WAKE UP! THE ALERT – Shift The Paradigms (Part Two)

Pastor Toks Oshokoya

Matthew 21: 28 – 44 But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work today in my vineyard. He answered and said I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. (SOME INITIALLY CLASSIFIED AS THE UNGODLY MAY JUST TURN OUT TO BE THE ONES TO DO THE JOB) For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.

Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country: And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise. But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the FRUITS IN THEIR SEASONS.

Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes? Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the FRUITS thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder

Luke 13: 31 – 34 The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee. And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected. Nevertheless I must walk to day, and tomorrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Times And Seasons

 

And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

 

Psalm 104: 19

He appointed the moon for seasons:

The sun knoweth his going down.

 

Acts 14: 17

Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.

 

Eccl 3: 1 –

To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die;

a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal;

a time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to get, and a time to lose;

a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

A time to rend, and a time to sew;

a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time to love, and a time to hate;

a time of war, and a time of peace.

What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?

 

Dictionary meaning-

—noun

1. one of the four periods of the year (spring, summer, autumn, and winter), beginning astronomically at an equinox or solstice, but geographically at different dates in different climates.

1. a period of the year characterized by particular conditions of weather, temperature, etc.: the rainy season.

1. a period of the year when something is best or available: the oyster season.

1. a period of the year marked by certain conditions, activities, etc.: baseball season.

1. a period of the year immediately before and after a special holiday or occasion: the Christmas season.

1. Sports.
   1. a period with reference to the total number of games to be played by a team: a 162-game season.
   2. a period with reference to the won-lost record of a team after it has completed its schedule: a .700 season.

1. any period or time: in the season of my youth.

1. a suitable, proper, fitting, or right time: This is not the season for frivolity.

—verb (used with object)

1. to heighten or improve the flavor of (food) by adding condiments, spices, herbs, or the like.

1. to give relish or a certain character to: conversation seasoned with wit.

1. to mature, ripen, or condition by exposure to suitable conditions or treatment: a writer seasoned by experience.

1. to dry or otherwise treat (lumber) so as to harden and render immune to shrinkage, warpage, etc.

1. to accustom or harden: troops seasoned by battle.

—verb (used without object)

1. to become seasoned, matured, hardened, or the like.

—Idioms

1. for a season, for a time, especially a short time: He lived in Paris for a season.

1. in good season, in enough time; sufficiently early: Applicants will be notified of our decision in good season.

1. in season,
   1. in the time or state for use, eating, etc.: Asparagus is now in season.
   2. in the period regulated by law, as for hunting and fishing.
   3. at the right time; opportunely.
   4. (of an animal, especially female) in a state of readiness for mating; in heat.
   5. in good season.

1. in season and out of season, regardless of time or season; at all times: Misfortunes plague this family in season and out of season.

1. out of season, not in season: The price is so high because lilacs are out of season now.

 

Seasonal Allocation for Service or Fruitfulness

Exod 18: 20 –

Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens: And let them judge the people at ALL SEASONS : and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee. If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace. So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law, and did all that he had said. And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. And they judged the people at ALL SEASONS : the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.

 

Lev 23: 4

These are the feasts of the Lord, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons. In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord’s Passover.

 

Numbers 9: 7

And those men said unto him, We are defiled by the dead body of a man: wherefore are we kept back, that we may not offer an offering of the Lord in his appointed season among the children of Israel? And Moses said unto them, Stand still, and I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you.

 

God’s Sovereignty over Times and Seasons

Daniel 2: 21

And he changeth the times and the seasons:

he removeth kings, and setteth up kings:

he giveth wisdom unto the wise,

and knowledge to them that know understanding:

He revealeth the deep and secret things:

he knoweth what is in the darkness,

and the light dwelleth with him.

 

1 Thess 5: 1 –

But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

 

National Seasons and Prosperity

Deut 28: 12

The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in HIS SEASON, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail….

 

2 Kings 4: 25

And he said, About this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid. And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life.

 

Tribal, National Boundaries

Deut 32: 8 (NKJV)

When the Most High divided their inheritance to the nations,

When He separated the sons of Adam,

He set the boundaries of the peoples

According to the number of the children of Israel.

For the Lord’s portion is His people;

 

Acts 17: 24 – 28 (NKJV)

God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood EVERY NATION of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their PREAPPOINTED TIMES and the BOUNDARIES of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’

 

(PERHAPS, A CHANGE IN THE PARADIGM IS STARING US IN THE FACE? WHAT IF?)

Saints Of God, No doubt America as a nation had been a major instrument in God’s hands for propagating the truth of the Gospel to the whole World for a long time. However, the times have changed! Be real!

The focus is shifting toward the self, toward being pragmatic or favoring what people want to hear and a tickling of ears. In Paul’s last letter before his execution, he warned Timothy that “the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths” (2 Tim 4:3-4). I fear that time has come.

Proof For The Need for The Shift in Paradigm- American Church In Trouble!

Sadly, the American Church can no longer stand as the righteous reference for the teaching and propagation of The True Gospel Of Jesus Christ anymore!

Prophetic Dream: The Perfect Storm Is Upon America

America’s perfect storm is coming. (By Jeremiah Johnson)The Father showed five (5) areas on which the American church must change its position before the 2016 election.

One of them was the issue of sexual immorality. Another was abortion. The third is our view and perception of what biblical love and grace really is.

He reminded me of a powerful prophetic dream He had given me several years ago.

In the dream, I found myself standing on the shoreline of the Atlantic coast facing the ocean. There was a tremendous storm front that was beginning to gather in the Atlantic. I could see the tip of Florida to my right and the upper parts of Maine to my left. I had a sense that I was somewhere near or in Virginia.

As I looked up over the Atlantic Ocean, I noticed two enormous storms beginning to form. The first front moved ahead of the other.

The Spirit of God spoke to me and said, “The Perfect Storm is upon America.”

These two fronts immediately began to move toward me, and demons began to manifest inside of them.

I called out to the first front sweeping toward me and said, “Who are you?” The word “Rebellion” flashed before my eyes. I called out to the front behind it and said, “Who are you?” The word “Tolerance” appeared in the sky.

1. Storm Front No. One = “REBELLION”
2. Storm Front No. Two = “TOLERANCE”

As these tremendous storms now passed over my head, I violently cried out and said, “I live in the most rebellious and tolerant generation that the world has ever known.” The Spirit of God responded to me and said,

“The former prophets looked for PHYSICAL STORMS by which they saw my judgments coming, but in these days I’m raising up prophets that will discern SPIRITUAL STORMS. You must know that the spiritual storms that are upon the earth are far greater than any physical storm that has touched earth. Physical storms are limited to a region of people. These spiritual storms that shall rise in the earth will have the power to AFFECT EVERY AREA OF CULTURE. Beware!”

As I faced America on the Atlantic coast and saw these two massive storms sweeping the land, I felt a tremendous urgency of the hour. I immediately jumped on a horse and began to ride, and the word “Paul Revere” was placed in my mouth as I rode.

During the next years IN THE DREAM, I traveled to different churches all over America proclaiming what I had seen and heard. Though I went to thousands of different churches and visited numerous ethnic groups all over America, there were only THREE (3) CATEGORIES OF CHURCHES.

The following are the encounters that I had as I visited the different churches:

THE SLEEPING CHURCH

The first type of church I visited had “Sleeping Church” engraved on its doors. As I opened the doors to these churches, every one of them was in the middle of a service. I would hurry in to relay the message of what I had just seen and heard, only to be shocked to see everyone in attendance, including the leadership, SUCKING ON PACIFIERS. While this type of church COULD HEAR MY WORDS, they had NO ABILITY TO RESPOND. I began to cry out and say, “Why are you silent, Church, why are you silent? Though you are awake, you are sleeping!”

In the dream, the Holy Spirit immediately spoke to me Eph 4:14: “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.”

THE STREET CHURCH

The second type of church I visited met in the streets of America. Upon seeing all of these different gatherings in many different cities, I was delighted because many of them seemed to be around my age (18-35) and simply claimed allegiance to “Street Church.” I began to interview and ask members of this particular type of church if they had heard about the two storms descending over America named “Rebellion” and “Tolerance.” NONE of them SEEMED TO UNDERSTAND what I was asking.

I continued in the street on my horse until I found myself at a gathering of thousands and thousands of these “Street Church” people. I recognized one of the leaders, but for the sake of integrity I will leave his name out. As I pressed into the crowd, there was an incredible sense of CHAOS and CONFUSION among the people.

I cried out to the Lord in the dream and said, “Who are these people?”

REBELLING AGAINST WORKS-based GOSPEL & LEGALISM:                                      He said, “These are the products of the works-based gospel movement of the ’80s and ’90s. These are they who have rebelled IN THE NAME OF GRACE but not in the name of My Son.”

As the Spirit spoke this to me, there began to be mass commotion in the crowd.

Suddenly, BANNERS began to be carried by the Street Church all over America that read “GRACE.” It was especially intriguing to me that these banners were dusty, and you could visibly see the mud on them. I said to the Lord, “Where have these young people picked up these banners from?” He said, “They have resurrected them from the former generations. False doctrines that were once done away with are now rising in the streets.”

The Spirit specifically showed me three (3) false doctrines these groups believed in. They were:

1. Manifest Sons of God Doctrine;
2. Joel’s Army; and
3. Finished Work of the Cross Movement

Manifest Sons of God Doctrine

Those that resurrect this teaching will specifically focus on the perfection of the saints, immortalization and the attainment of actually being Christ as we become just like Him in nature and ability. This doctrine, as stated in the dream, will be carried by thousands of young adults being deceived because of the lack of biblical literacy and false teachers leading them astray.

Joel’s Army Doctrine

This doctrine will specifically be marked by those who believe that the church has replaced Israel. This is also known as REPLACEMENT Theology. DOMINION Theology and CLAIMS OF DIVINITY will also mark those who follow this doctrine.

Finished Work of the Cross Doctrine

I am aware that many people have never heard of this doctrine or movement that is really beginning to deceive many young people. In all my prayer and study, I have discerned that burned-out young people in particular who have served God through STRIVING and PERFORMANCE-BASED Christianity are the primary targets of this deceptive doctrine and movement.

In essence, they were extremely faithful to God in past seasons without a heart that truly encountered the love and affection of Jesus. The problem with this movement and doctrine is that while there is much truth in the teaching that Christ is our final sacrifice, many in this movement believe that all mankind has been reconciled to God, which leads to universalism.

Taking it a step further, postmodern UNIVERSALISTS believe that unrepentant individuals will go to hell, but upon going there will recognize their sin and ultimately be taken to heaven. This movement also teaches that because Christ was sacrificed once and for all, Christians will never have to make sacrifices. Any grace teaching that alleviates believers from the personal responsibility of holiness and accountability is a false doctrine.

Jesus Christ did not pick up His cross so that we don’t have to. Jesus Christ picked up His cross to show us how to pick up ours. It’s impossible to say we love Jesus and not seek to obey His Word. The Holy Spirit showed me that these three doctrines would begin to creep into the church because of the lack of biblical knowledge, coupled with tolerance and rebellion.

The “Ultra-Grace” Movement

I began to follow the grace banners with the people to the cities where they went. As the Street Church swarmed the crowds, they pulled out mace from their pockets.    They began to SPRAY PEOPLE in the eyes and the Spirit said,

“They are BLINDING THE GENERATIONS to the truth in the name of grace. They call themselves Joel’s army because they believe they will usher in the last day’s grace movement in the earth, but know that they are like the locust seeking to devour and ravage the vineyards of young generations. They distort the truth and preach rebellion and tolerance in the name of grace. They shall question if hell exists. They will believe that many paths lead to Me. Their toleration has led to jubilation. They create crazy party atmospheres that attract the drug culture and the homosexual spirit. You must know that things are never as they appear with the Street Church.”

After visiting these two types of churches, I was in great distress. I cried out to the Spirit and said, “Take me to Your church.” I immediately rode up on a church building that had “Surrendered Church” on its doors.

THE SURRENDERED CHURCH

I quickly walked in and sat down. I immediately noticed that in the back of this church was a gaping hole. It was as if a blast had gone off and almost entirely knocked out the back walls of the Surrendered Church. As I visited surrendered churches all over America, I found the exact same thing.

I sat in the back and asked the Father what had happened.

He said, “My church was at FIRST DECEIVED BY REBELLION and TOLERANCE. The Street Church you just saw stormed out of the back of My church and left because of the LACK OF FOUNDATION and CHARACTER, but now My church has been AWAKENED and shall be REPAIRED.”

I got up out of my seat and watched as many people were working on repairing the gaping hole in the back of the church. As I watched, I noticed something interesting; the workers were not just any workers.

(1) They were TRUE APOSTLES and PROPHETS, RESTORING the FOUNDATION, and many of them were TEACHING other young men how to properly lay the foundation.

(2) Meanwhile, many INTERCESSORS were in great travail REPENTING but having a great sense of HOPE as they cried out and thanked the Father for awakening His Son’s bride from deception and for restoring the foundation layers to His church.

The Perfect Storm has landed in America and Rebellion and Tolerance have swept over our land. Three different types of churches are on every street corner in America.

Will the Surrendered Church arise and take its rightful place among the masses?

I prophesy and warn you that one of the greatest challenges that the church in the West is facing and will face is how to deal with YOUNG PEOPLE THAT HAVE NEVER UNDERSTOOD OR BEEN TAUGHT BIBLICAL GRACE. Many of these individuals have been OVERLY EXPOSED TO LEGALISM and because of this, are now embracing FALSE GRACE and UNBIBLICAL VIEWS ON LOVE.

There must be a shift in the American church prior to the 2016 election with regard to the views of tolerance and rebellion. The Spirit of Truth must be given access to this specific area that is on the Father’s heart in this hour.

[Continuing from last week]

 

4 Wicked Ways the Enemy Puts Us, The Church, to Sleep:

What will it take to awaken the church from its slumber? For the American Church, who for the last ten decades have been the leading influence for Body Universal, where was the church when prayer was taken out of schools in 1962? Or when abortion was legalized in 1973? Or when same-sex marriage started to gain momentum to the point that Christian businesses are persecuted for refusing to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple?

Put another way, when did the church fall asleep? What caused the church to fall asleep? And how can we wake up the so-called sleeping giant? I don’t have all the answers, but what I do know is the church didn’t fall asleep overnight. I recently penned a column called “When the Enemy Lulls You to Sleep” that recounts how evil Delilah lulled mighty Samson into slumber. Of course, Samson was living in compromise, which opened the door to Delilah’s seduction.

Paul clearly warned us not to be ignorant of the devil’s devices (2 Cor. 2:11), which implies the Lord will reveal the enemy’s devices, schemes, plots and plans if we walk in connection with His heart—and that’s where many of us miss it. If we are living in compromise, we’re likely to become spiritually drowsy—but we won’t fall right to sleep any more than we enter deep sleep the second our head hits the pillow.

Even if the enemy does lull us to sleep through weariness, apathy, compromise or blatant sin that threatens to sear our conscience like a hot iron, the Holy Spirit is simultaneously working to convict our hearts so we’ll wake up. Of course, it’s easier to wake up when you are just drifting off than when you are in a dream state where reality is skewed.

4 Stages of Sleep:

There are four stages of sleep, and each one is telling when paralleled to the spiritual realm.

Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 11: 14a

“…Doth not even nature itself teach you?”

1 Cor 15: 46 – 49 “Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly”

Stage 1. During Stage 1, your eyes are closed and, according to WebMD, there’s a reduction of activity. From a spiritual sense, this activity reduction could be caused by weariness, apathy, compromise or sin. Our eyes are closed. We don’t want to see it—we may even justify it. The good news is it’s easy to wake up without much difficulty during stage 1. The bad news is this stage doesn’t last long, so the opportunity to shake yourself loose from weariness, apathy, compromise or sin is short.

Stage 2 is a light sleep. WebMD reports there are peaks and valleys, or positive and negative waves, as the heart rate slows and body temperature decreases. At this point, experts say, the body prepares to enter deep sleep. Catch that! Your heart rate slows and your body temperature decreases. Can you see the spiritual parallel? In Stage 2, your heart is not on fire for Jesus as it once was. Your love is growing cold. You are in a dangerous place.

Stages 3 and 4 are what WebMD calls the “deep-sleep stages.” This is when you dream; this is when you are disconnected from reality. You don’t see things as they really are—or you don’t see anything at all. During stage 3 you may sleepwalk. It looks like you’re going along with the church crowd, but you are actually sound asleep. In stage 4, voluntary muscles become paralyzed. You may not hear sounds in the waking world or respond to activity in the environment around you. If you are awakened, you may be disoriented.

Sleeping at Critical Times

The church needs to wake up, open its eyes wide, pray and take acts of courage to ignite revival, awakening, reformation and transformation for the glory of God in our nation. We cannot be like the disciples who fell asleep at critical times—even while the Son of Man was being betrayed into the hands of sinners (see Matt. 26:45).

Antichrist spirits are rising, persecuting Christ and His church while we snooze. Some may be sleeping from sorrow (see Luke 22:45). Others may be slumbering after devilish Delilahs found a way to lull them to sleep through a compromised life. Still others may be sleeping because the devil has brought weariness to their soul and they failed to respond to Christ’s invitation to come to Him for rest (see Matt. 11:28).

No matter whether you are in a deep sleep or just dozing off, I offer you this admonishment: “Now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed” (Rom. 13:11). And for those of you—the remnant within the remnant—who are wide awake, sounding the alarm, and interceding for the slumbering masses, take heart in these words from revivalist Leonard Ravenhill:

“Some Christians have already hung their harps on the willows, and yet others seem to delight in speaking of the Church’s present lapse as a proof of divine inspiration. But I myself believe that if the Church will only obey the conditions, she can have a revival any time she wants it. The problem of the Church is the problem in the garden of Gethsemane—sleep! For while men sleep, the enemy sows his seed through his cults. Lest men sleep the sleep of eternal death, Oh arm of the Lord, Oh Church of the living God, awake!”

Wake Up – It’s getting badder!

Many Will Be Deceived – Recall The Message “Atmospheric Pressure!” No, this is not a joke. The new trends in movies and entertainment. Satan is gradually being marketed as a hero. Twilight, etc. There’s nothing even remotely funny about it. This not only violates Scripture on several levels, it glorifies Satan, depicts graphic acts of violence and features half-naked women. Ultimately, it proves that Paul the apostle didn’t call Satan the prince of the power of the air for nothing (see Eph. 2:2). In Lucifer, we see Satan portrayed as a protagonist and an angel from the Lord presented as an antagonist.

And we haven’t seen the last of it. Satan will work through charming, charismatic false Christs and false prophets in the last days who will rise up and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect (see Matt. 24:24). Paul spoke of the Antichrist, the lawless one, with “all power, signs and lying wonders” (2 Thess. 2:9-10). People will buy into it because they aren’t lovers of the truth and because God will send them a strong delusion, so that they will believe the lie (see 2 Thess. 2:11-12).

Glorifying the demonic is certainly nothing new in Hollywood (read: Poltergeist, The Exorcist, Rosemary’s Baby, A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Omen, to name a few). But to see Satan portrayed as a magnetic personality on prime time TV when children are watching is shocking.

I like how Jan Markell, founder and president of Olive Tree Ministries and host of Understanding the Times, put it: “The world was this evil during the days of Noah but they didn’t have the entertainment world glorifying it. We know what the consequences of the evil of Noah’s day were. The last days are compared to the days of Noah. Need I say more? The devil can roar all he wants. He knows his time is short. But he is making good use of his time.”

 

Wake Up Church! How did we get here? The Six False Gods

Six (6) top false gods in modern Christianity. Which ones, in addition, would you include?

FALSE GOD NO 1: “Being Relevant”

I actually heard one pastor say that “we can’t be preaching the Bible to people in the world because it’s not relevant to them.” What!? I have to admit, I was angered by that. Isn’t the gospel the power of salvation (Rom. 1:16)? Does this pastor think he has more power than the word of God to save? Has he invented a better way than the Spirit of God mixed with the Word of God making the children of God? I think he’s the one who’s irrelevant. The Word of God never needs changing; it abides forever (1 Pet. 1:25). These churches that don’t want to offend people are more interested in filling the pews than filling people with the Word of God. Sorry, milk-toast pastor, but the Word is supposed to cut in order to heal because soft words make hard hearts, but hard words make soft hearts, and the Word of God is supposed to comfort the afflicted, but afflict the comfortable. Pragmatism is deadly as a doctrine. Feelings over faith is toxic.

 

FALSE GOD NO 2: “Self-Improvement”

This comes close to being found in every prosperity gospel I have ever heard. They want you to come to their church so that your life will be better and you’ll be happier, but I have news for them. My life got harder after I became a Christian. Many of my former friends spurned me. Much of my family thought I was brainwashed. Some sermon topics are “How to Live a Happier Life” or “How You Can Find More Fulfillment.” Excuse me, but isn’t worship all about God and His glory? What about preaching about repentance, sin, the cross, the blood of the Lamb, holiness, sanctification, and actual biblical topics? Instead of love for God being taught, it’s all about love for self. It’s not theology but “me-ology” they are preaching. Christ is not the focus; we are!

 

FALSE GOD NO 3: “We’re All God’s Children”

Pluralism has extended its deadly tentacles into the modern churches. No, not all of them, but the idea that we should embrace other religions is a false notion and one from many modern churches. The bumper sticker that reads “coexist” sounds nice, but try telling that to the extremists of Islam, who continuously murder Christians around the world. We are not all God’s children. Some are clearly children of the Devil, which is what Jesus told the religious authorities in His day (John 8:44), and John wrote that “we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are” (1 John 3:10). Once, when Paul and Barnabas were opposed by Elymas the sorcerer, who tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith (Acts 13:8), Paul told him, “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery” (Acts 13:10).

 

FALSE GOD NO 4: “The Error in the Youth Ministry Paradigm”

One of the critical errors being made in ministry today is catering to the “youth culture” rather than raising the “youth culture”. Why are so influenced by what young people want? Aren’t we called to show them what they need? Aren’t we called to be counter-cultural? Now the dominant mainstream culture has, instead of the righteous standards, made cool moral relativism, dismantling vocabulary down to grunts and lame acronyms, and wearing your pants halfway down your butt.

FALSE GOD NO 5: “Reaching Versus Teaching” culled from Elder Craige G. Lewis (EX MINISTRIES)

There is a big difference between reaching people for Christ and teaching people about Christ. We hear all the time about people that are doing things to reach the lost. Many Gospel artists use this word to describe why they cross their music over and promote themselves.

Many youth pastors and leaders I meet as I travel across the country use all kinds of things to try to reach the lost youth. But have you ever noticed that, whenever we use methods to reach the lost, they are never really successful? Have you noticed that when we make up things, plans, schemes, etc. to reach the lost, it never really works?

Jesus said that God draws the sinner and we teach them. The bible never said reach the lost, but it said to go ye therefore and “teach” all nations. Where did reach come from? God’s Spirit draws the sinner man unto repentance and unless we are flowing in that, we will only play on their emotions but they won’t change.

Music cannot do it alone! Music cannot win a soul to Christ unless the sinner is drawn by the Spirit. Kirk Franklin, even told a preacher friend that his attempt to reach the Hip Hop Culture by merging Gospel and Hip Hop artists was unsuccessful! Christian parties, games, cultures, that try to be like the world, does not draw the world. It only promotes the world! Only God can draw the world. His word, his power, his Kingdom is what attracts the sinner, not us being like the sinner.

I know we always hear Paul quoted, “I become all things to all men, that I may reach them” but that’s not what he said. In 1 Corinthians, chapter 9, Paul was talking about money! Getting paid for his work. And he stated that even though he deserved to be compensated, he would do it for free if he had to. He then stated that because he was a Jew, he would be as a Jew and obey the law when he ministered to them. And because he was called to preach to the gentiles, he would not share his Jewish customs with them, but he would still observe them. And if they were in trouble, he would share their burdens and help them out of trouble to win them for Christ’s sake. This does not mean if they were on crack he would use some crack to make them feel comfortable. Or if they were a gangster, he would become a Gospel Gangster and preach to them in gang signs! Or if they were a prostitute, he would reach them by preaching in his underwear! God forbid. We are never to become like the world to reach the world. We must be the answer for the world. They are the way they are because of sin and we have to show them change and how to follow God. We must teach the sinner the way. The way is Jesus Christ. Not some plot to show them how you can still do everything you are doing as a sinner, but claim Christ with it! Wake up people. We don’t reach the lost, but we teach the lost. Reaching is not what Jesus taught. Reaching is not what Paul taught. God’s Spirit does the drawing, and then we are to minister the Word of God to them. If God’s word can’t win them, then they will not be won!

REVISITING FALSE GOD No 1: Relevance? Did Jesus Call Us, particularly to Be Relevant?

Pastor Brian Houston, founder of the Hillsong movement, was once asked by a New York Times journalist, “Can your pastors preside at same-sex marriages?”

Pastor Houston replied (in part), “It can be challenging for churches to stay relevant. Because many mainstream churches upheld what they would believe is the long established view of what the Bible says about homosexuality. But the world has changed around and about them.”

He continued, “So the world’s changing and we want to stay relevant as a church. So that’s a vexing thing. You think, ‘How do we not become a pariah?'”

These are understandable concerns, since, if we are driving people away from Jesus, we can hardly bring them to Jesus.

But what to do we make of the emphasis Pastor Houston put on being relevant? As he explained in his statement, “this struggle for relevance was vexing as we did not want to become ostracized by a world that needs Christ.”

On the one hand, I totally affirm his heart to remove every possible stumbling block that could stand in the way of our witness to the lost. This was Paul’s method as well, as he explained, “I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some” (1 Cor. 9:22, ESV).

This means that we use cultural sensitivity and do our best to speak a language that people understand, always being motivated by love for God and love for souls.

Obviously, Hillsong has been very successful in doing this.

At the same time, there is a tremendous danger in our pursuit of “relevance,” since what the world thinks it needs is not always what it really needs, nor do God’s methods mirror our methods.

As Paul wrote in the very same letter to the Corinthians, “For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:22-24).

All too often being “relevant” can become the code word for compromise, and whenever we seek to make the gospel more palatable by watering it down and removing its offensive elements, we hurt people rather than help them.

Looking at this from another angle, if Christians through the ages had put more emphasis on relevance than obedience, they would not have been mocked, rejected, imprisoned or killed for their faith.

As Jesus said to His followers, “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they malign those of his household” (Matt. 10:24-25).

He also said to them (and us!), “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours” (John 15:18-20).

I do not hear Jesus saying here, “Be relevant!”

Unless we are watchful, a wrong emphasis on relevance can put us in retreat, noting that, “A church in retreat doesn’t give answers. It doesn’t storm the gates of Hell. It settles and makes peace where there is no peace (Ezek. 13:10).”

We are called, all of us, to live like the church in exile, “one that is faithful amidst the culture, regardless of whether that culture looks more like America, Nigeria or more like Babylon. It knows that it may lose the culture, but that it cannot lose the gospel.         So be it. …

“The good news,” he writes, “is that the truth of Christianity outlasts the untruths of man’s applause.”

FALSE GOD NO 6: “Wrong Emphasis”

Let us always be careful not to put relevance before obedience and not to water down the Word in order to avoid offense.

Put another way, we must not use the shifting tides of culture and the fickle opinions of people as our guide for life and ministry. Instead, we must seek to emulate Jesus in thought, word and deed, lifting Him up without shame (which includes lifting up His life-giving standards of holiness and purity). If we do, the hungry and thirsty will come.

Pastor Kris Vallotton put it well: “We are not called to reflect our culture we are called to transform it. Becoming darkness to be relevant to a world of immorality is not the pathway to progress, but the process to the cesspool of hopelessness.

“We must lovingly reach into the cesspool of society and dirty our hands with the souls men as we pull them into the light of His extravagant grace.”

I personally love contemporary worship, and I appreciate fine musicianship and gifted singers, as well as having an ethic for doing things with excellence. The Lord can certainly use this too.

But it’s so easy to put our emphasis in the wrong places, as if slick presentation was more important than the Spirit and professionalism was more important than the Presence.

Speaking of the early church, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, “The church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society.”

That is what Jesus has called us to do and to be, changing the world, not becoming like it.

12 Contrasts Between TODAY’s FAITH and Biblical Christianity

1 Today’s Christianity focuses on individual destiny. The Bible focuses on corporate vision and destiny.

2 Today’s Christianity focuses on individual prosperity. The Bible focuses on stewardship

3 Today’s Christianity focuses on self-fulfillment and happiness. The Bible focuses on glorifying God and serving humanity.

4 Today’s Christianity appeals to using faith to attain stability and comfort. The Bible encourages believers to risk life and limb

5 Today’s Christianity usually focuses on individual salvation. The Bible deals with individual and systemic redemption.

6 The Today’s Christian is apologetic focuses on human reason. The Bible’s apologetic focuses on the power of God and experience.

7 The Today’s believers have a consumerist mentality regarding a home church. The biblical emphasis is being equipped for the ministry.

8 The Today’s Christianity promotes a culture of entertainment. The Bible promotes the pursuit of God.

9 Today’s Christianity depends upon services within a building. The biblical model promotes a lifestyle of worship, community and Christ following.

10 Today’s highly secularized Christianity is about efficiency. The biblical model is about effectiveness.

11 In Today’s Americanized Christianity the pastor is elected. In the biblical model God calls the pastor.

12 Today’s Christianity trains its leaders in Bible colleges. Biblical Christianity nurtures leaders through personal mentoring.