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Author
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Topic: THE CHANGING FACE OF CHRISTIANITY
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WKUHilltopper
Advanced Member
Member # 5472
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posted
quote:
'Christianity is no longer a white man's religion,' says Larry Eskridge of the Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals. 'It's been claimed by others.'
This guy is pretty goofy. I never knew it was designed to be a "white man's religion". I would suspect our founding christian fathers were middle eastern looking. For someone who works for an 'Institute for the Study of...' apparently needs to keep studying!
Posts: 259 | From: KY | Registered: Feb 2006
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Chaplain Bob
Advanced Member
Member # 5019
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posted
Hey Forest:
I just wanted to drop by and also bid you welcome. As an older man I did not grow up with computers and now find it absolutely fascinating that we can chat with people from all over the world on this thing.
God Bless.
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In His Service,
Bob Allen
Posts: 209 | From: Checotah, Oklahoma | Registered: Aug 2005
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Forest Luck
New Member
Member # 5420
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posted
Hi, Thanks to your replies and warm encouragement.
I was quite busy so I was not able to reply your post in timely manner... sorry about that...
To rancan6776,
I think I get what you said. The ultimate criteria is whether our focus is on Jesus Christ or not. And the world itself could be a distraction. I will think about that.
To Bat Elohim,
Well, in Tai-Chi, I think the meditation and the slow motion makes the difference.
I tend to focus on relaxing my body part, muscle piece by piece... There is certain posture requirement in Tai-Chi, When I do Tai-Chi move by move, I will keep checking whether I met the posture requirement every instant. Tai-Chi practioner also believe there is also certain 'inner-power' that is not coming from your muscle, but coming from your focus of mind.
Eventually the mind will enter emptyness or voidness, that is considered as the highest stage of Tai-Chi meditation.
There seems to be no God in the philosophy of Tai-Chi, but there is also no God in regular sports. People however can experience God in regular sports(for example the Oscar movie "The Charriot of Fire"), I wonder how a Tai-Chi practioner can experience God if consider Tai-Chi as a kind of sport... ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Hi, yeshuaslavejeff,
I totally agree with you that we should obey God with trust.
I googled 'Watchman nee' on internet, and found books written by him. But I also went accross the following link:
http://www.apologeticsindex.org/n01.html
which cautions about nee's teaching.
follow up: I just figured out the Chinese name of Watchman Nee. I will read his book soon(may be also with proper precaution.)
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I pray therefore I exist.
Posts: 2 | From: Urbana | Registered: Jan 2006
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yeshuaslavejeff
Advanced Member
Member # 4506
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posted
Forrest,
your post is humble,and Wisdom is needed from above(i might not understand correctly, but Yhwh
certainly does, and He Himself offered His Help).
"On the other hand, I know Christianity also value human effort through faith. "
NOT, unless you mean something else.
Scripture says simple 'the flesh profits nothing'
and the best is as good as 'mnstual rags'.
Yes, obey G_d, without which is no love nor truth.
Obey with all of your strength and soul and mind
and heart and inner spirit - let all that is
within you serve and praise the L_rd of Life.
{But if obeying without trust, nothing is of value.)
on such short notice, just one reading, the
best answer i know, to your request quoted[bottom of post] is 'find watchman nee's books'.
no western church(usa) that i am aware of come remotely
close to the one true gospel shown in Yeshua the
Messiah and preached by the apostles and prophets
in Scripture and by G_d's Law revealed.
watchman nee glorified only the One True G_d
according to G_d's Plan in Yeshua the Saviour.
don't be misled by wtness lee's counterfeit church
which is built on or based on a mixture of
watchman nee's teaching's with worldly or dmonic
doctrines - watchman nee would not have approved
of anything wtness lee nor lee's church have done.
in china, the humble disciples of Yeshua are in
danger every day for their lives - many have been
arrested in the last few months, some put to death for their faith in Jesua.
they are, some, called, 'the church of the silent
lips', because they are not allowed to openly
talk about the truth, yet, without a word, simply
by their G_dly lives, their neighbors see the
difference in their lives and are converted!!!
THAT is G_d's Working in them.
note that in western 'churches', believers from
china or russia or africa cannot see a difference
in peoples lives; rather, they see hypocrisy and
riches hoarded and ears tickled.
THAT [selfishness,selfprotection] is [their]god working in them.
[Not the G_d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but of
this world]
there may be exceptions, of course, but beware.
RE quote: "Well, I am still in doubt. I asked some Chinese pastors about this, but no certain answer was provided. This is why I bring this up to you... Can you give me some insight from the background of western culture?
In Christ,
Forrest Luck"
p.s. the chinese pastors and members i've met in
tulsa don't indicate by their lives that they
know who Jesus is nor why He died on a tree. they
seem to have a social organization patterned after
western 'churches' {business like, profitable -
no sacrifice nor suffering needed}. This pattern
is the most widespread according to Scriptural
description of the world church in power now.
it is very deceptive, so, again, beware. no one
but the Father in Heaven can lift the veil. even
the disciples in the Bible could not figure out
the truth, not even saul-the most educated of them. Revelation from the Father was necessary
for them; so also for whosoever believes today.
Shalom to all who love the truth.
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1Peter4:1,2 Yeshua suffered physical suffering:disciples have same mind/ willingness to share shame/physical suffering with Yeshua/His people.
Biblio:"willtherealhereticsplease standup?"byBercot(churchTruth)
Posts: 75 | From: tulsa | Registered: Mar 2005
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Bat Elohim
Advanced Member
Member # 3739
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posted
Welcome Forrest Luck!
We are so blessed that you have joined us here!
When you are practicing Tai Chi, what is it that makes you calm? Do you focus on yourself, a god, a thought, or nothing? Can you switch that focus to God?
My son took a form of martial arts for a while and the teacher told them they had to meditate a certain way. I told my son to just think about Jesus and picture Jesus holding him in his arms and relax that way.
I don't personally think there is anything wrong with any form of martial arts. It helps strengthen the mind and the body. Just as sports like running and gymnastics do.
Blessings to you Forrest Luck! Stay strong.
Joanna.
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Numbers 6:24 May ADONAI bless you and keep you. 25 May ADONAI make his face shine on you and show you his favor. 26 May ADONAI lift up his face toward you and give you peace.
Posts: 704 | From: Louisiana | Registered: Aug 2004
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rancan6776
Advanced Member
Member # 3943
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posted
Hello Forest Luck, welcome to the BBS...
Not to complicate things I want to try and help. I really dont think it does us well to get so caught up in worldly (temporary) things. We need to keep our focus on Jesus Christ in all things that we do. Once our focus starts to wonder of Christ we get in trouble. There is nothing at all wrong with sport activities just keep your focus on the Son. The enemy is very sneaky and he uses a variety of things to distract us.
Also just know that we do not belong in this world and neither should we comform to the ways of this world. We are so much more than that.
Phi 3:18 (For many are walking, of whom I have told you often and now tell you even weeping, as the enemies of the cross of Christ;
Phi 3:19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, those who mind earthly things.)
Phi 3:20 For our citizenship is in Heaven, from which also we are looking for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
Phi 3:21 who shall change our body of humiliation so that it may be fashioned like His glorious body, according to the working of His power, even to subdue all things to Himself.
may the Lord bless you and keep you safe.....
Posts: 52 | From: east texas | Registered: Oct 2004
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Forest Luck
New Member
Member # 5420
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posted
I am a Chinese Christian. I just registered to this BBS. So I am glad to read and reply this article as my first message here as the topic is related to me.
I did not see much criticism in the article about the Christianity in China in the article. But I knew similar problem also appeared in China.
Actually, talking about mixing Christianity with the culture, I always had questions about that as I am trying to find a balancing point between my faith and the culture in which I grew up.
Bible is the wisdom of God descendent from heaven, and all the civilization and culture are wisdom developed by human on the earth, I tend to feel so, I don't know if you agree with me or not.
The wisdom developed by human emphasizes the efforts by human. While Bible tells us, the salvation can not be achieved by human's effort, instead the only one you can depend on is Jesus our Lord.
There seems to be a balance in Christianity, no Christian really pray all day and do nothing, and miracle happened. Christians do things through faith.
However, things can get complicated in Chinese Culture. Chinese culture is indeed a well developed wisdom in which there are plenty of teachings or practices that help people to depend on themselves well. Zen, meditation, Kong Fu, inner-mind, Confucius, Budda, etc... I remmeber I read a book on how westerner viewed China since AD1500. The priests visited China at that time came back to Europe reporting that Chinese don't know Jesus, but maintained good morality and good justice in the society. And China became a illusional social model to the western society from time to time. I believe that proves the uniqueness of Chinese culture.
However, as a chinese Christian, I know the weakness of Chinese culture. In chinese culture, there is no salvation from above, the only hope is yourself, you have to prepare yourself well and train yourself well, through Kongfu, through Confucius, through meditation, etc. The nice thing of course is that everybody is motivated to do his best. The ugly part is that, self-rightness will dominate those who are trained and practiced better, wickness could dominate those who did not train them well but still desire higher social status, wealth, etc(the sense of salvation). and that causes hatred, prejudice, lies, ... and pain, eventually sociaty collapse. This happened as a periodical process in the past China(one dynasty fall, another dynasty rise...), it is happening in the current economically booming China. Based on these observations, I think China do need the Salvation from above. And I myself need the salvation too.
However, in practice of my faith, from time to time, I felt guilty. I practiced Tai-Chi(a kongfu that helps you to strenghth your body, to meditate and pacify your mind) for quite a long time before I became Christian. I tend to think in Tai-Chi way and the training brings me calmness and steadyness. I know I can do many things better because of the training. However, as a Christian, I know that can not bring me the salvation. I should depend on God, Jesus and the Holy spirit. Because of that, I suspect Tai-Chi could become a distraction to my faith, and I seldom practice it after I take the faith.
On the other hand, I know Christianity also value human effort through faith.
Can Christian take worldly training to achieve their goals through faith? It seems there is no problem if a Christian try to maintain good health by doing a lot of sports(of course with prayers), instead of praying everyday for good health but doing no exercise. But what if the worldly training is from Chinese culture? Would there be 'other gods' in the worldly training(i.e. Tai-Chi, etc) in Chinese Culture so that God would choose depart from whoever practice such things? Well, I am sure there are 'other-gods' in some of the Chinese culture, such as buddacism, Taoism, and other things. But is Chinese culture as a worldly wisdom totally at the opposite side of Christinity? What critera should one take when balancing their own culture with God's wisdom?
Well, I am still in doubt. I asked some Chinese pastors about this, but no certain answer was provided. This is why I bring this up to you... Can you give me some insight from the background of western culture?
In Christ,
Forrest Luck
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I pray therefore I exist.
Posts: 2 | From: Urbana | Registered: Jan 2006
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SoftTouch
Advanced Member
Member # 2316
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posted
THE CHANGING FACE OF CHRISTIANITY
In 1900, 80% of people identifying as Christians worldwide were either Europeans or North Americans. Today 60% are citizens of Africa, Asia or Latin America. The implication of this shift was the subject of an article in 'Newsweek' (16/4/01). Europe is seen as a 'post Christian' society, while 'the events which are shaping 21st century Christianity are taking place in Africa and Asia.' 'Christianity is no longer a white man's religion,' says Larry Eskridge of the Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals. 'It's been claimed by others.'
The article makes some interesting observations: 'To millions of Christians in Africa and Asia words like 'Protestant' and 'Catholic' inspire little or no sense of identification. According to David R Barrett, co-author of the World Christian Encyclopaedia, there are now 33,800 different Christian denominations. 'And the fastest growing are the independents, who have no ties whatsoever to historic Christianity.'
The article shows how Christianity has been adapted to meet the spiritual needs of different cultures. 'In India the growth is mainly amongst outcasts who find in Christianity hope and dignity denied them by the rigid caste system. In China Christianity answers the problems of meaning that Marxism fails to address. … Africans are embracing Christianity in the face of massive political, social and economic chaos. Plagued by corrupt regimes, crushing poverty, pandemic AIDS and genocidal wars, Africans find the church is the one place they can go to for healing, hope and material assistance from more fortunate Christians in the West.'
The article paints a picture of Christianity, which is less concerned with doctrine and more concerned with relating faith to the culture of the countries it is being planted in. This often involves a mixture of Christianity with the religions of those countries.
'In many Indian churches, priests have adopted the dress and rituals of the Hindu majority. The mass may begin with 'Om,' the sacred sound of the Vedas. … Vandana Mataji, a Catholic nun, sings bhajans (devotional songs) in praise of Jesus and of Krishna four times a day, eats strictly vegetarian and meditates in silence.'
'Africans have always recognised a spiritual world within the empirical, and there is much in tribal religions that makes adaptation to Christianity easy. But the traditional African worldview also includes witches and spirits of every kind - especially those of tribal ancestors. All these presences have power to work good or evil on the living and so must be placated or warded off through fetishes.'
According to 'Newsweek' the fastest growing form of Christianity, especially in Africa, is Pentecostal faith healing, imported directly from the West. 'When Africans read the Bible or hear it preached, they see that Jesus was a healer and an exorcist, and controlling evil spirits has always been a primary function of tribal shamans.' Nearly 6 million Nigerians jammed a park in Lagos for a healing service conducted by German evangelist Reinhard Bonkke. 'Every night in cities like Accra, Ghana, thousands of Africans seek out evening Pentecostal 'prayer camps'. Most are women who can't find husbands or wives suffering from infertility, but others come because they've found no job. The diagnosis in every case is associated with tribal witchcraft. One by one, victims are sent rolling on the floor as freelance Pentecostal preachers 'deliver' them from evil spirits in the name of Jesus.'
'Africans also embrace Pentecostalism because - again like tribal religions - it promises material abundance in this life. The best attended African churches are supported by relatively well off, educated Africans who do not wish to lose their precarious prosperity.' Michael Okonkwo, founder and self appointed bishop of the Redeemed Evangelical Mission in Lagos, says, 'In Africa if I want a car I have to pray to God to give me the money to pay cash.'
What are we to make of this?
Firstly to be positive we agree that Christianity is not a white man's religion - in fact it originated in the Middle East through Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, and his Jewish disciples. Also the spread of Christianity world wide is in itself a major sign of fulfilled prophecy, since Jesus told his disciples to 'go into all the world and preach the Gospel' and said that the completion of this project would be a sign of his second coming (Matthew 24.14) (NB It needs to be stated that there are large parts of the world - especially the Islamic countries - where the Christian message is unknown or very little known).
On the other hand we note that Jesus told the parable of the wheat and the tares (Matthew 13.24-43) in which the good seed sown by God grows alongside the tares (weeds) sown by his enemy (Satan). Both grow together until the harvest when they are separated with the wheat being gathered into barns and the weeds thrown into the fire to be burnt. It is interesting that there is a form of weed, which grows in Israel, and looks almost identical to wheat, but contains no nourishment and so is useless for food. Jesus also warned that 'false prophets and false Messiahs will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect - if that were possible.' (Matthew 24.24 - see also Matthew 7.15-23).
There are three main aspects of this article, which are worth drawing attention to.
History/doctrine does not matter
Christianity may not be a white man's religion, but it is a faith, which has an important doctrinal content, based on the Bible. The major issues of that doctrinal content were fought out in the European Reformation. Today it is fashionable amongst Christians all over the world to say that the Reformation does not matter or even was a mistake, because basically all Christians believe the same thing. This is simply not true.
The Reformers were not perfect, but we owe them an enormous debt of gratitude, because they rediscovered the essential truths of the message taught by Jesus and the Apostles, based on the teaching of the Bible, not the traditions of men: that we are sinners who need to be saved from the judgment of God by repentance and faith in the sacrificial death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one Mediator between God and humanity and the blood he shed at the cross was sufficient to bring forgiveness of sin and eternal life to all who turn in faith to him. This basic message is denied by Roman Catholicism, which requires the continual sacrifice of the Mass performed by priests who thereby mediate God to the people.
Mixing Christianity with other cultures
Accepting that Christianity is not a white man's religion, it is obvious that Christians from other backgrounds do not have to accept the culture of white Europeans or Americans. At the same time the Bible clearly teaches that culture is not a neutral thing spiritually, especially when it is related to religion. Therefore it is dangerous for Christians to embrace Hindu worship forms and combine them with Christian ones, or for to seek to appease ancestral spirits through fetishes.
On this subject it needs also to be said that the spiritual decline of the church in Europe came about through mixing Christianity with pagan religions in order to make it attractive to the masses (for example the cult of the Madonna in which Mary replaced the mother goddess of pagan religions as an object of worship). Despite the gains made by the Reformers in rediscovering biblical truths, referred to above, many of them failed to liberate the faith from the shackles of Rome by preserving aspects of compromised Christianity (for example infant baptism).
In the Old Testament the God of Israel constantly distances himself from the gods of the nations, which are always described as a corrupting influence on the people of God (see Psalm 115, Isaiah 45.18-25, Jeremiah 2). Jesus said 'I am the way and the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except by me' (John 14.6), thereby ruling out any possibility that the salvation he came to bring could be mingled with other religions. The Apostles confronted Roman paganism and called people to be separate from its influences: 'What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said, 'I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God and they shall be my people.' Therefore 'Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.' (2 Corinthians 6.14-7.1. See also Acts 14.8-18, 19.23-41).
It can be shown from history and contemporary practice that wherever Christianity is mixed with other religious influences, the other influence will become stronger and eventually eliminate the Christian content. This is not because the power behind the other influence is stronger than the power behind Christianity, but because the God of the Bible is unique and says, 'I am the Lord, that is my name; and my glory I will not give to another, nor my praise to graven images.' (Isaiah 42.8). If there is an attempt to mingle the worship of the Lord with the worship of other gods or to use other religious practices (especially anything remotely connected to witchcraft), the Holy Spirit simply departs and evil spirits take over.
The prophetic scriptures indicate that in the end times there will be a coming together of world religions under the authority of the '***** of Babylon' (Revelation 17.1-6), which will persecute true Christians. It is most likely that Roman Catholicism allied to apostate Protestantism will lead this union of world religions. The kind of 'touchy-feely' Christianity which is being promoted worldwide today and which has little time for the essential doctrines on which the faith is founded, is a push over in terms of falling for the spiritual deception behind this movement.
It is interesting that the 'Newsweek' article draws attention to the conflict within Roman Catholicism today between traditionalists who believe 'in the necessity of conversion to Jesus Christ' and those who believe that 'The church cannot disregard the Spirit of God working in other people in all cultures and religions.' It is likely that the latter view will win out in this conflict and that the next pope will be chosen because of his willingness to work for the religious unity of the world.
The health and wealth bandwagon
Recently ITV screened a programme called 'A Question of Miracles' featuring healing evangelists Benny Hinn and Reinhard Bonnke in action. The programme, first made in USA and being shown in a number of countries around the world, made disturbing viewing. I accept that the makers of the programme were clearly prejudiced against the evangelists and selected their material to give a negative image of them. However the fact is that despite making massive claims for their healing powers, they could give no evidence for verifiable or lasting miraculous cures taking place.
The programme showed a rally where Benny Hinn was rebuking cancers, tumours and lameness in the name of Jesus. However, one woman was seen trying to get out of her wheelchair for thirty minutes, only to join the rest of the wheel chair bound who came to the rally and left in the same condition they came in. 76 miracles were claimed on stage, but 13 weeks later, his team could only provide 5 names of people who went forward for healing. When these claims were investigated no medical evidence for healing was found. In fact one woman died months later of cancer she was supposed to have been healed from. A number of people who were proclaimed healed in the name of Jesus at the rally stopped taking their medication and became very ill later. A poor immigrant couple whose son was dying of a brain tumour gave thousands of dollars they could not afford to the evangelist on the basis of his claim to be able to bring healing to their son. The son died and Hinn kept the money.
All of this is a far cry from the miracles of the New Testament. When Jesus and the Apostles performed miracles there was no question that the person concerned was completely healed. This could not be denied even by their opponents. After the healing of the lame man in the Temple in Acts 3, the Apostles were arrested by the Temple guard, but the Sanhedrin were compelled to let them go by the evidence of the miracle:
'Seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it' (Acts 3.14).
Miraculous signs followed the preaching of Jesus and the Apostles (Mark 16.17-18), but they were not the point of attraction. In fact Jesus discouraged crowds from following him to look for signs. Far from seeking a mass of people who would tag along with his movement for what they could get out of it, Jesus put off would be followers with a radical call to commitment even to the point of being willing to lose their lives for his sake: 'If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it' (Matthew 16.24-5). (See also Matthew 10.16-42, Luke 9.57-62, John 6.60-71). He told his disciples to give freely as they had received freely (Matthew 10.8). Interestingly in the Didache, an early Christian manual, it was considered a sign of a false prophet to ask for money. Also it has to be said that Jesus' miracles recorded in the New Testament were selective. He did not heal every sick person in Israel (although everyone who came to him seeking healing was completely healed). There was a multitude of sick people at the pool of Bethesda, but Jesus only healed one lame man there (John 5.1-15).
Today's healing evangelists appeal to the needs of people offering the sick a chance to get well through the miraculous powers which are supposed to be present at their rallies, and promising wealth as a reward from God to those who donate to their ministries. Since almost everyone in the world would like to have better health and better living conditions, it is a powerful appeal. The question however is whether they deliver on their promises. Clearly something does happen at these rallies, as people respond to the evangelists by falling on the floor and displaying a variety of physical manifestations, some of which do appear to bring relief (mostly temporary) from pains they have previously suffered.
The TV programme attributed this to hypnotic suggestion in the lives of people who have been psychologically prepared to respond in this way before attending the rallies. This may be so, but Jesus also spoke about wonders being done in his name by people to whom he will say 'I never knew you; depart from me, you who practise lawlessness' (Matthew 7.23). He said that false prophets doing signs and wonders would be a feature of the last days before his second coming (Matthew 24.24). This will prepare the way for the man of sin or the Antichrist whose coming will be 'according to the working of Satan with all power, signs and lying wonders, and with unrighteous deception among those who perish because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved' (2 Thessalonians 2.9-10).
What is certain is that all this brings Christianity into disrepute. The lavish life style of Benny Hinn compared to the poverty of people who give him money for healings, which do not take place, causes revulsion. Many of those who are persuaded to part with their money end up disillusioned when the miracles fail to occur and reject the whole Christian message. It is also clear that anti Christian forces are using the abuses of these preachers to attack Christianity in general and as an excuse to propose laws restricting the freedom of all Christians. On a recent trip to Ukraine I met a believing Christian from Minsk in Belarus who told me how the freedom of religion, which had been won after the fall of the Soviet Union, is now being gradually lost through new laws the government has brought in under pressure from the Russian Orthodox Church. The main reason for these laws coming in is a reaction against the multitude of Christian groups, especially hyper charismatic groups from the USA, which flooded the country after the restrictions of Communism were lifted. He told me how the police attended a meeting held by a 'prosperity preacher', then called him to the police station to tell him that what he was teaching was not in the Bible. Apparently the successors of the KGB are more knowledgeable of the Christian message than the preachers! (I have produced a tape about this subject available for £3 including postage).
Conclusion
Jesus told his followers to 'Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way that leads to life and there are few who find it' (Matthew 7.13-14). Despite all the claims of worldwide revival and the statistics of huge growth in the 'Newsweek' article, the authentic message of Jesus is not much heard, especially in the public places of our world. He is calling us to repentance and faith in the one final sacrifice he made for our sins. To those who respond he offers forgiveness of sins and eternal life, with difficulties and persecutions along the way, but with the assurance of his presence and help to guide us.
For the record I do accept that genuine miracles do happen today, generally within the context of a believing congregation (James 5.13-18) and as a sign following the preaching of the Gospel (Mark 16.15-18). However in my experience they are much less frequent than most charismatic Christians claim they are! Most Christians I know who have had serious illnesses do not recover from them or if they do recover it is as a result of medical treatment. In fact all of us are going to die one day unless the Lord comes first. To say as some healing evangelists that sickness is the result of unbelief is to add false guilt to the burden the sick carry because of their illness. The obsession with healing and miracles in many Christian circles today is in my opinion a diversion from the clear call in the Gospel to preach the message of salvation and forgiveness of sin through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus and to leave the results to God.
http://www.lightforthelastdays.co.uk/docs/deception_church/changing.html
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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.
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