Sunday, January 11, 2015

Christian Entertainment - An Oxymoron

A "Christian" band with tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment, and hundreds of hours of choreographed, sensualized dance and performance routine rehearsals, uses advanced technical, audio, visual, lighting and graphics, and spends thousands of dollars to promote a concert in which they will sing songs that have no meaning, no legitimate message, having generic lyrics that could just as easily pass as teenage love songs - which is all some of them were ever meant to be in the first place. One former Pentecostal-turned-homosexual was heard mocking praise and worship leaders who had made a major worship chorus out of a song that had originally been written as a love song between homosexuals.

There is no true Gospel within a thousand miles of such swill, no true benefit to the Kingdom of God, but it altogether deceives and deludes an unsuspecting generation of young people into a phony and meaningless "Christian" experience.
 
Where are the Pastors who will loudly denounce such wicked nonsense and utterly ban it from the platforms of Pentecostal churches?

"...they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit," Jude 1:18-19.

"...men shall be lovers of their own selves, ...proud, ...heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which ...lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts," 2 Timothy 3:1-6.

ENTERTAINMENT is "Something that amuses, pleases, or diverts, especially a performance or show."

A.W. Tozer said (in 1955),

 "...the present inordinate attachment to every form of entertainment is evidence that the inner life of modem man is in serious decline. ...He has become a parasite on the world, drawing his life from his environment, unable to live a day apart from the stimulation which society affords him.

...there are millions who cannot live without amusement; life without some form of entertainment for them is simply intolerable; they look forward to the blessed relief afforded by professional entertainers and other forms of psychological narcotics as a dope addict looks to his daily shot of heroin. Without them they could not summon courage to face existence.

...The growth of the amusement phase of human life to such fantastic proportions is a portent, a threat to the souls of modern men. It has been built into a multimillion dollar racket with greater power over human minds and human character than any other educational influence on earth.

And the ominous thing is that its power is almost exclusively evil, rotting the inner life, crowding out the long eternal thoughts which would fill the souls of men if they were but worthy to entertain them. And the whole thing has grown into a veritable religion which holds its devotees with a strange fascination, and a religion, incidentally, against which it is now dangerous to speak.

For centuries the Church stood solidly against every form of worldly entertainment, recognizing it for what it was—a device for wasting time, a refuge from the disturbing voice of conscience, a scheme to divert attention from moral accountability.

For this she got herself abused roundly by the sons of this world. But of late she has become tired of the abuse and has given over the struggle. She appears to have decided that if she cannot conquer the great god Entertainment she may as well join forces with him and make what use she can of his powers.

So today we have the astonishing spectacle of millions of dollars being poured into the unholy job of providing earthly entertainment for the so-called sons of heaven. Religious entertainment is in many places rapidly crowding out the serious things of God.

Many churches these days have become little more than poor theaters where fifth-rate "producers" peddle their shoddy wares with the full approval of evangelical leaders who can even quote a holy text in defense of their delinquency. And hardly a man dares raise his voice against it.

...Is it not a strange thing and a wonder that, ...with the coming of Christ drawing near, the professed followers of the Lord should be giving themselves up to religious amusements? That in an hour when mature saints are so desperately needed vast numbers of believers should revert to spiritual childhood and clamor for religious toys?"

It is sadly ironic that Christians who are most prayerful, most studious, most consecrated to godliness get sidelined while halfhearts lead. The Church platform should be a sacred venue for the purest, most Biblically-sound voices. God MUST NOT be misrepresented in our assemblies. The Church would be better off with no music at all than to allow spiritual chaos in via carnal, worldly, wanna-be-celebrity musicians.

SUPER worldly + SUPER Christian = SUPER deceived. Bitter water and sweet water do not come from the same well. Religious entertainment is an oxymoron. But it is worse than an oxymoron. It is an archenemy of all truth, righteousness and holiness. Spirit and flesh do not mix. Carnality and spirituality are mutual enemies. God is not mocked. The Holy Ghost will NOT share the stage with such wickedness.

DRIVE THESE SELF-ABSORBED CHRISTIAN IMPOSTERS OUT OF THE CHURCH RIGHT NOW - NOT LATER!!

"Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, ...Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people," Joel 2:15-18.