It would be a foolish individual who invited to a royal banquet chose to show up at the palace having rolled in the sewage pits of the city. Yet, many are rolling their minds in the sewage pits of the City of Destruction daily but think their hearts can remain clean!
Day by day most believers find themselves filling their minds with the sewage, the filth, the refuse, and the perversions of the world through various forms of media. They are not being careful to follow the second aspect of holiness given by Paul. “Bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”
The rest of this post can be found at The Desert Pastor.
Pilgrim
thejunglemissionary
Bill
abidingthroughgrace
I think we all struggle to some degree in this area. Who is honest all the time when someone at church asks you how you are doing? The culturally acceptable thing to do is reply “good”. I think most people don’t even want to know if the answer is true or not. Churches today have such a hands off approach. They are your friend on Sunday but never know you during the week. Which makes it so easy to just live a life of hypocrisy with secret sin plaguing you. “Bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” What a punch in the gut. How many of us walk in that type of obedience? I know I am not. Thank you for sharing this scripture and your entire article. The Word does not come back void and God surely is using it to work in me.
Thank you Tanya for your comment. Sadly, you are very correct, and I for one no longer wish to be involved in churches (as has been the case in my past) where they like the “hands-off” approach to Biblical Christianity.
Let us say that such an approach is not truly Biblical and it certainly does not reflect historical Christianity.
May you be encouraged in the Word, and may the Lord continue to convict all of our hearts in the areas in which we each fail to bring honour and glory to Him alone!
The Desert Pastor
Great article! It reminds me of something I heard Francis Chan say in a sermon that really changed my life. He said(in my own words)” if Jesus had a church in my neighborhood, I bet mine would be bigger simply because Jesus would require a deeper commitment from his people than I do”. It’s time for us to separate ourselves from the world.No longer being satisfied with keeping a “safe” distance from the world and it’s ways but instead seeing how far we can separate ourselves from it. Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way. I pray that GOD would open the eyes of all the people that have been deceived into thinking just because they said a prayer at some point if their life,they are saved!
Max
So much energy is spent trying to convince people in churches to forsake their trust in their “sinner’s prayer.” While there are still so many that deny even the basic tenets of the “sinner’s prayer:” the Truth of the Gospel, the reality of Jesus as God’s Son, His perfect sinless life, his death – for our sins – his burial, and resurrection.
“And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.” Acts 13:44-46
Ministry Addict:
1: I don’t think we are trying to convince the church to forsake their trust in their “sinner’s prayer” , but to forsake their trust in ONLY the “sinners prayer”. I believe it’s because of this that the majority of Americans claim to be born again but we see no change in our neighbourhoods or nation.We must put our trust in the whole word of GOD lest we be deceived! ” But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. James 1:22″.
2: I totally agree that there are just as many people that just simply deny the principle completely. Both groups of people need to be reached and transformed by the truth which is the word of God. We have so much work to do! ” The harvest truly [is] great, but the labourers [are] few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.”
Max