Commentary, analysis and opinion.

“It is going to be an issue” – Supreme Court argument on same-sex “marriage” puts religious liberty in the crosshairs

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Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, does not mince words when he states that same-sex marriage “sets the stage for what may well be, in the United States, the greatest threat to religious liberty of our lifetime.” He writes:

Albert Mohler 2

“It is going to be an issue.” With those words, spoken yesterday before the Supreme Court of the United States, the Solicitor General of the United States announced that religious liberty is directly threatened by the legalization of same-sex marriage. Donald Verrili, representing the Obama Administration as the nation’s highest court considered again the issue of same-sex marriage, was responding to a question from Justice Samuel Alito. His answer confirms with candor the threat we have long seen coming.

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Andy Stanley Removes Shame from Homosexual Sin

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Will, who blogs at Entreating Favor, expresses his concern over comments made by Andy Stanley, senior Andy Stanleypastor of North Point megachurch, at a recent conference. The popular pastor declared that local congregations should be the “safest place on the planet for students to talk about anything, including same-sex attraction.” Will wonders what he meant by “safe.” “Safe from what?” queries Will, as he believes that it’s unlikely that Christian churches are causing physical harm to their homosexual youth. He does, however, believe that Pastor Stanley “is at risk of causing them the worst possible spiritual harm.”

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What Heaven Will Be Missing

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Nathan Busenitz of The Cripplegate paints a picture of heaven as a place of vibrant color, good food, loud music, close friendships, as well as physical activity. But what will be missing from heaven? Busenitz puts forward a list of 17 items that the Apostle John reveals in the book of Revelation that will be missing in heaven. It’s reassuring to know that “Each of these represents some aspect of fallenness, rebellion, or divine judgment connected to this present world. And there will be no sign of corruption or judgment in the world to come.”

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What Heaven Will Be Missing

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Nathan Busenitz of The Cripplegate paints a picture of heaven as a place of: “vibrant color, good food, loud music, close friendships, as well as physical activity.”

But what will be missing from heaven? Busenitz puts forward a list of 17 items that the Apostle John reveals in the book of Revelation that will be missing in heaven. It’s reassuring to know that “Each of these represents some aspect of fallenness, rebellion, or divine judgment connected to this present world. And there will be no sign of corruption or judgment in the world to come.”

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Pitiable Capitulating Pro-Family Leaders – part 2

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By Marsha West

In part 2 of her series, Marsha West addresses some of the flaws in the “family values” movement. One such flaw is the cleverly contrived manipulation tactics conservative leaders, i.e. evangelicals, resort to in their effort to raise money to “take back America.” Notable evangelicals and so-called Christian musical artists have no qualms about appearing on stage with apostates for some “cause” or another. In this piece Marsha reveals the names of some of the prominent professing Christians who are partnering with apostates, even heretics, in the culture war.

Before the term pro-family was hijacked by liberals (evangelical was also hijacked) supporters were largely made up from conservative Protestants, Roman Catholics, Mennonites, Mormons, Muslims, and Jews, naming just a few. For the sake of the country, religious conservatives agreed to set aside their differences and pull together a grass roots movement of concerned citizens. These folks put their money where their mouth is in an all out effort to win elections. Their hope was that the politicians they elected would return America to “one nation under God.” Unfortunately, it didn’t much matter to pro-family leaders (LIE-celebs) which god their supporters bowed to as long as participants held conservative values and went to the polls.

A recent example of conservatives uniting to win elections is the 2014 national election. To the surprise of many, Republicans won in a landslide. Now that the GOP has been given a mandate it’ll be interesting to see if pitiable capitulating conservative politicians will get anything done or if they’ll continue to cling to their fear of man.

But this series (Part 1) is not about pitiable capitulating conservative politicians – we pretty much know what we can expect from them if recent history is an indicator. What it’s about is pitiable capitulating LIE-celebs who believe that the only way to cure America of its social ills is to join forces with other religions (ecumenical ventures) to fight the encroachment of Secular Humanism into the culture. Seems like a selfless goal, doesn’t it? But the problem is that when Christians unite with other religions, politicians, entertainers, cultists, and knowingly prop up false teachers, guess what happens? Compromise! And when Christians compromise for any reason, the gospel gets compromised. As a result, the waters have become muddied and evangelicalism has lost its distinctiveness.

Evangelical No More

I don’t believe for one minute that the Lord would have those who say they represent Him resort to cleverly contrived manipulation tactics to accomplish His work. The God I serve would never condone the maneuvering that goes on behind the scenes to get people to part with their money. And as I stated earlier, many LIE-celebs call themselves Christians, when what they actually are is GOP political operatives. So – if one wishes to know who keeps these schemers in business, you need only to look in the mirror.

Pro-family groups could not stay in business without the low information evangelical (LIE) giving his/her time talent and treasure to “good causes.” Many people send money to these groups out of the goodness of their hearts. The reason I mention giving is this: God may not be on board with His people financially supporting organizations simply because they label themselves “Christian.” Doesn’t the Bible make it clear that believers are to be good stewards of the money the Lord has entrusted to them? With this thought in mind, I suggest there are “Christian” organizations that shouldn’t receive one penny of support from God’s people – but there are groups that should. It’s up to the giver to be discerning! If there’s any doubt, don’t hand your money out!

Returning to the point I was making before I got off onto giving: the cause of the collapse of evangelicalism. Who’s responsible and how did it happen? According to Mike Ratliff:

In our day the primary enemies that seeks to once again eclipse the gospel are seemingly diverse so-called churches and church movements such as the Purpose Driven paradigm or seeker-sensitivity and gospel contextualization, which remove essential parts of the gospel in order to not offend the “unchurched.” Then there is the Emergent church, which has taken on a definite New Age spiritualism bent. The movers and shakers in this movement consistently deny sola fide and sola scriptura as essentials for the gospel and the health of the church. Instead, they pursue a complete redefinition of every part of Christianity to suit their eclectic tastes. Then we have a complete implosion and collapse of what used be called Evangelical Christianity as leader after leader buys into the newest fads, such as contemplative prayer, in order to remain “culturally relevant” at the cost of their Christian genuineness. (emphasis added – Source)

I should take at least a paragraph or two to fill you in on the prominent groups that have become mainstream thanks in large part to LIE-celebs joining forces with pretty much anyone with a checkbook willing to plunk down money to fund their pet causes. For example, pro-family leader Gary Bauer is on the Board of Directors of Christians United for Israel, a lobby group headed by Word of Faith (WoF) televangelist John Hagee. (Hagee’s behind the Blood Moon lunacy.) WoF/name it and claim it theology is rife with heresy! So would God bless a union such as this? I rather doubt it, even if it is pro-Israel.

Rick Warren and Barack Obama (2)

In his piece Ratliff addresses the Purpose Driven/seeker sensitive and Emergent movements, so I’ll tackle them now and later provide more information on WoF leaders as well as the New Apostolic Reformation/Third Wave/Latter Rain (NAR). NAR is a movement many are unfamiliar with.

For decades we’ve been seeing the advent of pragmatism in the Church, i.e., “whatever works” to get the folks to come to come to church. Most evangelicals are aware of this by now because a large number of churches have implemented the premiere pragmatic model: Purpose Driven Church. The book became a best-seller and was soon followed-up with Purpose Driven Life. I’ve written numerous articles to expose Rick Warren’s apostasy, so I won’t take up space here. What’s important to understand is Warren’s PEACE Plan is all about joining with other religions to bring about global peace. His plan is supposed to solve the five biggest problems in the world: spiritual emptiness; lack of godly leaders; poverty; disease; lack of education. But is what he’s attempting to do even biblical? Bible expositor Stan Way is of the opinion that:

Doing good is part of ‘loving our neighbor’. It seems to me that we need to be careful because ‘making a better world’ can distract us from preaching the gospel and discipling believers. My observation is that by properly discipling Christians in the faith contributes to the betterment of society. But, this is a byproduct of Christian discipleship, not its primary goal. Christian compassion should make us want to see human suffering relieved whenever that’s possible; while at the same time we hold the conviction that when Christ returns he’ll make all things new. (With permission)

For those who want to expand their knowledge of plan check out Kjos Ministries.

Seeker-driven pragmatism of faux Christianity has many goals, one of them being to create more palatable churches for unchurched Chad and Misty. Seeker churches go to ridiculous lengths to see that visitors aren’t “offended.” In their view, the traditional churches that allow the pastor to exposit Scripture are turn offs to Chad and Misty. I mean, how boring can you get! Seekers are also turned off by liturgy in the service; likewise by hymns, as today’s paying customers attendees prefer contemporary music to the old hymns. To please people, liturgy has been scrapped and the songs mimic the modern culture. There’s no question that the visible Church has moved from God-centered to a man-centered worship.

The Emergent/emerging/emergence Church is joined at the hip with the Purpose Driven/seeker-sensitive/pragmatic Church. Some are calling this assortment of beliefs “seeker-mergent” (S-M). The S-M folks are steeped in unbiblical Roman Catholic mysticism as well as New Age/New Thought “spirituality.” And the reason for this is that some S-M leaders claim a shift is taking place in the Church and that “everything must change.” Do they look to the Bible for guidance? No!

Because this movement is ever changing it is difficult to define, as its many names implies. What it boils down to is that participants are disillusioned with the traditional Church. As such, they’ve decided to throw off the shackles of historic orthodox Christianity, toss the creeds and confessions, and experience God in a whole new way (which is not the way Jesus prescribes in the Bible). In my experience, many S-Ms see themselves as highly evolved (enlightened) human beings. They’ve been given hidden knowledge that (what they deem) “flat-earth fundamentalists” are not privy to. Since they’re the ones “in the know,” “fundies” must get a grip on reality (theirs), get with the program, and change. And we have changed — big time. The change resulted in evangelical’s willingness to dive into Roman Catholic mysticism via Spiritual Formation. Without getting too far afield, this process, called disciplines, encourages believers to indulge in a variety of extrabiblical meditative practices such as contemplative/centering prayer (CP). The important thing to “get” is that the “new way of doing Church” mirrors the very thing the early church struggled against – false teachers who were spreading their Gnostic heresy. Examination of S-M organizations will bring to light their unbiblical beliefs. Any success they enjoy certainly can’t be from God.

As the S-M model continues muddying the waters, do not be surprised to see LIE-celebs join hands to sing My Sweet Lord with “brothers and sisters” from other world religions; likewise with social justice Christians (who deny God’s gospel) …cultists…New Agers…wiccans…wizards and whatnot. It should be noted that the lord in George Harrison’s song is not the Lord God Almighty of Scripture.

Are They Really That…Naive?

Bill Johnson (2)

“Apostle” Bill Johnson of Bethel Church, Redding CA

Previously I pointed out how pro-family leader Gary Bauer joined forces with a notorious false teacher. Bauer is not alone – not by a long shot. In October of 2014, the president of American Family Association (AFA), Tim Wildmon, interviewed Bethel Church’s pastor (and grievous wolf) Bill Johnson on American Family Radio to promote Johnson’s new book Experience the Impossible: Simple Ways to Unleash Heaven’s Power on Earth. Wildmon has also interviewed NAR leaders such as Rick Joyner, Rod Parsley and Heidi Baker. Amazingly, Wildmon remains unaware that these people are what Christ referred to as ravenous wolves. So – isn’t it his responsibility to vet potential guests? One can only surmise that either he shares Apostle Bill’s unbiblical Third Wave (currently called NAR) theology or he hasn’t bothered to carefully examine what the Bible describes as the “teaching of demons.” (1 Tim. 4:1) I mean, does it not seem odd that Wildmon would pitch a book to his audience that is clearly unbiblical? For someone of his stature to promote false teachers is the height of irresponsibility.

Now, I’m not singling out Tim Wildmon. He’s not the only LIE-celeb who props up “Super Apostles” Bill Johnson, Rick Joyner and the like. Plenty of other pro-family groups have united with false teachers on important moral issues. (See links below) In this day and time it’s not uncommon for LIE-celebs, including Christian musical artists, to appear on stage with apostates for some “cause” or another. The reason I continue hammering AFA is that in their zeal to “Reclaim America” they’ve chosen to dance with the devil. In some cases they even pray with wolves! Mr. Wildmon, God doesn’t hear the prayers of apostates.

Anyway, there’s no sense dwelling on a topic I previously covered in The Religious Right unites with Religious Renegades, Part 1. In it I—gasp!—“name names.” I also made it clear that:

Even though the Christian Right (CR) often shares a stage with controversial groups/persons it does not mean that they necessarily share their views; what it does mean however is that when controversial groups/persons are invited to participate in a CR event, it appears that they endorse these groups/persons. It grieves me to say this–and I’ll get a lot of flak for it–but many professing Christians seem to have little or no problem partnering with false teachers and cultists, perhaps because these groups/persons are useful in furthering their political causes.

It’s important to note that there are many bona fide Christian and non-Christian organizations and individuals that need—and should receive—our prayers, our encouragement, and our financial support. Personally, because of what I do it seems some of the sites, where owner/editors have enough courage to publish articles like this one, are deserving of support. Perform due diligence and help them if you are so inclined. If your research leads to something that smells fishy, hold onto your money.

I’ll close with this warning from Christian apologist Ken Silva concerning who we relate to in our Christian walk:

Today I appeal to you to awaken from this Lunacy in the Lord’s Name, a narcissistic nightmare being falsely portrayed as Christianity. If you have been taken in by these deceiving man-pleasers having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power; now you need to avoid such people (2 Timothy 3:5). Friend, I beseech you to pick up the Bible and check these things out for yourself. You need to understand that time is running out and you are playing a game with your life that has eternal stakes.

In the Lord I admonish you to forget that convoluted conversation within the Emerging Church; turn away from those sinner sensitive Purpose Driven/Seeker Driven musings, and run from the prideful prophets of Word Faith heresy before you end up right back in the bondage of the apostate Church of Rome along with all the rest of them. Do you really think the Protestant Reformation was wrong; because in order to follow these fools this is what you are going to have to believe. (Source)

Part 1

Resources:

Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council, with NAR “Apostle” Rick Joyner

Focus on the Family Gives Bono a Platform – Another Example Where 2 +2 Don’t Add Up –According to Christian researcher Berit Kjos, “U2’s 2005 tour was aimed at joining all religions into a unified global spirituality. To emphasize the coming solidarity, the word “COEXIST” was featured on a giant screen. The capital “C” pointed to the Islamic crescent, the “X” symbolized the Jewish Star of David, and the “T” was a reminder of the Christian cross. Bono led massive crowds in a vibrant chant: “Jesus, Jew, Mohammed—It’s True!”

Catholic Jeb Bush hired an adviser with extensive ties to the religious right–Jay Sekulow’s son, Jordan.

Next Great Awakening Tour, hosted by Jim Garlow and David Barton, visited sights of the First and Second Great Awakenings in America. The tour featured Lance Wallnau, chief promoter of the controversial NAR doctrine, the 7 Mountain strategy of taking Dominion. Other guests included Speaker Newt Gingrich, Gov. Mike Huckabee, Sen. Rick Santorum, Rep. Bob McEwen, and Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins.

NAR Critic Slams James Dobson and ‘Pro-Family Leaders’ for ‘Giving Credibility to False Teachers’ (Far-left site. Enter at your own risk.)

NAR “Apostle” Rick Joyner’s Morning Star Ministries promotes 2015 conferences featuring Janet Folger Porter, Rep. Louie Gohmert, and Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Jerry Boykin – Porter and Boykin promote NAR.

Janet Porter Dropped From Worldview Radio Because Of Her Ties To “Whacked Out Folks” (Far-left site. Enter at your own risk.)

Charismania Embraces Glenn Beck—NAR “Super Apostle” Chuck Pierce offered Mormon pro-family leader, political pundit, commentator and New Age Mormon Glenn Beck a “new mantle for the future” because of his stand with the nation of Israel.

LIE-Celebs Capitulate

Popular pastor David Jeremiah brought New Age Catholic Roman Downey to Shadow Mountain Community Church for an interview.

Russell Moore, Rick Warren, N. T. Wright visit Pope Francis —Puff piece by Christianity Today

Rick Warren partners with doctors who are into New Age/New Thought spirituality to help write “The Daniel Plan”

Rick Warren Connections…Especially to the Ecumenical Third Wave New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) and “Positive Thinking” Movement

Lee Strobel promotes Emerging Church leader Erwin McManus

Lee Strobel promotes Purpose Driven Pope Rick Warren

Popular Southern Baptist Bible teacher Beth Moore unites with Word of Faith heretic Joyce Meyer

Francis Chan spoke at IHOP’s Onething conference where he declared “I love Mike Bickle.” Bickle is a false prophet.

Kirk Cameron invited New Age Mormon Glenn Beck to get the word out about his film “Monumental”

Joel Rosenberg was invited to speak at the 2010 Break Forth Canada Conference, promoted the conference on his blog, and shared a stage with those in the emerging/contemplative camp including New Age sympathizer and Emergent guru Leonard Sweet and universalist and author of The Shack, William P. Young.

James MacDonald, Mark Driscoll unite with T.D. Jakes and claim Jakes is a Trinitarian

Ravi Zacharias Praises Word of Faith Preacher Joyce Meyer

John Piper On Rick Warren: Invitation to “Hang Out” Or An Endorsement?

Steven Furtick as Televangelist at Lakewood Church of Joel Osteen

SBC Pastor’s Conference 2014 With Rick Warren, Francis Chan, and James MacDonald

World Vision, Christian organization? – Part 1—WV capitulates to homosexual activists and then they change their mind.

Copyright by Marsha West, 2015. All rights reserved.

 

Obama Calls Out ‘Less Than Loving’ Christians at Prayer Breakfast

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NewsMax reports:

President Barack Obama veered in and quickly out of a national debate over religious freedom legislation, calling out Christians as “less than loving” at an annual Prayer Breakfast on Tuesday in Washington, Mediaite reported.

“On Easter, I do reflect on the fact that as a Christian, I am supposed to love,” Obama told the group, gathered at the Washington Hilton hotel, turning from his scripted speech.

“And I have to say that sometimes when I listen to less-than-loving expressions by Christians, I get concerned,” he said as the murmur in the crowd turned audible, Mediate said.

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Movie Director Comes to Christ While Filming South Korean Pastor Who Saves Abandoned Babies

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Christian News Network reports:

The producer of an acclaimed documentary that recently hit theaters across the country and is currently being shown in churches nationwide is sharing his story of how he came to Christ as a result of his work on the film.

Brian Ivie, 24, is the director of the film “The Drop Box,” a documentary that tells the story of South Korean pastor Lee Jong-rak, who is credited with saving countless abandoned babies who might have otherwise have died after being left on the streets by their mothers.

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The evil Easter Bunny is going to sacrifice your kids to a pagan goddess, so let’s show the world that we’re not happy that Jesus rose from the dead

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This article will no doubt spark a bit of controversy. In it, Stephen John addresses the claims that Easter is pagan in origin. therefore Christians should not celebrate Easter Sunday:

This piece is not about how evil and pagan the Easter bunny and Easter are,” John clarifies. “Or that Easter eggs, especially the red-painted ones, constitute full-blown devil worship and offerings to strange goddesses. Boo! And it’s not about whether or not born-again believers should or should not celebrate Easter—that is your decision. This piece was written from a born-again believer’s perspective and looks at some other Easter-related issues. But please note that you’re not going to get your obsessive, fanatical, and unbiblical anti-Easter fix here. For that, try the Hebrew Roots Movement cult, the Sacred Name Movement cult, your local branch of the Anti-Easter League, the We-Are-All-Jews-Now fan club, or, sadly (in many cases), your local church. Close your mouth.

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Children’s book about abortion: my sister is “happy ghost”

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Here we have another abomination from a far-left advocate of abortion on demand, this time in a children’s book by Mary Walling Blackburn, assistant professor of art at Southern Methodist University’s Meadows School of the Arts. In her book, Blackburn portrays an aborted child as a “happy ghost.” NewsBusters columnist Katie Yoder writes:

The story follows Lee as he (or “she,” as the author stressed) searches for his sister – who might be an apple, a pig, or somewhere in a tree. Lee later decides “Sister is a happy ghost!” and explicitly says he’s glad Sister isn’t around to inconvenience his parents.

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Pitiable Capitulating Pro-family Leaders, part 1

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By Marsha West

Religious Right, Christian Right, religious conservatives, “values voters” and evangelicals  are a few of the titles given to the social and or political groups that wish to hang on to the “traditional family values” (TFV) that are passed on from one generation to the next.  These values are defined as “the moral and ethical principles traditionally upheld and transmitted within a family, [such as] honesty, loyalty, industry, and faith.”  How they go about this maintenance effort varies drastically.  The most radical of these believe they have a mandate from God to occupy all secular institutions and dominate the political process until Christ returns.  Unfortunately many evangelicals are participating in this seemingly godly effort, unaware of what’s going on behind the scenes.  They’re blindly following Christian Right (CR) leaders down some very dangerous paths.

All In The Family

TFV has its roots in the Bible and is derived from the Ten Commandments.  So for Christians there’s nothing wrong with having a desire to hang on to family values, especially when it comes to adopting ethical principles taught in Scripture.  In our post-modern culture, however, a growing number of liberal Americans are moral relativists.  For these folks there are no moral absolutes and culture, not the Bible, determines right from wrong.

The moral freefall America’s now in stems from the culture war of the 1960s.  Expressions such as “anything goes” “if it feels good do it” “sex, drugs and rock and roll” describe the mind-set of the hippie generation.  The counter culture movement grew legs in the 1960’s, sprinted into the 21st Century, and continues to gain momentum to this day.  The 60’s revolution was actually America’s rebellion against the God of the Bible.  Unfortunately much of what was generated then lives on today.  I’ll touch on that in a moment.

The problem isn’t with the folks who care about TFV; it lies with some—not all– of the organizations that are fighting on the front lines of the culture war battlefield.  In their zeal to defeat liberalism and to bring a modicum of sanity back to America, the CR joined forces with outright heretics, blurring the line that separates orthodoxy from heresy.  At one time evangelical was used to differentiate Protestantism from Roman Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity.

In today’s culture evangelicals are identified with far right Republicans.  It is true, this might be an accurate comparison for some, but by definition an evangelical is a believer who holds that Scripture is the infallible, inerrant, inspired Word of God and the authority by which they live their lives; likewise evangelicals believe in the Trinity, the deity of Christ, what the Bible says about sin, and of course salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. (Ephesians 2:8) In other words, evangelicals held to the fundamentals of the faith. They shared the Gospel of Christ with the lost as they were commanded to do. (Matthew 28:18–20; Acts 1:8, 1 Peter 3:15)  They believed that people are dead in their sins and in need of a Savior.  As I implied, for some self-professed evangelicals, these actions are no longer part of their mandate.  I say self-professed, mainly because the name evangelical has been hijacked by liberals who say they’re Christians even though they reject many of the fundamentals of the faith.  Liberals would never “push their religious views” on someone else.  You might ask why they choose not to share the gospel.  From their point of view, Christians don’t have a personal responsibility to share their faith because they believe it’s possible for the Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, etc., to remain in his/her religion and still be saved.  My point is, when someone says they’re an evangelical in today’s world, it doesn’t really tell you anything.

God Forbid!

“This is a revolutionary age,” said Ray Stedman several decades ago.  “The hurricane winds of change are blowing everywhere in our world. The race seethes with unrest and lawless rebellion. What are Christians to do in this hour? Should we surrender the greatest revolutionary message the world has ever heard, which can come to it from no other source, and content ourselves with doing what any worldling can do?

“Shall we become nothing more than another political action group or succumb to the fallacy that change, any kind of change, represents progress? God forbid!”

Stedman went on to say that as Christians we must “heed our calling…renew our commitment to the Lord, who is behind all things, to become individually responsible to tell this radical, revolutionary, life—transforming good news throughout society; that we should invade commercial and industrial life, education and learning, the arts and family life, morals and government with this tremendous, unequaled message.”

The pro-family movement has closed its collective ears to prophetic voices such as Ray Stedman’s.  What they’ve done instead is invade society with the not so transforming gospel of pragmatism.

Pro-family Movement Teaming With Wolves

So in essence isn’t the pro-family movement spreading this unequaled message Stedman referred to so long ago?  To a limited degree yes, but the sacrifices they’ve made to achieve their goals are significant.  Pro-family groups are rife with wolves in sheep’s clothing.  Some of them are celebrities who have, not only name recognition that draw crowds to events, they also have oodles of money that they generously share…especially when it comes to mustering additional support for their own private agendas.

Scripture has plenty to say about cavorting with false teachers.  The Lord Jesus went after them, calling them “white washed tombs full of dead men’s bones,” even worse “ravenous wolves.”  He made it clear that His followers are to have nothing to do with wolves.  “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them” (Ephesians 5:11).  Rather than exposing evil doers, many pro-family leaders promote their unfruitful works as well as pray with and even pal around with them.

They’ve obviously forgotten the Apostle Paul’s warning:

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. (Galatians 1:6-8).

Don’t think pro-family leaders are unaware that they’re playing with fire.  They know!  In fact, they’ve been warned countless times. They’ve been challenged.  They’ve been chastised. They’ve been clobbered by discernment bloggers who’ve tried to get them to look at evidence that clearly demonstrates that they’ve joined forces with ravenous wolves, ironically to “Reclaim America.”

I have a question for “evangelical” leaders who say they represent “values voters”:  Have you ever read Isaiah 6:1-8?  No?  Well, I’ve provided a link to it.  After you’ve finished reading it, some of you may fall on your faces and cry, “Woe is me…” Why?  Because you haven’t had a clear picture of the God you claim to serve.  If you understood His holiness – His power and might and radiant glory–you’d heed His command: “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership has righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?” ( 2 Corinthians 6:14)  Anyone who knowingly invites wolves into the sheep pen is walking in darkness – woe to you!  “If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth” (1 John 1:6).

Martyn Lloyd-Jones sums it up this way:

The real motive for living the holy life should be that it pleases God, and that sin is displeasing to Him. I must not set up my own little standard of holiness and rectitude and my little moral code, and pride myself that I am a man who always keeps his word and lives up to his own code and standard. That is ultimately unChristian. The world acts frequently from such a motive. The only true motive for holy living is that it grieves God and offends Him when I am not holy. My desire must be to please Him; not simply to obey the divine law, but to give joy to God and to the Lord Jesus Christ. That should be the motive in all our actions and activities. (H/T Glenn E. Chatfield)

Before I shed light on what’s at the root of the collapse of evangelicalism and why the pro-family movement is partly to blame for insisting on aligning with apostates and cultists who teach a false gospel, perhaps some background would be helpful.

I’m not a fan of Wikipedia, however for purposes of defining the Christian Right they’ve done an excellent job.  To paraphrase: CR evangelicals are Bible believing Christians; as such they oppose abortion on demand, euthanasia,  human embryonic stem cell research, both eugenics and human enhancement (transhumanism), and hold to the traditional definition of marriage as between one man and one woman.  Thus, CR opposes the expansion of civil marriage for same-sex couples and same-sex child adoption.  CR also opposes the legalization of drugs and prostitution.  They support censoring pornography, obscenity, indecency, the death penalty, the rule of law, and a defense of “Western civilization from the challenges of modernist culture and totalitarian governments.”  

So you can see that evangelicalism is the antithesis of the Secular Humanist religion (yes, it’s a religion, the religion of atheism).  Those who identify as secularists are vehemently non-theistic.   Without getting too far afield, under the guise of separation of church and state, they’ve made great strides in pushing their godless religion and values on society.  The way they see it, organized religion is the enemy of freedom – the freedom to do anything you wish “as long as you’re not hurting anyone.”  The anti-God crowd has been chipping away at the “free exercise of religion” guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution for decades.

Collapse Of Evangelicalism

The media as well as evangelicals have been snookered by Social Justice Christians (SJC) who have put on the cloak of evangelical Christianity. Social justice is a euphemism for socialism.  And whether SJC realize it or not, they’ve bought into a belief system that’s deeply rooted in Marxism.  These so-called evangelicals desire to see people free of starvation, sickness and suffering.  To that end, they think it’s necessary to level the playing field.  In other words, redistribute wealth.  To put it in the common man’s vernacular, robbing Peter to pay Paul.  Biblical Christianity has nothing in common with socialism, as it’s a wicked system.  Likewise, biblical Christianity has nothing in common with liberalism.  In fact, “liberal Christian” is an oxymoron in the same way that original copy…awfully good…gay Christian is an oxymoron.

The media and evangelicals are also unaware that many “Christians” in the social justice movement reject the fundamentals of the faith!  For example, some reject Jesus Christ as the only Savior of the world (John 14:6); salvation as God’s free gift to those who believe in Christ apart from good works (Romans 3:24, 28) and the inspiration and authority of the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16).  Because of these and many other decidedly unbiblical beliefs, those who buy into this movement are no more Christians than a wolf wearing fleece is a lamb.

As I previously said, Biblical Christianity is all about sharing the gospel of Christ and discipling the lost.  (Matthew 28:18-20)

So – why are professing Christians drawn into unbiblical movements like social justice?  For the reason that they don’t read/study their bibles to see what God says.  Instead they get their marching orders from sinful men.  And because of their willful ignorance and their willingness to cast the Bible aside and fall in line behind personalities, a growing number of evangelicals don’t know enough about their faith to share what they believe and why they believe it with someone who asks them probing questions.  The term I coined to describe professing Christians such as these is “low-information evangelical” (LIE).  Space does not allow for a detailed explanation of LIE, so those who wish to know more will find my articles here.  I’ll use variations of LIE such as LIE-celeb throughout the remainder of this series.

Who are the LIE-celebs by name and how have they gone wrong?  I’ll name names in part 2.

Resources:

The Religious Right uniting with Religious Renegades (naming names)—By Marsha West

Christian leaders: It’s about time you test false teachers (naming names)—By Marsha West

Copyright 2015 by Marsha West

 

 

Brian Houston & Mark Driscoll: the ‘disgraceful’ invites the ‘disgraced’ to further disgrace Christ and Christianity

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Church Watch Central pulls no punches in bringing to light what’s going on with celebrity preachers:

When you have popular leaders of movements who appear to HATE God’s Word by rejecting what God says the qualifications are for leaders/elders, you have unrepentant men in positions of power. Both Brian Houston and Mark Driscoll (among others speaking this year) are serious threats to the global Christian Church unless people start voting with their feet on issues of Christian integrity.

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The dreadful loneliness of life without Scripture

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Dr. Peter Jones, who is Director of truthXchange and Adjunct Professor of New Testament at Westminster Seminary, examines former megachurch pastor and emergent guru Rob Bell’s misleading defense of same-sex marriage. For one thing, Bell picks and chooses between Bible texts that seemingly agree with him, and those that do not. Jones says “he dismisses Paul’s teaching as mere letters from 2000 years ago that no longer apply, and then chooses a 3500 years-old text with which he agrees, namely Genesis 2:18.” Jones goes on to say that, “In a sentimentalizing interpretation of this foundational text, Bell launches into an emotive appeal for companionship, perfectly suited to his Oprah-taught audience.” View article →

Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure

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His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 2 Peter 1:3–4, ESV

We have spent a large amount of time lately looking at forms of “Christianity” that are really forms of apostasy or heresy. We have also compared their false beliefs with those of other aberrant forms of our faith, such as the Emergent movement and “liberal Christianity.” There are others to be sure, but what has been amazing is how they all do the same thing. They elevate man and demote God. They teach salvation by works instead of by grace through faith as a gift from God.

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Andy Stanley: even if you don’t believe that Jesus is the Son of God, you will have a better life by following his teachings

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There are concerns about the path popular seeker-friendly pastor Andy Stanley is taking. Stand Up For The Truth writes:

When we compare some of Andy Stanley’s teachings lately to Scripture, we’re seeing some discrepancies. We encourage you to do the comparative work for yourself (as the Bereans did), listening carefully to what all teachers teach.

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Jonathan Welton’s gift of discernment of … human spirits?

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For those who are unfamiliar with the name Jonathan Welton, he’s one of the contributors to The Physics of Heaven along with Bill Johnson, who claims to be a modern day “Super Apostle”, and Johnson’s wife Beni. Apostle Bill runs the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry in Redding, CA that trains its students “to enjoy the presence of God, say what He is saying, and do what He is doing.” According to John Lanagan, the book serves as a roadmap to Christian entanglement with the New Age and quantum mysticism. Lanagan writes:

While writing a booklet concerning The Physics of Heaven, I was fascinated to learn Jonathan Welton states, “I have found throughout Scripture at least 75 examples of things that the New Age has counterfeited, such as having a spirit guide, trances, meditation, auras, power objects, clairvoyance, clairaudience, and more. These actually belong to the church, but they have been stolen and cleverly repackaged.”

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Finding God’s will is no deep dark secret

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“Is it possible for a Christian to know God’s will and not have to agonize over it?” asks CRN contributor Marsha West. Moreover, “Should a believer make a decision without first spending hours in prayer, asking God to reveal His will? Must a Christian avoid making a decision until he or she has a ‘peace about it’? What about waiting for a ‘sign’ from God?” In this piece Marsha addresses the visible Church’s slide into mysticism to find the answers to these questions.

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What is Coptic Christianity, and what do Coptic Christians believe?

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Over the weekend, a video surfaced showing Islamic terrorists beheading 21 Coptic Christians for no other reason than for their religious beliefs. There are anywhere from 10 million to 60 million Coptic Christians worldwide. What do Coptics believe? According to Christian apologetics site GotQuestions.org, Coptic Christianity is similar to Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy in that it emphasizes faith-plus-works in salvation as well as liturgical ritual.

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Rick Warren: Protestants, Catholics must unite to defend life, sex, marriage – ‘we’re on the same team’

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Rick Warren is on a mission to unite with the apostate Church of Rome in an effort to solve society’s social ills. As usual, Warren downplays the wide divide between Rome and biblical Christianity. CNS News writes:

Evangelical pastor Rick Warren, who leads the eighth largest church in America, Saddleback Church, and is the author of the hugely popular book The Purpose Driven Life, said that Protestants and Catholics must form a “unity of missions” to defend the sanctity of life, sex, and the family, stressing that, “If you love Jesus, we’re on the same team.”

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Obama says Christians as guilty as Muslims: ‘People committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ’

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Christian News Network reports:

During the National Prayer Breakfast held in Washington on Thursday, Barack Obama spoke against violence committed in the name of religion, and stated that Christians have been just as guilty as Muslims and other terror groups of this crime.

“It’s not unique to one group or one religion,” he said. “There is a tendency in us—a sinful tendency—that can pervert and distort our faith.”

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An incomplete and unofficial guide to pointing to the truth in 2015

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Millions are going to perish in 2015, says Stephen John. And, while this is going on, the dying world will be keeping an eye on professing Christians. What will they see? Will they see superficial, self-absorbed “Christians” having a hand in the spiritual demise of the lost, or will they see believers actually doing what they are supposed to do – pointing to the Truth, to the only One who can bring eternal life to those dying?

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Aborting black America

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The slogan “black lives matter” excludes the unborn says Washington Times columnist Kenneth Blackwell. He wonders if the civil rights leaders really care when a black life is lost, or whether they simply exploit situations for political gain. Blackwell writes:

Today, on the somber anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, it’s time for black leaders to face up to the real danger threatening black lives in America. It isn’t the police. According to an anti-police brutality organization, the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, 313 blacks were killed by “police, security guards and vigilantes” in 2013. It isn’t even black criminals, who, as Rudy Giuliani famously pointed out on “Meet the Press,” are responsible for 93 percent of violent deaths among blacks. Sources estimate that between 6,000 and 8,000 blacks are murdered each year.

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Be skeptical of Dr. Oz’s remedies and Rick Warren’s “plans”

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In 2011 Rick Warren, who is the pastor of a megachurch in California and the author of the popular “Purpose-Driven” books chose to enter into a partnership with a man who is steeped in New Age/New Thought spirituality. Warren elicited the aid of Dr. Mehmet Oz to come up with a health and fitness plan for his church. Marsha West has learned that a recent study by the British Medical Journal showed that “Half of Dr. Oz’s health advice is bad.” View article →

New Age pandemic in the church

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Many Christians today are partaking in astrology, unbiblical meditation, so-called Christian yoga, and calling on angels, in spite of the fact that Scripture clearly teaches that believers must not do as the pagans do. Marsha West lays out for us some of the many of the practices God deems evil. View article →

Fight the spiritual forces of wickedness – and win!

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By Marsha West – 2014

Some of the news headlines this past week gave me reason for concern. Here are a few of them:

  • Satanic Temple Approved for [Florida] Capitol Holiday Display
  • Legal group: repeal of D.C. amendment will have ‘severe impact on religious liberty’
  • ‘We love Jesus!’ – Iraqi children proclaim love for Christ in face of Islamic beheading
  • Court orders school district to pay $75,000 for denying boy use of girls’ restroom
  • Rick Warren’s call for Christians to unite with Catholics, ‘Holy Father’ raising concerns

Satanism…religious liberty…beheadings…gender confusion…ecumenicalism. My tendency is to fret about such things, even though God reminds us in His Word:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.(Phil 4:6-7)

Likewise, 1 Peter 5:7 commands believers not to be anxious but to lay all our worries on God because He cares for us. So is there any question that His people are to go to Him with the hard things, lay them at His feet, and trust that we can literally “let go and let God”?

Listen to the comforting words our Lord Jesus:

And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? (Luke 12:22-26 Also see Matthew 6:25-34)

And…

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30)

Black Clouds

What must the believer do when a black cloud forms over her head and follows her wherever she goes? If you’re a black cloud magnet, keep in mind that when you find yourself in a situation where you’ve been utterly and completely robbed of all joy, chances are the spiritual forces of evil have something to do with this dreary mood. I mean, think about it. Satan’s main aim is to take his victim’s mind off her Heavenly Father and turn her focus on the unholy trinity of Me, Myself and I.

Evil entities can and will camp out in their target’s mind and offer unbiblical advice to those who are willing to listen:

Life’s no picnic, Agnes! Anyone in your situation would worry about this terrible thing that’s happened to you – and don’t feel one bit guilty about worrying! God understands.

You lost your job for Pete’s sake! With Christmas right around the corner, it’s going to be rough on the kids. The thought of seeing those disappointed faces Christmas morning would make anyone feel anxious! God understands.

Your desire for vengeance is reasonable, dude. You deserve to hold on to your anger… resentment…hatred. That’s perfectly normal. Now go and retaliate! God understands.

Because of all the wickedness in the world your children and grandchildren are going to suffer, big time. So of course you’re fearful about the kind of world they’re growing up in – that’s normal. God understands.

You get the picture.

Several years ago I came to the realization that a large number of professing Christians were not using biblical principles when handling society’s slide into moral chaos. In fact they were doing just the opposite. For instance, many were getting angry and upset, worrying and fretting over how the God hating secular humanists’ vice grip on almost every facet of society, including the Church, was growing stronger by the day. So I penned a piece to shed light on what the Bible teaches on fighting the world, the flesh and the devil. Believers face an enemy far more diabolical and cunning than any secular humanist or malevolent ruler that has ever lived. The Bible tells us that since the fall of mankind a battle has been raging in the invisible realm between two opposing forces – good and evil. Without getting too far afield, there was a rebellion in heaven and its leader, Lucifer, and his followers were told to leave. Ever since then Lucifer aka Satan (the devil) and the other turncoat angels (demons) have been at war with God’s holy elect angels. (For more details go here.) Not surprisingly one target of the evil forces is anyone who professes a belief in Christ.

Never fear! God has given believers a way to protect themselves. Paul describes how to do it in Ephesians 6. (I’ll share the particulars in a moment.) After doing a thorough study on this subject, it became apparent to me that my brothers and sisters had been unarmed while fighting a vicious enemy – and so had I! I came to realize that those of us in the thick of the battle to “reclaim America” had to lay our worries and woes aside (worry is sin) and do battle God’s way. But before we could face the enemy, like any soldier going into battle, we had to go into it with helmets, breastplates, shields, swords and, most importantly, the Gospel of Christ that changes minds and hearts! So – I wrote a piece to share what I had learned about fighting the good fight and how to win. What I wrote is even more pertinent today than it was umpteen years ago. My hope in reposting it here is that the serious Christian will take Paul’s words literally when he says “put on the whole armor of God!”

Are You Armed for Battle?

I am amazed by how many Christians are unfamiliar with the Armor of God the Apostle Paul spoke about in Ephesians 6:10. “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” Yes, the devil is real, he’s a schemer, and he’s out to get you! If you don’t believe he’s real, then read the Gospels. Take Mark 9:25 for example. Jesus actually spoke to a demon. “You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him and do not enter him again.” It would be a little ridiculous for Jesus to talk to demons if they didn’t exist. There are plenty of other examples but my point is that Christians are failing to arm themselves for battle against these spiritual powers of darkness.

So, how can you defend yourself against demonic attacks? You must get dressed! In Ephesians 6:10-19 Paul tells you what you should wear. First, buckle the Belt of Truth around your waist. Truth is a deep knowledge of God’s character and will as applied to our lives. Second, the Breastplate of Righteousness must be firmly in place. This refers to the righteousness of Christ, not your own! The breastplate protects your heart from the attacks of Satan. Third, you must have on the proper shoes if you’re going to resist Satan’s attacks. He is an expert at keeping you off balance! Solid footing is provided by the gospel of peace. (Peace comes when you learn to rest in God’s promises.) With the right shoes on you’ll be prepared to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Your feet must always be ready to move! Fourth, take up the Shield of Faith. Faith is complete trust in Christ. When you have faith in God, Satan will be unable to worm his way into your life because Christ offers adequate protection. Fifth, take the hope of the helmet of salvation – look forward to the day of Christ’s return, when the wicked will be judged and you’ll have peace. In the meantime, the helmet will protect your mind from temptation and from believing false doctrine. Feel confident that the moral depravity taking place throughout the world will “ultimately be resolved by God’s program.” Moreover “live unafraid in a world of fear and terror.” And remember that “God is moving in history, and nothing that happens can upset or delay His plan.” (Source) Sixth, you must wield a very sharp and deadly sword – the Sword of the Spirit. The Word of God is a Christian’s sword. The Bible is “living and active and sharper than any two edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12). When you’re tempted, do as Jesus did and use Scripture as a weapon to fight off the Adversary. Lastly, pray! The Sword of the Spirit and Prayer are offensive weapons. Use them!

There you have it. The Armor of God is a symbolic description of the Lord Himself. You must put on Jesus Christ. Trust completely in His power! It’s a mistake to try to live for Christ in your own strength. You must receive and utilize Christ’s power. He wants His people to live as He did, in complete reliance on God. He will work through us by the power of His Holy Spirit indwelling in us. So, when the devil comes knocking on your door, let Jesus answer it!

Whoever reads this knows what they must do to withstand the attacks of the enemy. Stand firm! Rely on God and His mighty power! What’s unbelievable to me is that a growing number of professing Christians fail to grasp the reality that the One who hung the moon and stars says He will fight for His people. He told Abram, “Do not be afraid … I am your shield, your very great reward.”

Remember brethren, God wins!

I’ll close with a quote from a sermon given by the late Ray C. Stedman entitled Advice When Attacked:

There is a very strong and powerful relationship between putting on the armor of God and praying. These two things belong together; in fact, one grows out of the other. It is not enough to put on the armor of God; you must also pray. It is not enough to pray; you must also have put on the armor of God. It is impossible to divide these two. As we have been attempting to see, putting on the armor of God is not something merely figurative, it is an actual thing you do. It is remembering what Christ is to you, and thinking through the implications of it in terms of your present struggle and experience. Putting on the armor is essentially something that is done in the realm of your thought life. We have been trying to make that clear. It is an adjustment of the attitude of your heart to reality, to things as they really are. It is thinking through the implications of the fact which revelation discloses. This is always the necessary thing to do in trying to face life.

Recommended:

The Old Serpent and the Slacker – An allegory By Marsha West

Spiritual Warfare – On Solid Rock Resources

© Marsha West