Volume 22 Issue 6
I will speak boldly here, all risk assumed. The vague and fearful reaction to sin and carnality that is being tolerated today is a prescription for failure. In some cases churches are setting aside Apostolic doctrine. Principles of holiness and separation from the world that have long been taught and practiced are being disregarded almost overnight. No one even seems shocked anymore. There is little resistance. Outside of the spiritual realm, there are few consequences to actions that have the potential to destroy our entire movement. Have we no one willing to unapologetically fight to protect our core Apostolic values?
The dumbing down of America continues. Mayor Bloomberg of New York City has decided that his administration will seek to outlaw large sugary drinks (New York Times, May 39, 2012). First of all, this is an absurd attack on freedom, and secondly it demonstrates the tolerance of the masses to be manipulated and treated like children. Has our country lost her courage? Have her citizens set aside their own inner-compass to instead be directed at the dictatorial whims of politicians? How stupid and helpless have we become?
Led unapologetically by their bishops, more than 40 Roman Catholic dioceses and groups have filed a lawsuit objecting to the dictates of the new healthcare system that in effect will force them to pay for abortion and contraception. These leaders in the prolife movement have stated that they are willing to go to jail to protect their religious freedom in this matter. I say, Good for them, and good for us all. Perhaps this resistance to the governments assault against our liberties sends a hopeful signal that at least some opposition will be launched. However, it also reveals deep weakness by exposing others, even among religious ranks, who are content to merrily go along.
Many people are concerned, some are asking questions, and some are fighting back but not enough. The ambivalence of the majority has left the dictators, socialists, and utopians sensing that their opportunity has come and that this is their moment to take charge. The objective of social reformists and religious deconstructionists has been to gut out the moral soul of America, and they have reason to feel they are close to having accomplished this feat. I have personally heard it said by some in these circles, We have the numbers. I pray they are not as close as they think. Yet, can anyone deny that they have managed to create a great cloud of confusion and uncertainty in our culture? Everything we believe is in question, including in our churches. The enemy is keenly aware of his position and a perfect storm is brewing.
The parallel of apathy and inaction between Americas citizenry and modern Christians in unmistakable. I will speak boldly here, all risk assumed. The vague and fearful reaction to sin and carnality that is being tolerated today is a prescription for failure. In some cases churches are setting aside Apostolic doctrine. Principles of holiness and separation from the world that have long been taught and practiced are being disregarded almost overnight. No one even seems shocked anymore. There is little resistance. Outside of the spiritual realm, there are few consequences to actions that have the potential to destroy our entire movement. Have we no one willing to unapologetically fight to protect our core Apostolic values? Make no mistake, we do not lay down key weapons in our spiritual arsenal without casualties. The reversals we are witnessing are devastating to the spiritual health of Apostolics and we will suffer great loss.
For some, what began as a little journey to the edge of the harbor, will become a long voyage into treacherous waters, past the point of no return. These are not sudden, knee-jerk reactions, or mere overcorrections in the pendulum swing between liberalism and conservatism, but are rather the result of a carefully constructed drama authored by the master of confusion and deceit. Patiently he waits, sowing discord and doubt, gleefully watching the demise of clear, bold public preaching about the Godhead and holiness living. The snare is set and some will forget who we are and our sacred purpose in Christ.
We watch on the sidelines as the globalists eat away at the freedom and individual liberties of this great nation. We step around the tombstones of fallen soldiers without pause and bloodstained battlefields become long forgotten. With a spirit of timidity and uncertainty we bemoan our situation. How do we vote? What do we do? What do we say? This same spirit is working its way through the church. We watch as the work of several generations of holiness people is hijacked by wolves in sheeps clothing who preach smooth things to the lukewarm. Irreverently, the newly pious destroy the influence of their Apostolic heritage. Godly pastors, evangelists, teachers, singers, saints, and sold-out souls who ignored the pressure of money, withstood the insults of anti-Pentecostal bias, were mocked as holy rollers, were dismissed as being ignorant, unlearned, uneducated blue collars, and brainwashed. Yet, it was these people who built a worldwide fellowship in less than a hundred years, established churches, built million-dollar facilities coast-to-coast and around the world. Are we helpless against a manmade tsunami of worldliness and doubt? Do we step back while the backslidden enjoy the affluence of the treasury kept in our trust? We have been entrusted with the furtherance of the Oneness Apostolic message, training our children, reaching the world, not with creating another bogus, hype-driven religious experience wrapped up in a prepackaged 90-minute Sunday.
The cross calls us to repentance. The Spirit is our only hope. We must preach until the darkness and unbelief is overcome. God will bless His people. Be brave. We must be willing to give Him our lives, our all. He will keep us. He will save us from this untoward generation.