The celebration of Halloween a few days away is the eve of All Saints’ Day. It is supposed to be a night of scary fun for children of all ages to be followed the next day by veneration of the relatively small number of persons forms of Christianity the religion of men have traditionally determined meets their criteria for what a saint is. Never mind Holy Scripture clearly defines the saints as all of those God declares righteous by faith (not works) and sets apart to Himself (Psalm 34:8-9; 1 Corinthians 1:2). Be that as it may, the idea of a night engaged in cultivating fear, fright and terror that precedes a day supposedly devoted to religious solemnity is diabolically bizarre.1
Fear, fright and terror from demonic and manmade sources are all too real in this world and not fun. Maladies from fear dominate the mental health profession and are a boon to pharmaceutical companies. Whole nations such as Israel must live under the constant duress of terror violence in and from outside of it. But since mankind in these latter days loves fear, fright and terror so much, the Lord in warning judgments is about to take them to never before known proportions complete with hideous looking creatures in hope some might repent (Revelation 8-9)! There is only one righteous and eternally beneficial fear; the fear of the Lord as He leads me to write in this edited 2012 repost.
Originally Posted November 18, 2012
Some men now foolishly teach God’s people not to fear Him. They say the cross of Jesus once and for all delivers believers from any concern about judgment from God. While this is true as it concerns the faithful and Hell (John 5:24), the unfaithful will stand in terror among all before Christ to receive for their deeds (Luke 12:35-48; 1 Corinthians 3:11-15; 2 Corinthians 5:9-11)! The fear of the Lord is an important component of our walk with Him. Yes, we fear God in reverence and awe of His majestic greatness (Psalm 33:8-9)! But we also fear Him in the many painful ways He as our Father has to chasten His disobedient, sinning children (Deuteronomy 28:58-59; 1 Corinthians 11:27-32).
Finally, there is too, the fear of the Lord in the consequences the Bible teaches awaits any unfaithful, stubbornly rebellious, unrepentant professed Christian and the apostate (Ezekiel 18:24-26; Hebrews 10:26-39). Since Scripture teaches the latter scenario, we are not to come along lately and arrogantly to refute it through sinful human systems of thinking (Proverbs 14:12, 16:25). The apostle John teaches it is a complete love for God involving obedience and faithfulness alone that cancels out the fear of judgment in chastening or eternal condemnation, not simply knowledge of what Christ accomplished on the cross. Such knowledge should inspire loving obedience (1 John 4:7-19)!
This same principle of obedience to keep away fear of consequences holds true whether it is the rules of our parents or life in a world of laws. Obedience under normal circumstances cancels out the fear of consequences (Romans 13:1-4)! Some say, “You cannot both love and fear God at the same time.” We feared our earthly parents without any diminishment of our love for them. In fact, in a strange way, our love for our parents that loved us enough to set boundaries and consequences for crossing them intensified our love for them. How much more then, God our Father who even disciplines us as sons for our eternal good as the writer of Hebrews points out (Hebrews 12:3-11)?
The aspiring strong man of God in the image of Christ operates and delights in the fear of the Lord as He does (Isaiah 11:1-3a)!2 The fear of the Lord is wisdom and knowledge (Job 28:28; Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 1:7, 9:10). The fear of the Lord is without spot and endures forever (Psalm 19:9). The fear of the Lord is “strong confidence” in Him (Proverbs 14:26, NKJV). The fear of the Lord is health and long life (Psalm 34:11-14; Proverbs 3:7-8, 10:27, 14:27). The fear of the Lord is eternal life satisfying the soul (Proverbs 19:23). The Lord Jesus taught we ought to fear God above all (Matthew 10:27-31) and the early Church experienced it both as a warning and blessing (Acts 5:1-11, 9:31).
Of the many things I am grateful to the Lord for it is the fear of Him that has taught me humble submission to Him, kept me in the way of obedience and when I have failed, led me to quickly confess and repent to obtain His forgiveness (1 John 1:9). I love and fear my God in all of the ways the Bible teaches and reap the harvest of benefits and blessings it promises! Do not listen to sinful men no matter how well intended who teach God should not be feared. Fear of the Lord is your salvation according to His written Word which trumps anything men may think or say (Proverbs 16:6)! The risen, living Christ continues His cry among American churches, "Who is on the Lord's side?"
1 Google All Saints Day to learn more about its history and practice.
2 Get my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics to learn more. It is available at all major internet booksellers, by order at your favorite brick and mortar bookstore
or in the Strong Man Store.
After addressing the strategic use of television specifically to advance the evil cause of rebellion against God and His Anointed, He now leads me to speak to the use of the medium by professing Christianity.1 With a degree in Radio and Television Broadcasting, graduate degree in Communication and over thirty-five years in the field mostly heading up a small media ministry in the express will and facilitation of the Lord, He has qualified me to speak and so, I do in this urgent latter day post. In days soon to come, Christian broadcasting will be globally targeted for eradication which is why it must be maximized now in its use for God’s causes in the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
To the credit of the initial Christian visionaries that understood God’s purposeful, creative hand in, vision for and use of the unfolding means of mass communication over the past century, there is such a thing as Christian broadcasting. For while the pioneers of radio and television broadcasting desperate for program content were initially welcoming of what was called religious programming mostly from Christian churches and their denominations, by the middle of the 1960s this began to slowly change due to the rising costs of production and air time and commercialism as well as the cultural shift toward secularism hostile to Christianity.
Television in particular--which provides pictures and sound--had such potential for good in the Kingdom cause of God to disseminate the Gospel of His Son and biblical instruction throughout the earth. This meant not only the opportunity to have men stand to preach and teach God’s Word, but to also be creative through such arts as drama. I feel blessed to be part of a unique generation that grew up watching the low tech clay animation of Davey and Goliath that presented important high moral lessons. The show was produced by the United Lutherans and featured the memorable hymn, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, written by their famous founder, Martin Luther, as the theme music.
Nevertheless, the staple of Christian television fare has been worship services by large churches along with the preaching and teaching of their well known clergy. These churches and their denominational entities also provided holiday specials and helped to sponsor the televised specials of Evangelists such as the now departed Billy Graham, who was a trailblazer in the use of radio and television. Others in the Christian television vanguard include the also departed Paul Crouch, founder of the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) and Pat Robertson, founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN). Together, these have all given Christian television its global presence.
Christian television’s global presence has not come without some scandal. Most Christian television networks feature so-called televangelists that dominate their programming schedules because they pay for the air time. But this has led to much and in some cases, questionable fundraising due to extravagant lifestyles bred of success.2 There has also been sensational heretical and conflicting teaching as well as sinful cultural compromises such as with feminism that allows women to take authority over and teach men.3 Nondenominational stations and networks that dominate the Christian broadcasting landscape are hesitant to deal with these issues (if they in guilt too will at all) because of the loss of income involved in removing paying customers from the air.
While all of the foregoing damages the integrity of Christian television, the continuing Babel and cultural compromises undermine what is supposed to be its unified message and imagery of the Christian Gospel in action (1 Corinthians 1:10; Ephesians 4:1-6)! The biblical Gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) is not heard enough, though, the Christian programmers, television stations and networks all claim they exist to preach it globally; endlessly raising money supposedly to this end. Instead, unlike worldly programmers of sin who do all say and show the same thing, many professed Christian preachers pitch their own conflicting takes on the Gospel and God’s Word as they compete for followers and dollars (Acts 20:30); exporting their Babel and unbiblical compromises to the nations!
As television is supposed to do, this televised unbiblical and confused state of affairs precisely mirrors the spreading harlotries and spiritual dysfunction in American Christianity; a situation that no one of sound mind and Word should attempt to defend. For whatever good there may currently be in Christian television, it has so much greater potential in saying the same thing as it concerns the soul saving Gospel message and being consistently biblical as a divinely useful tool of dissemination. It is to the glory of God that there is indeed, some good on Christian television. Of late, TBN, for example, has made major creative inroads in children’s, youth and ethnic programming on several dedicated networks.4 CBN has the only major professionally produced Christian News program on television.
Even so, repentance from tolerating Babel and compromise is absolutely needed to most effectively use the medium now. Enemies of the cross are shortly to target Christian television and all Christian media in the ramping up of foretold global persecution (Matthew 24:9). This is because in modern warfare, the means of mass communication are seized or knocked out as a priority. Christian persecutors up to and including the Antichrist will be allowed by God to finally silence all means of humanly communicating the Christian message (involving the Gospel, biblical truth and prophecy) in opposition to their own (Daniel 8:23-26; 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12; Revelation 13). But God will get His message to the world by an angel one last time before bringing His wrath (Revelation 14:6-7)!5 The risen, living Christ continues His cry among American churches, "Who is on the Lord's side?"
1 See the October 14, 2018 post, Grasping For Normal, under the categories, Bible Prophecy and Call To Repent.
2 Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker with their PTL empire at its height in the mid-1980’s have been among those so charged and are a tragic and globally known example.
Learn more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_PTL_Club.
3 The Lord leads me to explain why this compromise has been disastrous in the churches and for the Christian witness among the unsaved in many posts especially
under the categories Call To Repent, God’s Creatures, Instruction and The Cause as well as 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.
4 The leading Christian network in the world shows flashes of the creative possibilities in television with original programming such as productions Drive Thru History
that has its host travel to key New Testament locations in the expansion of 1st century Christianity to explain events in an entertaining way and Creation In The 21st
Century upholding a biblical worldview of creation by interviewing Christian men and women of science and using well done displays, graphics and on location foot-
age. The Gospel is preached by such heavy hitters as Billy Graham in a “Classics” program that replays his crusades, Dr. Charles Stanley, Dr. David Jeremiah,
Greg Laurie and Dr. Michael Youssef to name some of the relative few that stand flat footed to regularly include it in their preaching and teaching. Learn more about
TBN at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_Broadcasting_Network.
5 Read the September 13, 2015 post, Praise For The Lord God Almighty!, under the category, Glory To God!
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