WHAT'S GOING ON? ... APOSTASY!

It's Friday night. My wife and daughters have just left along with two other Minister's wives and their daughters for a women's retreat near Carefree Arizona.

I've been musing over the matter of holiness and compromise for some time now. As I continue to do so now in the quiet of my home, I'm moved to write just a little about this matter.

I have some old convictions along with some new conclusions that I reached recently. I just want to share some musings with you.

1) I'm not a Democrat. I'm not a Republican. I'm a registered independent. But, more than that I fancy myself a Christocrat. I know, new word. I made it up some time ago. I want to be a Christian first, through and through. Then, shape everything else on that fact. Including my politics.

2) The Scripture is clear, God has called His children to live holy lives! It's something we can't do without Him. But, He has given us the permanent, personal, presence of The Holy Spirit, His instruction on how to live in His Word, the Bible; and The Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, Redeemer, God, Friend and example.

3) This matter of compromising The gospel for gain must come to an end.

Am I alone or have you also noticed the craziness going on among clergy and laity alike in the U.S.A.?

We've got preachers and pastors preaching false doctrine and calling it the gospel. Pastors, preachers and church members around the country have been caught up in sexual, yea even homosexual scandals.

Have you noticed the number of preaching personalities who've attempted to make the jump from the pulpit to national talk shows lately? And watch this, as "life coach" no less.

What? Did God call you to preach The Gospel of Jesus Christ? If so, what's going on?

Have you noticed the ridiculous emphasis on money among certain ministers and ministries lately? I know this focus has been around for decades, perhaps it just seems to me like it's even more prevalent than ever before.

Have you noticed the move of one church in two, no make that three locations? And, now the move to pastor one church in two states? Now here's the latest I've heard... one church in two (or more) countries.

Now, know this, I'm not against the spreading of The Gospel of Jesus Christ. I just question whether or not it's His gospel we're spreading? It seems to me in most, if not all of these cases, men are looking to make a name for themselves. It seems to me as though men are looking to build monuments unto themselves.

Now above everything else I've said thus far, the greatest indictment may not be against the preachers and pastors at all. A case can be made that we have churches filled with people who simply don't know The Lord Jesus Christ the way they say they do. In fact, too many of us don't know our Bibles. If we did, we'd recognize false teaching and preaching when we hear it. And we'd cease doing two things:

1) Supporting ministries that claim to be Christian but are not.

2) Step up our evangelizing efforts and intentionally, fervently share Christ with others.

Okay, I'm going to stop writing now.

Pray for me. Let's all pray for one another.

Safe in CHRIST,
Pastor Fort