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Author
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Topic: Contending For The Faith
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WildB
Moderator
Member # 2917
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posted
Bible, King James Version
1 match.
Neh.4
1. [17] They which builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon.
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That is all.....
Posts: 8775 | From: USA, MICHIGAN | Registered: Mar 2004
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SoftTouch
Advanced Member
Member # 2316
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posted
This was posted on the RaptureNews message board and I wanted to share it here. I pray this will speak to the hearts of those who need to hear and understand this message!
Contending for the Faith Have To Be Divisive?
By Jan Markell, Olive Tree Ministries, Inc.
www.olivetreeviews.org
The book of Jude tells us to stand for truth and to contend for the faith and sound doctrine. Many pastors and lay people are doing so. But at the same time, I hear from hundreds that in many places today, Jesus is being disguised to make Him and the church less "offensive" and more acceptable to "seekers" and even to seasoned believers who would prefer to feel comfortable in a world today riddled with maximum stress.
They don't want to hear hard-hitting, fearless, tell-it-like-it-is preaching. I am not sure that either the prophets of the Old Testament, or the Apostles of the New Testament would be welcome in many churches today.
I got saved as a child under-dare I say-a "hell fire and brimstone" Jewish evangelist, Dr. Hyman Appleman. He spared no punches. I'm not overly fond of that style of preaching but as a 10 year old, I was convicted of my sins although at that age I was rather unchurched and even his terminology was difficult for a kid.
But the times they are a-changing. In the last five to 10 years, churches that once taught the Bible faithfully verse-by-verse are now resorting to lesser means to draw in the masses. They measure what it is the people seem to want and employ "experts" who use worldly principles with "promised goals of success in multiplying attendance and square footage of the church building if you will follow our method." Sadly, the "method" often has little to do with the Bible.
Week after week emails pour into this office from North America, Australia, New Zealand, and to a lesser degree, Western Europe, who kicked God out decades ago. They state that they tried to suggest to pastors and church leaders that certain practices, teachings, and teachers, were not healthy for the church.
They were then called "divisive," "argumentative," and subsequently were told to leave the church although it may have been their church home for 10, 20 or 30 years. Not only were they disenfranchised, they were heartbroken because their intentions were only to spare the church a split because others in the congregation felt the same and many were talking about moving on.
Then we have the explosion of false teachings in the last 30 to 40 years. There were rampant false teachers in both the Old and New Testament and nothing has changed except today's false teachers have the funds to broadcast their teachings on television and other media. Some of these teachers actually know truth but want to preach what they know people today want to hear.
And, yes, some compromise the Gospel for financial gain. Jesus warned about it when He said, “Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves" (Matt. 7:15). Paul also said, “For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock” (Acts 20:29). This is referred to again in 2 Peter 2:1.
Also at work here is the great "end-time falling away" or apostasy (2 Thess. 2:3) and the fact that people are chasing after "every wind of doctrine" (Eph. 4:14), "will not endure sound doctrine" (2 Tim. 4:30), and have turned their ears from truth wanting their "ears tickled" (2 Tim. 4:3,4). This is particularly true with those who seek after "signs and wonders" and "experience" rather than sound, biblical teaching. This category of Christian is growing at an alarming speed.
A balance is needed. God is still doing the miraculous and I am not playing down the legitimacy of God's supernatural power being demonstrated today. In the summer of 2000 I was healed of a 21-year chronic illness but I never went chasing after experience. God visited me in a sovereign way, working a "sign and wonder" in me.
These issues are cross-denominational. No one is singled out. Even within Judaism the latest rage is the occultic Kaballah. Do we need a spiritual "Better Business Bureau" today?
And while it is easy to scapegoat pastors and other spiritual leaders as the ones totally at fault for this climate, the responsibility lies within every true believer to be a Berean and to search the scriptures. Let's make the first prayer of each new day, "Lord, grant me a generous dispensation of discernment this day that I might not fall into some deception" because the ravenous wolves are out there.
Contending for the faith does not have to be divisive. It is standing for truth-biblical truth. It is trying to head trouble off at the pass before loved ones venture down a dark alley and become spiritually ravaged. Those I hear from have no troublesome, mean-spirited, or divisive intent in mind. They love their church and want to see it prosper, but not prosper from today's marketing gimmicks, one of which is to alter the style of preaching and teaching to the degree where nobody can grow spiritually and few can get genuinely saved.
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Psalm 119:104Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. 105Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
Posts: 3465 | Registered: Nov 2003
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