The Scourge Of Racism
E-Book Availability 4/12-26
Released January 5, 2024
Download Your Copy
Now In The Strong Man Store!
I have written much about why men must be restored at this hour.1 In this post, the Lord leads me to encourage the men who have been restored to and in Christ and are aspiring to be strong men of God in His image!2 You are feeling the growing pressure of hostile rebellion from the world and compromising, professed Christians where you live, work, recreate, shop, gas up, get repairs, socialize and go to church. The Lord has two words for you and me: “stand fast” (2 Thessalonians 2:15, NKJV)! We are to stand our ground while continuing to proclaim the Gospel, witness Christ and contend for the one biblical faith passed down and entrusted to us by the Lord and His apostles!
The phrase, “stand your ground,” has become well known in these latter days thanks to the Florida law that has allowed persons carrying guns to shoot to kill those they feel are a threat of bodily harm to them. Identifying the enemy as “the devil” who leads “spiritual hosts of wickedness” in their unrelenting struggle against us as Christians, the apostle Paul commands that we “Put on the whole armor of God” that we “may be able to stand against” his “wiles” (schemes), “withstand in the evil day and having done all, to stand,” (Ephesians 6:11-13, NKJV).3 Clearly, the great apostle is concerned that we not be moved away from Christ and the faith as is evil’s intent if possible.
The wiles of the devil are many as veterans of spiritual warfare know. He does not fight fair and is extremely crafty, sneaky and deliberately patient waiting for the opportunity to spring traps long before set. For example, having helped foster and exploit manmade and counterfeit forms of biblical Christianity over many centuries, evil is now inciting hostility against them and the real thing which in the minds of the haters are one and the same.4 Nurtured by Christianity the religion of men from its inception, our secularizing nation has been backing away from it at break neck speed since the 19th century ascendancy of the sciences which ostensibly have the natural answers for everything.5
In the process, of course, the rebellion against things Christian involves that which is truly of God and biblical and has reached the point of outrageously ridiculous as it concerns gender, marriage and family. Political correctness, tolerance and moral relativism have also spawned a generation that has shifting boundaries; enabling confusion and lawlessness to proliferate. America is not apostatizing since every single person in it from the beginning until now has not been a born again Christian. But it is forcefully rejecting what was imposed on it by religionists and hoped for by Christ’s faithful. In the midst of this satanically caused matrix of evil, Christian men are commanded to stand!
We are to firmly stand our ground against the continuing onslaught of evil in God’s superior spiritual armor of truth, righteousness, the Gospel of peace with Him, all important faith and the three-fold wonder of salvation: justification, sanctification and the glory to come! We also wield the mighty weapons of God’s Word as a “sword” (Hebrews 4:12) and in accord with the situation, prayers of intercession on behalf of others and/or petition for God’s intervention (Ephesians 6:14-18, NKJV) including with reinforcements (2 Kings 6:8-17; Acts 12:1-11). On rare, Spirit directed occasions, the heavy prayer weapon of imprecation is employed against those deceived by Satan (2 Kings 6:18-23; Acts 13:4-12).
This latter weapon is used only in the rarest of situations because our warfare is not with fellow humans we seek to see saved through repentance and faith in the Gospel! This is why we are to stay alert and prayerful for each other to seize opportunities to preach the Gospel and witness Christ among the lost even while suffering their rejection and persecution; trusting God for vindication as Paul modeled (Ephesians 6:19-20). Standing our ground, we wait on the Spirit’s clear prompt (if it will come at all) before engaging in imprecatory prayer upon those that attempt to hinder others from hearing the Gospel and God’s Word. Such persons include professed Christian impostors, rebels and apostates legion among the numerous forms of manmade Christianity the religion (Acts 13:6-8).
Indeed, when Jude wrote his famous exhortation “to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” he was concerned not about the world outside as a priority, but those from it coming into the churches by stealth as impostors, rebels and manifest apostates (Jude 1-4, 12-19, NKJV). While without repentance they stand condemned (Jude 5-11), we in “holy faith,” continuing prayer “in the Holy Spirit” and “the love of God” “making a distinction,” are to care enough to attempt to reach and if at all possible, yank the impostors and rebels “out of the fire” (2 Timothy 2:24-26; Jude 20-23, NKJV). May you and I stand fast in the evil day to God’s glory (Jude 24-25)! The risen, living Christ continues His cry among American churches, "Who is on the Lord's side?"
1 Read all of my posts under the Category, The Cause and my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics, available at all major internet booksellers, by order at your
favorite brick and mortar bookstore or in the Strong Man Store.
2 This encouragement is both for Christian men now and prophetically, those known to God who will read it in the fast approaching future engaged in the most intense
days of spiritual warfare since our Lord’s first century apostles. Glory to God who has gifted, called and blessed me to be used of Him in this way!
3 See the June 8, 2014 post, And Then There Is The War, under the category, Instruction and A Soldier’s Salute posted November 11, 2018 under the category, The
Cause. Also, in the Strong Man Store, purchase the four message audio series, We Are At War!
4 Read the two-part, August 2016 post, Christianity The Religion Of Men, under the category, Instruction.
5 See the September 4, 2016 post, Christianity The Religion American Style, under the category, Call To Repent.
The times are more than changing, they are degenerating toward such evil that if the people of Noah’s generation could see it, they would put their hands to their mouths in horror (Genesis 6:5-7, 11-13; Luke 21:10; Romans 1:18-32; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; Revelation 6:1-4, 9:13-21)! These are days of decision about where a man will stand; days when it will be finally impossible to cloak where you stand on the issues of identification with Christ, biblically defined righteousness and good or the world’s redefinitions that are wrong and evil. The day of the silent endorser of evil is drawing to its close. A man is either fully in or out, for or against; no longer able to hide in the anonymity of silence.
Much evil has been carried out in secular and church history because of the silence of the silent majority. American history is no exception and in today’s 2013 blog repost, I am led by the Lord to challenge professing Christians in our nation to examine their souls and prepare themselves for the consequences of being a Jesus follower in these ever darkening days. Pastors stuck in the ego driven mindset of building the largest possible church whatever evil it takes including willfully being silent on the truths of God’s Word beware. Faithful undershepherds of Christ laboring in churches small and large: keep fighting “the good fight of faith,” (1 Timothy 6:11-16, NKJV)!
Silent is not one of the accusations that have been attached to me as the Founder/President of Open Door Communication Ministries, Inc. Too serious and strict, yes; silent--never, though some who claim to love the Lord have wished it to be so! Yet (Ezekiel 33:1-9), the Ministry will celebrate the thirtieth year since its founding with the roll out of its new informational Web Site, www.opendoorcommin.org this Wednesday, August 12th at Noon PST. I extend a personal invitation to our readers to visit the site and have most of your questions answered about the Ministry the Lord brought into being through me to fulfill His will. I hope you will also let the Lord speak to you about helping us as a prayer and financial partner to keep His voice through us active as long as possible (1 Corinthians 16:9).
Originally Posted March 10, 2013
The national crisis created by the vocal abolitionist movement which eventually led to the Civil War had much to do with forcing everyone in America with a stake to finally declare where they stood on the issue of slavery. Up to then, sympathizers from either the North or South could pretty much go along silently with the status quo as it was with no fear of trouble. This was especially true in the churches where the silent many had gone along with the cruel enslavement of blacks seemingly without a twinge of guilt.
In his Letter From A Birmingham Jail during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. took note of this silent many in America’s conservative white evangelical churches that by their silence, were complicit and in point of fact endorsing the legal but biblically immoral oppression of black Americans; a great number of whom were fellow Christians.1 The silent endorsers of evil, of course, are from many diverse backgrounds and circumstances as well as everywhere in and all throughout history. These are persons that mostly from fear of some form refuse to speak up or act to support what they know is right or challenge what is wrong.
Such persons are well represented in the Bible narrative and no where therein more sadly than the account of how the many among the Jewish rulers dealt with the issue of being publically known as a believer in our Lord Jesus. John writes, “Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God,” (John 12:42-43, NKJV). Out of fear of what other men would think, say or do to them, most of these many rulers who believed in Christ, held their peace right up through His crucifixion and became silent endorsers of evil.
All throughout my journey as a Christian I have met such men as denominational workers, seminary professors, pastors and church members. They know that I either spoke or wrote the truth from God’s Word, but because of fear of what standing with me might cost them, left me standing alone. They fear the loss of prestige, jobs, 401ks, homes, material things etc. because their priorities are tied to this present world (Psalm 17:13-14).
They remain silent when others around them assail my motives and character failing as they do to appreciate that as an aspiring strong man of God in the image of Jesus Christ, I have genuinely found that “pearl of great price” and set my mind as all of them should likewise on what is above and eternal (Psalm 17:15; Matthew 6:19-21, 13:45-46; Colossians 3:1-4, NKJV)! While there have been exceptions, most notable for me was the courageous effort Ed Malone, a white, Southern Baptist radio executive made to help me produce the Lord’s sobering broadcast call to repentance, From Slavery To Victory: One Man’s Journey in 1994.2
Christianity the religion in all of its cultural variations in the churches and related entities makes it easy to be a silent endorser of evil. Conformity with the status quo in its ranks is a valued and well rewarded virtue. This would be good if in fact, what men were conforming to was purely of God and His Word. But instead--just as the Lord Jesus encountered among His people in the 1st century, what men are expected to conform to are the expectations, doctrines, rules, traditions, thinking and attitudes of sinful men overlaid with the outward veneer of religiosity; among the most wicked, men who corruptly use Scripture to support their own ends and of those more nobly minded but no less deceived, men attempting the impossible effort to please God in the flesh (John 6:63; Romans 7:14-8:13).
In the end, only two men stepped up publically from among the silent many rulers of Israel to identify themselves as supporters of Christ: Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus (Luke 23:50-51; John 7:45-52, 19:38-42). Now, the world’s hatred for professing Christians is increasing and the foretold days of severe persecution draw near (Matthew 24:9). Who will step from the shadows among the silent many in the churches today (that by their silence are endorsing much evil) to publically identify with Christ and suffer with their brothers that do likewise in those days (Mark 8:34-38)?
1 Martin Luther King, Jr., Why We Can’t Wait, (New York: Signet Books, 1964), 90-92.
2 Get your copy of this historic and award winning Radio Special at https://fromslaverytovictory.org/Commemorative-Cassette.
From the beginning until now, God’s faithful have been a persecuted minority (Genesis 4:1-10; 1 John 3:10-15). Our time in America has come and God wants us to remember in Jesus the stuff we are made of through Him (2 Timothy 3:12)! We may be powerless as a minority today to reverse the decline of our nation or effect the repentance of falling away Christians as foretold, but in our endurance to the end we will receive power from Christ to reign with Him on this earth when He returns with the Kingdom as sweet vindication of our suffering. Be encouraged about the future of the faithful today in this edited blog repost that appeared on the last day of 2012.
Originally Posted December 31, 2012
The final deliverance of God’s elect Jews and faithful saints will begin with the Kingdom of Heaven’s declaration of war on Satan and his kingdom. Holy angels faithful to God in their superior numbers and might will engage and prevail against the devil and his angels in heavenly places. The victory of the holy angels will be so thorough and final Satan and his angels will be evicted permanently from their heretofore dwelling in heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12; Revelation 12:7-9). This means there will be no residence any longer for them in the second heaven which is all of outer space beyond earth’s atmosphere or access to the third heaven, the abode of God (Acts 7:54-56; 2 Corinthians 12:1-4).
This moment is a mixed bag for faithful saints. On the one hand it is good news since it means we are yet another step closer to the fulfillment of Satan’s announced judgment, realizing our hope of eternal salvation and the reign of Christ (Revelation 12:10). On the other hand, it is bad news in the near term because the devil and his demonic armies have just lost the war of the ages and are confined to earth with only a very short time (three and one half years) before they are imprisoned in Hades after which a thousand years later, they are finally forever condemned to the lake of fire (Revelation 20:1-3, 7-10).
These fallen creatures are not very happy campers at all and in fact, while the heavens are urged to rejoice over the devil’s defeat by the holy angels and eviction from their environs, all of the inhabitants of the earth including elect Jews and faithful saints are warned to prepare for grief since “the devil has come down to you, having great wrath,” (Daniel 12:1; Revelation 12:12). This is the major part of the “great tribulation” many Christians miss. It is not God’s wrath that is at the core of that brief most evil of evil times, it is Satan’s wrath and he wastes no time venting it against the human objects of it he hates the most: Jews and Christians (Revelation 12:13-17).
God will supernaturally protect His elect number of Jews during this period (Revelation 7:1-8; 12:6, 14), while faithful saints are expected to overcome the devil’s onslaught of deception, works of power and violent persecution (described as war) through patient endurance involving trust in the blood of Christ, their testimony and being willing to suffer death (understanding themselves as “sheep for the slaughter”) in remaining loyal to the Lord (Revelation 7:9-17, 12:11). These are the aspiring strong men and great women of God in the image of Christ my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics, prepares the willing to become!
The “great tribulation” is the final intense evil period of these latter days and the last gasps of existence for Satan’s kingdom when he reigns openly through his resurrected and immortal man patterned on Antiochus Epiphanes of old (Daniel 9:27, 11:36-45, 12:7; Mark 13:14-23; Revelation 13). In its aftermath are the most violent, painful transitory birth contractions of the approaching Day of God’s eternal Kingdom brought by our returning Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ (Mark 13:24-27). He will lead and be a strong support for the elect, remnant Jews who have been waiting for Him without realizing it in the final battle for Jerusalem (Micah 5:3-5; Zechariah 12, 14:1-15; Revelation 16:12-14, 16, 19:11-21).
He comes to fulfill the ancient promises of God and save the people of His ethnic heritage, even Jacob (Jeremiah 30-33; Romans 11:25-36) and the yet living faithful remnant saints who are transformed alive after those that have died are resurrected (1 Corinthians 15:50-53; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18). Faithful saints from all time that have been the righteous minority in Christ will be powerless no more or ever again (Philippians 1:27-28; 2 Thessalonians 1:3-10)! Finally, the oppressions of the oppressor will cease and the new immortal, righteous majority will rule a world of real peace, justice and equity for all (Psalm 37:11; Isaiah 11:1-10; 51:12-13; Micah 4:1-5; Revelation 5:8-10). Let God fill you fresh with joy, peace and hope by these truths and the power of the Holy Spirit in believing to the end (Romans 15:8-13, 16:20).
It is not easy living as a Christian in the world on a normal day. It is much harder doing so in days that have quickly become anything but normal! We Christians face all of the same heightened challenges, adversities and hardships as our unsaved neighbors here in America and abroad during the current global Coronavirus pandemic. In a biblical worldview, our understanding of how and why such things are happening and intimate relationship with the Almighty God ultimately behind them are supposed to help us cope better than most.1 However, as hoarding toilet paper says much about the nation’s character, so the constant exhortation not to fear from preachers about that of Christians.
This is especially amazing to me since so many Christians profess to fearlessly believe in a sudden “rapture” that if it were to happen as imagined, would be an event so jarring to their families and others left behind in the world there would be no repentance or recovery in this Protestant version of purgatory, only fatal despair. As bad as it is at this point, we Christians are still here en masse and will be until death by whatever means or Christ’s unexpected sensory overloading appearance to deliver His persecuted remnant yet alive in a calloused, wonder weary world fully given over to evil. This is as the Bible objectively read and applied foretells (2 Thessalonians 1:3-12)!
As authentic faith in God has always been required of His righteous ones on any day to successfully resist the devil’s “fiery darts” that include fear, strength will be equally required to stand fast through all of what is coming upon the world going forward (1 Corinthians 16:13; Ephesians 6:16, NKJV).2 Human beings do not naturally possess the spiritual strength necessary to long endure and persevere through prolonged hardships, adversities, troubles and tribulations that are common to our life experience on earth much less the cataclysmic events foretold in His Word that God in His timing is bringing upon the world as the birth pains of His Kingdom.
Praise be to God He has built the availability of His strength into the human experience expressly for those in relationship with Him as redeemed sons, disciples and servants by grace through faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 3:14-16)! Drawing upon and living moment by moment out of the superior strength God by the Holy Spirit supplies to our spirit is our normative experience by design. We were made to be indwelt by God forever, but sin caused separation from Him (that is, spiritual death) to be mankind’s shared reality (Ephesians 2:1). Taking the initiative, God in Christ has restored His life and strength to us who believe in Him (John 10:10; Colossians 1:9-14).
The strength of God is without contest supernatural as is all of biblical Christianity and unique to Him. Out of His inexhaustible omnipotence God through Christ created and sustains the heavens and the earth for us, His eternal sons, assembled to Him and Christ as Lord--every aspiring strong man and great woman of God in His image (Isaiah 45:11-13; Colossians 1:15-23)!3 This same power as His strength is constantly renewed in us as we by faith purposely wait on the Lord for and actively seek it in times of need (Isaiah 40:27-31; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10). We are to even gain a bold faith in Christ from being repeatedly strengthened by Him (Philippians 4:13; 2 Timothy 4:16-18).
Through the supernatural strength our God supplies us then, we are more than amply equipped to please Him and do His will; to cope with the everyday trials of life and those more severe that come suddenly which at first glance seem to be overwhelming. Nevertheless, through His strength we are enabled to stand if we keep our heads and call on Him in faith; not giving into unbelief and the fear that somehow what we face is bigger than God. As it is written, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” And again, “For with God nothing will be impossible,” (Genesis 18:14a; Luke 1:37, NKJV). And since by the Word of prophecy we have known and know what God is up to and what is coming upon the world, we are all the more ready for extraordinary events that occur (Mark 13:23).
Indeed, as our Lord warned, far worse events to include the global persecution of Christians on the earth and in the heavens that have never taken place before are coming (Luke 21:7-12, 25-28). Are we already fainting in fear with this Coronavirus? As He taught in the Gospels and shows in His Revelation He recently led me to write about,4 Christ expects us to proclaim the Gospel and witness Him until He returns; persevering to the end in strength, obedience to His Word and loyalty to Him (Luke 21:13-19; Revelation 3:8, 11). Therefore, in faith and with “this treasure” of the Spirit of life and strength in us, let us like the faithful apostles and saints before and around us overcome this world and its ruler as well as ace the tests to doubt God through fear (2 Corinthians 4:6-11; 1 John 4:4).5
1 Taking Bible prophecy seriously as we ought, no Christian should be shocked at the increasingly severe events in our world. See my September 29, 2019 post, God
Almighty In A 21st Century World, under the category, Bible Prophecy.
2 For more on standing fast in the times, read my November 25, 2018 post, Standing In The Evil Day, under the category, Encouragement.
3 I write about the aspiring strong man and great woman of God in my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics. Get a print copy or digital download of the book
at major internet booksellers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, ChristianBooks.com and Apple (digital only). You can also get a print copy in the Strong Man Store.
4 See the two-part post beginning February 16, 2020, Christ’s Message To His Faithful, under the categories, Bible Prophecy and Encouragement.
5 The Lord led me to proclaim a timely six message series, The Hour Of Testing, now available in the Strong Man Store that instructs Christians on God’s biblically taught
purposes behind why He tests His people and fully explores the prophetic implications tied to the coming hour of trial our Lord speaks of in Revelation 3:10.
As the Lord led, I wrote this edited 2010 Commentary in commemoration of serving Him in this Ministry He led me to found. In that mindset, I post it now to praise the God who saved and called me to His service through what have been many adverse circumstances since 1985 and to serve as yet another witness against the success mongers that have falsely made compromise of God’s Word a necessity of Christian service. I joyfully fear God and in it have led this Ministry to stand for the restoration of men to the ordained roles of headship He designed for them in this mortal age; the glorious destiny that belongs to all Christians who will let God conform them to the image of Christ!
Originally Published August 2010
In our success mad world that always judges it based on numbers, size and favorable outcomes, many of the Bible's most important figures would be deemed failures. Yet, time has proven their calling and service to God--where they many times stood alone against the tide of their day--was truly very successful as it concerned faithfully doing His will. Reflecting on the 25th anniversary since I was blessed by God to found Open Door Communication Ministries, Inc. August 12, 1985, I have faced the fact a later to be seen faithfulness as success may be my own spiritual legacy as also the majority of aspiring strong men of God in the image of Jesus Christ!1
Since the success model of the world has also firmly established itself in most of our churches and para-church ministries today, numbers, size and favorable outcomes determine whether a man or his ministry are successful. As a pastor, folk constantly want to know, "how large is your church" as if this one factor can really determine success or if God is involved. Many certified false teachers have followers in the millions. With Open Door Communication Ministries, Inc. the question is "what is your income?" In fairness, we report numbers small and large from events we sponsor in our monthly newsletter. But we give God the glory because His work is the point!
The God of the Bible does not often set numerical goals especially for work to be done with a prophetic emphasis. The question, “how many support your cause” asked in their times would have surely made the responses of men like Noah, Lot, Elijah, Jeremiah, the Lord Jesus and His apostle, Paul, failures in the eyes of their inquirer. Noah was called of God to build an ark for what turned out to be just for his family of eight out of millions of human beings. God gave this cause to Noah after announcing He would destroy the world with a flood. Yet, Noah preached righteousness while he worked a lengthy time building the ark, but none sought refuge until too late (Genesis 7:11-23; 2 Peter 2:4-5).
Righteous Lot lived in a wicked city like many in our nation today in which he had continually appealed for their restraint from evil. God sent angels to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah sparing only Lot, his wife and daughters for his sake. But even his wife perished after disobeying the command not to look back (Genesis 19:12-26; 2 Peter 2:6-8). Elijah the prophet stood alone to face down 450 false prophets of Baal and though he prevailed by the Lord, he felt abandoned by the people of Israel because they feared wicked Jezebel who had put a death sentence upon him (1 Kings 18:20-19:10).
The prophet Jeremiah warned of God's coming judgment and called the people of Judah to repentance for over 40 years. He was beaten, imprisoned, kept in stocks, dropped down wells and opposed by priests, false prophets and most of the kings. He stood virtually alone until the end when the judgment God had been warning of through him came (2 Chronicles 36:15-21; Jeremiah 40:1-6). After having the multitudes of Israel follow Him and enjoy His instruction and ministry of power, the Lord Jesus stood alone against His accusers and in His cause that led Him to the cross (Luke 23:33-49). Later, Paul, His apostle knew a similar experience (2 Timothy 4:9-16).
Thus, limited numbers and standing alone against the crowd typically in rebellion and apostasy is not new for God’s faithful. Indeed, every professed Christian man must decide if he needs a crowd or will he stand alone if necessary to do God's will? I made my choice 25 years ago and suffer the consequences. This Ministry is still small and I have never had a salary.2 I am scoffed at and ridiculed because I refuse to corrupt God's Word for the sake of success. Even so, the Gospel is preached, lives are being changed and souls are being warned! Like all of the Bible’s aspiring strong men of God, I have stood at times and will stand alone to faithfully do His will to the end (Ezekiel 33:1-9). The risen, living Christ continues His cry among American churches, "Who is on the Lord's side?"
1 As a result, my sole focus is on finishing well (pleasing to God--2 Corinthians 5:9) and to let legacy take care of itself! Learn more about the aspiring strong man of God
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.
2 With all praise and thanksgiving to God, this changed in 2014 with the sale of property the Ministry received. I am trusting the Lord for what follows the exhaustion of
this diminishing provision and invite any faithful Christians looking for men of biblical truth and faithfulness to support to consider me through this Ministry. Contact the
Ministry for more information.
As I did seven months later in this edited 2012 repost, I am following last week’s repost reflecting on Amy Winehouse’s death with that of Whitney Houston’s. For whatever all of the reasons, many moderns do not seem to take death seriously nor do they understand that unlike video games there is no reset button to delete its reality and start again. Physical death is typically irreversible except by God as demonstrated by Jesus Christ and even then is only a temporary delay to the inevitable permanent departure from this mortal life (John 11:38-44). Only Christ to this hour has suffered death, been buried and resurrected to immortality (John 19:28-20:18; 1 Timothy 6:13-16; Revelation 1:18).
While I do not declare the eternal end of Ms. Houston as a professed Christian, in this repost I am led by the Lord to soberly challenge all of us that make up His churches to consider yet another means Satan takes some of our number captive with destructive intent. We so easily forget he is called “Destroyer” because that is his perpetual mission and work done so well among mortal humanity (Revelation 9:11, NKJV). I also warn all of the naively idealistic engaged in any pursuits of this world that without a solid grounding in Christ, Satan lurks in the shadows seeking an opportunity to lure you away from your steadfastness in Him (Colossians 1:19-23, 2:4-10; 2 Peter 3:14-18).
Originally Posted February 19, 2012
Stunned and immediately grief filled was my reaction to the news Whitney Houston had died last Saturday. I had just returned from out of town conducting the funeral of an in-law where I used as my eulogy topic, The Reality Of Death. Many in the small gathering prayed to receive Christ thereafter and I am glad. But for the few who did not pray and anyone reading this without assurance of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, Whitney Houston’s sudden death ought to serve as a sobering reminder that death is possible for any of us at any time. My heart goes out to Ms. Houston’s daughter and entire family.1
I was led by the Lord to write last July 31st of the tragic death of another female singer, Amy Winehouse. While then I wrote of how deeply Ms. Winehouse’s death affected me without knowing much about her background and musical accomplishments, Whitney Houston is another story. Even without all of the details, her story is very grievously familiar to me. In fact, it is for men as a first priority, but also women like Whitney Houston that my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics is written;2 professed Christians in and coming out of the churches for whatever reasons whose lifestyles reflect not the image of Christ in strength, but continued human frailty and weakness in sin.
Though they are not the rule by any means among the churches, Black American churches have a long history of losing their congregants to the world as they go forth to parlay their God given talents into fame and fortune. Without making excuses, it is understandable why since the world stage offers a wider audience and greater financial rewards than the churches for the many that historically come from poverty and sometimes--as in the case of Whitney Houston--middle income homes. Nonetheless, I will never be convinced that the Lord’s Church was intended to be the devil’s bullpen where he can easily call in relief for those he tires of, disables and/or destroys.3
Christians belong to Christ who purchased us with His blood on Calvary. We live for and serve Him using our natural talents and spiritual gifts for His purposes, to His glory! It is about Him, not us. Therefore, whatever occupation Christians go into, we labor under His Lordship and to please Christ (Colossians 3:23-25). The entertainment and sports fields especially are rigged by Satan to trap and destroy those who with starry eyes and little if any Christ-like character pursue them. Whitney Houston--as so many before her--left her church and for a while soared to the highest heights of fame and fortune as an entertainer. She then got trapped by the devil’s sorcery embodied in drugs, alcohol and carnality.
As a disciplined minister, I will not automatically put Whitney Houston in Heaven as so many are doing. Indeed, this is what Satan wants because if he can convince us that sin has no eternal consequences, then his bullpen of churches will stay full with others eager to follow in the footsteps of Ms. Houston. And so, faithful to my calling (Ezekiel 33:1-9), I warn my reader to consider the words of Jesus concerning the life priorities of His disciples in Mark 8:34-38. Too, make no mistake: it is not enough to grow up in a church and perform any work including singing in the choir that saves (Matthew 7:21-23). Nor does God play favorites; we will reap what we sow (Romans 2:4-11; Galatians 6:7-8)! Finally, it is not enough to emotionally believe Jesus loves you that saves, it is faith in and love for Him displayed in obedient lives (1 John 2:3-6).
1 Unfortunately, since writing this post, Ms. Houston’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, followed her mother in a heartbreakingly similar death in August 2015. She was just
22 years old.
2 The book is available at all major internet book sellers, by order at your favorite brick and mortar bookstore or in the Strong Man Store.
3 For the uninitiated, “bullpen” is a Baseball term that refers to the area and the relief pitchers themselves that warm-up and wait to be called up to replace a pitcher
already in the game. This is fine for Baseball, but not the Lord’s churches with Satan as a manager calling Christians up as naïve players to get in his game with the
intent to destroy them!
Still thinking about young 21st century church planters,1 I am not unaware that many do set out with sincere determination to answer God’s call to go, preach the Gospel, make disciples and plant a church. However, some go wrong when they start to believe it depends more on them than God. As a result, they seek to help the Lord and speed up the process of church building with people pleasing compromises of God’s Word and flesh generated ideas. In this edited 2010 Commentary, the Lord leads me to remind all of us that He is concerned about the end and the means. Aspiring strong men of God in the image of Christ are to never do evil to bring about His intended good end.
Originally Published September 2010
It used to be a matter of routine morality that people were just as concerned about how an achievement was made as the achievement itself. Apparently, this is no longer true. In the world and among many Christians today, the end is exceedingly more important than the means used to arrive at it. Justifying the means by the end as a philosophy has saturated every fabric of our society. The character and specifically integrity of Christ in the aspiring strong man of God, precludes his compromising what is right in the sight of the Lord to arrive at even the noblest of ends.2 He knows God is just as much concerned about the means to the end as He is the end itself.
Having abandoned a biblical worldview of life and morality, athletes cheat using performance enhancing drugs for fame and bigger paydays. Teachers adjust student test scores to the end of showing progress and keeping their jobs. Activist judges hide behind legalese and formality to advance immoral social agendas in important rulings while lawmakers bribe each other with money deals to pass needed legislation. Corrupt preachers twist God's Word to justify covetous desires while deacons and trustees steal church money to pay themselves for their hard work. Churches tolerate the known immoral lifestyles of choir members and musicians to keep services jumping.
Professed Christians justify disobedience to God's Word to show the world they love them. The Bible's steps to salvation through repentance and faith are altered by the same folk to fill churches with warm, unsaved bodies. After all, the end game is packed out church worship services. Professed Christian mothers murder their children in the womb to justify timing issues and career ambitions. The Lord, they say, "understands my situation." Professed Christian men lie, steal and commit other crimes justifying their deeds by claiming expediency in the need of the moment. Never mind that the Lord they profess to follow taught no such precept or set an endorsing example.
Indeed, the Lord Jesus Christ was given many opportunities to achieve ends by varying means other than what His Father laid out for Him. For example, at the outset of His ministry He was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1-11). After He had completed a 40-day food fast, the Lord was very hungry. The devil approached and suggested He turn stones into bread to prove He was the Son of God. But the Lord told him, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God,'" (Matthew 4:4, NKJV). Interestingly, Jesus had no concern here about being legalistic as He declared God’s Word!
It is also clear the Lord was not going to prove Himself or use His own power to satisfy His need. He would wait and rely on His Father for all of His needs! In the evil thinking of our day, many would be okay with the Lord Jesus taking care of His need for food and showing off His power to boot in order to silence the devil. But the devil would not have been silenced. As the accuser, he would have immediately charged the Lord with acting independent of His Father and sin for he also knew the Scriptures. The means the Lord would have used to the ends of eating and proving His identity was not righteous. He, therefore, chose not to use it!
The other two temptations the devil brought thereafter were likewise designed to get the Lord Jesus to achieve ends by means that were wicked. In those cases too, the Lord refused to do so standing on and honoring God's written Word! Even in the final hours before His suffering when He sought the Father if there might yet be another means to save us, He submitted to His Father's no and went to the cross as the noblest of ends ever in the history of the world (Matthew 26:36-46). Every aspiring strong man of God in the image of Jesus Christ must in like manner willfully choose moment by moment to achieve every end by means that will also please our heavenly Father. The risen, living Christ continues His cry among American churches, "Who is on the Lord's side?"
1 See the September 9, 2018 post, Old Versus New School Church, under the category, Instruction.
2 Learn more about the character of the aspiring strong man of God 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.
Join The Strong Man Of God Resources Conversation!
Get Your Copy Of The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics Today!
Your purchase supports restoring men, families and communities through Strong Man Ministries!
Purchase It Now