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By Paul Proctor
August 25, 2005
NewsWithViews.com
It�s been all over the news lately that in the land of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Jew has now turned against Jew. In recent days, to the amazement of onlookers, Israeli soldiers have been forcibly removing Jewish families and entire communities from their homes and properties in anguish and in tears for, of all things, the sake of peace; the result of an ungodly agreement between Israeli leaders and Palestinian terrorists whereby Israel willingly exchanges certain parts of God�s Covenant Land in hopes of co-existing peaceably with its sworn enemy. In a recent report by Koenig�s International News, editor Bill Koenig described it as a battle between �secular Jews � and �religious Jews;� a confrontation that is sure to expedite the intervention of God and judgment upon those responsible.
So, what�s the difference between a �religious Jew� and a �secular Jew,� you might ask?
To put it simply: One believes God and the other does not.
To Abraham, the Lord said this:
�And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.� � Genesis 17:7-8
But did you know that a strikingly similar struggle has been underway here in America? While �secular Jews� ran �religious Jews� out of their homes in Gaza, those I would call �secular Christians� have been, believe it or not, running �religious Christians� out of their church homes in this country for much the same reason: the sake of peace. So, what�s the difference between a �religious Christian� and a �secular Christian,� you might ask?
One believes God and the other does not.
James Sundquist, author of �Who�s Driving The Purpose Driven Church?� chronicled a few of these heartbreaking stories in a clever parable he put together called �Spiritual Euthanasia.� Many such victims have written to me with their traumatic tales over the years. Some wrote about refusing to sign covenants of capitulation. Others just could not condone a commercialized Christianity; while more simply would not sit silent before false teaching; and for their opposition, they paid a price. Objectors were ostracized, victims were vilified, memberships were revoked and some were even escorted off of church property.
You see, today�s �secular Christians� decided somewhere back there that it was time to bring the culture into the church in the interest of evangelism and make the gospel more relevant to reprobates, thereby compelling Christians into a compromised co-existence with the enemies of Christ by giving them a place and a voice once reserved exclusively for the redeemed. It was soon learned that many of the �religious Christians,� (the ones that believed God and obeyed His Word) would have to be expelled as �resisters� in order to facilitate change and keep the peace. So, it was out with the old and in with the new; or should I say, out with the reverent and in with the raucous?
Now, secular-friendly CEOs exalt their high-tech mega temples and all that is in them in much the same way the temple in Jerusalem and its treasured contents were lauded by its hierarchy before the Romans raided and ravaged it in 70 A.D. Like the first temple, plundered and put in ruin by invading Babylonians in 586 B.C., the second was also laid waste, leaving Jews slaughtered, scattered, persecuted and without, not only their place of worship but also their homeland for almost two millennia. Why? � Because they, like the church today, sought their own way while rejecting the Lord and His.
Now it has become the driving desire of countless congregations around this country to expand and refashion their simple structures into grand palaces of bread and circus where believers and unbelievers can be lured into facilitated fellowships of compromise and consensus by way of their �felt needs� to enjoy not only the steady beat of the street but also a steady diet of passion-filled, purpose-driven psycho-heresy and all of the cultural relevance a secular Christian could covet; praising, worshiping and serving one another in the name of Christ while tolerating anything and everything at the expense of His Word so as to justify and gratify the appetites and senses of all; creating a chaotic peace; a �unity in diversity� by the mixing of truth with lie and good with evil; something the bible clearly condemns.
�Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.� � 2nd Corinthians 6:14-17
Little do many Christians know that recently reinterpreted Eminent Domain laws and zoning restrictions have made their glorious tax-free amusement parks prime targets for confiscation by commercial developers who can now, with the government�s own blessing and powerful arm of enforcement, turn church members out on their ears and church buildings and properties into revenue raising real estate. Can�t happen, you say � not with so many red state republicans in office and an evangelical Christian conservative in the White House? And, why couldn�t it? If the Lord would allow the temple in Jerusalem to be taken from His chosen people in their rebellion by heathen opportunists, do you honestly think He would not allow the very same encroachment on His errant elect, regardless of who is in charge politically?
Today�s �church� is so preoccupied with itself and its own �health, wealth and success,� having been cleverly captivated by the self-empowering doctrines of demons and the ecclesiastical elevation of everyone�s self-esteem that it can�t even begin to perceive the fate that awaits it.
Newsweek just published a sobering article entitled: �In Search of the Spiritual� that draws some rather calamitous conclusions concerning the unbiblical beliefs of 21st century Christians and the spiritual smorgasbord people in general are searching for and embracing today. I have listed just a few quotes from the piece below for your consideration; each followed by a short scriptural response:
1. �According to the NEWSWEEK/Beliefnet Poll, eight in 10 Americans � including 68 percent of evangelicals�believe that more than one faith can be a path to salvation, which is most likely not what they were taught in Sunday school.�
�Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.� � John 14:6
2. ��says Alan Wolfe, director of the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life at Boston College. �Rather than being about a god who commands you, it's about finding a religion that empowers you.�"
�He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.� - 1st John 2:3-5
3. ��People are looking for transformative experience, not just a new creed or dogma,� says Surya Das, a U.S.-born Tibetan lama whose spiritual journey began in 1970, when he was a student from New York's Long Island named Jeffrey Miller��
�And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.� � 2nd Thessalonians 2:7-12
4. �Stephen Cope, who attended Episcopal divinity school but later trained as a psychotherapist, dropped into a meditation center in Cambridge, Mass., one day and soon found himself spending six hours every Sunday sitting and walking in silent contemplation. Then he added yoga to his routine, which he happily describes as �like gasoline on fire� when it comes to igniting a meditative state. And the great thing is, he still attends his Episcopal church�a perfect example of the new American spirituality, with a thirst for transcendence too powerful to be met by just one religion.�
�Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.� � Matthew 7:21
5. �To Bridgette O'Brien, a 32-year-old student in the recently created Ph.D. program in Religion and Nature at the University of Florida, �the divine is something significant in terms of the energy that pervades the natural world at large.� Her worship consists of composting, recycling and daily five-mile runs; she describes herself as �the person that picks the earthworms off the sidewalk after the rain to make sure they don't get stepped on.�"
�There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.� � Proverbs 16:25
In spite of all the postmodern positivism with its Designer Christ and �new spirituality,� the Lord does not deliver the defiant. He does, however, rescue the repentant; but repentance is not preached much anymore because it offends; and so this country and all of its �secular Christians� stand before a prophesied peril of poverty and perdition, cloaked in a presumed peace and prosperity that was wrought from a pride in our own prominence, perversion and powers of persuasion; spoken of by the prophets of old, the Lamb of God and a couple of aging Apostles named Paul and John; all rejected resisters who warned of a coming apostasy and the dreadful day of reckoning that would soon follow.
�For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape� � 1st Thessalonians 5:2-3
�Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first �� � 2nd Thessalonians 2:3a
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Paul Proctor, a rural resident of the Volunteer state and seasoned veteran of the country music industry, retired from showbiz in the late 1990's to dedicate himself to addressing important social issues from a distinctly biblical perspective. As a freelance writer and regular columnist for NewsWithViews.com, he extols the wisdom and truths of scripture through commentary and insight on cultural trends and current events. His articles appear regularly on a variety of news and opinion sites across the internet and in print.
E-Mail: watchman@usa.com�
...the result an ungodly agreement between Israeli leaders and Palestinian terrorists whereby Israel willingly exchanges certain parts of God�s Covenant Land in hopes of co-existing peaceably with its sworn enemy. ...
