By the time you read this, the election results will be history. The New Religious Right will be happy or the liberal left will be happy. Actually, the results will be whether we increased or slowed down our plummet into the depths of destruction. Billions of dollars were spent on promoting a cause. To some the cause was purely racial, they saw no other issue. To others the cause was monetary; to others the cause was strictly a political philosophy; to many, the cause was security; to some the cause was gaining or losing control; whatever the cause, it did not include Jesus Christ and the gospel of eternal life.<\/p>\n
When Jesus Christ came to earth, His nation was under the control of the Roman Empire, one of the cruelest empires in history of the earth. Not once did Christ petition Caesar for anything. Never did He suggest a voting bloc for any reason. Obviously the Romans rejected Christ as the Son of God, but not once did He upbraid them for it. On the other hand, many of His discourses were directed at the religious hypocrites of His own nation (Matthew 23:13-33.<\/strong>) He pointed out sin, whether moral or immoral, legal or illegal, secular or religious. He spoke about the souls of men and their eternal destiny, not civil rights (Matthew 10:28.)<\/strong><\/p>\n Christ informed the leader of the Jews, Nicodemus that he must be born again (John 3.)<\/strong> He never conducted a self-improvement seminar or suggested that such would have any eternal value. He never condemned adulterers (John 8:1-11)<\/strong> to the horror of the self-righteous. He did not feed the hungry to get them to listen to Him; He fed them because they had been listening to Him (Matthew 14:13-21)<\/strong> and stayed with Him an extended period of time (Matthew 15:30-38.) <\/strong> This He only did twice. There are some things we can learn from Christ\u2019s ministry and feeding others. He fed those that followed Him, He didn\u2019t chase them down. Too often, our philanthropy does not honor Christ, but aids and assists people to live in unrighteousness.<\/p>\n Recently a friend asked me, \u201cDo you really know any poor people?\u201d Think about that question. Do you really know any poor people? Most of my friends are not wealthy, but none of them would be considered \u201cpoor.\u201d They all have color TV, cell phones and automobiles. None of my acquaintances are going without food. Those who claim to be poor have money for cell phones, bottled water and cigarettes. The incarcerated in America live better than most people in India.<\/p>\n Many people in our nation make a great living off of supposedly helping the needy. Look at the salaries and income of many of our charitable organizations and \u201cfeeding the orphans\u201d ministries. It is amazing how much of the monies never get to the purpose for which it was given.<\/p>\n Much of our foreign mission work has become mainly construction of living quarters and\/or water purification. These are fine endeavors, but if the gospel of Jesus Christ is not presented, we are aiding people to go to hell while having a comfortable living. God said:<\/p>\n \u201cThe prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?\u201d Jeremiah 5:31<\/strong><\/p>\n Do you suppose history is repeating itself? The modern day church service is geared for convenience, not repentance. Invitations to the lost or backslidden are seldom. The Bible is seldom read and if it is, it is posted on screens. Like all liberal thought, this hinders man\u2019s relationship with his Bible, while posing as an enhancer. It cancels out the context of scripture; it\u2019s not on the screen. The speaker pushes his version of the Bible on you whether you want him to or not.<\/p>\n The University of Washington recently conducted a research regarding \u201cmega\u201d church worship services. They stated that the service creates a \u201cspiritual high\u201d that draws the participants back time and again. Some statements in their research are \u201cA common sense of euphoria; lights, video cameras and projectors contributed to the experience\u201d and \u201cworshippers believe they are experiencing God.\u201d Many of today\u2019s so-called \u201ccontemporary services\u201d are more Eastern mysticism than Bible spirituality.<\/p>\n The New Religious Right has decided the \u201cgospel needs tweaking.\u201d I wonder why we think modern man can do it better than Paul. Paul recognized this danger and warned of such in his last epistle.<\/p>\n \u201cI charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; [2] Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. [3] For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; [4] And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. [5] But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.\u201d 2 Timothy 4:1-5 <\/strong><\/p>\n Paul was very concerned with sound doctrine. He used the word in his teaching sixteen times in his last three epistles. This was more than he had used the word in all his other epistles. This was more than John, James or Peter used it altogether. He obviously saw religious people and even saved people turning from the truth. He charged Timothy to preach sound doctrine. God is not \u201ca Grandpa in the sky\u201d or a big rabbit\u2019s foot.<\/p>\n Today, we accept anyone who names the name of God as being Christian. The Catholics who pray to Mary and teach infant baptism are alright. The Muslim who does not recognize Jesus Christ as Saviour is alright\u2026you know we are all headed to the same place, just going from different directions. Those who teach that all men will become gods (Mormons) claim to be Christian. Those that claim that Jesus Christ was not God in the flesh (Jehovah Witnesses) will be there because they were kind to their parents. What about the Seventh Day Adventist who claims that you must worship on Saturday in order to be saved? If you leave any of those groups you are branded a heretic, while if you move from one main stream church to another you will not be condemned to hell. What a difference! Then there are our relatives, all those that are moral and live good lives surely will make it to heaven. God loves everybody, so surely we will all arrive in heaven.<\/p>\n Listen to the words of the One Who shed His blood on Calvary for us:<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026 I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.\u201d John 14:6 <\/strong><\/p>\n It does matter what you believe and it also matters Who you believe. Keep Looking Up! Leland Maples<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By the time you read this, the election results will be history. The New Religious Right will be happy or the liberal left will be happy. Actually, the results will be whether we increased or slowed down our plummet into the depths of destruction. Billions of dollars were spent on promoting a cause. To some […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":137,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"topics":[88,89,92],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rightdivision.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18709"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rightdivision.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rightdivision.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rightdivision.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/137"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rightdivision.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rightdivision.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18709\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rightdivision.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rightdivision.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rightdivision.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18709"},{"taxonomy":"topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rightdivision.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics?post=18709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}