Christians need to take a biblical stand, for Christ’s sake!

Posted on by Don

First let me point out that Christ Jesus does not need us, so when I say in the title that Christians need to take a biblical stand for Christ’s sake, I am referring to the mission of the spiritual Body of Christ called the Church. Our Savior created the universe and He is perfect in spite of the Laodicean and aberrant Christianity that is largely following the world system and the ways of Satan.

Christ Jesus offers us a gift of salvation and a role in eternity with Him but what you do with that free gift is up to you. Some Christians need to take a biblical stand on the issues of our time in our world and in our churches or they are going to have nothing to offer Christ when we all appear before Him to report on what we did in our bodies, good or bad.

Not that what you do has anything to do with your salvation because all true believers are bought with the blood of the Lamb but it certainly will have everything to do with your eternal position. In heaven, God has always had hierarchy. Contrary to the thinking of some, Christians do not become communists in heaven.

I simply cannot believe what I am seeing today in Christianity. No. I am not deceived into believing that most of those claiming to be Christians are actually saved. I know that for most it is a cultural identity and just a religion like any other world religion. Most in Christendom just go through the rituals of their religious denomination and do – or do not do – what the denomination tells them. Most think that following some church obligation will earn them brownie points with God. So, I am not talking here about the vast majority pseudo Christians of the world. You cannot expect any true Christianity from those that were never born of the Spirit. So my message here is to those that claim to be born of the Spirit.

I do not want to be too scattered in this post. However, what I have to say covers a lot of territory so if I do not get somewhat  scattered I would have to write multiple posts. I could go down a hundred rabbit trails here and leave you all wondering what in Wonderland I was talking about, so I will try to tie this all together somehow.

Let me say in short that I am very very disgusted in what I am seeing taking place in Christian circles and in Christian society on almost every level.

I will start the focus of this post with my trip to the big city of Springfield Missouri which is arguably the most Christian big city in our nation. The main reason we went there was to celebrate our anniversary and a large part of the trip was to visit bookstores that just are not available in our area.

We first went to Barnes and Noble and I looked around but I could not find one book that I wanted to read. Most of my time was spent in the Christian section but there was nothing found there worth writing home about. Then we went to the big Christian bookstore and I had a look around. At first glance it looked a lot like Hollywood Squares. There were pictures of Christian personalities all over the covers of the many books on display. Apparently publishers think Christians should buy books based on physical recognition. It seemed to me that the pictures on the book cover were there to appeal to those looking for their own personal idols.

There was the usual heaps of self help crap by the mega pastors. Of course the kid that said He went to heaven when he was four stole the demo show. He must have been displayed in a dozen different locations within the store. They had that book in all different sizes and styles. I guess they wanted a Bible on heaven that would fit in any woman’s purse. After all, this book is right up their with the “Prayer of Jabez” in offering Christians profound “biblical”doctrine. 🙄

Hey, the book is even going around the women in my church. Even after explaining to people why the kid never went to heaven women just cannot accept the possibility that God is not now giving us extra biblical revelation about heaven through a four year old. Do you know that this is the number one selling book in Christianity? Christian people apparently want to know that they will have wings in heaven and they don’t apparently believe or know about the account by John in Revelation about the Lord’s appearance. Seems they have to find some more human description of Jesus from a four year old higher authority. You have to be a really brave man to dare to tell one of those women that this kid really did not go to heaven. You take your life in your hands.

There were also several other Christian accounts in that bookstore of people that went to heaven or hell. That theme seems to sell books these days. Gee, guess what? They all contradict each other as well as the scriptures. I guess in this postmodern heaven where truth is whatever you want to believe, your heaven is not my heaven. The different heavenly accounts found in the bookstore will give you many choices for believing in the heaven of your own dreams.

Why do Christians even need special revelation about something they could not possibly understand with their feeble earthly minds? Paul made that pretty clear because he actually went to heaven to get correct doctrine and he did not even talk about what heaven was like. He said it was unlawful to even speak of what he heard there.

If Jesus really wanted to explain heaven to us He had the perfect person and opportunity to describe heaven through Paul but He did not. How is knowing the color of Jesus hair and eyes relevant to your Christian walk anyway? Nobody is in their glorified bodes yet anyway, contrary to what these authors suggest in their own heavenly hallucinations.

How is knowing all the details of hell going to make you a more fruitful Christian or get people to believe in a hell? I think God told us all we need to know. In fact, he said if someone rises from the dead they still will not believe.

I remember Dr. Richard Eby who claimed to have gone to heaven and hell some decades ago. He made it clear that Jesus told him that he was not going to die until Jesus came back for His Church. Dr. Eby did just about every Christian talk circuit in existence. He was big in the charismatic circles of itching ears that are always looking for some new extra-biblical revelation.  Well Dr. Eby died in spite of what He said. So I guess we are to believe that Jesus changed His mind or that Dr. Eby never went to heaven Yet, how many people hung on Eby’s every word every time he appeared?

Now those with itching ears are doing the same thing with the story from this kid that is filtered through his dad’s recall, and  this account has moved into mainstream evangelical churches and few will teach against it because it is a story that has become too popular to fail.

I went to the back of the Christian bookstore and there were racks and racks of “Christian” rock music. Someone tell me how Christian youth get a Christian message from this crap? There is not one song in a hundred where you can even understand the words and if you knew the words they are not teaching biblical truths, they are substituting the crap of the world with a Christianized version of worldly rock clap crap. If that offends you tough. Someone has to take a stand against Christian insanity for Christ’s sake!

I must digress at this point because nobody else seems to take a stand on Christian youth issues and of course I think it has to be said. Christian youth groups in our churches are being fed with crap and don’t anyone dare rock the politically correct youth leaders boat. If these youth leaders are leading the youth to Christ than how come after these youths grow up and move from their parents they all seem to fall away? I cannot find one handful of people in the 20 to 35 age range in my above average sized church. So why is that? If we are really disciplining our youth?

The problem is that they get worldly Christianized crap and clap in their church group rather than Christian doctrine. The Sunday school teaches Christian light magazines for those that even show up. Everything else is about socializing. Its like a youth club with a Jesus mascot. Many churches have their own contemporary service but some use the same racket that you will find in the rock section of the Christian book store that I was in. Everything is about mystical feelings and emotions and sound biblical doctrine is not to be found.

My own Baptist church youth group takes trips to hear rock groups that are even more hard rock than what they have in their own service and they even have joint programs with the Word of Faith Church loons down the road. Huh? We teach against their heretical doctrine so why are we also exposing our youth to the Word of Faith leaders that specialize in mass hysteria and brainwashing?

In my church in the Sunday morning worship service the youth do not sit with their parents they sit together and cut-up. One kid never stops talking during the pastors sermon and half the time he is talking to someone in the next pew. It is like his head is rotating on a swivel, yet nobody says anything. Last week one kid had low rider pants on and his girl friend could not keep her hands off him but nobody says anything. Am I the only one noticing this stuff?

I remember the temporary pastor we had in another location. When he first came to pastor the church he had some of that social interaction going on among the youth during the worship service. He personally called them out from the pulpit. It stopped almost instantly. Guess what? The youth group grew and the youth greatly loved and respected that pastor. He was like that father or grandfather figure that many kids just do not have today.

Our church youth were pressured into taking vows to God pledging sexual purity until marriage. Do you think making vows to God is positive when all reports say that 90 percent of them will break that vow to God before college? I do not. However, don’t you dare challenge what is PC in the youth movements.

Some in our youth group were home schooled to keep them from the world but unfortunately they are being exposed to other youth in our churches that for the most part have already been indoctrinated by the government indoctrination system. Its kind of self defeating. If you keep your kids out of public school you might also consider what they are being exposed to in the local church youth group as well. I will not even get into the church single group meat markets in the larger churches even though I have decades of experience to speak on that subject.

I had to take a stand in my own adult bible study recently. The leader was too often promoting word faith heretics and some message that he heard on “Christian” TV from them. If you really want to teach that TV Word Faith crap there is a Word of Faith church down the road that will welcome you. Yet some friends in the class think I should not let that bother me and that I should return to the same class? Yeah, but if I wanted to hear recycled Word of Faith TV preaching I would also be going to the church down the road. In a Baptist Sunday School I expect nothing less than a lesson taught in correct context from the scriptures.

Enough of that long winded digression. Getting back to the Christian bookstore that I visited, I tried very hard to find something worthwhile. I noticed a video CD section and there I saw a CD on the “Lost Years of Jesus”? That is antichrist doctrine! It is based on nothing in Christian doctrine or in history, it really has roots in Hinduism. The story goes something like this. Jesus had to learn how to become a Christ and that took learning in the East. They also make up stuff from heretical and blasphemous fabrications about events that happened in our Lord’s youth.

Then on the same rack I saw a CD on the “Bible Codes” by Grant Jeffery’s and another one on “The Finger Print of God” by Jeffery’s. I guess wrong information does not bother Jeffery’s sales much. I have read most of his first books. He has been disproven on several of his major theories but people still want to buy his old errors and he still produces what they want.

I walked over to the Bible prophecy section and after looking at what was there I got a headache. I cannot believe what people are passing off as Bible prophecy these days. There was not a recent book in the whole section that I would waste my time on. I recall that Perry Stone had what I thought was some idiotic book and that book seemed to have the top position in the Bible prophecy section. But sorry, I do not even remember what his nonsense was about. It must not have been anything worth thinking about. Of course there was also the 2012 Mayan nonsense. Some of the older books in that area were okay but I had already read them.

Then I went to the Bible commentary section. There are now CD commentaries on the Bible but the ones I saw have a high tech new marketing gimmick. You buy a CD for 10 bucks and that gives you a bit of teaching and the right to buy additional teachings on the internet. In other words, once they suck you in they can keep selling you more stuff. So instead of buying that commentary on the Bible what you are buying is a never ending program to support the publisher and maybe the author.

Keep in mind that these CD’s are the teachings of people that had already been paid by their congregations to teach on these subjects or they were paid by those that supported their radio ministry. At least one of these teachers is dead and I know you can get these same teachings elsewhere for free.

I really came away from that bookstore with the thought that it is filled with the writing of whores that are just getting rich selling the gospel and ripping off Christian people. Most best selling authors in these stores are also pastors of mega churches and the books they pump out are all about making more money for themselves or sometimes their own social justice cause.

I can’t even blame the bookstore owners because they are struggling and when a heretical book like “The Shack” or some kids fantasy about heaven comes along they can pay the bills. After all, Christians will only buy the stuff they want to read. I still get the impression that if this was done in the front of the Temple Jesus would have trashed the bookstore. Yet, these same books are sold in the bookstores in the front of most mega churches.

On the drive home I probably was not very good company because I tried to point out something to my wife and maybe other Christians should hear what I had to say as well.

People are wasting their lives on fluff that means nothing in their Christian walk. In fact, much of what is sold in these Christian bookstores is destructive. In a few years at most this crap in the Christian bookstores will not mean diddly squat in their life. Things are going to change radically in this country very soon. In a few years life is not going to be the same. America will be judged. God is going to severely chastise the Church in America and take away their worldly “christian” idols that they love so much.

In case you do not know it. We are going to have a world war very soon, we are going to see Christian persecution, we are going to have massive civil upheavals, perhaps even civil war and we are going to have economic collapse and it will all take place this decade and it can begin at anytime. So then why are Christians buying self help books and fluff when in just a few years they will be struggling to even survive in this country?

How are they going to deal with the forced government rationing or worse during the next world war that will be against at least the radical nations and elements in Islam? What are they going to do when government tells them where to live and what they have to do? What seems so important to many people today really is trivial silliness. Those into this nonsensical fluff are an embarrassment to the saints of the past and present that put their life on the line daily for their faith.

Christian people learned nothing from world history or they are totally deceived by the progressives. They have the idea that things in the world constantly progress and man is getting more moral. Anything can be further from the truth. The world goes through regular major periods of  war to purge evil and to get people to depend on God. We are not exempt because some are not old enough to personally have seen a world war or a civil war in their life. We are not exempt from wars and troubles because we are Americans. Evil rears its ugly head like clockwork in the world and it just so happens that the symptoms of evil today are already far worse than they were even just before the Second World War.

What Bible are most Christians reading? The bookstore Bible comic books? If people do not take biblical stands in our churches you’re not going to just lose Christians out of your congregations you’re going to lose most of your youth. You will lose your own freedom to preach on certain topics. You may lose your freedom to assemble at all. Your own youth will become your own enemies and turn you in to government or they will be killed in foreign or civil wars.

Christians had better get their heads out of their collective churchanity butt. Things are about to change radically in this country and in the world and it is going to happen much sooner than you might think. If you stand for nothing in America then for Christ’s sake what makes you think that an antichrist spirit will not take over America?

If you want to accomplish something like a move, or to get some formal education, or develop some skill, or make a career change, don’t act like you have decades to get that accomplished. What is not done in the next couple of years toward that end is not likely to take place in the more distant uncertain future either.

The symptoms of this are already evident.  We now have an antichrist government that our “Christian” people actually helped to elect. We have sexual perversion being taught in our government indoctrination centers called schools because Christians will not take a stand against government sponsored perversion. The God ordained covenant of Marriage is being destroyed and the polls says that the majority of Christians now approve of same sex marriage??

Homosexuality with their filthy lifestyle will help spread super-germs to the general population. AIDS and MERSA is just the start of it. Wait until the super-germs from India spread here to these immune compromised incubators and feces wallowers.  This homosexual practice was never acceptable in civil society because it cannot be allowed if civil society is to survive.

Many people are on drugs and drug warlords run your big cities. The traffickers have corrupted most everything for money including your government. We have the highest incarceration rate in the world and very few people that commit crimes even go to prison. Drug enforcement is also creating a police state in front of your eyes. Wake up!  America is becoming increasingly wicked and it is a powder keg. The riots can start at any time.

All media is becoming antichrist and true Christians and biblical truths are labeled as crazy and hateful and nobody in Christianity can be concerned enough to take a stand for their faith. Nor will they take a stand against those that are practicing and sponsoring all these evils in our nation proving that they do not love the innocent, gullible and misguided.

All these things are happening and they will get worse because nobody will take a stand against evil. If Christians will not take biblical stands on issues in this country it is obvious that we will reap the consequences for our harlotry with the world. We have seen nothing yet. It is time for Christians to get serious. Drop the nonsensical self indulgences that are being taught by warped and greedy authors. It is time to take a biblical stand on the issues for Christ’s sake!

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83 thoughts on “Christians need to take a biblical stand, for Christ’s sake!”

  1. Don ,
    I have found CBD.com to be a good source for books and commentaries. Yes , they have some of the same utter garbage you talk about in this post, but from time to time I have found useful books there. Anyone who can’t see the change you talk about coming is in a state of willful denial. What most churches are becoming is The Church of Laodecia .

  2. Don Fritts,

    I 2nd cbd.com…I also like Vision Video…but like all of them, it doesn’t mean their selection doesn’t contain garbage.

  3. Sorry about your frustrations, Don. I totally agree with you about bookstores. Ever read the newest Bonhoeffer book? He took a stand in his day. I watched “The Hiding Place” last week and was moved by Corrie’s one desire while incarcerated; to acquire a bible. She and her sister were able to do much good with their scriptures while in the work camp.

    What does taking a stand for Christ look like to you; street corner sandwich boards announcing the end of the world? (I’ve imagined myself doing just that but I think the 2 witnesses will have that covered during the Tribulation.) We are in the days spoken of by the Lord when men will not endure sound doctrine. Rather like the days of Noah, who preached for many years about the judgment to come, still only 8 made it into the ark. We can’t allow the current state of the church to get to us like it did Elijah who thought he was the only righteous one left. God is working. My nephew and half a dozen other young men are leaving shortly for a very dangerous north african country. What a stand they are making in the cosmic battle against Satan.

    Persecution is coming but it just may begin in our own congregations when we take a stand for Christ alone, grace alone and scripture alone. We each have to be obedient to what the Spirit tells us to do as a witness for Him. God bless and Maranatha.

  4. Don,

    It’s incredible what we are seeing happen to our country, and what you say is all true. Publish some fiction about going to heaven or peering into the future, throw in the magic number, 2012, and you get rich. Try to write Biblically sound books — fiction or non fiction — and few people are interested in them. About eight months ago my son came over to the house with a new Bible he’d bought. It was a Comic Book-! for Pete’s sakes. It was hard cover and about an inch and a half thick. It contained illustrated stories from the Bible, but little coherency, and although I only glanced through it, no sound doctrine that I could see, yet it was called a Bible. Granted, it stands head and shoulders above that perversion called the *Message* . . . still, what’s happening to our churches where young people substitute this sort of thing for the word of God?

    You are right. Things will be changing rapidly. Get prepared — not only physically but mentally. God is in control, but that is no guarantee any Christian will be immune from the satanic wave of evil about to tsunami our country.

  5. sooo… you are saying that Every Day is NOT a Friday??!!?? *gasp* /end sarcasm. i saw that book in the bookstore the other day and had pretty much the same reaction as you.

    americans have another thing coming when american christians are more concerned with getting a good parking spot than they are about spreading the Gospel and getting ourselves in a position to continue to spread it when all heck breaks loose.

    fluff… you are right, it’s all feel-good death-seeking fluff.

  6. Hi Ammi,

    My wife also loves Corrie’s book, she has read it many times.

    People in sandwich boards will just be laughed at and I am not talking about the end of the world anyway. I am saying that we once again have entered a time of rising evils on earth and in America. That fact does not necessary bring in the Antichrist but it makes war and judgments of the more evil nations certain. There is nothing new under the sun. What happened before on earth will happen again. There is a time for peace and a time for war. I think any astute person should see that the earth is once again entering a time when there will be great wars.

    Taking a stand starts with each of us. It means that we no longer accommodate those that are destroying America and our churches. I would not compare true Christianity to people before the flood. Anyone born of the Spirit should be teachable. Noah was not telling people to come on the Ark. Only Noah and his sons and their wives were chosen to be on the Ark. There are hundreds of millions of chosen Christians in the world but many have lost focus because they have been caught up in the world. God will deal with His children but it is better for them that they get off the fence before God shows His love by disciplining them.

    God bless the young men you know that are trying to make a difference in the world and are willing to risk their neck for it.

    No doubt that we will run into opposition in are own congregations if we take a biblical stand for Christ. True Christians might even have to leave some congregations that insist on copying or accommodating the ways of the world.

  7. Don, I’m glad you mentioned Perry Stone cuz I’ve wondered your opinion on him. I do watch him from time to time and have checked out his website, so what do you think about him?

  8. Thank you so much for your courage and honesty. I agree with you 100%. I particularly appreciate your politically incorrect views about race and class. I am a Christian woman who happens to be black and I have no doubt whatsoever that economic disaster and civil unrest will erupt in America very soon. Please continue to tell the truth in your commentaries. It’s mpossible to find in the media and there are still many people like me who are starved for it!!

  9. Hi Don~The youth groups of American Churches have most certainly ruined our kids. We home schooled our son so that he would not be exposed to the filth of the world, only to lose him to the filth of the world disguised as the church! I tell parents to save their children, keep them out of youth groups! In one the youth groups our son was in there was drugs & vile language, so we left. The pastor was told, but nothing was done. In another one that seemed truly righteous, the youth leader seduced one of the girls & had an affair. We pulled our son from there, but not before the damage was done. He ended up with a severance package & left the church. We are in dark days as a church.

    (I am new to the internet & have never written in, so if I did it wrong, I apologize & ask that you would edit as necessary)

  10. Donovan,

    One problem with Perry Stone is that he thinks he gets direct revelation from God. He has truth in his teaching but he also has a lot of error and some downright heresy and and he includes extra biblical stuff like dream interpretation and how to get healed through taking communion etc.

    He is a hyper-pentecostal and he apparently believes that the Antichrist will be the Muslim Mahdi. I am sure Perry appeals to Christian TV addicts with itching ears that always want to believe that he has some new knowledge for them about end time events but I do not recommend such teachers.

    Read this:

    http://www.truthsource.net/teachersexamined/falseteachers/perrystone.php

  11. Hi Kiki,

    i appreciate your confirmation of what I implied and your testimony about your own experience and I hope that parents and church leaders will take note because youth groups in many churches are very much like the world and if you put a lot of young people together in constant community with each other and do not have very strict supervision it is almost certain that things like you mentioned will happen.

    Your comment was done just fine. just leave the URL box blank next time if you do not have your own Website or Blog, otherwise it creates a dead link and I will have to delete it.

  12. Thanks for the help Don! Just to clarify: The Youth Pastor was given a severance package & left the church. No true consequences for his actions. Destruction though for the youth in that group.

  13. Hi Don, You’re starting to sound like Dave Hunt. Dave is a brilliant Christian, but, throws out just about everything with the bath water. Sounds like you need a spiritual lift of some kind. You sound bad. I agree with some of what you say and disagree with some other stuff. It doesn’t matter. That’s not the point right now. How about printing some good stuff. I’m sure there is some out there. You’ll feel better. I get like this sometimes also, and need to remember to not dwell on the bad. Jesus would not want that either. So, don’t let the Devil get you sidetracked. Keep given em’ Heaven instead of Hell! A friend…

  14. Kiki,

    Not only that the church staff probably was forbidden to say why the Youth Pastor left if inquired by his perspective employers. Everyone is afraid they will get sued so they just kick the problem person to the church down the road.

  15. Bob,
    I can think of no better complement than to be compared to the great apologist and teacher, Dave Hunt. I have read much of his bath water and I find no baby in it.

    This Blog is about world and church trends and Bible prophecy. It is hard to post optimistic stuff if that is what you are really saying, when the world and this nation are heading toward the worst world war ever on earth and when most of the western church is either following heretics or is plucking fluff from book authors noses to pad some designer pillow supporting their head full of postmodernism .

    Dave is a Christian apologist. His God given ministry is to compare what is said to what the scriptures actually teach. There are plenty of people that have other ministries. I would not expect all ministries to be like Dave Hunts nor mine. For every Dave Hunt there are already a hundred Christians telling people what they want to hear. What the Laodicean Church in America really needs are more people like Dave Hunt, Bob Deway, Roger Oakland, Mike Gendren, Brannon House etc.,

    Further, good stuff is in the eyes of the beholder. I think what I am saying is good stuff to those with ears to hear that it is time to get grounded in present world reality and the scriptures.

  16. Don, you are right. Heb. 11:7 “By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.” I just imagine the explanations he might have given to all the people who probably mocked him during the lengthy time he was preparing for the flood. It reminds me of the liberal radio station I ran across yesterday. Basically they were branding the tea party and conservatives as religious wackos and they were openly and discustingly mocking the things of God which are revealed in the scriptures. So, somebody must be standing up for Christ to generate that amount of hatred.

    People are at different places in their faith walk. The change agent is the word of God by the Spirit of God and people are ultimately responsible for getting themselves under some good bible teaching. Sadly, that is getting harder and harder to come by when the majority of the churches are filling up with yeast; ie corrupting influences. If one is lead to take a stand for Christ in that situation, go for it, but we left, knowing a confrontation would do no good.

    My husband and I are planning on attending “Understanding the Times” hosted by Jan Markell of Olive Tree Ministries. She has quite a line up of guest speakers. We’ve never done anything like this before and I consider it a divine appointment and expect to get some marching orders from the Lord. Maranatha

  18. Don,

    This is not a ‘feel good’ blog that panders to anything but truth.

    Your blog inspires all of us to take a more in-depth look at ourselves and what is happening around us.

    I say this in regard to what Bob Wunderlich said.

    About the issues…

    I know the distracting type of people you are talking about in the church pews…what I don’t understand is why they come to church in the first place…they are neither being good Christians nor good secularists. The only thing I can figure is that they were trained, probably by their unwitting parents, to go to church or they think church is some sort of party entertainment to further their social status.

    We can remain, hopeful, that the youth who have this attitude might return one day and understand that it is not about them,
    it is solely about the “Love And Faith In The Lord”.

    I, personally, was one of those “Half Christian, Double Standard, People” that tried every way to justify secular ‘hard rock’…then I tried to justify Christian ‘hard rock’…as it ended up, I couldn’t and quit listening to all of it long ago. I can say without a doubt it was a wise choice…for nothing is worth impeding our walk with Jesus.

    I have no doubt that Jesus would destroy all the good time church nonsense published in apostasy book form…for the same reasons Jesus did before…because they have made a lucrative business of selling nonsense in God’s name.

    I believe the people who would sell their nonsense in the Lord’s name have no understanding of the seriousness of their actions for there will come a day when they will have to answer for that.

    As to why “Christian” people to this day are still buying this apostasy garbage ? I think it’s because they are not grounded in their Christian walk and are not taking the “Word Of The Lord” seriously. They are buying into man’s false doctrines…as you’ve said many times in your present and past articles.

  19. I am a hobbyist musician / guitarist. I enjoy it. It’s a good way for me to relax and unwind in the evenings. Also, I enjoy invention and creativity. I “invented” this new musical scale in a methodical but non-scientific way. It’s been about three years now and I still feel very immature with the possibilities. I am also left handed. If you are not left handed, than I really can’t explain it.

    That being said, I agree with you Don. About the only Christian “pop” or “rock” (and all the variations thereof) music I can tolerate / enjoy would be Steve Green and Twila Paris. As a musician, I love Phil Keaggy’s instrumental work, particularly the acoustic instrumental. For about the last decade, I have only done instrumental stuff that I invent. I don’t nor never could do “cover” material. Although I like to completely destroy old TV theme songs, chuckle. That Christian metal stuff gives me a complete headache. I usually just sit in the corner with this ear-bud headphone digital contraption and quietly unwind in the evenings (after I get back from dusk fishing et al). I may play at a break at my work holiday party and most people quantify me as some weird cross between folk, country and jazz. I just make stuff up for fun. It’s just entertainment.

    Mostly, people know I’m a Christian, which gets you executed in Iran – so, they know my lifestyle. At a work gathering or other after work engagement, I am the one who is NOT drinking or smoking or using foul language (ok, I can get mad at the computer, sorry). Only those who are in a life problem will typically befriend me for Christian and spiritual assistance – the rest are comfortably in this world and I may make those of the liberal persuasion uncomfortable but they aren’t looking for Jesus.

    At this point, I’m sort of taking the “wait for judgment” tact – whether that is right or wrong, I don’t know. And the people out there know I’m genuine (not perfect, just genuine).

  20. Don, I can only say Amen. The Laodicean church is alive and well as the Word of God declared. Let he who has ears to hear…..

  21. wow, I’ve been trying to find stuff before to see if his teachings are not all legit but everyone says “oh hes a great guy, a man of God” etc….have you always thought he was a little off? and is it mainly because of the dream interpretations or visions he says hes been given

  22. David ,
    The reason people buy this garbage is because they are not taught “The Word of God ” at the place they go and call it church. Some people do not even ubderstand that The Church is not a building. The Church is a people who belong to The Lord and are called to be seperate from what the world does. I know of a pastor who preaches like he’s double parked because someone might be offended if the service runs late and they’re 5 minutes late for lunch. I call those people credit card church goes, but not Christians. My attitude is that when you attend church you’re on God’s time , not your time. HE decides when the service is over and you will get lunch, The Shepard always feed His sheep. Too many so called church leaders think their job is to make everyone feel good. Jesus often offended The Pharisees and their are a lot of Pharisees who attend church. It’s takes more than a 20 minute sermon once a week to teach and learn “The Word of God ” The benefit one recives is related to the time and effort one spends.

  23. Donovan,

    I think Perry got more strange over the years. I think that happens because they are in it for a living so they always have to come up with something new to attract more itching ears.
    I really have not been following his stuff, mainly because I have found that there is not much new in the book stores on Bible prophecy that I have not already read before that is actually still based on the Bible. I also no longer watch TBN anymore and very little other TV for that matter.

  24. Craig,

    I was talking from my personal experiences regarding the music industry.

    Specifically, I was a big Van Halen fan, but when they started singing anti-salvation songs and pro-worldly songs, things came into question. Rush, with their pentagrams, supposed Christian Stryper turning to secular music etc. to name a few off the top of my head, it’s been a long time.

  25. Ok Stop the Presses is God speaking – just finished George Barna’s book “Growing True Disciples’ and just after reading I am lead to this blog. All this at a time in which I am seeking the Lord in regards to organizing a Church according to his will and not my own.

    The Lord has emptied this Church and we are down to less than 10 members. My wife says we are experiencing a Joshua moment. Surprisingly neither of us are discouraged despite the financial hardship at this time. Instead we are excited and believe that the Lord is working things out.

    You have made numerous key points – church commercialization – conforming to the world must cease. We need to be true disciples of Christ. Churches need to focus on creating as Barna stated “zealots for Christ”.

    Soon stuff is going to hit the fan. I have been telling people they have no idea of what is about to happen here in America. We have no conceptual basis for comprehending the potential scope and magnitude of what I believe is coming … when it hits I am sure some preacher will falsely cry out Armageddon is here.

    We better be standing on “The Rock” because the rain falls on the just and unjust alike. For many in low income areas like Compton Ca our only hope is in Christ.

    I am praying for a Jonah movement in America to give us more time to prepare. Could happen if those who are called by his name turn from our wicked ways, humble ourselves and pray. Even though I stand with those leading the charge I am not holding my breath. America may be even farther down the rabbit hole than Nineveh.

    Now I am rambling .. so let me say thank you for this article. it nails down how important it is to teach, model and insist upon authentic Christianity in my home and in Church development. We must all be Christ’s Talmidim (disciples)

  26. Bryan,

    Hmmm…I just received this in my email from Lamb and Lion (it is only part of it.) It seems that others also feel that time is running out for games as usual.

    Do you feel as if something really big is ready to go down?

    By Nathan Jones
    Evangelist & Web Minister

    If you’re like me you can feel it. You can sense it. The heavy weight of a coming dramatic change is in the air.

    Decay – The signs of entropy are all around us. They’re glimpsed in the despondent eye of the unemployed worker who cannot find a job, the harried broker who sees no end to market volatility, the average Joe who feels the wheels of justice have totally fallen off the wagon of freedom, and the graduate who sees no hope for the future because our leaders have failed us. People are feeling our best days now lie behind us.

    Something’s got to change.

    Economy – The signs of financial ruin are growing. The Western world so steeped in debt vainly pushes back the inevitable knock of the repo man. The nations fall one by one into insolvency, dragging down the economies of what remaining nations are still productive. The East rises ready to claim its investments only to discover the money is artificial, and so tethered stares down bankruptcy as well.

    Total and worldwide financial disaster is inevitable.

    Nature – The signs of natural destruction are evident. The earth trembles under the fatigue of one natural disaster after another. Record tornadoes rip the countryside apart. Tsunamis and hurricanes devastate coastal regions, reaching ever inland. Daily earthquakes level whole cities. Droughts burn and fires scar the land. Everyday there’s a report of another, and then another, and then another.

    The world can’t take much more of this punishment.

    War – The signs of another global war are exponentially mounting. The entire world is focused on the fate of the little nation of Israel. The sum of the United Nations wants her destroyed. The arms race of the Middle East fueled by a supernatural hatred of the Jewish people is just one trigger pull away from engulfing the Middle East in a bloodbath. The world’s resources have grown scarce and so the nations eye hungrily the outcome of such a war, ready to turn a regional conflict into a global one.

    The hate cannot be held back any longer.

    Immorality – And, the signs of immorality accost our most basic decencies. The love for our fellow man has grown cold. Life means nothing to anyone and so we murder even our own children at will. People rail against God and His moral law demanding lawlessness. Christians lose more and more ground in the court systems. Around the world those who stand for righteousness are tortured and killed in record numbers. The restraining force on immorality has all but fled, mostly leaving us to our own self-destructive tendencies.

    We are watching the world scream on in its dizzying path towards mutual destruction and know that it cannot go on like this. It just can’t. Something’s got to give. The world cannot continue to get this evil, this volatile, and this hopeless without finally exploding into chaos.

    That’s what I see, and if you’ve got your fingers on the pulse of the world as well then that’s most likely what you see as well.

    The Final Result

    If history repeats itself, and it usually does, then we are all at the brink of something cataclysmic. I’m firmly convinced like no other time during my life that this is the case. Unless the restraining hand of God delays the inevitable, the final days of routine life as we know it are quickly running out.

  27. Don Fritts,

    I respectfully disagree.

    I think there are scripture and spirit led churches that have members that are there for other reasons than a commitment to The Lord Jesus.

    On a side note but in regard to being true to the Lord,

    I am currently reading the book of Daniel.

    When I think of Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah (Hebrew names) commitment to the Lord God and the threat they faced of being thrown into the fiery furnace for their refusal to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image, I had to ask myself, is my love and faith for the Lord strong enough that I would do the same ?

    If at anytime, my love and faith in Christ is not willing to follow him, even unto persecution, then I am not one of the Lords.

  29. @Don Fritts, The pastor in Iran who is currently facing execution for NOT denying Christ is a prime example of counting the cost. In fact, he may be with the Lord as we speak. Christians in America should ponder what it means to be disciples and followers of Jesus before the demise of our comfortable and easy life. It is hard to imagine something so foreign to us.

    Dear Father, grant that your servant be filled with the power of the Spirit to endure the path set before him. If it be your will, Father, cause the earth to shake so the prison doors will be opened and this saint is set free. Lord, may he show love to his captors and help him exhibit a spirit of forgiveness. Father we lift his wife and two sons before you to love and comfort them and meet their needs. Lord we pray for the believers to be steadfast and courageous in the face of danger, give them wisdom and discernent to hear your voice and obey. Glorify your holy name in that place and grow the church as it pleases You, dear Father. AMEN

  32. Don,

    Great post I can feel that you are very passionate about the decay of Christianity that upon us. I have to agree with you on pretty much everything you said. The USA needs a leader with such passion about Christ and who is not afraid to stand up. I have felt this heaviness in my heart for a year or two now that something drastic is approaching and I’m glad to see more people waking up to this. I have noticed that every true Christian who follows world events feels the same way. Unfortunatly I’d think anything short of a massive upheavel or war will wake people up to reality.

  33. A very good post. I can feel your frustration. Several years ago we attended a congregation where the youth ministry ran roughshod through the congregation. A very frustrating experience. I had an awkward encounter with a couple of the more senior “Bible College” educated members about some of their post-modern/emergent views. I was shunned, as a result, by the “in-crowd” within that group as well as the Youth Pastor. Our son was courted by this same pastor to become more involved with that group. He had enough sense to see what was going on. We eventually left that congregation and have not really been firmly attached to another one since. We now rely heavily on several solid web based ministries for our spiritual diet. My wife and I read your articles regularly with some of them filtering down to our now young adult children. Thank-you.

  34. Don can you please point me to scripture about what Paul says, “He said it was unlawful to even speak of what he heard there.”
    Thanks

    Yes hi everyone, yes this is not a feel good blog, it’s hurtful and depressing but this is the reality in which we live. On a positive note, we can be thankful that we not asleep and blind to such happenings.

    I’d like to ask everyone here, what can we do? People would laugh if we used sandwich boards. Joe Witness has stolen some of our tools by knocking door to door.
    We are seen as crazy freaks! Not that i care what people think of me, but how can we speak to men’s hearts these days! Even our own Christian people!

    On a side not i had been using a dating site recently. So many of the Christian (and somewhat serious about it) girls there also had looking for casual sex ticked on there profiles.!
    What is right is now wrong, and what is wrong is now right.
    The night is drawing in, and it can feel tough, but we knew 20-30 years back that these days were coming.

    This is the time of the great falling away, and its only the beginning, but we know that our glorious Lord is also coming. We can be joyful in that!

    I can’t remember where I heard it, but someone said to me once, that in the end times. True Christian witness would come to be only a one 2 one thing, how you act in your life towards each person rather than the public preaching of yesteryear which people will no longer stand for.

  35. Hi Don

    The scripture that I was referring to is in 2nd Cor 12. Paul in the context of the chapter is obviously speaking of himself here in the third person.

    1 It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.
    2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.
    3 And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)
    4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

    I think true Christians will increasingly remove themselves from large churches. The large churches will therefore increasingly go into harlotry with other religions and the world (actually it is already happening in many) and then the true Christians will be forced into unpolitically correct small assemblies and loose associations like in Russia and China and increasingly in Europe. In other words, more like the early Church and that more personal biblical spiritual Body of Christ model will reach friends and neighbors that have been turned off by the present model that has prevailed since the third century that fosters pastor worship, ritualism and large assemblies of spectators.

  36. I too have felt that something is not right in the world for sometime and that something big is coming. What it is i have no idea but after 9/11 this country and the world has changed for the worse. Rampant and total disregard for anyone but one’s self. From the garbage on TV, disregard from all income brackets for courtesy to others on the roads, in stores, and at work. Do not invade my private space or dare to go into the lane in which i am speeding in seems to be the norm. Neighbors no longer speak to each other. The outright manipulation of our financial system, which used to be investment but is now a casino trading for daily swings in the market. I am no saint here. I do have an occasional beer or glass of wine, but my biggest downfall is smoking. Yes it is not a good thing and i pray the Lord gives me strength to quit. I am thankful to all here and Don for truth, openess, and honesty, something this country and its people used to be known for.

  37. David ,
    I understand you respectfully disagree , but what statement of mine is the source of your disagreement ? There are people who go to church for social reasons. There are people who think that going to church on Christmas and Easter makes them a Christian. People go to church for many different reasons , that’s not new . From some of your posts I get the impression you live in California. Are you familiar with Dr. Gene Scott who passed away several years ago ?

  38. Robert,

    I have good news for you. You can be a saint and still have that drink of beer or wine and even have that cigarette. Now, I certainly am not telling you that smoking is wise.

    Don, I think ~David must have left out a word or something in his comment to you because I did not understand what he said either. So I guess we need a clarification ~David.

  40. Don,
    Regarding the 4 year old’s heaven experience, I agree there are many flavours of experience, seemingly dependant on the religious background (LDS, JW etc.) the person comes from. I suppose people read these books to gain some hope and reduce their fear of death. I haven’t read this particular book and don’t plan to – it’s not going to change my faith. What I am interested in is a bit more detail why you don’t believe this boy went to heaven. I admit I am sceptical of many of these personal experiences and yet they seem to have information that would be hard to obtain otherwise. I’m just not sure what to think. Ditto for the ‘personal revelations’ people speak about when they say ‘the Lord told me…’

  42. Don Fritts,

    I think your a well informed Christian, I always look forward to what you, my brother in Christ, have to say.

    I was disagreeing with… “The reason people buy this garbage is because they are not taught “The Word of God ” at the place they go and call it church.”

    But it seems it is I who didn’t take all of what you said into account. I thought you were making an absolute statement about why some were misinformed and bought into the garbage.

    I did live in So. California for 22 years but now I reside in AZ. I attended Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa. I have read some of Gene Scott but not a whole lot. I’ve heard good things about him.

  43. David ,
    I think one of the great failures of many churches is the lack of any Biblicial training for new Christians. Someone goes to church , hears a gospel preached message and accepts Jesus as savior. There needs to be follow up to get these new Christians into Bible Study. Too many people have been told becoming a Christian takes away all of life’s troubles. We both know that is not true. I guess maybe what I was trying to say is that too many church goers don’t know any better because there is no teaching , just superficial social activities. Social activities at church for the purpose of Christian fellowship are fine, but there has to be Biblicial teaching for people to grow and mature as Christians. People seek out these “GARBAGE”
    books and publications as a substitute for The Bible because some authors want to make people feel good and sell books. Both John MacArthur and Chuck Missler have pointed out that in a culture war ” Truth is the First Casuality ” We are definitely in the midst of a culture war and The Church should be The First to stand up for The Truth. That is not happening .

  44. To Don September 29, 2011 at 7:00 am (so we don’t get the Don’s mixed up),

    Don,

    I thought I’d hold my tongue and not say anything but I’ve decided to say something…

    When you say…

    “yes this is not a feel good blog, it’s hurtful and depressing but this is the reality in which we live.”

    I don’t think most of us here feel that way…I, for one, am incredibly excited and feel very fortunate to be seeing God’s word being fulfilled before our very eye’s.

    No, the direction of the U.S. is not a nice thing, and no, it’s not pleasurable to see the despair & pain that is going to happen all over the world…but this is the result of man’s reign on earth. God’s word told us this was going to happen because God knows the end from the beginning.

    I was once a materialistic, worldly person myself…I grew up around wealthy people who only have seen this life as a prosperity driven venture. I was very depressed pursuing the ‘road to riches, American dream’ because no amount of prosperity/money/power is ever enough on that road…I didn’t like what those power hungry wealthy people did, even to one another.

    I am now what the world would call “poor” in materialism…but I am super wealthy in spirit because I love and call on the Lord Jesus Christ.

    I regard Don K’s blog here to be uplifting and brings me great joy because it is a means of understanding “The Truth”..and what’s most important in this life…our walk with “The Lord Jesus Christ”.

    I did take into account what you said in your entire comment, you sound like an astute guy and I hope you stick around and see what I’m talking about.

  47. I would just like to add that Christians can have inner joy and still be very realistic about where the world is heading. So I just do not buy into the thinking that I should write feel good messages for a world heading into destruction and a Christendom that is largely heading into harlotry.

  48. Keep on that course, Don. If you were writing only “feel good” messages, I’d be spending my time reading other blogs.

  49. Don Koenig ,
    If you only wrote “make people feel good stuff” you would be no different than the emergent church sickness in our society. People need to hear the truth and it then becomes their resposibility what they do about it. I have heard that Abraham Lincoln once said : ” The Truth Doesn’t Hurt Unless It Ouught To. ” I cannot say for sure Lincoln said that , but the quote has been credited to him. Jude tells us to contend for the faith and I believe that is what you are doing.

  50. Don:

    You covered a lot in this post. AsI mentioned some time ago- I read the Heaven is for Real…Now I wish I hadn’t. Along the lines of big selling authors, I was driving home and channel surfing on my radio when all of a sudden I heard Brother Camping’s voice. First he thanked everyone for their prayers and talked about his health- then he started talking about how he messed up on the timing of the rapture. I was waiting for him to admit that no one knows the time BUT then he said the world was going to end on Oct. 21st. I was shocked and thought he might have learned- What drives that man? Is it money, is it that he so much wants to be with God?

    Lastly, you were talking about the leader in your Bible study-I am very respectfully saying that maybe you should be the leader- I know your studies would be filled with the truth- and very lively.

  51. Hi Heather,

    Oh well, Bible prophecy date setting is not the only problem with Camping’s teaching. Who knows what drives him to teach heretical views on certain biblical topics. He will be proven wrong again in about three weeks and then his followers will probably want to blame old age dementia, canonize the man, and find a younger man to carry the mantle and set up the next date.

    Thanks for your confidence but they would not want me teaching Sunday School where I attend. I will not teach the prepackaged LifeWay Magazines that they insist on and I will not follow all the Baptist positions. Besides, my time to prepare teachings is better spent here. I reach many more people here than I would in any Sunday school class. By the way, the class I am in now has an excellent elder teacher. He not only knows the Bible he understands the major concepts it teaches and he can come up with supporting scriptures from memory.

  52. Hi Don
    The Worldview Times article helped clarify my own thoughts on the Colton Burpo claptrap.
    How many boys of four to five could write a best selling book? The answer that comes immediately to my mind is none, but many fathers of four to five year old boys could, and it is clear that one did. It is not the child that should be asked searching questions but the father.

    I would encourage all those who are struggling to find a Bible believing church to search out recommended blogs (Don has his own @ top right called – Great Website Links). Many such blogs have Bible teaching on MP3 which are downloadable.

    Over the the last twenty years we have built up a library of many hundreds of hours of audio Bible teaching, verse by verse and topical and I continue to search out and download messages. When and if apostasy totally cuts us off from the mainstream and the leftist governments cut us off from these blogs, we will have a private source of Bible teaching. Yes, most men do differ on various points of doctrine but that keeps us on our toes.

    I can assure you the joyful fellowship my family and I have from this media far surpasses the lukewarm mush that passes for spiritual knowledge elsewhere. And who knows there may come a time when you will be able to invite your neighbour to share it with you.

  53. Thank you ,Don. I always enjoy (and am very edified by) your take on everything! Yes, Jan Markell has a wonderful ministry and I listen to her whenever I can. I appreciate the straight-shooters out there on the radio that call the bluff of the fluffy false preachers! I am a public school teacher in a very tiny town….I’ve been there 7 years as a witness for our LOrd and Savior. It hasn’t been easy. There are true believers in this arena…I hope you know…pray for us. the Lord has us in this ugly , humanistic, hell-hole called Public Education for a reason. We need your prayers. I know the law and I live my witness even when ignorant progressives try to tell me …”don’t do that you might lose your job! ” God will allow me to witness as long as HE wants and when it is time to”lose my job” , God will handle that too. I am very tired of watching “weak” Christians walk around in terror of “losing their jobs”….what about the treasures in heaven? Right? Thank you, Don, for being there at the end of a hard day.

  54. I was not aware that a new date of Oct 21st had been set by Camping. I am still sorting through all the unsolicited emails about comet Elenin ending the world on Sept. 27th.

    Gosh, Don is not even offering his “Uncle Don’s Happy Meals That Heal” so is missing out on cashing in on all the hysteria.

    This blog rescued me from the Muslim Anti-Christ groupies and is the most biblical based blog of which I am aware.

    Ok – going off topic for a minute.
    1. Has anyone heard an update on Lisa’s interview?
    2. Does anyone know of Ken C.’s job situation?

  55. Thanks dettemc1611

    And thank God there are still a few like you left in the public school system.

    Bob,

    for anyone to understand that “Happy Meals that heal” comment I think they are going to have to read that link in my comment on Rick Perry.

    I almost saw the end of the world on Sept 27th. I was being shot at by a gang of terrorists because they seen me observe them breaking into a reservoir. Fortunately I woke up from that dream just in time to not wake up dead.

  56. On the subject of those that say they went to heaven, here is scripture and something I read from Greg Laurie/Harvest Ministries.

    NKJV
    John 3:13
    No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.

    The number of people who believe in the afterlife is higher than ever. A recent global survey was conducted, asking people about their belief in God and the afterlife. Of the 18,000 people polled across 23 countries, 51 percent were convinced there is an afterlife and a God. In the U.S., belief is even higher, with 76 percent of Americans believing in heaven.

    Belief in the afterlife is not unique to our time. Almost every culture believes there is something beyond the grave. The Egyptians believed that, of course. Archaeologists recently discovered a solar boat in one of the Great Pyramids, supposedly for Pharaoh Khufu to use to sail the heavens in the next life.

    Ancient Greeks would often place a coin in the mouth of the dead to pay the fare across the mythic river of death into the land of immortal life.

    American Indians would bury a warrior with a pony, a bow, and arrows so that he could ride into the happy hunting ground.

    In Greenland, Eskimos who died in childhood were traditionally buried with their dog, intended to guide them through the supposed cold wasteland of death.

    All of these views are skewed or outright wrong. But one thing they have right is the belief that there is life beyond this life. Even in the time of Jesus, many of the Jews had an aberrant view of the afterlife because they didn’t look at what the Scripture taught.

    According to Jesus, there is indeed life beyond the grave. Why should we accept His word over the word of another? Jesus is qualified to speak on the topic because He came from heaven, and He has returned to heaven. That is why Christ—and Christ alone—can address this topic with authority.

  57. Well, at the moment, I have a few minutes to start up a hornets nest. Don, did you read and finish reading, The Shack? This book is one of the “Gripes” that you earlier mentioned. I feel that I am a strong Ind. Baptist, KJV only, Jewish believer in Christ. I make no apologies for loving that book. OH! I know, there are some serious flaws. But, I also loved the movie, “The Passion of Christ” Again, a ton of errors in that movie. But, it was a great movie. How can it be a great movie and also have biblical errors in it? Because outside of the KJV of the bible there is nothing that is perfect. A book, a movie, a song, etc. all have errors. The Shack has problems. Still IMHO, a GREAT book.

  58. Bob,

    You may have the time to deal with hornets nests but I do not. I have a post on “The Shack” it is pretty much off topic here (number 7 most viewed post on the sidebar).
    I think that if Christian leaders are writing novels about relationships with God they should not include heresy and blaspheme to try to explain God to the world. Apparently you think offering the world religious pluralism and universalism in a heartwarming story is fine. I do not.

    Then you make the absurd statement that only the KJV translation of scriptures is perfect as if any translation of ancient foreign languages can be perfect. I have a post on that as well.

    https://www.thepropheticyears.com/wordpress/gail-riplinger-where-is-the-discernment.html

    Your thinking seems a bit confused to me. Or as you said, is your real purpose here to stir up trouble. If that is the case do it on the blog of somebody else.

  59. KJO: interesting… never really thought about it in the “only” mindset… I generally just read from that translation for a few reasons…

    I had been using the NIV and there is a fair amount of criticism of it, particularly from the creationism people. If the “word” is being twisted to make room for evolution et al, I don’t need that.

    There are a few other translations that may be pretty decent, but then they add these footnotes that are totally incorrect/inaccurate and, of course, propagating a dangerous agenda of one form or another. I don’t need that.

    The KJ bible is free / not copyrighted (that always bothered me about the NIV — “you’re copyrighting God’s word?” I definitely don’t need that).

    I like the concordance stuff, where these various bible programs will link you to the original greek/hebrew dictionary and they cross reference / cross-link to other versus using the same greek or hebrew words. That’s pretty good stuff.

    Well, I’m going to stick with the JKV personally, but I sure don’t mind looking at other translations to help me out when I get stuck on something. I’ve noticed that Don’s commentary kind of does the same thing. Don will pull up another translation, possibly a word variation or inflection, that seems to suggest the real intent (to those of us in the English persuasion).

    I really worry about this concept, though. I want to get the right intent. I am extremely worried about getting the wrong intent. I may not live up to His standard, but I sure want to know exactly what His standard actually is. Sorry, but this can really frustrate me when I think I’m getting the truth only to find that there was some not-entirely-sane agenda twisting the translation.

  60. When I was 18 months old I had dysentery and pneumonia, I was also allergic to penicillin. The doctor taking care of me, while I was in the hospital for almost two weeks, would sit by the bed and cry out to God asking what it was he could do for me. This same doctor had been a medical missionary to China and lost two of his own children to the same illness I had. The doctor finally called my dad and said to pick me up from the hospital and take me home. The doctor told my dad it would be better for me to die at home surrounded by family than in a cold hospital crib. I have been told that as soon I got home I started getting better. At the age of 11 I was delivering newspapers with my older brother and one morning I really didn’t want to get out of bed at 4 am. I was mad and I rode down our alley and out across a very busy street and was hit broadside by a Ford Ranchero, flipping me into the back of that vehicle. It bent the bike in half and put a fracture in my left hip. At the age of about 21 I had a horse flip over the top on me from a full gallop to a dead stop. I was unconscious for about an hour, waking up in the emergency room of a local hospital. From that little wreck I had a severe whiplash, a broken hand, a broken foot and felt like I had been run over by a freight train. The weighed about 950 pounds.

    In all of these instances, even though I was probably on deaths’ door step, never once did I get to visit heaven. My dad being a missionary and a pastor, never once asked if I had any weird dreams during times of unconsciousness. I have to wait to see what heaven is like when Jesus calls me to my eternal home. Currently I am fully disabled from familial emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Literally, I depend on God for my every breath. If I had been out of body and seen the carnage from those times it probably would still give me nightmares. Besides that, God supplies all my needs, so I do not need to write a book of fiction to con people out their money. I depend solely on the Word of God, the Bible, for any look into the future and any look into my present circumstances.

    Joel, El Paso, TX

  61. Craig,

    The KJV is a very good translation but that is not the point. There is no perfect translation of scripture from one language to another like Bob thinks. Even the KJV has different versions that contain various different corrections to earlier KJV’s.

    People who claim that the KJV is perfect are either ignorant of how the English Bible came to be or they think the King James translators were re-given the original autographs in English. Even that silliness fails because there are many versions of the KJV that have differences between them. There were obvious errors that had to be corrected in later versions.

    Even those that translated the KJV made it clear that they did the best they could with what they had. They did not claim that they got everything correct, on the contrary they knew they did not.

    Sorry for the original errors refresh your screen if it does not appear right.

  62. According to Dr. David Hocking, the first edition of the KJV contained the apocrypha. It was later scrubbed. So, is the scrubbed version (SKJV) the correct one to use – or the one with the apocrypha?

  63. Added comment: According to Dr. H., the apocrypha was in the 1611 edition – and was scrubbed in 1629.

  65. I don’t know if my method is good for anyone else but I am currently reading the KJV in book order, Genesis – Revelation.

    I am planning on reading the NAS next time (in book order or chronological order, not sure yet) then I plan on going through the Bible via the NKJV…and of course, after that, probably starting the process all over again as my reading of God’s word will never be ‘done’.

    My idea is to do this to sharpen my understanding of scripture, especially because the KJV is difficult for me in some areas…because of the Kings English.

    I also have great teachers, I’m currently using Pastor Chuck Smith’s C3000 series that takes me verse by verse through the Bible then I read what I’ve been taught, then do the study material.

    My next time will probably be with Chuck Missler’s ‘Through The Bible’ series available for free from his website with the NAS.

    I don’t know if this is helpful for anyone else but it’s the best idea I could come up with to learn as many valid Biblical perspectives and writing styles (KJV, NAS, NKJV) as possible.

    And, of course, I read Don’s blog here, his Revelation Commentary, and some others.

  66. Joel,

    For those of us who think we’ve had it tough…your testimony sure puts life in perspective.

    After all that you’ve been through, it’s awesome that you call on ‘The Lord’ instead of doing what I’ve heard others do with a similar past…being angry at God for their plight in life.

    With Love and Respect for you Joel,

    ~David

  67. That was just a very short list of wrecks and incidents that I have been involved in. My wife and I left another church about 6 months ago, they were just to much into using books for their Bible studies and even Sunday school. I tried to convince them just to use the Bible as their source of materials, but it went in one ear and out the other. And yet they can not figure out why they can not increase the amount of people in their congregation. The reason I mentioned the amount of wrecks and incidents is that if you are truly called a child of God and you are born again and under the blood of Jesus, God is going to correct you when you are not living or doing things the way He wants them done. I know a lot of people that think the following verse is only for actual children. “Proverbs 22:15 Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of correction will drive it far from him.” But did you ever think that God had always intended it for His children, no matter the age. The things that are going on now are corrections. I have never in my entire life remember, ever, of being mad at God, or being mad at another person, my parents included, about what has happened to me. That would be pure foolishness to be angry at God, His punishments hurt worse than my dad’s belt ever did, and that hurt quite a bit. All those books that are written about how to raise your children, how do have an interesting Sunday school, how to live a Christian life and on and on they go, are foolishness. The Bible has more than we need, most don’t take the time to read it, some are fooled into believing that other books are needed before you read the Bible, it has everything you need to learn what God has done for us. And He even included a way to have eternal life. Imagine that…

    Me and my wife meet here in our home every Sunday and we have prayer meeting every night of the week. I have 5 children, all married, and 15 grandchildren. We also have 30 other children from around the neighborhood who stop by the house from time to time. They refer to us as grandma and grandpa. They tell us what is going in their lives and we pray with them before they leave and give them a fair stack of cookies before they head back to the park to play. Now if I didn’t read my Bible I would not have a clue as to how to deal with such a flood of people coming into our lives. But, Jesus instructs us to lead them to Him, not a book written by a person who does not even have a clue as to who we are talking to.

    Joel, El Paso, TX

  69. Wow Joel,

    So you and your wife are like the Christ led people that the kids in the neighborhood want to go see and hear talk of the Lord….and get cookies too : )

    Now, that is just awesome.

  70. Until the churches get back to teaching, really teaching, the Bible….people will fill their hunger elsewhere. I have been disturbed by supposedly “Christian” books ever since i worked in a used bookstore and got to evaluate books for our shelves and realized how people were being duped. self help with a dose of scripture doesn;t make it new or better than the standard self help books! ( which many Christians would never consider buying…or anything in psychology or the religious-other religion section) I agree publishers need to make money but the wrapping everything up in Christian terms to sell garbage really upsets me.

    As you pointed out, the home schooling movement has not protected kids from the world. so my view-keep em in the world as well as the word. it is how we are raising our niece. she;s smart and has figured out the loopholes that are tolerated and why it is bad-“it’s ok to have sex if you love him”-which is why so many of our teenagers are pregnant in this town, expecting marriage-ok so we are sort of throwbacks, not like the cities but…it’s tolerated because it’s the way it always has been. leads to poor young couples and a lot of non high school graduates.

    Worth a shudder or two.

    Especially when you consider we have 70 registered churches in this county.( maybe 20,000 population)

    until we stop playing politics with our churches-and get back to what we are supposed to do-Christians are powerless to effect their communities or even their families.

    it isn;t about stopping Halloween celebrations, or complaining about liberals so let’s vote for the latest whacko who says he is a Christian conservative. or complaining about the way people dress ( unless it;s in your home or your church why do you care?)We need to shift AWAY from expecting anything from the government, take seriously the preparation for even worse times…get our homes and lives and families secure.I don’t mean fences; I mean money and food supply-home grown or local is best….

    Build your church with prayer time and visiting time, to the sick and imprisoned.( yup the whole nine yards. feed and clothe people..teach them..I mean every one of us KNOWS this by heart!) meet for positive social times for all ages not just for worship service. and treat non church members with the same love you give to your own family. Acting like a store or a clerk or a teenager is beneath you is horrid behavior for a Christian.

    unless we act like we love each other, really love each other…why should anyone in the world listen to us?

    Respectfully, not as a barb at my brothers and sisters in Christ, but pointing at me too- I could use prayer to find our new church home, so sad to lose the pastor we had..and to ask God what role next as my last volunteer effort was met by- a lasvicious leader. can;t allow my own girls near him, hoping my threat ( of talking) will keep the other women safe….

  71. Please bare with what I’m about to say…it is on topic.

    There is a young NFL (National Football League) quarterback who just got his first NFL career start today 10/23/11 and put in a solid performance.

    What is remarkable is that he has a lot of hatred towards him even before being named today’s starter at his quarterback position.

    He has internet hate websites dedicated to bashing him, he has comedians mocking & bashing him, and a front office for his team who didn’t want to start him because of all the animosity towards him.

    His name is Tim Tebow and why all the animosity towards him ?

    It’s because he’s a hardcore Christian who openly love’s and praises the Lord in all things.

    Here is a link to a recent article that gives us an idea what he faces in being a Christian in a hostile environment.

    http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d82353180/article/tebow-haters-dont-shake-quarterbacks-faith-in-higher-calling-

  72. David ,
    You are talking about Tim Tebow of the Denver Broncos. When he plays they win , goes to show God takes care of His own ALWAYS!!!!!!!!

  73. Hi Don Fritts,

    Yea, Tim Tebow of the Broncos.

    I am happy for him on his big day yesterday and will be rooting for him.

    And, I was wrong, yesterday wasn’t his 1st start in the NFL.

  74. Don, appreciate your genuine zeal for the Lord. It is evident. But a few things: “crap” is a term used by the world to “not swear”. might as well say **** and you’d be all good. Another thing- not all CCM/”Christian rock” is bad. The piano is used by the world- why is that OK to use in churches? And they aren’t biblical or expressing Christian truths? Casting Crowns has verses to back up every song they sing- take the money to buy a CD and look at the pamphlet on the inside. Mark Hall gives a short devotional and at LEAST one verse for each song, usually more. Some of the lyrics are straight from Scripture. Here are some of their lyrics.

    What if the armies of the Lord
    Picked up and dusted off their swords
    Vowed to set the captives free
    And not let satan have one more

    What if the church, for heaven’s sake
    Finally stepped up to the plate
    Took a stand upon God’s promise
    And stormed hell’s rusted gates

    What if His people prayed
    And those who bare His name
    Would humbly seek His face (yeah)
    And Turn from their own ways

    And what would happen if we prayed
    For those raised up to lead the way
    Then maybe kids in school could pray
    And unborn children see light of day

    What if the life that we pursue
    Came from a hunger for the truth
    What if the family turned to Jesus
    Stopped asking Oprah what to do

    What if His people prayed
    And those who bare His name
    Would humbly seek His face (yeah)
    And Turn from their own ways

    He said that He would hear
    His promise has been made
    He’d answer loud and clear (yeah)
    If only we would pray

    If My people called by My name
    If they’ll humble themselves and pray
    If My people called by My name
    If they’ll humble themselves and pray

    What if His people prayed (If My people called by My name)
    And those who bare His name
    Would humbly seek His face (yeah, if they’ll humble themselves and pray)
    And Turn from their own ways

    He said that He would hear (If My people called by My name)
    His promise has been made
    He’ll answer loud and clear (yeah, if they’ll humble themselves and pray)
    If only we would pray

    What if His people prayed (If My people called by My name)
    (If His people would pray) (If they’ll humble themselves and pray)
    If My people called by My name

    It’s crowded in worship today
    As she slips in
    trying to fade into the faces
    the girls’ teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know
    farther than they know

    CHORUS
    But if we are the body
    why arent His arms reaching
    why arent His hands healing
    why arent His words teaching
    and if we are the body
    why arent His feet going
    why is His love not showing them there is a way
    there is a way

    A traveler is far away from home
    he sheds his coat
    and quietly sinks into the back row
    the weight of their judgemental glances tell him that his chances
    are better out on the road

    Oh what I would do to have
    The kind of faith it takes to climb out of this boat I’m in
    On to the crashing waves

    To step out of my comfort zone
    Into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is
    And He’s holding out His hand

    But the waves are calling out my name and they laugh at me
    Reminding me of all the times I’ve tried before and failed
    The waves they keep on telling me
    Time and time again, “Boy, You’ll never win!”
    “You’ll never win!”

    But the Voice of Truth tells me a different story
    The Voice of Truth says, “Do not be afraid!”
    And the Voice of Truth says, “This is for My glory”
    Out of all the voices calling out to me
    I will choose to listen and believe
    The Voice of Truth

    Oh what I would do to have
    The kind of strength it takes to stand before a giant
    With just a sling and a stone
    Surrounded by the sound of a thousand warriors
    Shaking in their armor
    Wishing they’d have had the strength to stand

    But the giant’s calling out my name and he laughs at me
    Reminding me of all the times I’ve tried before and failed
    The giant keeps on telling me
    Time and time again, “Boy, You’ll never win!”
    “You’ll never win!”

    But the Voice of Truth tells me a different story
    The Voice of Truth says, “Do not be afraid!”
    And the Voice of Truth says, “This is for My glory”
    Out of all the voices calling out to me
    I will choose to listen and believe
    The Voice of Truth

    Ok, that’s one group. What about Jeremy Camp and his “ungodly, unchristian” lyrics?

    What can separate us
    From the love of Jesus Christ
    Nothing this world can even change
    The thought I once was lost
    But now been given grace
    It’s a mystery that I will not chase

    You are all this heart is longing for
    Jesus, you are all my soul is pleading for

    Third Day? Mac Powel was a former drug addict. Nothing good can come from them right? How about their song “Thief?”

    I am a thief, I am a murderer
    Walking up this lonely hill
    What have I done? No, I don’t remember
    No one knows just how I feel
    And I know that my time is coming soon.
    It’s been so long. Oh, such a long time
    Since I’ve lived with peace and rest
    Now I am here, my destination
    I guess things work for the best.
    And I know that my time is coming soon.
    Who is this man? This man beside me
    They call the King of the Jews
    Well They don’t believe that He’s the Messiah
    Somehow I know it’s true.
    They laugh at Him in mockery,
    And they beat Him till He bleeds
    And They nail Him to the rugged cross,
    And They raise Him, yeah they raise Him up next to me
    My time has come, and I am slowly fading
    I deserve what I receive
    Jesus when You are in Your kingdom
    Could You please, please remember me
    Well He looks at me still holding on
    the tears fall from His eyes
    And He says I tell the truth
    Today, you will be with me in paradise
    And I know that my time, yes, my time is coming soon
    And I know that my time, yes, my time is coming soon
    And I know Paradise, Paradise is coming soon.

    That’s definately not anywhere found in Scriptures, Jesus saving a thief on a cross next to Him!

    How about Chris Tomlin? His songs are so shallow and vague, surely nothing can be learned from them! right?

    When I survey the wondrous cross
    On which the Prince of Glory died
    My richest gain I count but loss
    And pour contempt on all my pride

    See from his head, his hands, his feet
    Sorrow and love flow mingled down
    Did e’er such love and sorrow meet
    Or thorns compose so rich a crown

    O the wonderful cross, O the wonderful cross
    Bids me come and die and find that I may truly live
    O the wonderful cross, O the wonderful cross
    All who gather here by grace draw near and bless
    Your name

    Were the whole realm of nature mine
    That were an offering far too small
    Love so amazing, so divine
    Demands my soul, my life, my all

    Hmmm…. that sounds vaguely familiar…..

    Oh an rappers are definately bad because heavens know that all the black kids in the ghetto would put on a suit and a tie and come to a good, doctrinely sound, safe, Baptist church. Look at what Lecrae says.

    New Jerusalem, that’s my home
    Let me put it in a song, so you’ll never get it wrong
    No shame in the message, that’s the reason I live (reason I live)
    Christ up in every song, He’s the reason I’m here
    All they rhyme about is guns, money, sex and drugs
    Eighty percent of these dudes is fictional thugs
    We don’t kill nobody, we don’t rob no stores
    We don’t trap, we aint strapped, we don’t smoke that dro
    We aint pimpin, we aint trippin, if we tippin on some fours
    den youll probaly hear dat Jesus music comin out our doors
    (comin out our doors)
    we aint ashamed, you can call us lame,
    but everybody gotta die and stand in front of the King

    [chorus:]
    We unashamed, unashamed
    Unashamed, unashamed
    Unashamed, unashamed
    Unashamed, unashamed
    Unashamed, unashamed
    Unashamed, we unashamed
    Unashamed, unashamed
    Unashamed, unashamed
    We unashamed

    [verse 2:]
    Watch this so you can really know what time it is
    God is resurrected and I’m here to glorify Him
    Ma Jesus, Jesus, ma Jesus might make a great tune
    But we gotta lead em dipset to the weight room
    I gotta date soon, but it aint soon enough
    Father keep pruning us, cause its proven we known for screwing up
    I cant front cause the pressure is still thick
    And when sin in looks like the pressure, I’m havin to turn quick
    A sin sick, so merk it like John Owen
    You know when Jesus the Christ you can pay him, but still owe him
    We shoulda died and been buried for our wrong actions
    Instead Christ died and carried them on his own back (What?)
    This is a known fact, but some say that its fiction
    This is our lifestyle, no its not a religion
    See I survived death back in 2002,
    And religion is not at all what got your boy through
    Yea your boy crayola, I don’t do payola
    No floors full of baking soda, just Jehovah
    I get played to the left more than I get paid to write
    So I aint worried about eating dog, tryin to display the fight

    I know a lot of people out there scared they gone die
    Couple of ’em thinking they’ll be livin’ in the sky
    But while I’m here livin’ man, I gotta ask: why?
    What am here fo? I gotta figure out.
    Waste my life? No I gotta make it count.
    If Christ is real, then what am I gon’ do about?
    Everything in Luke 12:15 down to 21,
    You really gotta go and check it out!
    Paul said if Christ ain’t resurrect then we wasted our lives
    Well that implies, that our life’s built around Jesus being alive
    Everyday I’m living tryin’ show the world why,
    Christ is more than everything you’ll ever try
    Better than pretty women and sinning and living
    To get a minute of any women and men that you admire,
    It ain’t no lie, we created for Him,
    Outta the dust he made us for Him
    Elects us and he saves us for Him,
    Jesus comes and raises for Him
    Magnify the Father, why bother with something lesser?
    He made us so we could bless Him,
    And to the world we confess Him
    Resurrects Him, so I know I got life,
    Matter fact better man I know I got Christ
    If you don’t’ see His ways in my days and nights
    You can hit my brakes, you can stop my lights
    Man I lost my rights, lost my life
    Forget the money cars and toss that ice
    The cost is Christ, and they could never offer me anything
    On the planet that’ll cost that price, yea!

    Sorry, I respect your stand but you need to do your research before you start throwing crap around and assuming that everything teenagers or young adults are into is bad.

  75. Andrew,

    I agree that not all contemporary Christian music is bad and never said that everything young people are into is bad. What I said was that not 1 in 100 songs in the rock section of a Christian book store is understandable or is theologically sound. I would not call all the Christians songs that you quoted Christian rock.

    I think the first song you quoted is an example of not being theologically sound. The song is a take off of 2: Ch 7:14 which today is being used by dominionists to suggest things that the Bible does not teach. This passage is not an example for the Church it was specifically given to Israel. I wrote an article on this problem.
    https://www.thepropheticyears.com/wordpress/2-ch-714-if-my-people-read-the-context-there-would-be-less-presumption.html

    The song seems to want to blame the Church for what is happening in the world today instead of blaming the world for rejecting Christ. It assumes that the Body (The true believers) are doing nothing. That is a lie and it really is an insult to the Holy Spirit working through His people.

    Probably not one in 10,000 can sing the last rap song that you quoted. Oh I bet they can all sing the chorus.

    We unashamed, unashamed
    Unashamed, unashamed
    Unashamed, unashamed
    Unashamed, unashamed
    Unashamed, unashamed
    Unashamed, we unashamed
    Unashamed, unashamed
    Unashamed, unashamed
    We unashamed

    That is a prime example of the “profound edifying” words found in some contemporary chorus.

    I still bet I can take one hundred Christian rock songs at random in a Christian bookstore and either not be able to understand the words, or the words would be bad theology. Okay, the words are on the cover but how many even read them?

    I am not a big fan of piano and organs but at least they do not drown out the words. I like a band myself, but I do not want it so amplified in churches and concerts that you cannot understand the words.

    I picked up using the word “crap” from my two time pastor when I lived in Arizona. When describing the lies being told he would often say from the podium that it was crap. Let’s face it that is a common English adjective that gets to the issue at hand. Can you suggest a substitute in one word that is as effective in describing the crap that the world is feeding us?

    Anyway, thanks for your input. It gives me the chance to expound on what I was saying

  76. The origin & slang for the word “crap” stems from…

    Thomas Crapper (baptized 28 September 1836; died 27 January 1910) was a plumber who founded Thomas Crapper & Co. in London. Contrary to widespread misconceptions, Crapper did not invent the flush toilet. He did, however, do much to increase the popularity of the toilet, and developed some important related inventions, such as the ballcock. He was noted for the quality of his products and received several Royal Warrants.

  77. I view the lyrics of the first song as a challenge to go out and evangelize. and honestly the church is not doing enough to reach the world for the Gospel. 41% of the world is not reached, that’s 6921 people groups out of 16,750 of the world (Joshua Project statistics). I am a youth ministries major at Pensacola christian College
    and one of my friends gave me a statistic last night. If I was to start a church tomorrow and every year gained one more disciple (a person got saved started attending and I taught them doctrine and evangelism) each year, and then the next year we went out and gained one more disciple each, in 32 years we would have over half the world’s population in our church! why aren’t we doing more? and I am as guilty as the next person. I will agree with you that there are many songs that are not sound but for every one there isn’t i submit that there is one that is. That being said I do enjoy alot of the more conservative music too. that is one thing that i do like about Chris Tomlin- i suppose he’s modernizing some older hymns. But at least the next generation is listening to them. You lose so much when you wholely go away from the hymnal and only to choruses but the choruses still have a place and a purpose.

  78. Andrew,

    I understand that people can take songs in different ways, even my wife sang that song in Church even through I told her I really did not like that song. At that time I did not even know the words except for the chorus but I thought the chorus was misguided presumption about the Body of Christ. Then when you gave me the lyrics I saw the song is based on a misapplication of 2 Ch 7:14 and I know from what hyper-charismatic dominionism that misapplication of scripture originates.

    What you are not taking into account is that most in Christendom are not true Christians. If true Christians are not collectively doing the job the Father gave the Body of Christ to do then the Holy Spirit has failed in his own Body.

    If 41 percent of the world has not been reached for Christ yet, it is because they are closed to the gospel of Christ. The Church cannot openly preach in any Islamic countries and most Marxist countries. That is not the fault of true Christians. There are many Christians trying to reach these areas but until God opens the door it will not be forced opened by the Church.

    What you said about winning half the world for Christ cannot happen because most of the West has already heard the Christian message and rejected it. You cannot evangelize the evangelized and those that have chosen to reject the gospel of grace. The gate is narrow and few find it, we are not going to convert half the world.

    The reason you cannot do what you suggest is because unless the Holy Spirit draws people to the Son they cannot be saved. It is not what you do for God it is what He does through a willing believer. God gives the gift of evangelism you cannot teach it. You can talk one person into saying the magic words each year and by the time your teach ten of them most of the first ones will be back in the world. What you suggest is a bit like a chain letter. Once you get a couple of levels removed you have no control over what others do and it fails.

    Billy Graham probably had a large segment of America say the words by talking them into coming down to make a profession of Jesus. But even he says that most have gone back to the world. Why is that? I can teach a parrot to say words but that does not make the bird a Christian. Peer pressure, mind control techniques, emotionalism and persuasive arguments do not make people Christians. The Holy Spirit turns on the Light. The commission for the Church is to give the good news. Only those that do hear and that believe will be saved.

    Hey, I like Contemporary Christian Music. I was specifically talking about Christian Rock. I do not know about your bookstore, but in the one I was in there was a whole section for just Christian Rock and that is what I was talking about. I was not talking about other CCM.

  79. Andrew those of us who are older know of the frustrations of not being able to fulfil the great commission, but we do live in perilous times where even Christ is openly scorned and Christians hated and reviled.
    It is not just the Marxist and Islamic countries closed to the gospel; many Latin American nations are as well, not officially perhaps but factually it is so. Their form of idolatrous Christianity has closed the door on Christ.
    We are in an age where it is not just countries that have closed their borders to Christ, but more telling are the closed minds of people individually.
    For those of us who know the truth this is cause for sorrow, but until the Lord calls us home we are to press on, to love our neighbour and if opportunity arises to give him/her the message of reconciliation.
    Because there are Christians throughout the world, if we were all to look to our neighbour this would effectively fulfil Christ’s commission to his church. Let us pray for our neighbour, we cannot convict him/her of sin, of righteous and of judgement to come, that is the ministry of God the Holy Spirit, but we can pray for them.
    We need to be easy in our soul on the matter, but earnest in prayer.

  80. Don,

    I know this isn’t the ESPN sports blog but I am so happy for Tim Tebow, he is shunned and hated because of his very vocal love for The Lord.

    And there is something special about this guy…as Don Fritts said, when they start Tim Tebow, the Bronco’s win. It happened again today. Now, the Bronco’s who only put in Tebow because they considered their season a lost cause are in first place.

    I think it is great and Tebow is a guy who has taken a Biblical stand, awesome stuff.

  81. Wow, good reading and a lot of different views. I can certainly agree with your thoughts and I thought I was a little too bold. So thank you! Great truth and I too believe Christians are a little lax on sticking with doctrine. I have developed a theory for following T.V. Pastors and etc. I DON’T! Christians no longer filter the message they receive and thus are easily lead astray. Jesus didn’t choose sheep for no reason. I agree with you also on the music. The new Christian has no idea what they are listening too as related to doctrine, thus are singing on dangerous ground. The Baptist Hymnal used to have a song that talked about waiting on the Great White Throne Judgment. Of course that song has been removed. Great preachers today, and they are few, preach the Word. You can go to most churches today without even needing a Bible. I like your thoughts and some food for your followers, if the world likes it, then God is not in it! God Bless you.

  82. I am not looking for this to be published. I just wanted to say that Jesus knows who His children are and nothing we do will change that. I wish all people would be saved but the truth is Jesus said wide is the road to destruction and many find it and narrow is the road to life and few find it. So all we can do is be led by the Holy Spirit and follow His lead. This is how we help people. Letting the Holy Spirit lead us. Not our own doctrine or opinion.

  83. Mark,

    We cannot know the road to life without knowing Jesus, we cannot know Jesus without hearing and believing biblical doctrine. There are many ways Christians can help people but giving them doctrine (the salvation message and other doctrines in the Bible) is certainly what the Church was told to do. Without biblical doctrine no one is saved.

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