I Am A Soldier in the Army of the LORD

Allied soldiers storming the beach at Normandy on D-Day, WWII
I am a SOLDIER in the ARMY of the LORD.

Jesus said, "Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves," Luke 10:3. Lambs among wolves? That speaks of the most hostile environment - an environment of blood-thirsty enemies.

"He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me," Luke 10:16. DESPISED. He warned us that we would face those who would despise us, and reminded us that the REASON they will despise US, is that they despise GOD! God's enemies will become our enemies.


Make no mistake about it. This is war. This is Heaven against Hell. This is all that is GOOD against all that is EVIL. This is no game, no party, no recreation room. This is war.

Herod tried to destroy Jesus Christ as soon as He was born (Matthew 2:13). He killed an entire town-full of innocent babies. That is how diabolical and heartless this war is. DON'T THINK that Satan is LESS diabolical or heartless today. He is not.

In the days of His ministry on earth, Jesus repeatedly faced attempts to destroy Him.

"The Pharisees went fort, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might DESTROY him," Mark 3:6.

 "The Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might DESTROY him," Matthew 12:14.

"He taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to DESTROY him," Luke 19:47.

"The chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and DESTROY Jesus," Matthew 27:20.

Jesus knew what He was up against. He said, "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to DESTROY: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly," John 10:10.

He forewarned us, "Ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved," Matthew 10:22.

"Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake," Matthew 24:9.

"If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you," John 15:18-19.

John knew why Jesus came to earth in the first place, "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might DESTROY THE WORKS OF THE DEVIL," 1 John 3:8.

Jesus came to seek and save those who were lost, but He also came to destroy the works of the devil.

Jesus came to destroy the works of the Destroyer
His Soldiers are SENT to destroy the works of the Destroyer

"Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you," Luke 10:19

"These signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they CAST OUT DEVILS; they shall speak with new tongues," Mark 16:17.

If you are a true Christian, you WILL face adversaries. Hell has a target on you. You will be attacked. When you took God's side, you inherited all His enemies. But that's all right, because it is the nature of the Spirit-led life. This IS spiritual warfare. Don't ever forget it.

Winston Churchill once said, "You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life."

Every saint of God who ever lived has faced great tribulation in his day. Expect it. Deal with it.

Hell sets traps for God's people. If you live long enough, you will be caught in one. But God delivers His people, even from the jaws of death. Remember Calvary.

"If it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God," Acts 5:39.

"And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:

Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:

They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect," Hebrews 11:32-40.

Here is the end of the matter: Jesus is coming. He will both destroy all His adversaries in that day, AND reward all those who have fought in His Army.

"And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth," Revelation 11:18.

THEREFORE, Saint of God...

"Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses," 1 Timothy 6:12.

"Endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier," 2 Timothy 2:3-4.

I'm a soldier in the Army,
And I'm marching, claiming victory.

I will not give up. I will not turn around.

I'm a soldier, marching Heaven bound.

Go. Fight. Win. In Jesus' name.

 

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God's War Is Infinitely More Exhilarating Than Sports

The saint of God's exhilaration while engaging the forces of Hell in spiritual warfare, standing relentlessly for Truth in the face of Hell's most vociferous, pernicious lies, and taking hard blows from Truth's most malicious enemies, is an exhilaration that infinitely exceeds the rush of a football team against a receiver, the scramble of a basketball team for a goal, or the passing of a baseball over a fence.

The Early Church cast out devils, raised the dead, rebuked sicknesses and diseases, and preached amidst a great froth of controversy while being opposed and threatened from every direction. Yet they rejoiced to suffer for the cause of Christ, and defied every attempt to silence them in their crusade for Truth, righteousness and holiness.

Any man or woman who is fanatical about flesh-and-blood sports, while disinterested in great Biblical, doctrinal and spiritual controversies has been blinded and anesthetized by carnality, and does not realize that Satan has effectively derailed them from their divine purpose.

Jesus came to seek and save them who are lost, and destroy the works of the devil. The Church must take up His Sword, the Word of God, and engage His adversaries in His name. We are called to be soldiers in the army of the Lord. It should be our great joy to fight His battles. Little David took great delight in taking down Goliath, "the uncircumcised Philistine" who was the iconic adversary of God's people. There are plenty of giants now standing in the battlefield railing against God and His people. "Is there not a cause?" Go. Fight. Win. In Jesus' name.

"Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier," 2 Timothy 2:3-4.


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The Way Church Used To Be

I remember when people came to Church, not expecting a high-powered concert, but a hard-core sermon from the Word of God. The service was dominated by a full hour of strong, fearless Bible preaching. Worldly, carnal people were convicted of their sinful ways and went to an altar to make tearful consecrations to quit their sins and do the will of God.

Christians didn't smoke, drink, dance, cuss, dip, carouse, go to ball games or theaters. They did not wear revealing clothes. They carried Bibles, read them, marked them and made notes in them. They prayed, went to prayer meetings, Bible studies, and Church fellowships. They visited the sick, the shut-ins, the jails, and the nursing homes.

Nowadays, tears and repentance are non-existent in most Churches. In their place is Harlem-dancing and rock-star worship. They scream and chant wildly about their sports teams, they rave about the latest block-buster movies, they know every hit song by every wicked entertainer on the scene. They wear as few clothes as the law will allow, they drink alcoholic beverages, use four-letter profanities with impunity, and commit sexual sins that would have given former generations a heart attack. And they still call themselves Christians.

"Ichabod" - meaning "the glory of the Lord is departed," is written over the door. Sin is welcomed and never condemned. The promises of God are offered recklessly without covenant like free ice cream and candy. The grace of God is trampled under foot. The longsuffering of God has been pushed to the breaking point, and judgment is right around the corner.

Unless Christianity quickly falls on its face in brutal confession of its sins, and in most humble repentance and turning from its wicked ways, the wrath of God will soon be poured out with nothing withheld.

God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

"Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up," James 4:8-10.


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Sports Versus Christianity

In his book, "Good Game: Christianity and the Culture of Sports," Shirl James Hoffman points to the confusion between the Christian values of "servanthood, generosity, and self-subordination," and the sports culture of "competition, partisanship, and Darwinian struggle."

"Christianity Today" (magazine) admitted that there is a conflict between Church and sports in a recent headline: "Fanatics: How Christians have succumbed to the culture of sports."

Succumbed? The dictionary says that “succumb” means "give way to; yield to; DIE." Are Christians succumbing to sports? I say they are. Is sports KILLING Churches? I say it is.

There is gross contradiction between Christianity and sports. Not just one, but many contradictions.

Can we genuinely worship Jesus Christ AND these modern gladiators at the same time? Is it genuinely possible to idolize sports figures without betraying Jesus Christ?

Is our Sunday worship genuinely authentic when our Saturdays are spent in the company of 100,000 people who paid hundreds of dollars apiece to observe the most intense competition between two-dozen mostly amoral brutes whose objective is to pummel, assault, and injure one another in exchange for screaming idolatry and a chance at fabulous wealth, celebrity status, and the lifestyles of the rich and famous?

In an industry renowned for the moral terpitude (baseness, vileness, depravity) of its players, there is no defense for a Christian’s enthusiasm.

Every game is a sexually-charged, scantily-dressed, booze-promoting, profanity-laced event. Half-time events during the major games have become notorious for R-rated entertainment.

The sports figures themselves are infamous for sexually promiscuous, partying lifestyles, including homosexual and pedophilia scandals. The entire sports industry is equally notorious for corruption, payolla, drug and substance abuse, and other criminal activities.

A typical Super Bowl is one of the most debauched events on earth. During SuperBowl XLV in Dallas (2011), there were 133 arrests for prostitution. Some reports claim that as many as 10,000 prostitutes descended on Miami, Florida for SuperBowl XLIV in 2010. Nightclubs and strip clubs make fortunes during major sporting events. Sports gambling generates multi-billions of dollars underground. Liquor consumption is immeasurable. And only God knows how many illicit drugs are on the premises.

I recently visited the website of one of the fastest-growing "Churches" in America. It included a virtual tour of their campus, which included about a dozen major buildings on several acres. Not one building was even called a Church. Every single building on the campus was built for sports applications, including the main auditorium. They had gymnasiums, stadiums, recreation centers, and even the main event center was designed to be a multi-purpose sports arena.

If Christianity was suddenly STRIPPED of ALL SPORTS ELEMENTS, some Churches would absolutely disappear from off the planet.

And why are Christians so proud to declare their team affiliations, yet so embarrassed to even put the word "Church" on their buildings?

I am absolutely incensed by the arrogant hijacking of Biblical Christianity by the idolatrous, Olympiad, gladiator, and pornea spirits that come from the entire field of sports.

I very seriously doubt that Aaron and the children of Israel were ever a FRACTION as rowdy and rambunctious about the GOLDEN CALF as professing Christians are about their football stars. Yet God slaughtered about three-thousand men for their idolatry that day, and sent plagues to all of Israel.

The screaming, yelling, chanting, and unequivocal worship of sports figures is utterly abominable in the eyes of God. I have no doubt. He has slaughtered multitudes in ancient times over less.

In the days of Eli the High Priest, Philistines stole the holy Ark of the Covenant from Israel. They carried it to Gaza and set it up in the Temple of Dagon. In the morning, the idol of Dagon had toppled to the floor. They set it back in place, but the next morning, the idol of Dagon had fallen again, and this time, it broke into pieces.

WHAT IF they had brought DAGON INTO THE HOLIEST OF HOLIES as we have brought SPORTS into the House of God??

Almighty God will NOT compete with our idols.

He DEMANDS that we worship NO OTHERS but Him. That is the FIRST COMMANDMENT.

You can argue until you are blue in the face, but sports fanaticism is worship. Say it isn’t so, but it is so.

If you can call the pathetic singing of a hymn on Sunday WORSHIP, then sports fanaticism is EXTREME WORSHIP. Sports figures simply do NOT deserve the praise they are given, and God will not forever remain silent on the matter.

You will never convince me that the Apostles could ever have built the Early Church if their minds had been as preoccupied with football, baseball, basketball, golf, tennis, racquetball, wrestling, boxing, martial arts, and other "athletic" pursuits as modern Christians and MINISTERS are prepossessed to be.

Neither will modern "Christians" EVER build a Church on the order of the Early Church as long as their minds are as contaminated and distracted with sports.

Religion Reporter David Gibson asked the question in an article in the Huffington Post: Is it "Time For Separation Of Church And Sports?"

I say, "Yes!"

The Church must have a cleansing. Christian thinking, behavior and lifestyles must undergo a radical deprogramming of the sports mindset. If Christians don't get a radical steam-cleaning of their brains, the Church can NEVER become what God called it to be.

Sportsmanship is not one of the Christian virtues. Competition is quite contrary to the teachings of Jesus Christ. Jesus taught us to take the lower seat, turn the other cheek, defer to others, serve, honor and reverence one another. Sports enforce the exact opposite values. One-upmanship is very opposite of submission.

Jesus sternly rebuked His disciples because they were striving among themselves about who would "be accounted the greatest." "THE GREATEST?" That is the entire objective of sports! Who will be the greatest?

Jesus told them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as he that serveth." Luke 22:24-27.

We fawn and slobber over sports celebrities as if they were gods. We invite their coaches and stars into our Church pulpits, although their very occupations flagrantly contradict scores of Biblical teachings.

So what will it be? Are you going to be a Christian? Or are you going to be a sports fanatic? You really, really cannot be both.

Stop kidding yourself.

Sports really has nothing whatsoever to do with Christianity. It is an illegal alien in the Church. It should be deported immediately.

How many young people might have heard and obeyed the call of God into the ministry - to the saving of multitudes of souls - but were taken away by SPORTS? Even ONE is TOO MANY!

"Bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation," 1 Timothy 4:8-9.

The eternal benefit of sports is nil.

The benefit of godliness is eternal company with God.

Many years ago, there was a preacher who billed himself as "The Chaplain of Bourbon Street." He preached in the bars and strip clubs of New Orleans. For a while, he was a sensation. But after a while, he committed adultery with one of the bar dancers. He should not have been there in the first place.

There are some places where Christians simply do not belong. A bar is one. A strip club is another. A major sporting event is another.

I was 12 years old when God called me to serve Him. I have preached the Gospel for over 45 years, and have read the Bible literally scores of times. I have never seen ANYTHING in the Bible that gives me ANY REASON, ANY MANDATE or ANY LICENSE to incorporate sports into the ministry of the Church.

On the contrary, I could preach for 1000 hours on the Biblical reasons why a Christian should separate himself from the world, the flesh and the devil.

But I will spare you the 1000 hours. I merely send this article into the universe and hope that someone will finally realize that sports is an enemy invading the Church like the Trojan horse that invaded and destroyed Troy.

ADDENDUM (1/2/15):

I hate organized sports. It is utterly destroying true Christianity. It is a distraction, a diversion and a total enemy of the Holy Ghost. It is impossible to be obsessed with sports and to be truly spiritually minded at the same time. There is no crucified flesh and no Holy Ghost anointing at a major sporting event.

FACEBOOK posts clearly document the sports obsessions of many "typical Christians." That does not make me want to back off my position. I am not attacking anyone personally, but I utterly refuse to back off my position that organized sports - professional and non-professional - are absolute enemies of the Kingdom of God. The position I take is not new and not a departure from the historical position of virtually every fundamental Christian denomination. Only fifty years ago, virtually every fundamental Christian denomination condemned organized sports. Every minister of the Gospel in those days agreed, by virtue of his credentials, that organized sports was harmful - a hindrance to the Christian lifestyle. 

I am totally unsympathetic to anyone's defense of sports. Sports obsessions are the NORM, not the exception nowadays. Even young children can quote hundreds of sports statistics, and do not know who Ananias and Sapphira are. I am not speaking necessarily of purely recreational sports. I do not oppose an occasional game among friends or family. I do not oppose a day at the park for a Church family to enjoy one another's fellowship, but that is NOT even the same animal as professional, college or high school sports. 

What I have said, I have said, and I will not back down. Christians need to DUMP ORGANIZED SPORTS and get serious about living for God. There will NOT be any of those things in Heaven, to be sure.

Not a few Apostolic Pentecostal preachers (and believers) were told when they first converted that they must give up sports. They did. If they had not, they would not be with us today. One of them is one of the best known and most influential preachers in Pentecost. I have personally witnessed far too many drawn away from Pentecost by sports, and have seen NONE brought INTO Pentecost by sports.

Sports consumes their time, their attention and engages them inextricably with non Christians. It is just as dangerous to be sucked into a pseudo-Christian delusion that you are actually playing ball with Christians when they truly are not biblical Christians. There are countless reasons why we are not to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. Sports is a lifestyle, and that lifestyle competes with and countermands the GODLY lifestyle.

Sports is an all-consuming "pastime". It is no pastime. It is an occupation for most people. They eat, drink and breathe sports. Their hearts belong to sports. Their minds belong to sports. God occupies a TOKEN part of their lives, so they call themselves Christians, but in fact their religion is SPORTS, and their coaches, players and teams are their many GODS. It is evil and sinister and one of Hell's most potent delusions in the modern world. 

Christianity entertains a delusion that it is spiritualizing the sports culture. The opposite is true. Sports is secularizing Christianity. The Church is not changing the world. The world is changing the church. And that, my friend, is APOSTASY - the abandonment and renunciation of the true faith.

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The Heresification Of Pentecostalism

The Pentecostal movement is experiencing accelerated heresification due to the introduction of non-Pentecostal influences, both in the pulpit, in its leadership positions, and in its general membership.

(Heresification: the permeation of heresy into a belief-system.)
Christianity is being defined today, not by Holy Ghost-filled men of God, but by "Christian" corporate trainers and leadership gurus who do not believe in or practice the Pentecostal experience. The larger part of them actually refute Pentecostal doctrines. That cannot possibly be good for Pentecostalism.

The pulpits and platforms of Pentecostal Churches are being hijacked by messages and methods that were not hewn out of the Word of God, but which were easily cut-and-pasted from non-Pentecostal resources. We have become self-indicting suckers for sound-and-light shows, high-tech multi-media, and state-of-the-art gadgets and methods. NONE of these things can possibly improve upon the supernatural power and presence of Almighty God. It is a great delusion and a great deception, and despite my passionate desire to prevent people from being seduced into it, what I say here is unlikely to stop anyone from being destroyed by it - unless they have a very sensitive heart that genuinely does not want to be deceived.

We also kid ourselves to believe that ANYTHING produced by the carnal mind can help God save the world.

"It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." John 6:63.

THE FLESH PROFITETH NOTHING!

In the Early Church, even the DEACONS had to be men "full of the Holy Ghost," (Acts 6:3). NOW, we have national and international leaders in the Church who do NOT have the Holy Ghost, and many who actually refute the Baptism of the Holy Ghost!

If you want to see God work majestic things in a Church, then focus on attaining to a majestic relationship with God through prayer, fasting and study of the Word of God. Do NOT turn to the beggarly elements of the world in an effort to improve the Church. It simply does not and cannot work that way.

Any time you incorporate the world, the flesh, and the devil into the work of God, it can only be counterproductive, no matter how stunning the visual and aural effects are. Fabulous music and award-winning oratory can never replace the authentic anointing and blessing of God upon the uncompromised preaching of His Holy Word.

It is high time for Apostolic Pentecostal Holiness preachers and believers to slam the door in the face of non-Pentecostal, non-Holiness influences that are with lightning-speed taking over the forums and venues of Pentecostalism - and DISPLACING authentic Pentecostal preaching as it does.

Unless we shut out the non-Pentecostal voices with haste, the Pentecostal Church as we know it will soon be a much larger NON-Pentecostal Church.

If Pentecostalism cannot survive on its own merits, it certainly will be no more pleasing to God by introducing non-Pentecostal elements to put it on life-support.

We have been duped into believing that we need a catalyst from the outside to accelerate our growth. The more the Church depends on non-Pentecostal methods and messages, the less influence the Pentecostal message has. It is only a matter of time before the Pentecostal Church will think it has no need at all for true Apostolic doctrine, the Pentecostal experience or Holiness living.

The so-called catalyst is actually not a catalyst. It is a deadly poison.

The Pentecostal Church of the Book of Acts was entirely supported by the preaching of the Word of God with the power and anointing of the Holy Ghost. It is unthinkable that God would, in these last days, abandon anointed preaching and supernatural ministry for academic, corporate, or institutional processes. The Church is only legitimate when its message is pure, holy and doctrinally correct. God consigns NO MANDATE for wrong doctrine, false doctrine or doctrine-less preaching.

We do not need smoke and mirrors. We do not need executive-run Churches. We do not need more highly-trained leaders who are ignorant of God's Word, who do not have a divine call into ministry, or who do not live with conviction holy, godly lives. We need spiritual ministry that only comes from God.

I KNOW I am not wrong about this. I have, in my 45+ years of ministry, run the entire gamut of religious fads and fashions, and have consequently witnessed the complete transformation of Christianity from something that was holy, sacred and supernatural into something that is industrial, mechanical and entertaining.

It is time right now to stop the heresification of Pentecostalism.

Go back to the Bible. Get back on your knees. Fast and pray for a fresh visitation of the supernatural power of God. It will come.

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Beware The Swift River Current

Years ago, I had a very disturbing dream. 
 

In the dream, I was standing along a great river that was at flood stage. It was a perilous river, and I was standing in a small jut in the embankment. The waters where I stood were only a few inches deep and there was only a slight swirl in the waters. But if I had only stepped forward a few steps, I would have quickly been swept away into the fierce, deep, treacherous current and drowned. 

There is no way I could have resisted the destructive force of the swift river current.

More important than the sight of the river was the sense that I was being warned by God against getting caught in the currents of popular religious trends. I had no doubts whatever that the dangerous river represented the popular but unbiblical and undoctrinal practices that were sweeping away Christians by multitudes. I knew that if I got caught in the current of popular religious trends, I would not survive. I would lose my bearings and be lost forever.

I know of only one way to interpret the dream.

STAY OUT OF THE RIVER OF POPULAR RELIGIOUS TRENDS.

They are deadly. They are overcharged with carnality, worldliness and Satan's most sophisticated spiritual deceptions. Once you get caught in the heavy current of popular trends, it will be as if you have no control over yourself. Do not risk your eternal soul by being swept away by unscriptural, unholy teachings of men and women who do not even know the great Truths of the Bible.

The story of my life is one of spiritual warfare - trying to survive and rise above the countless errors of religion. If you are indiscriminate about your religion - if you do not put your religion to the rigorous test of true Bible doctrine - then it is almost 100% certain that you will be lost.

You cannot afford to measure your Church by its popularity, by the popularity of the Preacher, by the size of the crowd, by the amount of money that is coming into it, NOT EVEN by the signs, wonders and miracles that may be performed. (The Bible is exceedingly clear that there will be FALSE workers in the last days who are able to imitate and emulate all the signs, wonders and miracles of true believers).

 
“Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses [also turning their rods into snakes], so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith,” 2 Timothy 3:8.

So, miracles do not prove that a Church is on the right track. Beware, and be prepared to abandon ship.

ONLY the Bible and true Bible doctrine can legitimize a Church, a Preacher or a Saint.

If your doctrine is wrong, you had better get it right. And fast. Time is running out. We are fast approaching the end of the age.

I am watching entire movements fall into the abyss of false doctrines and heresies. I am watching Pentecostal people turn away from Pentecostalism and embrace non-Pentecostal beliefs. That is the ultimate slam against the Book of the Acts of the Apostles - and a grand slap in God's face.

I see multitudes walking away from holiness and separation from the world in cold-blooded denial of Paul's admonition that without holiness, "NO MAN shall see the Lord," (Hebrews 12:13).

I even see, for the first time in the history of the world, Christians embracing and approving of homosexuality - which for thousands of years has been known as an abomination in the eyes of God.

Too many religious leaders have created a FALSE DEFENSE of doing what they do in the name of evangelism and winning the lost. They have deceived themselves into thinking that God cares more about larger numbers than in obeying His commandments and doing His will. They use a phony, pretentious assault on "legalism" to sear their consciences of any convictions against worldliness and carnality.

There is a ghastly error there.

When the Church ceases to stand firm for TRUTH, RIGHTEOUSNESS, and HOLINESS, it has completely lost its mandate from God.

You cannot save the lost with false doctrine, lies, carnality and worldliness.

You cannot make a Church better by adding football, dramas, concerts, high-tech websites or any such peripherals. For all practical purposes, you make it worse, because you begin to rely on carnal activities and manifestations rather than spiritual.

If we can't produce a revival with the preaching of Truth, then we will just have to forgo the revival, because a LIE cannot and will not ever produce a real revival.

Carnally-minded leaders cannot lead men to a godly spiritual destination.

Disobedient men cannot be trusted to teach obedience.

Men who are in error cannot be trusted to be vendors of Truth.

God sends His ministers to preach TRUTH. But He also sends seducers and deceivers to stumble every man and woman who does not love Truth, but has pleasure in unrighteousness.

"And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness," 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12.

Any time you discover that the minister is not adhering to sound Bible doctrines, it is time to abandon that minister and that Church - regardless of how many ties you may have or how long you have been associated with it. (That of course requires that you KNOW what the Bible says. If you do not know what the Bible says, it is nearly impossible that you will not be taken in by every whim of false doctrine and deception.)

Paul taught Timothy that many are caught in "the snare of the devil," and are "taken captive by him AT HIS WILL," 2 Timothy 2:26. If you are not well-versed in the true Word of God, you are Satan's easy prey. Deliver yourself from his snare before you fall into it.

It is better to live for God FRIENDLESS than to maintain a friendship with someone who will certainly lead you to hell. In my sixty years, I have had to walk away from many friends and associates on several occasions because of my concern for my eternal soul. AND... I will do it again and again, if and when it ever becomes necessary.

I owe no allegiance to anybody who will lead me to Hell.

ONLY the Bible is infallible. We read too many non-Biblical books and listen to too many neo-Christian and pseudo-Christian voices. If we spent as much time reading the Bible, praying, and living a holy life as we spend reading other points of view, and listening to non-Biblical voices, we would soon discover just how deceived we have been.

Do NOT take your cues from "contemporary" leaders with fancy methods and messages.

Popular movements are not holy. Holy movements are not popular.

There is no reason for a man of God to take his cues from pseudo-Christian or neo-Christian voices. There is more than enough Gospel to preach – STRAIGHT FROM THE PAGES OF THE BIBLE!

The best place for a man of God to get his message and his ministry is on his knees with his Bible open.

A man of God must know the Word of God, and PREACH the Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth.

Stand on solid ground.

Stay out of the swift river current!



- - -



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You Need A Place To Pray

You need a quiet, solitary place to pray.
Once or twice each week, I go to Church, and into the Prayer Room, to spend time alone with God. Sometimes, I stay there for an hour. At other times, I may stay for three or four hours. It may be during the day time, or it may be at night, even in the wee hours. When I go to the Prayer Room, it is because I want to conduct serious business with God. That is one of my most valuable and intense prayer times.

In my fifty-nine years, I have spent literally thousands of sacred hours alone in Church houses - praying, reading my Bible, and seeking the will of God. And I will confide to you that the Prayer Room is the most luxurious amenity in my life. There is no place on earth more comforting or more sacred than the place where I get alone with God in prayer. I would rather have a Prayer Room than a luxury car, an RV, a yacht, or anything else I can think of.

Jesus quoted the prophet Isaiah when He said,

"Mine house shall be a house of prayer for all people."

A Church is not supposed to be merely an assembly hall where lectures are given. One large Church where I served on staff as a young man had as its motto, "Where People Meet God." If people do not meet God at Church, then what is Church for?

Simeon and Anna were in the Temple the day that Joseph and Mary brought baby Jesus to be dedicated. But that was no coincidence. Simeon and Anna were regulars in the Temple. Anna "was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day," Luke 2:37.

If you make a habit of seeking God regularly, it is certain that the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His Temple.

King David also had a deep love for the house of God. He said, "A day in thy courts is better than a thousand [elsewhere]." Psalms 84:10. In the great crises of his life, David ran to the house of God for refuge.

In the beginning, Churches were not Rock-and-Roll Concert venues. They were not Drama Theaters. They were not basketball courts. They were not community centers, soup kitchens, or recreation centers.

The house of God was, and should be, a holy, sacred, sanctified, consecrated house where people can always go to pray. Today's Churches are often multi-purpose, multi-cultural activity centers. In many cases, they are used more as gymnasiums for youth to hang out, or cafeterias for seniors to have pot-luck dinners, or sound stages for musicians to jam in, than for sacred purposes.

The sad reality is that many Churches are so much like Grand Central Station with activities, that it would be almost impossible to find a quiet, undisturbed place to pray. Why do we feel that it is so important to conduct our social activities in the Church building, yet we seldom think to use it for the far-more-important, divinely-ordained purpose for the house of God?

From the beginning, the Church was NOT such a recreational center. People came to the house of God to spend holy, consecrated time in the presence of God. Today, if you go to a typical Church house to pray, you may find that there is no privacy or no sanctity whatsoever. The Church house has been hijacked for secular purposes. We have forgotten that the most important furnishings in any Church are the ALTAR and the PULPIT.

That kind of invasion of the holy place was the cause of Jesus' outrage in John 2:14-16:

"And when he had made a scourge of small cords,
he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep,
and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money,
and overthrew the tables; And said unto them
that sold doves, Take these things hence;
make not my Father's house an house of merchandise."

More details of that scenario are recorded in Matthew 21:12-14:

"And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them
that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables
of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,
And said unto them, It is written,
My house shall be called the house of prayer;
but ye have made it a den of thieves.
And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple;
and he healed them."

The Church must be first and foremostly a house of prayer.

Prayer has always been the precedent and prelude to every spiritual revival throughout the ages. When the Holy Ghost first began to fall in America, in 1901, it began at a small Bible School in Topeka, Kansas, organized by Charles Parham. For days, his students met together in Chapel for intercessory prayer, until on New Year's Eve, 1901, the Spirit came upon them, and several began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave the utterance.

When the epic revival began in Los Angeles, at the Azusa Street Mission, pastored by William Seymour - that sweeping revival was preceded by weeks and months of intense prayer meetings by the people of that community. That revival in 1906 radically affected not only Los Angeles, but has also, since that time, spread literally to every nation on earth.

Revival does not come by basketball tournaments, or outdoor concerts, or free hot dogs. Revival comes by prayer. And that is true of both personal revival and Church-wide revival.

When we restore the priority of prayer in our lives, miracles will begin happening. Your life has never been so rich as when you regularly and habitually enter into the house of God to pray.

"They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings as eagles;
they shall run, and not be weary;
and they shall walk, and not faint," Isaiah 40:31.

The next time you sense your need to get alone with God, go to the house of God, and pray.

You may find that it is your most cherished time of all. You may find that you want to make a habit of it.




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The Church Has No Common Textbook Anymore!

(The Irrational Abandonment Of The KJV Bible)

The King James Version has been supplanted, to the tragic detriment of the Kingdom of God. Christianity no longer has a universally-acclaimed textbook! This is a SERIOUS problem!

By Ken Raggio

Rick Warren did as much as anybody to distract us from the King James Version of the Bible, when he consistently used a variety of versions in his "Purpose Driven" books.

Now, fewer and fewer people can actually quote scriptures. I am not blaming Warren alone, but the irrational abandonment of the King James Bible has cost Christianity more than can be measured.

I know - people say that the King James Version is too hard to understand.

Well, that is arguable. I first read the entire New Testament when I was about 10 years old. It never occurred to me that it was too difficult to read. I seemed to understand it very well. I could easily follow the stories of Jesus in the Gospels. I was excited to read the stories in the Acts of the Apostles. I read the Epistles, and even the Book of Revelation. At eleven years old, there were a lot of things that I did not understand, but it wasn't because of its readability. It was because those things required an adult mind to fully appreciate.

All of my life, I listened to preachers preach from the King James Version of the Bible. The KJV never discouraged me from trying to understand every story I heard or read.

Then, at about the age of 15, as a member of a Bible Quiz team, I memorized the majority of the Epistles of 1 and 2 Corinthians. Again, I was able to understand amazingly well all the things that were being taught in those pages.I preached my first sermon at the age of 14, using a KJV Thompson Chain Reference Bible as my textbook. By the time I graduated from High School I had already preached about 100 sermons. Every sermon I prepared in those days was dug out almost solely from the King James Version of the Bible. I did not preach other people's sermons.

I prepared my own sermons directly from the Bible. I searched the entire Bible on various Bible topics. I learned how to find scores of verses on just about any subject that I wanted to develop. I was never hindered by "Thee" or "Thou" or the "Shalt" and "Shalt not." It doesn't take rocket science to know that Thee or Thou means you, or Shalt means shall.

By the time I was 21 years old, I could quote hundreds of scripture verses from all over the Bible. I could tell scores of detailed Bible stories and understand the underlying messages. The KJV never handicapped me. In those days, it was used almost universally.

But nowadays, you can scarcely find a King James Bible being used.

People who read the other versions almost never memorize verses. Even if they do memorize verses, nobody recognizes them, because there are so many versions out there.

And tragically, many people are not using other versions, but actual PARAPHRASES. No paraphrase deserves the appellation, "Bible." (How would you like for your love-letters to your spouse to be paraphrased by two dozen total strangers? You would certainly find many of their word-substitutes unacceptable.)When it comes to scriptural ACCURACY - "THE MESSAGE" is almost entirely worthless. I have spent over fifty years studying the Bible from cover to cover, and I can tell you that if your primary Bible is THE MESSAGE - you won't have a clue what the Bible says. You may like the way it speaks to you - but that cannot justify its pernicious, inaccurate representation of TRUTH. In my book, an inaccurate TRUTH is a lie.

In my strong opinion, the biggest single reason why Christianity should cleave to the KJV is for the purpose of maintaining a universal standard in the English language. We have utterly shot ourselves in the foot. Almost nobody can quote scriptures any more. Almost nobody can recognize where a verse comes from. That is much more serious - even tragic - than anyone is admitting.

Every English-speaking person should be able to recognize the Word of God and quote it in a common version. Otherwise, the practice of scripture memorization will be almost entirely lost.

I do not intend to make this article a comparison of Bible versions, but it is not difficult at all for you to GOOGLE "what's wrong with other versions of the Bible" to discover how many critical Bible passages have been tampered with or completely eliminated from most of the alternate versions of the Bible. I have a HUGE problem with that. NIV, RV, Amplified, Duoay, and others - while having a limited usefulness - are NOT reliable versions of the Bible.

Great and primary doctrines of the Bible have been mishandled in the alternate versions. Several of the most essential doctrines have been almost completely eliminated in some versions, including the doctrine of the Blood of Jesus, the Virgin Birth, God's Plan of Redemption and others.

At the risk of sounding like a radical (anybody with firm convictions is now a radical), I declare that Christians everywhere need to own a quality King James Version of the Bible. The biggest single reason why you won't like it is an unfounded or irrational mental block.

I am warning you... if you do not learn the Word of God from the KJV, you are at grave risk for being deceived or misled by errant and inaccurate versions. READABILITY is NOT the most important issue. TRUTH is the issue.

Yes, I know that many people argue that we have a better understanding of the ancient Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic languages than the King James translators had. That is also arguable. Many of the modern translations have a definite agenda behind them. NOBODY needs a translation that is done by scholars working with an agenda. The Word of God must be PURE and untainted by men's opinions or profit motives.

The King James Version was the world-wide standard for centuries. That alone leads me to believe that Almighty God ordained it to be the primary English version of the Bible. Call me narrow-minded if you want to, but I am telling you anyway, that if we want the Church to be strong in this hostile generation, we need a COMMON TEXTBOOK.

No other English version of the Bible deserves to be the universal textbook than the King James Version.

_____________
MUST READ!  -  Here is another powerful article that explains
WHY you should ONLY use the KING JAMES VERSION.




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The Pied Piper in the Church

In Hamelin, Germany, every Sunday during the summer, local villagers act out the folk tale of "The Pied Piper," which dates back to 1284.

Nobody knows with any certainty how the story began, but it is presumed that the old city suffered in those days from a rat infestation. As the story goes, a man dressed in red and yellow clothing presented himself to the townsmen, offering to rid the city of its rats. The men of the city gladly promised to pay him a large sum of money for his service.

The Pied Piper played an enchanting melody on his pipe, and immediately all the rats in town began to follow him. He led them out to the edge of town and into a river, where they all drowned.

When the Pied Piper came to the townsmen to collect, they felt that his task had been far too easy, and that they should not have to pay him the large sum they had promised.

In anger, the Pied Piper promised to punish them for reneging on their promise.

He went into the streets and began again to play his enchanting pipe. This time, the children of the town began to follow him. He led them far outside the town, and into a mysterious cave, where they were never seen again.

Because of the Pied Piper, the town's children were lost.

Of course, the fable is not true, but there are certain valuable morals in this story.

From that story, a famous idiom eventually came into being, namely,

"You'll have to pay the Piper someday."

There is a price to pay for enchantments, for quick fixes.

In the Church today, a similar story is unfolding.

As the Townsmen of Hamelin recruited the services of the Pied Piper, so now have the Preachers of the Gospel solicited the services of the Singers.

In Churches across America and around the world, an infestation of unbelief, atheism, agnosticism and cynicism plagued the Church. The Preachers no longer preached the pure word of God that could have rid the people of the scourge of unbelief. But instead, they called in the Singers and Musicians to fascinate and enchant their congregations.

The people were happy to be entertained by the Singers and the Musicians, so much so that they lost their desire to hear the Preacher. Instead of following the Preacher, the people began to follow the Singers and the Musicians.

The Singers demanded handsome fees for their services, and eventually discovered that they could earn more money OUTSIDE the Church. Many of them CROSSED-OVER to the world. They would sing for anybody who would pay them, in just about any kind of venue, and God, the Bible, and everything holy vanished from their lives. In their exodus, they lured the people of the Church away from the Preacher.

Now, multitudes who were once in the Church, following the Preacher, have been lured away from the Church, and their pseudo-religion is being led by the Singers and the Musicians. The Singers have no doctrine, so the Church is perishing.

Preacher, Pastor. God called you and anointed you to preach the Gospel. Your job is to preach the pure, unadulterated Word of God to the people. This is not a job for the Pied Piper.

The Pied Piper has no doctrine. He has not been called to do your job. The Pied Piper cannot and will not save the people. The Pied Piper will lure the people away from the Truth, away from the pure Gospel, and back into the world, where they will finally be lost.






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Does The Church Have The Holy Ghost? It's A Fair Question.

Rev. B. H. Clendennen died in December, 2009, at the age of 86, after having spent the last 16 years of his life circling the globe, preaching and establishing his "School of Christ International" in more than 130 nations.

I was profoundly influenced by him from the age of 19, following my Bible College days. A close, personal friend introduced me to him in May of 1971, and Pastor Clendennen hired me on the spot to work with him in the ministry. We were kindred spirits. He and I were traveling companions in the ministry for almost three years, until after I married and entered into full-time preaching ministry of my own.

When I first went to work for Pastor Clendennen, he was pastoring a Pentecostal congregation of about 500 people in Beaumont, Texas. He needed a singer/musician to travel with him in crusades around America. He also gave me the task of being the Editor of his monthly magazine, which circulated to about 35,000 households. I was the Church pianist and the choir director. I produced scores of radio programs, and participated in the weekly television broadcasts. After a while, he made me his Associate Pastor, and I filled the pulpit in his absence, and helped tend to the care of the Church members.

In those days before Christian television networks existed, he expanded his ministry into about 30 radio markets and 150 television markets. We traveled 2-4 days every week, on average, to hold gospel crusades in cities across America. Every month, I personally edited and proof-read his articles for the magazine. I also edited literally hundreds of his recorded messages for publication.

Pastor Clendennen's preaching was heavily influenced by the writings of T. Austin Sparks. Sparks was a minister from England and Scotland who wrote prolifically in the early 20th century. Among his recurring themes was the subject of the enmity between the old man and the new man - the carnal mind versus the mind of Christ.

To this day, because of that teaching, virtually everything I know and believe about Christian living is challenged by the question, "Is this carnally-minded, or is this the mind of Christ?"

"For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his," Romans 8:5-9.

I was convinced, early on, that God has no use whatsoever for the carnal mind. Pastor Clendennen convinced me in those days (as does the Bible) that the baptism of the Holy Ghost is absolutely necessary to the ability to do the will of God.

Without the Spirit of God dwelling in a man, it is impossible to please God. Therefore, every believer must be filled with the Spirit. Pastor Clendennen preached that without the Holy Ghost to quicken your mortal bodies, you would not go up in the rapture. I believed that then, and I believe that now.

I have lived to see Christianity supplant that vital truth. A huge percentage of the most influential leaders in Christianity today utterly deny the doctrine of the baptism of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues.

The classical non-Pentecostals like Billy Graham, W.A. Criswell, and Jerry Falwell were shameless to disassociate themselves from speaking in tongues. Today, Rick Warren, Charles and Andy Stanley, John McArthur and an endless list of highly influential Christian leaders have effectively re-written New Testament Church WITHOUT the baptism of the Holy Ghost and its evidence of speaking in other tongues. Even in the so-called Pentecostal denominations, only a small percentage of their membership actually speak in tongues.

I say, "Whoa!" Is there really a Church without the baptism of the Holy Ghost? Wasn't the early Church BORN on the day of Pentecost? Didn't the entire early Church speak in tongues? Yes, they did! Jesus said, "Ye shall speak with new tongues," (Mark 16:17).

Where is THAT message in contemporary Christianity? How is it that tens of millions of professing Christians are either completely illiterate about the doctrine of the baptism of the Holy Ghost, or they have been programmed to believe that it is either "of the devil" or is the behavior of lunatics?

Jesus commanded His disciples, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost," (John 20:22). Now, at that particular time, "the Holy Ghost was not yet given," (John 7:39). But Jesus explained, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth," (Acts 1:8).

That was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost in the Upper Room at Jerusalem, fifty days after Jesus died on Passover (and subsequently resurrected).

"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance," Acts 2:1-4.

The true Church is Pentecostal. The true Church is filled with the Holy Ghost and speaks in other tongues as the Spirit of God gives the utterance. The infilling of the believer with the Holy Ghost corresponds doctrinally to Jesus' resurrection from the dead. To receive the Holy Ghost is to receive eternal life.

Nowadays, we have hours of music, ten minutes of preaching, and nobody receives the Holy Ghost.

Imagine that Jesus, instead of commanding His disciples to "receive the Holy Ghost," had said (as does the largest association of Churches in Australia) that Churches should focus on having:

• enjoyable, superbly run meetings that people enjoy and want to come back to, and which create ‘transcendence’ through music and the arts;
• preaching that is relevant, practical and inspirational—that connects with my daily life and needs and struggles, and helps me to flourish;
• a culture of activism, volunteer service, social action and community involvement.

I will not carry this any further for now. I will just land this plane by saying that it's time for Christianity to re-discover what Christianity really is, and what it really is supposed to be and do. Unless and until the modern Church receives the Holy Ghost - it's not the Church at all.

So, how does one receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost?

Peter answered that question in Acts 2:38-39.

"Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call."

Receive YE the Holy Ghost.

Ken

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