How Did We get Here?

That is a question I had asked before but only in the last 5 years became eager to find an answer to. Moving from the rhetorical  to finding the reality came from several shocking experiences and rude awakenings. We have veered far from the ancient path f Jeremiah 6:16.

In a 2010 plunge into a ministries fight for life in Georgia -I suddenly turned around to find no back up from the sources normally and safely taken for granted on topics not even a casual  Bible believer would falter on. Pastors were the worst and have remained so. I found myself after 33 years in uncharted waters.The landscape was suddenly and it appears, forever changed . While modern evangelicals are on the surface more interested in impacting the world around us than in the past- “what that looks like” ( a phrase I am just about nauseated to use) turns out to be very different from the eternal perspective held forth by Jesus and the New Testament .We are looking more like bleeding heart liberals wanting to save society than end time prophets calling for a wayward people  to repent .We have lost something key and valuable .We seem to be navigating these disturbing cultural waters “At Worlds End” with the Compass of Capt. Jack Sparrow.

The real question is not how did we get here but more about who brought us to this  state like lost puppies  in these perilous times? I say puppies because the general state of the church and ministers in particular is immaturity and we are paying a very high price for it.If I told you that one of the people most responsible for the direction of the church today holds a socialist and a Marxist as “the two greatest thinkers of the last century” would you find that alarming? Likely yes if you are over 40 and likely no if you are not. Hence a big part of the problem. We are tired of our old enemies and have fashioned new ones mostly around doctrine and are not at all familiar with those which are anti Christ..But  Who is this person who has “filled the (evangelical ) world  with his pro socialist/ Marxist ideology while no one was discerning ? His name is Bob Buford and his organization has crowned pulpit princes for over 3 decades. Leadership Network is activist Bob  Bufords’ vehicle to flood the church with socialist Peter Drucker’s Frankfort School ideology on “individual  responsibility ” for saving society and Marxist/ Communist leader of the USSR Vladimir Lenin on “Centralized Power” .http://ccdl.libraries.claremont.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/dac/id/2569/rec/2    Page 5 shows the quote in an archived letter from Buford to Peter Drucker in November 1994 .That was ten years after the founding of Leadership Network. The church and the seminaries are buying the Buford “product “wholeheartedly and “Selling the evangelical farm ” in the process. It is impacting our understanding of the Gospel and of the Great Commission for it.

Which of these would you say is most important? According to Solomon there is much to consider here.Proverbs 29: 23- 27 gives us a clear picture of the two opposing motives. Verse 24 says whoever is a partner with a thief hates his own life,He swears to tell the truth but reveals nothing.25 The fear of man brings a snare ,But whoever trust in the Lord shall be safe. My wife and I have had a front row seat for this reality for two years running.We have engaged concerns over those in THIS snare and watched people we love and trust be everything but honest.This is heart breaking but true.

So here is the tension- we are in the world but not of it. We are called to be Salt and Light and separate from sinners and yet FRIEND of sinners as was /is Jesus.We can all be glad for that divine disposition .But how do Christians navigate the above mentioned  divided ? There seems to be found a virtual battlefield of dead evangelical bodies giving stark testimony to our failure in this endeavor.Yet we refuse to learn from others mistakes and missteps. The resulting train wreck is getting hard to watch.The Biblical Evangelical -though perhaps as yet unaware- is watching the standard of Faithful- God ONLY Fearing Christian testimony all but vanish from our cultural and church landscape. Why- Fear of Man-Partnership with (the ) THIEF -and seeking the rulers favor when justice for man comes from the Lord.(vs 24,25,26). The church is being led into the SNARE of political correctness- The SNARE of being mainstream-The SNARE of not being disliked- The SNARE of not being “with it”on the latest wave of culturally relevance driven evangelical self marketing motif .And we are drowning in a sea of SELF. In the US- America is burning and we are hanging cool drinking Latte and espousing our preferred systematic theology .

Here is what we missed. vs 27. The unjust man is an abomination to the righteous ( so why do we fear him or want to be his partner or appease him) and He who is upright in the way is an abomination to the wicked ( so why would he/she outside the faith want to be our pal? They really don’t we just – out of fear hope that they do). Abomination is a strong word .One we FEAR using these days.Friendship with the world is enmity with God -James 4:4 and Even our carnal mind whose reasoning got us in this mess is enmity against God.Romans 8:7 .What is the cure? A man’s PRIDE will bring him low,But the humble in spirit will retain honor.If we do not humble ourselves and do major course correction then we will lose BOTH FAITH and FACE. The leaders of many today’s evangelical churches and denominations are caught in this SNARE . Pray for them but do not follow them off the cliff if they are unwilling to humbly admit they are wrong. WE must ALL give account- Fear the Lord- only let HIM be your dread .

Welcome .In the last six to seven years my wife and I have discovered a disturbing trend in modern church life. In the past the perceivable lines between Biblical conservative and compromising ( culturally progressive ) Christians has been very distinct. No longer. I am not speaking to the arena of politics in this odd and intriguing election year although Biblical values should have a bearing in that arena. This trend is more related to the current trajectory of the church and how it defines ministry , the Gospel, and really God Himself. Change IS in the AIR and if we do not perceive it internally then it’s dangers are even more REAL.

Here are some of the topics and issues this blog will address :

*What Happened to  Eternal Clarity ?

*Why is the Local Church Getting into Health Care and Human /Social Services?                  The answer will shock you!

*Faith Vs Financing – Two worlds collide

*Is Jesus  Once again being Wounded in the House of His Friends?

*If the Church Could Identify its Nemesis ,”What Would That Look Like?”                       There is an enemy within our gates and it’s Leadership is ruinous. SPECTRE ‘s tentacles are everywhere in evangelicalism.

*Is your Children’s Church and Sunday School Curriculum Tainted?

*Can a Biblical Church Partner with Government ?

*The Church Among  the Agendas-How and WHY we are Compromising with the LGBTQ, Abortion, Gaming, Drug Legalization Agenda’s and other Destructive Social Ills .

*Church Among the Ruins- Our  Post Judgement Future .

*Fear and Loathing in The Pulpit and Elder Board-How our Churches are  being Transformed right under our noses.

*The Cult of Planned Giving. Watch OUT -They are after the old folks money!

*Can we be Doctrinal  / Theological Conservatives and Cultural Progressives?                           This is a serious issue. Many ministers display a type of bi-polar disorder

*A Deeply Personal and Painful Struggle- Sounding an Alarm People Do Not want to Hear.

Thirty Pieces of Silver 

Luke 18:8 ask a red ink question. The Lord Himself ask “Nevertheless when the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth”. The parable is of the widow and the unjust judge who did not fear God nor regard man . The purpose of the parable was “to the end” that we might persist in prayer. Today I think may of us are as weary as this woman .She cannot get  a hearing and the person whose direct influence would change her situation is godless and disregarding toward her and her cause.She has a compromised leader.

I think MANY in the church world identify with this woman today.We are in need. We are looking to leaders who are otherwise “occupied” and we are left weary and waiting. The great irony of today’s church landscape is that is literally littered with leadership. More degrees and pedigrees than ever and yet few who provide the kind of Biblical forthrightness even sinners long to hear. Between “Seeker Sensitive ” and “Social Justice” we have tied the tongues of our pulpits and drained the power of the life changing Gospel- substituting in it’s place  an anemic diversity of group therapy Bible study- or hand  patting in the pastors office . Today’s most urgent needs are lost in the shuffle of fear and ironically theology is substituted for Faith.

If you are in need today and your leadership is otherwise “occupied” or fearful ,or unbelieving – you really need to find out why.This blog is going to help in that struggle to understand.We are going to expose together some little known realities in the church world today.But your “help cometh from the Lord of Host -maker of heaven and earth ” Psalm 121 – look unto Him and be as persistent as this widow in Luke 18. And together lets uncover and expose and the truth and seek to help our lost leaders find their way home to the Throne.