No one can doubt that this nation has left the ways of the Lord and turned to evil. The Bible speaks of what happens when we don't give the Lord the credit and praise for our prosperity. It speaks of what will happen when a nation does evil in the sight of the Lord.
Deuteronomy 8:17 - You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.”
Deuteronomy 8:19-20 - If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. 20 Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.
Deuteronomy 28:25-26 - The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth. 26 Your carcasses will be food for all the birds and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away.
Deuteronomy 28:37 - You will become a thing of horror, a byword and an object of ridicule among all the peoples where the Lord will drive you.
Deuteronomy 28:41 - You will have sons and daughters but you will not keep them, because they will go into captivity.
Deuteronomy 28:47-51 - Because you did not serve the Lord your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity, 48 therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the Lord sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you. 49 The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand, 50 a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old or pity for the young. 51 They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine or olive oil, nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined.
Deuteronomy 32:5 - They are corrupt and not his children; to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation
Judges 3:7-8 - The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord; they forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs. 8 The anger of the Lord burned against Israel so that he sold them into the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram Naharaim, to whom the Israelites were subject for eight years.
Judges 3:12 - Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and because they did this evil the Lord gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel.
Judges 4:1-2 - Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, now that Ehud was dead. 2 So the Lord sold them into the hands of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor.
Judges 6:1 - The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites.
Judges 13:1 - Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.
1 Samuel 12:9 - But they forgot the Lord their God; so he sold them into the hand of Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them.
Recently on a fishing website a guy asked about the movie "Gravity" because the youth director in his church wanted to take the youth group to see it. I responded to him that the movie has several four letter words in it that are not suitable for kids. His response was "Our youth director picked it out. She will allow anything but r rated. I really wanted to see it." I then said "If your youth group is part of a church then you need a new youth director. If she approves movies that have cursing and profanity in them then she needs to be removed." He answered "Well you have your opinion and I respect that, but you can't turn on network tv without some cussing. She would not allow a movie that was nothing, but violence and lots of cussing, but I doubt there were ten instances of cussing. There are High School kids not children so there is a different level of what is appropriate. Heck the first movie they showed last night was cloudy with a chance of meatballs 2 and they said damn in it." I then told him "My opinion certainly doesn't matter, but God's does. 'Woe unto him that causes even one of these little ones to stumble........'"
It is not only what our nation as a whole has done, but the churches have bought into the deceit of the evil one as well and are now following a false god and false idols, they are certainly not following the Lord our God. What do you think God is going to do about this? Do you think He will let it slide for another generation? No.
Most churches in Western culture America today are nothing more than weekly pastime social entertainment gatherings with 2 Timothy 4:3 “tickled ears” comedians and prosperity soothsayers who call themselves pastors. The participants do not have their minds and hearts on God, are in a rush to leave and go home to watch football on their expensive home entertainment systems. The pastors could care less about the well-being of the individual flock and are utterly consumed with vanity, pride, attendance statistics, building grandeur and politically correct self-imagery, who fear man more than God.
ReplyDeleteThis cultural church knows almost nothing about the supreme holiness of God and the utter wickedness of the human heart. The “once saved-always saved” fire insurance doctrine conveniently replaces Paul’s Philippians 2:12 admonition to “work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” The Bible is cut up, dichotomized and censored according to the politically correct mood of the current observing majority -(never mind what the unchanging eternal God of the universe declares). This gives a free ticket to the half-hearted lukewarm practitioners to engage in every form of abomination with impunity that our Bible tells us will wind us up in hell. There is no conviction, no accountability for change, no brokenness before our Lord, no tears of repentance. Prayer to our God is more of a quick glance-over nuisance than a tedious activity of long and laborious obedience as our Lord taught us.
The U.S. churches today are nothing like what we read about in Acts Chapter 2 and the subsequent letter admonitions where Paul instructs these first churches how to live and behave before our holy God.
You are absolutely correct and I could have not said it any better than you just did, Lance. Thanks for your comment. bro.
DeleteBelow are several comments that were emailed to me which I thought should be posted on here.
ReplyDeleteHello Cliff,
Thanks for another good email. I believe every nation will be tested and found wanting when the Kingdom of God is established on earth, even Israel.
So, nothing happening today should be unexpected, and evil governments are a major sign of the last days. Just as a fish starts rotting from the head down, evil enters society from the top (bad Supreme Court decisions, for example) and filters down to the general public. Of course, Hollywood and other media are driven by greed and loathing for Christianity to act as a transmitter of the lowest type of entertainment for popular consumption. Everyone is affected, including church members, and the best thing to do is take the TV out of the home entirely, also never frequent movie theaters.
Cliff,
Don't think everyone thinks the way of the youth pastor or your friend. It's either we come out of the world or we are lost. Thanks for sharing this.
I agree with you,
Its sad that this is going on in "church youth groups"...you would think
that a youth director would direct the youth in the things of the Lord.
This goes back to what the Lord has told me to "preach" for many years
now: Jesus said "you (His Church) are the light of the world" He told me
that the world can only walk in the light that we give them. Therefore
it is ultimately the church's fault for the darkness in the world,
because light shines in darkness & the darkness cannot overcome the
light. So, the church isn't shining the light of the Lord...only a
mixture of religion & along with the compromises of darkness. Men love
darkness, because their deeds are evil & this is why we see no true
revival in the great majority of the churches.
I wonder how much longer God will wait until His judgment will come!!!
Cliff, as you know, there are those who are religious and declare that they are a believer. Then there are those who have a relationship with YHVH through Yeshua. Hearing about this leader of the youth group reminds me of the verses that say, "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you, depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!"
Another place it is written to "Come out of them and be Holy as I am Holy." Many in the churches today are trying to drink from two cups; the cup of righteousness and a cup of demons. You can't do that. So, yes, the leader has to go or I would yank my kid out of there in a nano second. What I have taught my kids, they would have walked out on their own.
Blessings to you