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From my 1977 Resurrection Sunday birth into the faith until now, I have encountered a steady parade of pastors, elders and leaders in the churches that without shame or thought of repentance ambitiously pursue the earthly rewards of authority, recognition, money and success. No doubt, a few have even approached God the Father with tearful prayers as the young man in Christ’s parable to ask for those things as their share in the family inheritance. They go to any number of schools eager to help them get the credentials needed to realize their dreams. In His all knowing, wisdom and permissive will, God has allowed a great number of these men to have their way (Luke 15:11-12). Mind you, the biblically taught motives for serving the Lord are love, pleasing Him in doing His will and eternal rewards as Christ, the Strong Man of God gave us example (John 8:29, 14:31; Hebrews 12:1-2). In accord with His requirement to be His disciple and example, we do not come to Jesus in order to have God fulfill our dreams, but to line up behind the Lord to do His will to the point of death if called upon (Luke 9:23). Now, it just so happens as aspiring strong men in the image of Christ have discovered, God equips us with spiritual gifts, a corresponding calling and ministry that in satisfaction far exceeds any dream we may have had for ourselves though great suffering attend it. It is to the praise of God that the divine will to any extent is able to still be accomplished through any of us as redeemed sinners, but especially those sons as pastors, elders and leaders that operate out of their own selfish motives and agenda. Many men that realize God has gifted and called them into the ministry of teaching and preaching as pastors, elders and leaders quickly shed their biblically taught motives and instead, embrace the worldly rooted motives for authority, recognition, money and success they see are displayed in their role models and peers. These carnal motives in their leaders are widely accepted by and entrenched in the culture of the churches today. Ministry with carnal motives leads quickly to the “far country” of compromise and corruption of God’s Word, rebellion against the divine will in arrogant self-exaltation, pride and sinful living whether publically seen or not (Luke 15:13, NKJV). Such men clamor after titles--to be called “Bishop” for example, which was corrupted historically by manmade Christianity the religion, but in the New Testament continues to simply refer to one that is an elder or pastor of a local church--and insist on sitting in the chief seats to exercise authority and be recognized contrary to our Lord’s instruction (Matthew 20:20-28, 23:1-12). They turn men away from following Christ to themselves (Acts 20:30). These men under pastors, elders and leaders in the far country are used not to build up God’s Kingdom, but theirs. This is another great reason men in large numbers are missing from the churches. They recognize that for all of the religious talk, the bottom line is the leadership wants to use them for their own purposes not the Lord’s. For the record, sir, saved men do not belong to you nor does God send them to you to help fulfill your visions of grandeur. They belong to Christ who died for them and gifts and calls them to do the Kingdom work of building His Church (Matthew 4:18-22, 16:13-20, 28:19-20; Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11; Ephesians 4:7-16), not yours! If in the far country--to include Preachers In LA--you realize all of the worldly and selfish motives of your heart for serving and never repent, then the Lord declares that you with all other outwardly religious folk have your reward and inheritance in full (Matthew 6:1-6). If however, at the end of your dreams fulfilled in the far country you wake up in the pig pen of emptiness, disillusionment and despair, the Lord longsuffering, gracious and merciful awaits your return to Him in repentance with forgiveness, a warm welcome home and rejoicing (Luke 15:14-24). You have rightly understood your pig pen as the Lord’s chastening and responded accordingly (Psalm 32:1-5, 86:15; Ezekiel 18:30-32; 1 Corinthians 11:31-32). Rather than being jealous and envious of you that have come to your senses and returned to God, Christ and we with Him as the other, faithful son of the Father’s house in the Lord’s parable celebrate (Luke 15:25-32)! Truly, sent by God out of His love to warn of His fiery judgment near at hand (1 Corinthians 3:5-17; Revelation 18:1-8), I have longed with His heart for the repentance of my fellow pastors, elders and leaders in the churches that from impure motives and sin have gone off to the far country. Are you not also among the men our God seeks to restore through our strong man of God cause and message? Therefore, I exhort the guilty to repent now returning home to faithfully serve God with proper motives and await His full, glorious eternal reward and inheritance in Christ!
While the Lord Jesus most assuredly initially speaks to the seven messengers and the corporate assemblies of Asia they lead, He concludes every message speaking to the individuals that make them up. The proof of this beyond His repeated use of the phrase “He who has an ear...” in Revelation 2-3 I have already referenced is another like it: “To him” or “He who overcomes.” The Lord unmistakably addresses Himself to any individual within the particular church He is speaking to that will give heed to His words. This is not unusual since His Church is made up of individuals that have believed on Him as “the Christ, the Son of the living God,” (Matthew 16:13-18, NKJV)!
Nevertheless, an elementary truth Christ knows, but many religionists especially fail to grasp is that not everyone assembled together in a local church is truly a born again believer in Him (John 3:1-8). There are “false brethren,” “impostors” and de facto apostates in many ostensibly “Christian” churches that even hold titles of authority (Galatians 2:1-5; 2 Timothy 3:13; Titus 1:10-16, NKJV). This is due to a number of reasons to include the lowered, unbiblical standards of membership many have tied to the practice of Christianity as a religious invention of men and the purposeful infiltration of Satan’s emissaries (2 Corinthians 11:10-15; Jude 3-4). Thus, a local church anywhere on the planet is not necessarily the Church in miniature!5
As a consequence, membership in a local church is not tantamount to membership in the Church of Jesus Christ either. So-called “opening the doors of the church” to invite non-members “to join” without ascertaining their actual spiritual status or presenting the biblical Gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) with the requirement to repent and believe it is traditional in many religion bound Protestant churches desperate to fill empty pews.6 However, it is not membership with benefits as in a worldly social club affiliation that the writer of Hebrews advocates in his exhortation, “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together,” (Hebrews 10:24-25, NKJV).7
His advocacy is for the regular gathering together of the Lord’s faithful as individuals to Him in any number and kind of settings to include jails and homes (Acts 1:12-14, 2:40-47, 12:1-12, 16:23-25; Romans 16:5). The well intended and wicked religionists that have made membership, regular attendance and participation in local, corporate brick and mortar churches alone the standard and core of the Christian experience rather than relationship with Christ and the New Testament understanding of assembling together as His Church have set the unknowing, biblically illiterate and weak among them up for spiritual disaster in these latter days. Truly, what will these folk do when they can’t “go to church” anymore as is the case for our persecuted brethren in many places?
The Lord Jesus also speaks to the individuals that make up the seven churches of Asia because His standards of Church membership and discipleship are high. This is the second part of His prophetic warning. Contrary to popular manmade Christianity, people are not just going to get into Heaven and receive immortal glory “any old how.” Repeatedly the Lord declares it is “him” or “he that overcomes.” The two churches of Asia He commends in full are composed of saints that have endured persecution driven “tribulation,” “poverty,” “prison” and testing; persevering as our Lord “Faithful and True” to the death in faithfulness (Revelation 2:8-11, 3:7-14, NKJV). These faithful saints keep His “works until the end,” (Revelation 2:26, NKJV).8
That the end for persevering faithful saints on earth includes going through “the great tribulation” is bound up in the unfolding prophetic content the apostle John is to write concerning “the things which will take place after this;” that is, prophetic reality contemporary with the seven churches of Asia, but also beyond them (Revelation 1:19, NKJV). Revelation 5:1-10 shows Christ as the “Root of David” and “the Lamb” along with “the saints” and His Church to that moment already in Heaven (NKJV). In the overview prophetic sweep of earth activity up to Christ’s Second Coming embodied in the seals of Revelation 6, the fifth seal (vs. 9-11) makes clear martyrdom in suffering among His saints on earth will be God’s permitted norm--something they are prepared for (Romans 8:31-39).
Revelation 7:9-17 indisputably shows individual saints from “all nations, tribes, peoples and tongues” “come out of the great tribulation” which along with what God does in the heavens and upon the earth, involves all manner of suffering and martyrdom in the all out war finally prosecuted against us by the Antichrist (think Hitler’s “final solution”) as other parts of Bible prophecy and Revelation corroborates (Daniel 7:15-25, 8:15-25; Matthew 24:9-22; Revelation 12:7-13:18, 14:6-13, NKJV). God will also permit the Antichrist to destroy brick and mortar church buildings as is already occurring in many places amidst all of his destructive acts; eliciting a cry from Heaven for God’s people to exit she that is “The Mother Of Harlots” and owns treasured property (Revelation 17:1-18:8, NKJV).
Nevertheless, at the end of the three and a half years of the great tribulation and before the full outpour of God’s wrath, as He promised, the Lord will suddenly appear in clouds of glory. With His thunderous shout, the commanding voice of an archangel and blast of God’s trumpet, the Lord will gather all of His saints to Himself in the sky. The dead in Christ will be raised first and take flight to Him, while the remnant of faithful saints still alive will bypass death, be translated and follow after them (Matthew 24:29-31; Mark 13:24-27; 1 Corinthians 15:50-57; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11; 2 Thessalonians 1:3-12; Revelation 14:14-16, 16:15, 19:6-16)! The risen, living Christ continues His cry among American churches, "Who is on the Lord's side?"
5 It is the universal Church made up of His faithful followers that Christ builds “and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18, NKJV) not every
single local church calling itself Christian (2 Timothy 2:19-21).
6 When unbelievers “join” they are by default impostors, false brethren, devils and tools of Satan as are willful or de facto apostates whether they realize it or not. Is
it any wonder the inevitable historic real life carnal church drama created is making for great film and television drama in these latter days while simultaneously
bringing shame to Christ?
7 Temporal membership in a local brick and mortar church certainly does have its benefits, but they do not exceed the greater benefits of membership in the univer-
sal Church of Jesus Christ! As a result, the value of membership in a local church apart from authentic relationship with Christ and membership in His Church is
exalted well beyond its value and over sold. Moreover, churches that use joining as a test of loyalty to them especially when they are unfaithfully sinning against
Christ are hypocritical and wicked (Matthew 23:15)! Even so, a local brick and mortar church that faithfully preaches the biblical Gospel for salvation, teaches and
diligently strives to model obedience to God’s Word as it is written, equips the saints for and facilitates them in biblical ministry and mission as a priority is well
pleasing to the Lord and useful in His Kingdom causes during the time that is left to operate openly. See the July 23, 2017 post, Churchmen In The Two Minute
Drill, under the category, The Cause. Also read the timely essay, What Hath The Church Fathers To Do With Your Local Church by Stephen Presley, in the Fall
2019 edition of Southwestern News, P. 54-57, to see that even in scholarly circles there is an appreciation of the consequential increase in hostility of Western cul-
tures including our own toward Christianity and discussion of the right response among the churches.
8 Such is every aspiring strong man and great woman of God I write and instruct about from God’s Word in my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics. If
you want to learn the foundational biblical expectations of Christ for His followers and be equipped to faithfully live them out to the end, get a print copy or digital
download of my book at major internet booksellers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, ChristianBooks.com and Apple (digital only). You can also get a print copy
of the book in the Strong Man Store. If you would like a foretaste of what is taught in the book, read my two-part 2019 post that begins August 18, Lined Up Be-
hind Jesus, under the category, Instruction.
As the Lord leads, I launch the New Year with a word of sober prophetic warning to the churches and individuals making them up that claim connection to Jesus Christ of the Bible (Ezekiel 33:1-9). The warning is rooted in the last book of the Bible declared to be His “Revelation” in which He participates in the delivery and oversees the composition of its prophetic content that pronounces the reader and obedient hearer “blessed” (Revelation 1:1-3, NKJV). The Lord’s participation includes His own recorded words in glorious appearance to His chosen vessel and prophet, the apostle John, who is to write down and deliver the prophecy to seven churches in Asia (Revelation 1:4-20).
Before going any further, let me give the first part of the Lord’s warning to all of the churches that have entered this third decade of the 21st century and at breakneck speed, approach the second millennia anniversary of His death, burial, resurrection and ascension: He has not changed (Hebrews 13:8)! What He said to the churches in Asia at the end of the 1st century A.D., He stands by and says to all that exist at this hour and until the end. Those who by deceitful corruption of the Bible insist otherwise are deluding themselves and deceiving you that believe them! The Lord’s prophecy to the seven churches in Asia was for them, all others of the time and all that would exist after them.
The latter statement is consistent with the commentary of many biblically conservative interpreters that understand the apostle John in obedience to the Lord’s command was to deliver the entire “Revelation” to the literal seven named churches of Asia (Revelation 1:9-11, 19).1 Again, very importantly in the process the Lord’s specific messages to each one of those seven churches was to also speak to their contemporary sister churches and those of similar circumstance in the future. Some believe each church of the seven represented a season of the long epoch of Church history on earth thus far. However, this conclusion is not borne out by actual history.
Absolutely consistent with actual history though, the Bible and Revelation’s use of the number seven to indicate completeness (Genesis 2:1-3; Joshua 6:1-5; Luke 8:1-2), each of the seven churches in their conduct represent the continuing state of churches existing then together and at all times after until they are no more at an end prophetically and repeatedly alluded to by the Lord in His messages to them. As the Lord has had me declare in many previous posts, the approaching global end of local churches as open, corporate displays of Christianity regardless of form or authenticity comes from the world’s persecutions and His judgment.2
The foregoing is the reason I break here with the popular teaching that churches are not mentioned from Revelation 4 onward because Christians have been removed from the earth by “the rapture.” Actually, “the churches” are again mentioned in Revelation 22:16. Individual believers as “His servants” and “saints” on earth and in Heaven are spoken of throughout the prophecy while “the angels (messengers) of the seven churches” are uniquely addressed (Revelation 1:1, 20, 5:8-10, NKJV). Indeed, among the many common characteristics of the Lord’s messages to the churches in Revelation 2-3 are His repeated words, “He who has an ear...” spoken to individuals within them!
I will return to individuals as the ultimate target audience of the Lord even as He initially speaks to them in local churches momentarily. First though, the Lord would have me briefly speak more to the common characteristics of His messages to the seven churches of Asia. In what should certainly be the most alarming common characteristic of the Lord’s messages to the seven churches is the reality that He walked among them. This is how He knew their works as another commonality and knows ours too! An additional common characteristic is the Lord held the messengers of these churches in His right hand which suggests not only honor and responsibility, but also control.3
The Lord commended the good, but voiced what He had against the messengers and the seven churches they led as still another commonality; calling the guilty to repentance to avoid temporal punishment and eternal loss. Yet, this did not seem to have long alarmed guilty leaders and congregants or deter them from brazen disobedience to His Word and committing all manner of evil to this hour!4 In spite of the Lord’s command for all to “hear what the Spirit says to the churches,” their history is replete with the corrupt conduct He condemned. The seven churches of Asia passed from the scene as have countless others since and all are shortly about to. Even so, a remnant of Christians from among the two churches Christ commended has stood and will stand to the end!
1 See for example, Revelation by George Ladd, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI, 1972, p 36.
2 Read the August 23, 2015 post, Babylon Is Falling, under the category, Bible Prophecy and Praise For The Lord God Almighty!, posted September 13, 2015 under the
category, Glory To God as samples. So much for “thriving religious enterprises of human pride, achievement and enduring legacy” I wrote is all the rage during these
latter days in the introduction of my December 8, 2019 repost, Restoring Men, under the category, The Cause!
3 Messengers clearly refer to the men called by Christ to shepherd and feed His sheep with His messages (John 21:15-17; Acts 20:26-28; 1 Peter 5:1-4). Therefore, no
pastor/teacher is to understand himself as the sovereign head over a local church and free to teach whatever is right in his own eyes. The Lord Jesus is and remains
forever, Lord, under whom a pastor and any elders serve and are held accountable by Him. The Lord has mercifully chosen for His purposes and our testing to be
longsuffering in the main during this mortal Church era (Luke 13:6-9; 2 Peter 3:9). It is because of this that guilty pastors doing what is right in their own eyes as if
there is no King or Chief Shepherd (Judges 17:6; Acts 20:29-30) have enjoyed extended stays and on their account such resulting ungodly confusion exists among
the churches (2 Peter 2:18-19). But there is a King and Christ is He! Without repentance, His eventual judgment is assured (Matthew 18:6-9) as He made clear to the
guilty messengers and churches of Asia. See my February 9, 2014 post, Is There No King Among Us?, under the category, Call To Repent.
4 As a contemporary example, since the 1960s many male pastors have followed the lead of Thyatira’s messenger to “allow” the rise of guilty women as Jezebels to
teach and take authority over His "servants" in His house in defiance of plain apostolic doctrine (1 Timothy 2:11-14; Revelation 2:20, NKJV). Read my May 27 and
June 3, 2018 two-part post, Feminism’s Entry Into The Churches, under the categories Call To Repent and God’s Creatures. At this hour too, United Methodists are
splitting over the issue of whether same sex relationships biblically condemned are to be tolerated among its members and leaders.
The Lord’s call to passionately return to the work He originally commanded His disciples as one of the major outcomes of repentance and revival is to guilty Christian leaders too so they can get out in front and lead the way! For it has been the failure to faithfully lead God’s people by biblical precept and example that has brought them, the churches and the nation to the present crisis.1 Passivity on the one hand and the pursuit of selfish ambitions on the other in satanic captivity to religion has caused these leaders to stubbornly resist God’s longsuffering call to repentance and revival until now as I have seen and is historically displayed by ancient Israel’s leaders in His Word.
Generally speaking, intense enthusiasm or passion for a cause is a common trait among men from ancient times and certainly the majority of godly men in the Bible to include, of course, Jesus Christ, the Strong Man of God they unknowingly or knowingly sought to emulate (John 2:13-17)! To lack zeal for the Lord’s cause is one of those clear indicators of being devoid of the Holy Spirit in either never having had His indwelling presence or in quenching His fire through unbelief and disobedience (John 3:1-8; 1 Thessalonians 5:19). Both cases exist among professing American Christian leaders because the Holy Spirit is largely irrelevant to the existence and activity of manmade Christianity the religion.
As I have witnessed and found validated by research, the typical American church is led and attended by men that can only be described as passive. Passionless leaders routinely go through the motions of conducting services and presiding over the traditional annual whatever activities mostly women enjoy, while the relatively few men that attend or participate mimic their disposition. David Murrow calls the situation a “leadership crisis” and cites a 2002 George Barna survey that showed that while 92% of 2,400 Protestant pastors called themselves leaders, a specific definition of leading and having spiritual gifts tied to it or a vision dropped the percentage down to the single digits.2
I have also witnessed and read the statistics many times over of Christian pastors that are filled with energetic passion to fulfill their visions of achievement and greatness in raw selfish ambition. Not souls for the Kingdom, but warm bodies to fill seats and offering plates to enable these men to realize their definition of success (which is typically to gain recognition and a brick and mortar legacy by exceeding the congregation size and empire expanse of another pastor) is their priority. Never mind there is no divine mandate whatsoever for pastors to do this in the New Testament, though this sinful ego pride of leaders is portrayed in Scripture (1 Samuel 15:10-12; 2 Samuel 18:18).
Both passive dispassionate and energetic selfishly ambitious pastors have equally resisted the Lord’s call to repentance and revival through me because many say, “the Lord has not said anything to me.” Of course, historically, the prophet comes mostly after God cannot get through to the people and their leadership because they have resisted Him first (Ezekiel 2:1-5, 3:4-7)! The leaders do offer guidance that is supposed to help me gain their ear such as abandon the Lord’s futile calling and carry on as they do to have success. But if I do that, would I not foolishly become guilty of the very things the Lord sent me to cry out against and warn about the consequences (1 Kings 13:1-32)?3
Indeed, it is for the Lord today among church leaders that are guilty as it was in days of old among Israel’s flesh driven religious leaders. Those weak and passive leaders too caused the people “to err” (you consider it a good thing that women rule over men, but the Almighty regards this as utter weakness--Isaiah 3:12, 9:13-17, NKJV) and looked upon their service to God with contempt (Malachi 1:6-14). The selfishly ambitious back then as well were always seeking for a way to fulfill their desires for success and wealth by laying out self serving visions and protecting evil rulers in their sin to be king makers and for gain. They also schemed to bilk the people and profaned God and His service as though He was unable to see any of them (Psalm 94:4-9; Ezekiel 13:1-7, 22:23-29).
The failure to lead as Holy Ghost gifted and called visionary leaders with ambition to fulfill the divine cause in the churches is truly a long standing crisis that has now brought the whole nation to the brink of sudden, catastrophic judgment! Therefore, professing Christian church leaders that are guilty must lead the way in all heartfelt repentance and plea for revival (Joel 2:12-14). Those that do not will suffer with all and endure complete humiliation in their experience of God’s wrath when it falls upon the nation (Ezekiel 13:8-16). You were given the opportunity to “stand in the gap” when God called, but you refused bringing not rapture, but wrath to yourselves (Ezekiel 22:30-31, NKJV). The risen, living Christ continues His cry among American churches, "Who is on the Lord's side?"
1 See the September 20-November 1, 2015 blog posts addressing pastors, other church and wider leaders.
2 David Murrow, Why Men Hate Going To Church, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2005), p. 71.
3 Related snares set out by these leaders include the counsel to “get to know” each one personally so that supposedly they can discern my authenticity (which in the
end, does not seem to matter since they still refuse to repent or support the Ministry) and using the old adage, “you catch more flies with honey than you do with
vinegar.” To both the Lord’s Word shows neither He nor any of His faithful prophets in any generation ever sought the approval of men for the privilege of communi-
cating the divine message or softened it for the sake of acceptance. Truly, their harshest words were reserved for Israel’s religious leaders (Matthew 3:1-10, 23:27-
33). God validates His sent ones and with His Word, confirms their message to be either accepted or rejected! Yes, I painfully know this means a hard road for
the faithful prophet to the shame and condemnation of unrepentant, professing Christian religionists and their leaders.
As the blog title declares, this is the repost of what I wrote a year after this past week’s August 30th repost, “When Strong Men Of God Weep.” For the record, four years later my personal pain from going through the shutdown of a church as judgment from God has healed. However, having had the experience of seeing “affliction by the rod of His wrath” up close (Lamentations 3:1, NKJV), I am all the more urgent to sound the alarm and the Lord’s call to repentance in the churches even as we labor to restore men! For during this same period I have been among many churches of varying size and ethnicity and have seen nothing to convince me I am telling a lie on God about His judgment.
Therefore, I pray that every church pastor and elder reading this will take it to heart. I also salute you this Labor Day among all of those that work if you are ruling well (which includes maintaining the biblically ordained order of God’s house) and laboring in the Word with all sound doctrine as God purely from His Word sees it, not sinful men in fleshy wisdom (1 Timothy 5:17; 2 Timothy 1:13-14). In so laboring, no matter how small the assembly you serve, you are a success in God’s eyes! Be faithful to the end knowing your eternal legacy is the souls in glory because you kept the Kingdom cause before you; letting God use you as the Word exemplified (1 Peter 5:2-3).
Originally Posted July 1, 2012
Today marks the one year anniversary since I became a retired pastor due to the disbanding of St. Mark Baptist Church here in Portland, OR. The Lord enabled me to faithfully serve the church for nearly fifteen years. I have not pursued any other church nor has any sought my service during this time which is all in God’s will for me. I miss serving the Lord’s sheep and preaching regularly but have enjoyed the lighter load of responsibility. As the Lord has led, I have purposely not written anything about the death of the church since last year’s blog on July 10, 2011 entitled, When Strong Men Of God Weep (under the category, Glory To God!) in any other forum until now.
I am sure the Lord has been keeping me from expressing any of the wide range of thoughts and emotions I have had over the past year until He in love could minister more of His instruction and healing into my life. In honor of His amazing work in me, I write in this blog only to offer what I hope will be insightful reflections on my experience in being part of a church that died. Let me begin by stating that I stand by everything I wrote in last July’s blog on the matter. Second, the death of anything we love hurts. So, there is no pretense here; a great part of the past year I have been experiencing all of the emotions of bereavement. Third, since I took responsibility for the church dying, Satan has made sure I have had plenty of accusations and questions.
The main question I have grappled with is what could I have done differently without compromising God’s will, way and Word? Experts abound to show pastors how to grow churches in today’s world, but with a prophet’s heart I rejected 99% of that stuff. I was also warned by “successful” pastors that preaching and witnessing the Gospel of Jesus Christ alone were not enough to build a New Testament church anymore. My position remains that building a church any other way is not pleasing to God and reflects a desire to fulfill a flesh rather than Kingdom agenda (Mark 16:14-20). Indeed, not growing by the preaching of the Gospel is an indictment of American Christianity since growth by conversions is only 2.2%. 3,500-4,000 churches in America close each year never to re-open.1 80% of American churches are stagnant or declining and ready to die.2
While decline and death may be the trend, I still needed to understand more fully why the church I served as pastor had to die. Only God could and did answer that question for me in a satisfactory way. In His comforting, assuring and encouraging instruction the Lord taught me that this was not all about me though it all is working together for my good (Romans 8:28; Hebrews 12:3-11). Churches are dying in a natural cycle of birth, life and death over the course of time to be sure. However, many historically and at this hour have died as a matter of God’s judgment after He called for repentance and revival as well as sent warnings through His prophets to no avail (2 Chronicles 36:15-21; Lamentations 1-2; Revelation 2:1-5). This is the case with the church I shepherded until its death after a legacy of manmade religion and toleration of sin (Numbers 32:20-23).
This all leads to a final reflection and warning for all similar minded churches of manmade religion and sin. Unless you repent, your day to die at the hands of the Lord as judgment is also near. Some of you are already in the throes of death but are in denial. For the rest, rather than proudly judging how I may have failed to succeed as a pastor and rendering me useless, fear and see the death of the church I served as a clear sign and warning from God (Jeremiah 3:6-10; Luke 13:6-9; Revelation 3:1-3)!
To the faithful pastors who have been wickedly terminated or had your church doors close: be encouraged because our God is faithful to remember your service (Lamentations 3:1-26; Hebrews 6:10). To the righteous remnant of believers who are also aspiring strong men and great women of God in the image of Christ: stand firm in faith on God’s word no matter what it costs you now since great is your reward (Psalm 58:3-11; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17; Revelation 3:4-6)!
1 D.J. Chuang, Churches Closing And Pastors Leaving, January 31, 2010, djchuang.com.
2 Ed Stetzer, Finding New Life For Struggling Churches, February 2004, SBCLife.com.
Rather than fear of judgment where there is mental and emotional torment, God would have His sons relate to Him in “perfect (complete) love” that involves full obedience to His will, way and Word (John 14:15; 1 John 4:17-19, NKJV). This is also the heart of godly fathers toward their children. However, if His sons who claim to love Him do not obey, then as the perfect Father, God who loves us, chastens us as even we human fathers do out of love for our children (Job 5:17; Proverbs 3:11-12, 13:24; Hebrews 12:3-11). Therefore, if a man wishes to minimize the fear of God’s judgment as chastening in his life he should repent from sin and live in obedience (Revelation 3:19). For this reason, pastors, elders and leaders that bristle at God’s call to repentance from your compromises and defiant corruptions of His Word to have your own way in putting women in authority over men in the churches should reflect deeply on God’s advance announcement of judgment. If not impostors, are you not sons of God too with those you shepherd supposedly under Christ in the churches? If you are so big in your own eyes the judgment of God elicits no fear in your heart when you know that you are guilty, then, you are too big! As it is written, ‘“God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble;’” the humble submit to God in repentance (James 4:6-10, NKJV). Pastor, elder, and leader: your proud resistance of the Holy Spirit is not only bringing judgment on you, but also ultimately--if you care--all of the men and women of the church who are following your compromised lead. Consequences for your disobedience are already negatively impacting the few men in the church you are supposed to be serving. Indeed, because of you they are confused and compromised! They are confused because if they are students of God’s Word to any extent, they read and plainly understand what it says concerning the service of women in the local church. But you are clearly not obeying it for any number of fallacious reasons--if you have said anything at all. Many of these men have such a regard for their pastor (or their positions) they will tolerate without open question his disobedience in putting women in authority over men as pastors, deacons, worship and ministry leaders. At once such men become compromised by their silence or enthusiastic support for their pastor’s disobedience. They know what the Word says, but most just simply look the other way assuming God must be okay with it. Some comfort themselves that God will deal with the pastor if he is wrong. In truth though, God holds us all accountable for what we know. Therefore, pastors, elders and leaders too are to be rebuked even publically for “sinning” and we are not to share in another man’s sins (1 Timothy 5:19-22, NKJV). In line with the apostle Paul’s instruction, of course, a number of men who want to be true to God and obedient to His Word feel forced to leave the church after properly confronting their pastors and there is no repentance. This is very sad since these men are being demanded to choose between submission to disobedient pastors and the Word of God. Ironically, nearly all of the disobedient pastors will attempt to force submission to themselves by misapplying the Scriptures that righteously teach submission to church leaders. However, undoubtedly, Scripture is assuming the obedience of the pastors. When they are not obedient, God is to be obeyed (Acts 4:13-31, 5:17-32). I sorrow greatly for the sincere men that become disillusioned because of pastoral disobedience to the point they leave churches and many never return. These are grown men not fools or children easily duped. And while they should continue to seek out other local churches where the leadership is submissive and obedient to Christ and God’s Word, those churches are getting harder and harder to find! I sorrow also for the confused men and compromised sons of God still in the churches where God’s Word about the order of His house is not obeyed because it opens the door to their willful disobedience in other areas, more compromise and perpetual weakness in Christ. Truly, both Christian men and women that look the other way in the face of clear pastoral compromise of God’s Word because “we love our pastor,” are allowing themselves to be led astray and are opened to still greater corruptions from such men. For if a man will compromise one part of God’s Word to serve his purposes, what other parts of the Word will he not fear God enough to avoid compromising? On top of this, these church members become followers of the pastor in a cult of personality and idolatry instead of Jesus who is Lord of His Church and governs it in accord with the written Word (Psalm 40:6-10; Matthew 5:17-20; Colossians 2:6-10; Hebrews 10:5-7). We have seen the scandalous ruin of pastors and collapse of churches time and again in these latter days that have been caught up in the cult of personality. Not even the godly pastor can follow behind to clean up the mess without great difficulty lest he run off the many that became complacent under the previous leadership believing the new leader leads them astray though he teaches the Word of God uncompromised. Therefore, from the pulpit to the pews our strong man of God cause and message calls for soul deep repentance in God’s house to properly and fully restore men in order, peace and obedience as befits the lives and assembly of the sons of God.
“God is righteously at work in His house through judgment.” This is what He led me to write and explain in a post earlier this year as well as warn again of in the opening paragraph of last week’s.1 And why? The tolerance and practice of the sin of racism led out over four centuries by the guilty majority of professed white Christians in the Church that also enabled it in the larger society is one of several very serious reasons the Lord has brought judgment. While due to taking racism lightly some in evangelicalism are incredulous and dismissive concerning any judgment from the Lord because of it, He for that reason and other Church sins is about to take His judgment to another level!
I warn about the Lord’s judgment in my updated book, The Scourge Of Racism.2 That His judgment should amaze a professed Christian demonstrates such a one does not know the Lord from His Word or in relationship! From Genesis to Revelation God is shown to judge sin, disobedience or insubordination if you will (Genesis 2:15-17, 3:17-19; Revelation 2:12-17). There is not a sinful fallen human organization on earth that will long tolerate insubordination before punishing it! Even lions and wolves punish their insubordinate. So, how is it anyone supposedly acquainted with Christ would presume He would not judge any sin as insubordination and much more racism in His Church?
The guilty have made this false presumption about Christ concerning racism in the Church from colonial times as they also make it today in the face of His very direct and specific commandment through the apostle Paul regarding the role of women (John 13:34-35; 1 Corinthians 14:34-37): because they want to! They mistaken the Lord’s slowness to judge for permission to sin instead of what it really is, “forbearance, and longsuffering” to give time for them to repent (Luke 13:6-9; Romans 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9, NKJV). Otherwise, the guilty have not gone nor will they go unpunished by the Lord without repentance. Moreover, the whole Church suffers when the Lord judges as He does now.
The American Civil War not only divided the nation, but churches and denominations too! The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) owes its name to a split among white Baptists in favor of retaining slavery shortly before the brief, but bloody and destructive war over it as judgment from the Lord after years of resisting His will to abolish it.3 Centuries of Church toleration, practice and enablement of now, systemic racism helped pave the way for the rebellion that erupted a generation ago and set in motion radical feminism, sexual deviance and gender confusion. These all subvert the family and its order as God designed and is leading to the nation’s swiftly paced ruin. Sin has consequences!
Another clear consequence of widespread insubordination in the Church is seen too, at this moment: dwindling memberships, the death of local churches and loss of cultural influence. If the people who profess to know Christ do not obey His Word, how can it be expected that unbelievers will? And as it concerns racism, I point out in The Scourge Of Racism, the world is shamefully doing better than the Church in its flawed attempt to deal with it!4 White conservative evangelical and Southern Baptist Seminary President, Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr., points out the Church’s very existence is threatened when the authority of Scripture and by implication obedience to it are surrendered.5
Of course, consistent with the typical priority focus on other important select moral issues by conservative white evangelicals and the SBC currently the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, racism is not dealt with by Dr. Mohler in his book I refer to in the preceding paragraph. Though racism may not be a priority moral issue for conservative white evangelicals and the SBC, my book among a growing number of others addressing this willful lapse trumpets it is for the Lord!6 As I write about in my book, conservative white evangelical in-house silence on racism is fed by a continued toleration and widespread practice of it among guilty leaders and members;7 silence that also held sway while sexual predators preyed on church members and allowed women to become pastors.8
Contrary to popular professed Christian opinion, Jesus Christ is not a marshmallow! Along with His continuing work to save throughout our nation, “the LORD strong and mighty” at the end of His forbearance and longsuffering is about to intensify His judgment upon His American Church (Psalm 24:7-10, NKJV).9 More churches that should be discipling new converts are going to die because the Lord can no longer trust them to do so with fidelity to His Word (Matthew 23:15).10 More frequent and devastating calamities upon the nation many of His professed people love more than Him are coming. Finally, more intense resistance to evangelicalism’s demand for secular society to submit to biblical morality while many of them do not is on the way with greater persecution!
1 See the April 30, 2023 post, God’s Warning To Non-Christians, Pt. 1 and Healing Racism’s Wounds In The Church, both under the category, Call To Repent.
2 The book is now widely available in this Ministry’s Web Site Stores including the Strong Man Store, all major internet booksellers and brick and mortar bookstores. View the short book trailer.
3 Read the February 12, 2023 post, Leaders Can Get Their Nations In Trouble, under the category, Call To Repent.
4 The Scourge Of Racism, Copyright 2023, ODCM Publishing Division, Portland, OR, p. 15-18, 47-48.
5 See The Gathering Storm, Secularism, Culture And The Church by R. Albert Mohler, Jr., Copyright 2020, Nelson Books, Nashville, p. 34. On the same page Dr. Mohler writes, “Where you find a church, you find a community committed to the Bible. If not, you have not found a church.” Sobering truth every pastor jumping on the band- wagon of insubordination to Christ and His biblical commandments as written should fearfully consider!
6 Read the September 24, 2023 post, Racism In Christ’s Church A No-No, under the category, Instruction.
7 I spent over thirty years of my Christian life with the SBC and talk about its issues with racism in my updated book. In-house silence precludes hypocritically taking a stand against racism in the larger society which is why it must be repented from now, with all other sins in returning to Him! Truly, racism is equally egregious in its of- fense to God as all other transgression, sin and iniquity. Watch our Strong Man Of God Online Rally, Return To The Lord for Christians.
8 The widely reported and dealt with at the convention level cover up of sexual impropriety in many of their churches by SBC leaders has publically at least, rebuked the si- lence concerning this iniquity. It has also righteously led to an emboldened stand against churches flagrantly defying Scripture and being insubordinate through enabling women to become pastors, lead and take authority over men (1 Timothy 2:11-3:13; Titus 1:1-16; Hebrews 13:8; Revelation 2:18-23).
9 Jesus Christ is the Strong Man of God and role model for every Christian man I write about in my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics. The Hard or Soft Cover or E-Book Editions are available in the Strong Man Store, all major internet booksellers and brick and mortar bookstores.
10 New converts are easily taught and mentored in person by spiritually maturing individuals as has always been done or in this technologically sophisticated age, online (Acts 18:24-28). As He showed during the pandemic, local churches--especially ones sinning against Him--are not so essential Christ cannot do without them (Revelation 2:1-7, 3:14-22)!
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