HOW ARE CHURCHES FAILING AMERICA
PART 2
By
Pastor Roger Anghis
September 28, 2014
NewsWithViews.com
Last week we covered on area of how churches are failing America. That article generated quite a few emails, all positive, but mentioning other areas that were not mentioned. This week I will cover as many as I can.
The first thing I want to clarify is the church has always been allowed to tell the truth. Not many do. They seem to interpret scripture to their liking without regard to how it has been interpreted for centuries. I understand that scripture will reveal new revelation but it never completely changes the meaning as we have seen some denomination do over the last 50 years. What we are witnessing, in my opinion, is what Paul warned Timothy about in 2 Timothy: 2Timothy 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
(3) For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
(4) And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.[1] (Emphasis mine throughout)
Preachers today don’t want to offend anybody. There is merit to that. If a person is offended he may not be able to be reached but most people would rather be told the truth and then deal with it than to be lied to. I was lied to by preachers that I had a lot of respect for, but those lies did not help me deal with what the world was putting on me. I wanted to know where all this power was that the Bible talked about. I was told that all that was in a different dispensation. That didn’t set well with me because I was hearing about the power that Paul, Peter, Philip and others exhibited after Jesus raised from the dead. We are still in that dispensation! I was told that healing stopped with the death of the last disciple, but the disciples were to make disciples which means the last disciple hasn’t died yet. Jesus Himself said that we do greater things than He did: John 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.[2] If Jesus said this Himself, where does the church get off saying that healing or anything He did died?
This is one of the problems that is rampant in today’s church, the teaching of man’s doctrine over God’s doctrine. But this was even prevalent in the days of Jesus: Col 2:22 Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?[3] So many denominations make up their own rules to satisfy their own ideas instead of teaching God’s. This is the major difference between the preachers of the Founding Era and the preachers of today.
Many denominations have simply ignored God’s word concerning homosexuality. Scripture, even in the original language, could not be clearer on the subject. Leviticus 18:22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.[4] Romans 1:24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
(25) Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
(26) For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
(27) And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
(28) And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;[5]. God does not condone homosexual behavior under any circumstances. Nowhere in scripture can you find where He is even willing to accept it. In today’s churches, Lutheran, Methodist, Episcopalian and others now allow a practicing homosexual to be in a position of authority, a pastor or priest. Many segments of the Catholic church are calling for acceptance of that lifestyle God calls an abomination. Do these men ever read the Bible? Again, I say they have interpreted it to suite their wants and desires.
There are around 20 mentions of ‘innocent blood’ in scripture. I virtually every case it is a reference to the shedding of blood of someone that is innocent or defenseless. There is no doubt that ‘innocent blood’ can also be a reference to abortion. Abortions were performed in biblical days although very dangerous. Even science has confirmed that life begins at conception yet many so-called Christians believe that it is OK for a woman to get an abortion. The reason they think this way is because the pulpits won’t address it. It has become too political. The preachers have forgotten that it is a moral issue first and it is their job to preach God’s position. To no offend anyone, they leave the subject alone.
The fact that there are just as many people in the church that are living together as there are in the world is another fact that pulpits don’t seem to want to address. The pulpits of America have turned into wimps more afraid of the IRS than of God. I heard a preacher say one time that he had a dream and he was in hell watching a man going around looking into holes that had fire bellowing out of them. Occasionally he would reach down in the hole and grab someone and pull him up only to drop him back in the hole. The preacher asked the guy, “What are you doing?” and the man answered, “I’m looking for the preacher who lied to me!” That is a sobering thought. I will not and have never compromised the Word of God. I pay no attention to the Johnson Gag Order of 1954. The church was tax exempt from the founding of America and should not have to be controlled by the government to stay so.
There are consequences for ignoring God’s commandments. People live their lives the way they want to and then complain when things go wrong. They ask the question, ”Why did God let that happen?” If you stand out from underneath an umbrella when it is raining, you can’t complain about getting wet. It is the same way with God. When you live the life you want to live, drinking, chasing women, go to church a couple times a year, don’t tithe and only say a prayer when trouble hits, then you can’t blame God for what happens to you. You have gotten out from under God’s hand of protection and just like coming out from under the umbrella when it is raining, you’re going to be hit with everything that hits the rest of the world. We are promised that even though we are in this world He will protect us: Psalms 91:1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
(2)
I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in
him will I trust.
(3) Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from
the noisome pestilence.
(4) He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt
thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
(5) Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow
that flieth by day;
(6) Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction
that wasteth at noonday.
(7) A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right
hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.[6]
These are promises made by God himself that today’s church has forgotten. They need to preach the truth and ignore anyone who tries to control what they say. Thomas Jefferson, the Founder that the liberals always use to address the separation of church and state, in a letter to Samuel Miller in 1808 stated that the federal government had no authority whatsoever in governing religious activity: “I consider the government of the United States as interdicted by the Constitution from intermeddling with religious institutions, their doctrines, discipline or exercises. This results not only from the provision that no law shall be made respecting the establishment or free exercise of religion, but from that also which reserves to the States the powers not delegated to the United States. Certainly, no power to prescribe any religious exercise, or to assume any authority in religious discipline, has been delegated to the General Government. It must then rest with the States, as far as it can be in any human authority.”
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The church has been the foundation of America. When the church fails, the nation fails. If we don’t hold the church accountable, what our Founders gave us will be lost. We have allowed the federal government to walk all over our rights. It is time to take them back. Thomas Jefferson warned us: "Honor, justice, and humanity, forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which we received from our gallant ancestors, and which our innocent posterity have a right to receive from us. We cannot endure the infamy and guilt of resigning succeeding generations to that wretchedness which inevitably awaits them if we basely entail hereditary bondage on them."
Our battle has been chosen, fight we must. For part one click below.
Click here for part -----> 1, 2,
Footnotes:
All scripture is from the King James Version.
� 2014 Roger Anghis - All Rights Reserved
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Pastor Roger Anghis is the Founder of RestoreFreeSpeech.org, an organization designed to draw attention to the need of returning free speech rights to churches that was restricted in 1954.
President of The Damascus Project, TheDamascusProject.org, which has a stated purpose of teaching pastors and lay people the need of the churches involvement in the political arena and to teach the historical role of Christianity in the politics of the United States. Married-37 years, 3 children, three grandchildren.
Web site: RestoreFreeSpeech.org
E-Mail: editor@restorefreespeech.org
