territorial fallen spirits; demons whose mission it is to oppose God by destroying the men of His love (Daniel 10:1-14, 20-21; Ephesians 6:12).4 Therefore, we properly suit up and begin to attack the gang problem where it originates: in the spiritual realm among demonic hordes arrayed against us (2 Corinthians 10:3-6; Ephesians 6:10-18).
Such warfare requires that sinning pastors turn back to and lead their churches in the way of biblical Christianity which is routinely the power of God on display (Mark 16:15-18)! And since they have failed to do this until now, much fasting and prayer in revival must precede and bathe the warfare (Mark 9:14-29). Our liberated children will still need to be mentored spiritually in faithful, Bible teaching churches and encouraged to pursue an education as well as positive activities, employment or entrepreneurial opportunities. Our boys in particular must no longer be given mixed messages about what a man is and does as a leader in the home and churches!5 The risen, living Christ continues His cry among American churches, "Who is on the Lord's side?"
1 This Commentary originally launched a trilogy on violence that ended with Arresting Violence Against Women that posted on October 6, 2017, under the category,
Biblical Worldview. Lord willing, the middle Commentary--a follow up to this one entitled, Valuing Human Life, will post August 19, 2018.
2 The Lord has led me to write many commentaries and blogs over the years to professed Christian black Americans and our churches calling for repentance from re-
ligion and revival because of the sinfully lost opportunities to showcase the life changing power of the Gospel and power of God in our community. Read for exam-
ple, the February 8-15, 2015 two-part post, Strong Through God, Not Religion, under the category, Black History.
3 Since 2005 Strong Man Ministries has been intentionally engaged in reaching young males with the Gospel using media, on the streets, in sports and the prisons.
Learn more about our activities in summary on our Web Site or for our work with youth go directly to the Strong Man Minute Page. This Ministry stands ready to
come along side of and stand with any Kingdom driven church of Jesus Christ to reach especially our males--God’s chosen family heads with the Gospel and make
a difference for good among all of our community members.
4 I write about Christian men as aspiring strong men of God in the image of Jesus Christ in my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics. It is available at all
major internet book sellers, by order at your favorite brick and mortar bookstore or in the Strong Man Store.
5 Males are purposely introduced to the Christian faith and taught biblical manhood which includes divinely willed Christ-like character in traits to help them mature in
Christ through The Strong Man Of God Men’s Group Study, available in the Strong Man Store. My book also teaches about purposeful mentoring by way of spiritual
fathering. This is spiritually maturing Christian men working with younger men and boys to help them grow in the faith. They also model to and teach them what it
means to be a man by God’s design and walk in His assignment of family headship and church leadership.
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