Your Doctrine and Your Life

IF everything you teach is true, but you are simultaneously affirming people who teach things completely contrary to what you're teaching, and in fact are teaching heresy, then you are a partaker of their wicked works. It therefore nullifies and makes your proclamations hollow. It doesn't make them untrue; it makes them hollow. It makes you a hypocrite.

Why is "guilt by association" such a difficult concept for most Christians to deal with? There is a law of "aiding and abetting." You do not need to commit the crime in order to be guilty of it. So if a well-known Christian, who knows better, or ought to know better, is shaking hands with and associating themselves with known false teachers, it speaks volumes against them. They ought to be calling that individual out while face to face.

"If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds." 2 John 11

"Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them." Eph. 5:11

"Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?" 2 Cor. 6:14

"Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" Amos 3:3

"A little leaven leavens the whole lump." 1 Cor. 5:6

When dealing with truth, if what is said and presented is true, knock it off with accusations of bitterness and having a vendetta! People who do not have biblical or factual objections to what's being said, perhaps you should cease objecting. You might learn something. Otherwise it's nothing more than emotional babble.

"Believers in Christ who remain in such "churches" are dishonouring their Lord. Should they answer, "practically all the churches are the same, and were we to resign, what could we do? We must go somewhere on Sundays." Such language would show they are putting their own interest before the glory of Christ. Better to stay at home and read God's Word than fellowship with that which His Word condemns." A.W. Pink

"That argument I have heard hundreds of times when people have been urged to come out of false positions and do the right. But what have you and I to do with maintaining our influence and position at the expense of truth? It is never right to do a little wrong to obtain the greatest possible good . . . Your duty is to do the right; consequences are with God." Charles Spurgeon

"Ah, my dear brethren! There are many that are deceived by this method of reasoning. They remain where their conscience tells them they ought not to be, because, they say, they are more useful than they would be if they went 'without the camp.' This is doing evil that good may come, and can never be tolerated by an enlightened conscience. If an act of sin would increase my usefulness tenfold, I have no right to do it; and if an act of righteousness would appear likely to destroy all my apparent usefulness, I am yet to do it. It is yours and mine to do the right thought the heavens fall, and follow the command of Christ whatever the consequence may be. 'That is strong meat,' do you say? Be strong men, then, and feed thereon . . ." Charles Spurgeon

"As soon as I saw, or thought I saw, that error had become firmly established, I did not deliberate, but quitted the body at once. Since then my counsel has been 'Come out from among them.' I have felt that no protest could be equal to that of separation." Charles Spurgeon

"One thing is clear to us, we cannot be expected to meet in any union which comprehends those whose teachings on fundamental points is exactly the reverse of that which we hold dear. Cost what it may to separate ourselves from those who separate themselves from the truth of God is not alone our liberty but our duty." Charles Spurgeon

"Long ago I ceased to count heads. Truth is usually in the minority in this evil world. I have faith in the Lord Jesus for myself, a faith burned into me as with a hot iron. I thank God, what I believe I shall believe, even if I believe it alone." Charles Spurgeon

Think Your Church Is Doing It Right?

Does your "church" claim to do everything "by the book"?

Does your "church" claim the Bible is their "supreme guide in all matters of faith and practice"?

Does your "church" claim to follow "sola scriptura" ("by the Scripture alone")?

First of all, the church is every single believer. It is not a building. You cannot 'go' to something that you 'are.'

Second, any church that claims that they do everything "by the book," or that the Bible is their "supreme guide in all matters of faith and practice," or that they follow "sola scriptura," if they bothered to examine their liturgy, their order of worship, and compare it to the New Testament model and that of the early Christians, they would find that they have zero points of contact. In fact, if they claim any of the above, in light of the way they conduct their services, it makes them ignorant and deceived at best and liars at worse.

The modern "worship" service has zero to do with the New Testament. It is rooted and steeped in pagan ritual and practice, and varies very little from the Catholic Mass. The only thing that the Reformers did was to correct the poor theology of the Catholic "church." However, they did very little to correct the "worship" service. They changed a tiny fragment, while 95% of it remains the same. If you compare liturgies from various denominations, there is very little difference between them.

Lessons In Humility

There was a former Under Secretary of Defense who was invited to give a speech at a large conference of about 1,000 people. He was standing on the stage with his cup of coffee in a Styrofoam cup, giving his prepare remarks with his Power Point behind him. He took a sip of his coffee and he smiled, and he looked down at the coffee. Then he went off script. He said, "You know, last year I spoke at this exact same conference. Last year I was still the Under Secretary. When I spoke here last year, they flew me here business class. When I arrived at the airport, there was somebody waiting for me to take me to my hotel. They took me to my hotel and they had already checked me in and they just took me up to my room. The next morning, I came downstairs and there was somebody waiting in the lobby to greet me, and they drove me to this here same venue. They took me through the back entrance and took me into the green room and handed me a cup of coffee in a beautiful ceramic mug. I'm no longer the Under Secretary. I flew here coach. I took a taxi to my hotel and I checked myself in. When I came down to the lobby this morning, I took another taxi to this venue. I came in the front door and found my way back stage. When I asked someone, 'Do you have any coffee?,' he pointed to the machine in the corner and I poured myself a cup of coffee into this here Styrofoam cup. The lesson is, the ceramic mug was never meant for me; it was meant for the position I held. I deserved a Styrofoam cup."

As you gain fame, as you gain fortune, as you gain position and seniority, people will treat you better. They will hold doors open for you. They will get you a cup of tea or coffee without you even asking. They will call you sir and ma'am and they will give you stuff. NONE of that stuff is meant for you! That stuff is meant for the position you hold. It is meant for the level you have achieved, of leader or success or whatever you want to call it. You will ALWAYS deserve a Styrofoam cup.

David Jeremiah, teaching on Daniel, once said, "Envy always hates the excellency it cannot reach. Jealousy is the tribute that mediocrity pays to genius. Daniel was extremely careful not to make a mistake. He was not noted for any lack of judgment. There was no error recorded against him; no lapse of discernment or discretion. Nothing on his record was bad. Alexander Maclaren had this to say about Daniel: 'It's remarkable that a character of such beauty and consecration as Daniel's should be rooted and grow out of the court where Daniel was. For this court was half shambles and half pig stye. It was filled with luxury and sensuality and lust and self-seeking and idolatry and ruthless cruelty; and the like were the environment of this man. And in the middle of this there grew up that fair flower of character, pure and stainless by the acknowledging of his enemies.' Anyone who aspires to leadership, there is always going to be a price to pay for being a leader. There is always going to be a penalty to pay for excellency in anything you do. It's true in any field, even outside of Christianity. Take a musician who's determined to excel, and they pay a price for it. Take an athlete who determines to excel, and there's a price to be paid. The man who gives himself to success, to excellency, will sooner or later pay the penalty of primacy."

The closest David Jeremiah says he has come to this in his own life, was when he went to Fort Wayne to start a church. When he first went there, all the pastors in the city were his friends. They used to get together for Pastor fellowships. They'd drop over and encourage him, see how he was doing. As God began to bless the little church he had started and it began to grow, first gradually and then quickly and then explosively; as the church grew one way, the circle of his friends went the other way. He began to hear bad things about his church that weren't true. He discovered that at the highest level of Christian leadership, envy can get its foot in the door and it can be destructive and divisive and hurtful in the ministry of Christ Jesus.

As you succeed in life, when you become the top dog, numero uno, the head cheese, everyone beneath you is jealous of your accomplishments and wants to to tear you down and see you fall. They're fine with you being number two and striving to be number one, but they hate if you ever become number one. It's like this: if you tell people that you're a seeker of truth, they will cheer you on; but if you tell them you've discovered the truth, they will hate you. They're fine with you seeking it, but don't want you to ever find it. When you succeed, people will do things for you. They will bend over backwards for you, but they're jealous of you. They want to be where you are. As soon as someone else takes your spot, you're yesterday's news. Whether at the top, or at the bottom, all you deserve is a Styrofoam cup. If you happen to receive a ceramic mug, be humble, be grateful, be thankful, because it's more than you deserve. Anyone who is determined to excel and succeed will sooner or later pay the price for primacy, for being number one.

When you strive for excellency and live in excellency, those who are jealous of you will try to seek occasion against you. If they can find no dirt on you, they will attempt to make it up, and if that does not work, they will seek a way against you using your religion as they did with Daniel.

666: A Possible Solution?

What exactly is 666? Could a possible solution to this age-old problem be that 666 is a "magic" square? Ancient philosophers and mathematicians were intrigued and infatuated by the fact that numbers 1 through 36 could be arranged in squares where each row and diagonal would add up to the same sum (much like the modern Sodoku puzzle). One square has six lines (four rows and two diagonals) that each add up to 111, which equal 666. In ancient Jewish and Greek traditions, each square was also closely associated with a celestial body. The 666 square was associated with Zeus and the celestial body of the sun.

The mention of "hand" and "forehead" in Revelation is important for us to take note of. Revelation uses a lot of imagery and symbolism from the Old Testament. This same terminology is used four other times in the Old Testament (Ex. 13:9, 16; Deut. 6:8; 11:18-19). What it has to do with is what you believe and how you act in accordance with that belief. It is not a microchip! Not by any stretch of the imagination. It is not a physical mark of any kind!

The second name calculated in Greek by Irenaeus to be 666 is Lateinos (Λατεινος—perhaps ancient Greek for “Latin man”), the Latin or Roman Empire. This is the numerical value in Greek: Λ = 30 + α = 1 + τ = 300 + ε = 5 + ι = 10 + ν = 50 + ο = 70 + ς = 200 = total 666. Irenaeus writes, “Then also Lateinos (ΛΑΤΕΙΝΟΣ) has the number six hundred and sixty-six; and it is a very probable [solution], this being the name of the last kingdom [of the four seen by Daniel]. For the Latins are they who at present bear rule: I will not, however, make any boast over this [coincidence].” “J. E. Clark shows that η Λατινη Βασιλεια, ‘the Latin Empire,’ likewise gives the number 666.”

Is it not interesting, even if coincidental, how Lateinos (Latin man), the Latin Empire, and the 666 square all seem to address the same person?

Emperor Constantine.

Now, this has nothing to do with the false claims that Constantine changed worship from Saturday to Sunday. There are plenty of early Christian works that acknowledge the fact that Christians worshiped on the first day of the week, which is Sunday. Because Jewish time reckoned a day from 6:00pm to 6:00pm, from sundown to sundown, early Christians regularly met together after sunset on our Saturday evening, which was their Sunday.

Constantine never became a Christian! This fact is supported from his having murdered three of his own family members—his eldest son, his nephew, and his brother-in-law—after having supposedly converted to Christianity. Constantine was a sun worshiper long before and long after his supposed "conversion." Constantine introduced temples to Christianity in order to give a legitimacy to it. Every other religion had their temples, and now so would Christianity. He even named each of his temples after dead saints the way the pagans named theirs after their gods. Constantine also introduced the priestly caste, modeled after the Roman state (for clothing) and pagan religions (for rituals).

Constantine gathered pagan relics from all over the empire and decorated his "Christian" temples with them. Because Christians gathered on Sunday, and since most of the empire celebrated the Unconquerable Sun on Sunday, Constantine made a legal holiday to be a day of rest. St. Peter's in Rome reveals a mosaic of Christ as the Unconquerable Sun (Sol Invictus), demonstrating Constantine's affinity for sun worship. His title was Pontifex Maximus, which means Chief of the Pagan Priests. He functioned as the high priest of paganism to his dying day. He even used pagan magic formulas to protect crops and heal diseases.

Because of Constantine, the Christians now had sacred temples, sacred objects, and a sacred priestly caste. He also introduced the two classes of Christianity (clergy and layperson), whereas the Bible describes every Christian as a priest unto God, known as the priesthood of believers. Further, due to Constantine's imitation of pagan rituals, now only those trained in the art of rhetoric, in homiletics, were allowed to address the assembly. This taught Christians to value lesser things and to sit quietly like idle spectators being entertained. Biblical Christianity was never limited to the gifting, experience, and knowledge of a single individual monologuing to the rest of the assembly.

The Catholic church has carried on the work of Constantine, entrenched in pagan practices and rituals, but the Protestant churches are no better and retain much of the same. If you want to learn more about this, pick up a copy of Pagan Christianity? by Frank Viola and George Barna.

If you examine Emperor Constantine closely, everything he did was saturated by sun worship. He infiltrated and perverted Christ's church, turning it into something it is not and never should have been. Yet, because men love their traditions and are steeped in tradition, much of what Constantine introduced into the church is still present within every single denomination today. Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, Calvinists, Presbyterians, Baptists, Pentecostals, etc. Your denomination has zero points of contact in or with the New Testament. Zero!

Could the warnings in Scripture be pertaining to this? Could they have been pointing to Constantine? His influence is still prevalent today within every denomination. While God can certainly use these denominations and still save His people, nevertheless every denomination has more in common with the devil than they do with Christ. Their entire system—their government, their liturgy, their customs and rituals—all trace back to Emperor Constantine, the Roman senate, and the pagan religions. A close examination of the New Testament and the first 300 years of the early Christians demonstrates conclusively that what our denominations practice today is vastly removed from how the early church conducted themselves. In fact, if they were alive today, they would not recognize the church.

Coincidence or not with the various 666s, nevertheless Constantine left his mark on the church and it has never recovered. God is working within a remnant toward that end, however, as more and more people are looking for God, are fed up with the institutional "church," and are starting to be the church that Scripture calls them to be.

When God shows us something, it is our responsibility to then respond. If we merely ignore it and try to sweep it under the rug for the sake of our man-impressed traditions, we have just quenched the Holy Spirit and pronounced anathema upon our own heads. We have chosen to be disobedient and rebellious. Be like the noble Bereans, who searched the Scriptures to test whether what the Apostle Paul was telling them was true or not.

Difficult Truths You Need to Submit To

Dear Reader,

Here are some truths that you need to wrestle with and then submit yourself to (especially if you are of the Armenian persuasion):

1. Every single individual person is not a child of God. Every single individual person is made in the image of God, but only those who have been adopted as sons and daughters through faith in Christ Jesus are children of God. To claim that we are all children of God is rank heresy. You are the child of the one whose will you seek to fulfill. As Jesus said to certain Jews, "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father" (John 8:44). The lost and unbelieving are not children of God; they are children of the devil.
    
   
2. God does not love every single individual person, or even love every single individual person equally. It was stated very clearly with regard to Jacob and Esau: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated" (Mal. 1:2-3; Rom. 9:13). You can even see this among the disciples, such as Peter and John. God loves His own. He does not love the children of the devil. God is love, but love is not God. Stop creating a false god by trying to turn the concept or essence of love into a god and place it in the position of God. You quite obviously misunderstand what that verse means and are trying to force your false understandings upon it.
    
   
3. God does not desire that each and every single individual person who has ever lived come to repentance and faith. Think about that! "My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure" (Isaiah 46:10). If God desired each and every single individual person to come to repentance and faith, obtaining salvation, and seeing as how His purposes and plans, His will, are always accomplished, you have an argument for the heresy of Universalism. God desires that His elect come to repentance and faith, and they will because He has purposed it, and His will is always accomplished.
    
   
4. You do not possess a "free will." If Judas was foreordained, or predestined, to betray Jesus, he was unable to do anything but betray Jesus. Ergo, where was his supposed "free will"? Where was Nebuchadnezzar's supposed "free will" when God made him eat grass and act crazy for seven years? Where was Jonah's supposed "free will"? "Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?" (Rom. 6:16). Without Christ, your will is slave to sin. A corpse cannot obey commands. Unless God makes you alive, you will not accept the Gospel; once He has made you alive, you can do nothing but accept the Gospel.
   

In other blog entries, I have greatly expanded upon these truths. These are just brief dealings with them. If you profess to be a Christian, but war against these truths in your heart and mind, then you might want to examine yourself more closely to see just how much of a Christian you truly are. You obviously have a desperate desire to reject the truths that Scripture makes plain, which comes from a heart of rebellion. Whenever Scripture says something and makes it clear, and you do not want to accept it or conform yourself to it, that comes from a rebellious and disobedient heart, which may indicate being merely religious and not a genuine follower of Christ.

Why I Didn't Sing When I Visited Your Church

by Tim Challies

It was a joy to finally visit your church a couple of Sundays ago, and to worship with the believers there. You know I’ve been looking forward to it for a long time. Just as you promised, the pastor is an excellent communicator and a man who loves God’s Word. His sermon was deeply challenging and led to some great conversations with my children.

Now, you asked me why it looked like I wasn’t singing. I know that was probably a little awkward, so thought I’d send along a brief explanation. Primarily, it’s because…

…I was not familiar with the songs. Your church has a tremendously skilled group of musicians leading them and it was a true joy to hear them play and sing. They sound as good live as they do on their album! But, unless I missed something, all of the songs on that Sunday were drawn from their own music. There weren’t any hymns in the service or even any familiar worship songs. So it’s not that I didn’t want to sing; it’s just that I didn’t know the songs. I want to be fair—every church has some of its own songs, and there is nothing wrong with that. I tried to follow along the best I could so I could learn some of yours, but even then…

…the songs weren’t congregational. Most of them seemed to have been written with the band in mind more than the congregation. What I mean is that they were unpredictable and often went beyond my vocal range and ability. This made them tough to learn and difficult to sing. Sometimes I would just begin to think I had it, but then…

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One World Government?

Most probable, there is not going to be a “one world government.” Even if there were, it is not in fulfillment to any prophecy. The Bible teaches no such thing; not in Daniel, not in Thessalonians, and not in Revelation. Daniel makes it clear that “in the days of those kings” Jesus would set up His kingdom, of which there would be no end. That was prophecy. That was inevitable. Jesus did exactly that; His kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36), and was not coming in a way that could be observed (Luke 17:20-21). Believers have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness into Jesus’ kingdom (Col 1:13). Men have been trying to create a one world government ever since Jesus established His kingdom and have been unsuccessful (Charlemagne, Napoleon, etc.). It most likely will never happen! The world can do its darnedest to try and make it happen, but God will thwart their efforts. People who believe this fictional fairy tale are out of touch with the Bible, believing a theology that is about 200 years old. This theology selects randomly isolated verses of Scripture, rips them out of their immediate contexts, and ties them together with other randomly isolated verses of Scripture that sound like they are saying the same thing, forcing them to create a doctrine that is foreign to the Word of God. This is not prophecy. This is not inevitable. This is eisegesis and sensationalism.

Every aspect of this theology crumbles when one pays attention to what the New Testament has to say—in context. Hebrews destroys much of it, but other epistles destroy these false beliefs, too. Hebrews makes it clear there will not be a return to the old; not even God Himself can return to former things. Most probable, there will not be a rebuilt temple. Even if there were, it is not in fulfillment of any prophecy, and would not change anything. The New Testament makes it clear that we are that Temple and that God does not dwell in buildings built by hands, but that He dwells in us. Revelation goes so far as to tell us that in the new heavens and earth Jesus and God are the Temple (21:22). There will not be a return to sacrifices. Jesus was the sacrifice to end all others, which were types and shadows of Jesus’ sacrifice. These things are extremely simple to understand if people would just pay attention to what the New Testament says—in context—instead of looking for what they want it to say and ripping individual verses apart just to make it say what they want. You may have been taught this theology, but this theology is false. It is not biblical!!!

I wrote a book on this very subject, exposing the false beliefs of this aberrant theology and quoting large portions of Scripture so that people could see precisely what the Bible has to say for itself. If you follow this theology, know that it is bankrupt; it holds no value. It is the imagination of godless men—not the Word of God, nor the teachings of the Holy Spirit. Learn the truth and let the truth set you free.

http://getbook.at/TheEndTimesExpanded

https://payhip.com/b/6wDN

Confronting Pagan Christianity

Jesus never soft-peddled truth in order to keep from offending men who were offended by the God of truth. In fact, He confronted God's enemies head-on. (Those enemies can even be found within the walls of your religious institution. Peter at one point was one such enemy that Christ had to rebuke him: "Get behind me, Satan.") The way you deal with God's enemies is to confront them head-on with God's truth. You do not coddle them or try to get them to somehow agree with you. You confront them and demand that they bow to God's revelation.

A person will be saved when they bow to God—and not before. You can become a Catholic, an Anglican, a Lutheran, a Calvinist, a Presbyterian, a Baptist, a Pentecostal, a Methodist, a "Calvinist," an "Armenian," etc., by argument and persuasion. You will only come to know God when you bow to His revelation in His Word. Period!

You want to discuss theology? You want to discuss doctrine? You want to discuss the truth of Scripture? Let's have at it! Let's look at what the Bible has to say, and let's expose the false beliefs and man-made traditions you have been taught and have clung to desperately. If it cannot be found in, or substantiated by, Scripture, then you need to let it go!

"Ecclesia, semper reformanda secundum verbi Dei."
("The church, always reforming according to the Word of God.")

God's true Church, the people, should always be reforming in order to be in accordance with the Word of God. If the holy Scriptures teach one thing, and you refuse to accept it and instead cling to the traditions that have been handed down to you, then Anathema upon your head! You are not a faithful follower of Christ Jesus. Are you afraid to reform? Why? Providing you do not quench the Holy Spirit, Jesus promised that the coming Comforter would guide us into all truth. Yet when He desires to do precisely that, because it goes against the status quo of the traditions you have been handed, you ignore Him and stifle Him. To top it all off, you claim to be lead by the Spirit, and that He taught you such-and-such, despite the fact that what you claim "He" taught you contradicts and opposes what you find in the holy Scriptures. Your thoughts, your desires, are not the Holy Spirit speaking to you! Stop attributing you to the Holy Spirit!

As I have said before, Gospel preaching is always confrontational. Why? Because you are challenging world views and systems of belief. Do you find my writing to be challenging? Do you find my writing to be abrupt? Do you find my writing to be abrasive? Do you find my writing to be confrontational? Good! More than likely it is you who need to be confronted and challenged. Perhaps you are a little too pompous and puffed up, thinking more highly of yourself than you ought. Perhaps you are jealous of the way God has gifted me. I do not know, nor do I care. God knows, and God will be your judge.

"You should be more gentle and loving with your brothers and sisters in Christ." Oh, for sure! Except for those who are merely religious, whose Christianity is nothing more than religion. Then a firm hand, a harsher tone, is required. Jesus was gentle and loving toward the lowly, but He was harsh and loving toward the proud and religious. You want to claim that I am abrasive? Fine! I do not care about your feelings! I care about your soul, and I care about what it is you believe and practice! If your feelings get hurt in the process of making sure you are on the straight and narrow and conforming yourself and your beliefs according to everything in the New Testament, then so be it. Better for you to be offended and aligned with Scripture than for me to cater to your feelings and make you comfortable as you slide down a greased pole into Hell for eternity!

You sit and wonder how my writing will make you look; how people will associate my writing with you. Have you ever stopped to think about how Jesus wonders how you make Him look; how people will associate you with Him? How ashamed Jesus must be of you. Jesus was extremely confrontational, especially with the religious. Yet you have an attitude of passivity. You are afraid and ashamed to be confrontational, touting a false "love" as your methodology. Yet how many people have you brought to Christ? You major on the minors and minor on the majors.

Every member of Christ's church has been given at least one gift to use for the edification of the body of Christ. No one needs a special education or a special degree or a special title in order to use their gifts. The ones possessing these special educations, degrees, and titles are usually the least qualified to be attempting to lead God's people. Why? Do you know what "homiletics" is? Homiletics is a "science, applying rules of rhetoric, which go back to Greece and Rome." Rhetoric (the art of persuasive speaking) came from the Sophists. From Constantine onward, the speaker had to take special classes to learn how to use this rhetoric. If you did not possess this education, you were not allowed to speak and address the assembly. This same pagan mindset infects the modern church today: Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Calvinist, Presbyterian, Baptist, Pentecostal, etc. If any of the Apostles came to your church today and desired to preach, you would cast them out on the street because of your ignorance and long-held pagan traditions and beliefs.

You know what else is of pagan origin? Paying the speaker for speaking to you! Sophists made their living this way. They were paid to speak using their rhetoric. Aristotle provided the three-point speech to their rhetoric, which is still used by most speakers in religious institutions today. Contrast this with the Jewish rabbis who took up a trade so as not to charge a fee for their teaching/speaking. Tell your priest/pastor that you will not be paying him a salary any more and see what happens. How concerned is he with the flock? Most Christians are addicted to the "Christian" sermon in the same way that the Greeks and Romans were addicted to the pagan sermon. The structure of modern churches encourages passive spectatorship rather than communal participation, and it hinders and stunts spiritual growth. The Spirit-inspired dialogue between speaker and listener was replaced by the monologue. A single speaker with their knowledge, gifting, and experience addressing the congregation rather than group participation. How does this benefit the whole body of Christ? How is each member doing their part when they are encouraged to sit and listen like a spectator being entertained?

Whether your denomination wants to admit it or not, it still retains elements of the Catholic Church in the way it does things, which were taken directly from pagan religions and the Greco-Roman culture. I hate to break it to you, but your "Christianity" is more pagan than it is Christian. And I will bet that you are too arrogant and proud to admit it. How Christian is your Christianity when you go through the motions of pagan rituals and practices every worship day? You have more in common with the Devil than you do with Christ!

How's that for abrasive and confrontational? ;o)

A Dangerous Statement

God never changes! Remember that.

The next time you are confronted with something from the Bible and these words cross your lips—"That was for back then; that isn't for us today," be very afraid, because you are treading on thin ice.

What you are saying is that you do not agree with what the Scriptures have said, what Jesus has said, and are thus trying to find a way to loose yourself from having to obey it. In this case, you are no better than an infidel.

Unless God Himself has changed something, unless it has been fulfilled in and by the person and work of Christ on the cross, unless there is an explicit "Thus says the Lord" command to alter or cancel something, then it still remains intact for you today.

You do not get to pick and choose what parts of Scripture you will obey. God is not interested in your opinions. Because our cultures are so vastly different, you need to understand biblical culture in order to understand a great deal of what was being said and what was meant by it. However, that does not make it relative only to biblical culture. You are under the same obligation to obey what the Scriptures command, whether your culture is identical or not with that of the biblical culture.

When the authors spoke or wrote, they did so under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, what has been written down comes directly from the heart and mouth of God Himself. God does not change. Therefore, what you desire to be only for a past culture is still incumbent upon you to practice and obey. If you do not understand something, seek to understand it. Do not simply sweep it under the rug in hopes you can ignore it and then claim ignorance when standing before the throne of judgment.

What Christ Jesus said in Scripture of His followers, He demands they obey. It was not said to the culture of that time with no application for our culture today. What He commanded and demanded of them back then, He still commands and demands from us today.

When it comes to God's Word and His instructions for us, never mouth the words, "That was for back then; that isn't for us today"!

Pagan Influenced Christianity

From the time of Emperor Constantine onward, church buildings have been designed to separate clergy from laity. Clergy have been elevated higher than laity, as if they are somehow more special or more important. Church buildings have been designed to make the pew-sitters passive listeners and spectators rather than active participants, as the early Christians functioned. Their design has done away with face-to-face fellowship and interaction.

Look at your own sacred building and exegete it. After all, "form follows function." What is the function of your building? What is it conveying? What objects are higher, and what objects are lower in your building? What objects are at the front, and what objects are at the back in your building? Your sacred building follows the design of the Roman basilicas. Your building layout and the elements of your worship are patterned after pagan temples and rituals.

Why is the pastor positioned at the front? Why is he elevated above the rest of the congregants? (Do not buy the modern explanation, "So we can see him better.") Why is his chair usually larger than any other chairs that may be present? Why is there a rail that separates him from the rest of the congregation? Do your homework, Christians! This all stems from pagan rituals and practices, as well as from the Catholic Church.

None of it is Christian in the least. None of it can be found, substantiated, or defended from the New Testament. And do not even attempt to try and do so from the Old Testament because you would be dead wrong! Ever bothered reading or paying attention to what the book of Hebrews has to say? The sacred temple, sacred objects, and sacred priestly caste of the Old Testament was fulfilled and abrogated in and by Christ Jesus.

Institutional churches are not biblical. Period. You can argue until you are blue in the face all you want. You know it, and I know it. Your arrogant, stubborn pride just wants to argue in attempt to defend what you have known and been taught your entire life, rather than open your eyes, exercise that brain, and see the problem. 

Up until Emperor Constantine, no such "church" buildings ever existed. With every "church" building he erected, he named them after saints the way pagans named their temples after gods. He also built them over burial sites of martyrs, as if it was some sort of "holy" ground, and that in death they possessed some kind of power. The tall spires or steeples that came later imitated the Egyptians and Babylonians, such as the tower of Babel, man aspiring to reach heaven. Even stained-glass windows draw from paganism. Every single element pertaining to your "church" building and the way your sacred building conducts "worship" is built upon pagan rituals and practices. Most of it stemming from the Greco-Roman culture.

Your sacred building also informs people that the holy and the everyday are separate and unconnected. And yet you wonder why in every denomination most their members live differently from the day after service to the day before service than they do the day of service. They have two lives, essentially. They are somber on worship day, but casual, relaxed, and free the other six days of the week. Unless of course they are legalistic, and then they are wound tighter than a coiled spring every day of the week.

Christianity is not Christianity to most adherents. They have no idea what Christianity is because they have been told what to do and what to believe their entire life that they have never bothered to remove the lens that was given to them by their leaders and their denomination and pay attention to what Jesus and the Scriptures have to say. Many Christians are nothing more than mindless parrots, and if you ever talk to them you can see how true that statement is. Whatever the pastor has to say, they are content in believing whether there is an ounce of truth to it or not. They never question him. In their eyes, he can do no wrong. This mentality is dangerous!

The pastor is not above the rest of the congregation. It does not matter what kind of education he has had or the number of degrees he might possess, he is not wiser or more intelligent than any other member of the congregation, nor are his opinions more valued. If he is wrong about something, it needs to be brought to his attention. A degree does not a holy man make you! Unfortunately, the ignorant have bought into this societal lie for hundreds of years. "He's a doctor, so he ought to know what he is talking about." Oh, really? And doctors have never been wrong in the past? Or even presently?

Education serves to teach you how to think and believe the way your professors think and believe. As long as you can retain whatever they have to tell you, whether it is true or not, and be able to repeat it back on a test or exam, you get the marks. Having the marks does not mean you actually know anything, or that you remotely have a clue what you are talking about. But many ignorant individuals today think that education and degrees somehow "make the man." Sorry, but you are WRONG! I have known kids who grew up with computers who could program and hack circles around adults who went to university for the same. Education and experience can be good in their own right, but neither is the be-all and end-all of professionalism. It is sheer prideful arrogance that thinks that someone without degrees and titles could not possibly be wiser and more intelligent than someone with several.

If you are brave enough to allow your Christianity to be examined in light of Scripture and history, and if you are willing to admit that most of what you know to be "church" is built upon paganism, the real question becomes, What next? Without taking that knowledge and becoming proud and arrogant, what do we do next? It is clear that the institutional church is failing (in fact, it never succeeded). Millions of people are leaving the institutional church and returning to the roots of biblical Christianity, seeking to become the church as they were meant to be. The answer is not necessarily returning to house "church" models, but it does demand an overhaul of what we presently practice and call "church."

Emperor Constantine modeled his "church" buildings after the pagan temples and Roman state buildings. Christianity was effectively married to the Roman culture under Constantine, and it has stuck ever since. More and more people are realizing that the current way they do "church" is empty; that there is something more they have been missing. The way your sacred building is laid out, the way your service is conducted, the use and placement of objects in your building and service, are all derived from the Catholic Church, which in turn are derived from the pagan religions and their rituals and practices. You sit in the pew calling yourself a Christian, but you have more in common with the Greco-Roman pagans than you ever have with the early Christians or Christ!

I do not know what this means for me and my family, but as I discover the truth of history and how much our modern "churches" have strayed from that truth, I know that I want nothing to do with it. I want the face-to-face communal fellowship that the Apostles and early Christians enjoyed. I do not want to emulate and mimic the religious worship of the pagans. As I pray that God would remove the scales from your eyes and lead you into the truth by searching the Scriptures (like a good Berean), pray that God would help me to know what I should do and how I should lead my family in the light of this knowledge.

Remember, those who came out of the Catholic Church had been heavily influenced by it. It is only natural that in trying to reform it that they would retain some of that influence. You can see it in every denomination: Anglican, Lutheran, Calvinist, Presbyterian, Baptist, Pentecostal, etc. None is without taint. None is without the elements of paganism in the way they practice "church." Yet all will try to defend their concept and idea of "church," even imitating the Pharisees and Sadducees by attacking those God has opened the eyes of for even questioning their sacred cow. Protestant "churches" have placed the pastor between God and the congregation, as if the only way to Him is through the pastor.

It is time for God's children to wake from their slumber and become the church. The church is not some place you go, but something you are. Anyone who tries to tell you differently is speaking on behalf of their father, the Devil. Do not listen to them. Search the Scriptures. Learn your history. Stay the straight and narrow path. God wants to free you even from this enslavement. Do not quench the Spirit because of your pride and arrogance. Remember, God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. The reason God resists everything your hand attempts to do is because of your pride. Pray for humility. May God bless you as you truly seek after Him.