Study – Grow – Know

This and That from Around the World

September 13, 2019 at 10:33 AM 2 comments

Apparently, Coca-Cola is pushing the LGBTQ+ agenda openly in Hungary with new ads that focus on same-sex couples. Conservative party members are opposed to it and pushing back against Coca-Cola, while of course, the LGBTQ+ communities are applauding Coke’s efforts.

The problem here is that too many companies are getting caught up in identity politics, which unfortunately, by its very nature elevates one particular group over others. While the LGBTQ+ communities would argue that this needs to occur so that the playing field is leveled for all participants, the truth seems to be that those within the LGBTQ+ communities are given special privileges as being part of a group that is “disenfranchised” from the mainstream. To correct this issue, the effort needs to be made to push these groups to the forefront, so that the world gets used to the idea that the LGBTQ+ communities are here to stay. Beyond that, the desire is not only to normalize everyone within that community, but we are seeing evidence from LGBTQ+ activists who are making a concerted effort to denigrate heterosexuality. [1] This of course is another direct attack on God and His Word (Genesis 1; God made one man and one woman who procreated).

It is amazing how far we’ve come as a society where just a few decades ago, the gay community said they simply wanted “civil unions” so that they could have benefits of marriage. This pushed us toward same-sex marriages, which of course became the law of the land with Chief Justice Roberts’ vote to approve same-sex marriages anywhere in the USA. By the way, this is the same Chief Roberts who recently decided that asking the citizenship question on the US Census questionnaire was “unconstitutional.” Go figure.

Beyond this, columnist David French, who often passes himself off as a moderate-to-conservative, just came out in full support of Drag Queen Story Hour readings where men dressed up as women read stories to young, impressionable children in public libraries. [2] French believes these events are “one of the blessings of liberty.”

This is simply another way the LGBTQ+ communities are doing what they can to normalize their behavior and they are targeting the most impressionable members of society. The huge problem is that this does not need to occur at all. Why have drag queens reading stories to children?

Of course, beyond this, there have been numerous reports of a number of these drag queens with criminal records; often sex offences, which would eliminate them from being around children, but that doesn’t seem to stop the events from occurring. [3] [4]

So, where are we headed with all of this? Anyone with half a critical mind realizes what’s going on yet there appears to be no real attempt to stop any of it. It’s as though the world’s septic system is overflowing onto the surface and instead of being reviled by it, we are told to celebrate the diversity!

I don’t think so and I’m quite certain that Jesus would not be celebrating. In fact, it is believed by many conservative Bible scholars that the Old Testament appearances of the “angel of the Lord” were none other than the pre-incarnate visitations of Jesus Himself. We read in Genesis 19 where Jesus visited Abram with two angels. Abram treated these three with great hospitality. As the three were preparing to leave, Jesus (the Angel of the Lord), revealed what was going to happen to Sodom and Gomorrah. Abram began to inquire whether God would destroy the righteous with the wicked and we learned from this exchange that there were not even 10 righteous people in those twin cities. Abram stopped asking after the Lord revealed that the cities would not be destroyed if 10 were found there. The cities were destroyed.

Why does this flow of sexually charged behavior continue unchecked and at an alarming rate? Why does God withhold His judgment? I believe it’s due to two things. First, there are more than 10 righteous people in this world; people who have Jesus as Savior and because of that, have had Jesus’ righteousness imputed to their accounts. Second, it is the timing involved. We’re not there yet, but there is coming a day when the floodgates will open and God’s judgmental wrath will be poured out onto this world.

We know this will happen because of the truth of God’s Word telling us that it is sure to occur. Read Daniel, Ezekiel and Revelation and compare what they teach. Judgment is coming and there is nothing that can be done to stop it.

We won’t see a massive revival that forestalls God’s judgment, though to hear some within Christendom tell it, that revival is here and growing now. This is largely coming from the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) group where signs and wonders are the norm without question and without discernment.

Was reading another blog today from Watchman’s Bagpipes, who quoted from Gary E. Gilley’s book, “This Little Church Stayed Home: A faithful church in deceptive times.” [5] In part, Gilley states, “For two decades [as of 2006] the church-growth experts have told us that if we are to attract the unchurched, we must change the way we “do church.” We must offer them new “settings and experiences.” We must meet their perceived felt-needs. We must do away with biblical exposition and focus on stories. We must eliminate dogma and become relevant. We must do away with hymns and major on contemporary music…”

That’s actually been the problem with churches today. I’ve talked to numerous pastors who agree that the church needs to “change,” to update itself, to do whatever it takes to bring the unchurched into the church. But is this the actual goal of the Church itself? In other words, it appears that many have made the Church something that is man-centered instead of God-centered. For too many, the goal or purpose of the Church is to mainly and even solely reach out to the lost of this world and that’s it.

In order to accomplish this, we have been told for too long that the Church needs to downplay certain things and in some cases, get rid of things altogether replacing it with something that is more “hip” and something the world (the lost) can sink their teeth into. This is why too many individual churches have gotten rid of hymns and hymnals. They no longer use just the piano or organ. Now, they’ve got full orchestration including drums, bass and electric guitar. The louder, the better, they say.

In effect, too many churches have tossed doctrine out the door in favor of a veritable rock concert every Sunday. Why wouldn’t the world be attracted to that since the world is attracted to many forms of secular music that sound similar?

But what is the purpose of the Church? In a nutshell, it is to be the salt of the earth. When Jesus mentioned this in His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), while He was specifically referring to the nation of Israel at the time, it is clear that His Church (which came into existence later, in Acts 1-2) was created in part to do what Israel never did. There will come a time when the final remnant of Israel will actually be the salt of the earth and a very clear beacon or righteousness that will be a living example for the entire world (during the coming Millennial Kingdom), it is the Church now that is supposed to do that.

I looked up the question of the purpose of the Church at Got Questions dot org and this is what they said:

Acts 2:42 could be considered a purpose statement for the church: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” According to this verse, the purposes/activities of the church should be 1) teaching biblical doctrine, 2) providing a place of fellowship for believers, 3) observing the Lord’s supper, and 4) praying.

In essence, the first purpose of the Church is to edify the saints, teaching believers how to live righteously in a world flinging itself toward judgment. How? By the four things listed above. The Church is primarily a gathering place of fellowship for whom? Unbelievers? No. It is for believers, first and foremost. It is at church that we are to enter into fellowship with one another, worship of our God and learn what the Bible says about everything. Beyond this, we are to regularly observe the Lord’s supper to remind us of the great sacrifice God in Christ did for us.

The Church should not be made to conform to the world’s standards. When churches do this, they begin to fail. I talked to one pastor of a church we visited (we were out of town at the time) and he indicated that his goal was to get as many of the unchurched as possible into his church. Sad because when this occurs, the teaching is dumbed down (so as not to offend), and the music is drastically changed to become far more upbeat (like a rock concert).

A church like this, no matter how much “excitement” is seen on Sundays or Wednesdays, is not equipping the saints. They are more concerned about meeting the “felt” needs of the unchurched. A church cannot at the same time edify the saints by meeting their biblical needs and “edify” the unchurched by meeting their “felt” needs. It’s impossible. In such a case, the biblical needs of the saved/saints will be pushed to the back and the felt needs of the unchurched will take precedence. This is not why Jesus created His Church. Not even close.

Should Christians reach out to the lost? Of course they should without question, but that should be done in the world’s setting, not the setting of the church. If we are reaching out to lost people in the world and we invite them to our church, they should be prepared to hear absolute biblical truth in the form of correct Bible teaching and powerful hymns that have been based on the Bible.

There should be the sense of awe when lost people come into the church setting. In fact, saved/saints should also sense that awe because we are literally entering into the Presence of God for the specific purpose of worship and learning. We should have a sense of awe about this.

This is not to say that God’s Presence does not go with us daily, moment by moment, but just as the priests of Israel of old were to understand that when they donned specific priestly garbs, washed themselves in preparation of worshiping through sacrifice and once per year, when the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies, it was to remind them (and all of Israel) the high calling of God on every Jewish person in Israel.

Unfortunately, as we know, the Levitical priesthood became lax, corrupt and evil. This is one reason why during the Millennial Kingdom where Jesus will rule personally and physically, it will be the only the sons of Zadok who were Levitical priests who will enter and lead worship in the sanctuary that will be built for that time period. It is because the sons of Zadok remained true to God when the other priests faltered (Ezekiel 44).

Folks, the Church today has an equally high calling in this world and unfortunately, too many individual churches have compromised their position in order to “reach” the unchurched. They are not really reaching the lost for Jesus. They are growing in numbers only because they have corrupted their message to the world.

We see the results of this in society today and overall, total society is becoming more and more like Sodom and Gomorrah. It will not end well.

[1] http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170315-the-invention-of-heterosexuality

[2] https://summit.news/2019/09/13/conservative-nro-columnist-david-french-says-drag-queen-story-hour-is-one-of-the-blessings-of-liberty/

[3] https://www.theepochtimes.com/past-sex-offenders-participate-in-childrens-drag-queen-story-hour-at-local-libraries_3052840.html

[4] https://onenewsnow.com/culture/2019/08/22/another-drag-queen-reader-exposed-as-lewd-criminal

[5] https://watchmansbagpipes.blogspot.com/2019/09/the-church-has-jettisoned-her-message.html

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