Sunday, June 28, 2009

CHURCH SILENT AS AMERICA GOES TO HELL!

Matthew 28: 18-28 (AMPLIFIED BIBLE):
18
Jesus approached and, breaking the silence, said to them, All authority (all power of rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.

19Go then and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

20Teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you all the days perpetually, uniformly, and on every occasion), to the [very] close and consummation of the age. Amen (so let it be).

There are two important facts to note in this Gospel passage:

1. Jesus breaks His silence (verse 18).

2. He gave a DIRECT command.

We see here that Jesus BROKE His silence. Since then, His church has taken it up! As American culture slips further into Sodom and Gomorrah type status, there is seldom or never a peep from the pulpits of America to warn the flock of the wolves out there and secondly to go into the world and create disciples.

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that over 57% (YES! 57%) of Evangelical so-called Christians say there are other ways to salvation (and therefore Heaven) than Jesus Christ!!! What are they learning in church? AND, do you and I still want to be identified as an "evangelical"! I will no longer call myself one these heretic sheep!


This explains why the entire US church suffers from the Sin of Silence. Because there is NO biblical moral and worldview leadership in most megachurch or even small church, the sheep (or the children of God) have no passion or qualifications to go out and share the Good News of Christ! When you combine that with rampant spiritual laziness, we find the Great Commission is now the Great OMISSION!

Many words can be written on this topic and outrage would be totally appropriate here. The correct response would be for the remnant ( the less than 3% of us in the pews) to take up the dropped ball and run with it in the other direction. It does not matter if we are starting at the opponent's 1 yard line with 99 yards to go to the endzone. There is no clock - just a direct command to obey - and a lifetime of mission to accomplish this, prayerfully and humbly. The good thing is God does not expect us to score a touchdown on every carry....all we have to do is advance the ball (in Kingdom terms) down the field!


Saturday, June 20, 2009

Lutchman Family Golfing At Annual Charity Classic








The 6th Annual Rob Isringhausen/ Business Men In Christ Charity Golf Classic was a perfect example of God's Economy NOT being man's! In these days of prolonged recession, unemployment, high taxes, socialist medicine and climate change hoaxes.....states and countries all over the Globe are under duress.

Not so when God wants a job done. This year, we took on another charity to support - Contact Ministries of Springfield, in addition to our usual beneficiaries Inner City Mission, Relevant Practical Ministry for Men etc. After getting off to an impossibly late start just 7 weeks ago on a golf outing that takes 6-8 months to plan, the Lord took over and blessed it big time! Doug Ryherd, President of BMIC and myself got a team together that stuck it out and brought off this entire things with MORE sponsors than we have had in three years and more golfers than last year!!

We still stand in amazement about how all of this happens and fully acknowledge the 100% Sovereignty and Majesty of Holy God, who showed His Glory at the Piper Glen Golf Club, Chatham, Illinois(ranked no. 50 in the US by GOLF magazine).

Lutchman Family Ministries was one of the early sponsors. Sam and Bernie Lutchman, our two sons, golfed their first tournament for the first time and did great in their foursomes for newcomers!

God STILL speaks today!

Does God still SPEAK to His people?

There is a significant school of thought which says NO!! Most of the time, they can be formed in my Reformed and Bible churches etc. I am part of both - I believe in Reformed theology. This means I believe like Martin Luther and others that we ONLY saved by Grace, though Faith in Christ, to the Glory of God! I also believe all Bible-believing churches should teach the FULL Counsel of God ALL of the time - verse by verse, phrase by phrase, just as God wrote it!!

I also believe the Bible is a document set in stone. The pages of the Bible - all 66 books - are ALIVE THROUGH CHRIST and not for the manipulation of liberal, mortal, evil man for him to twist to his own political purposes. There are warnings against this in Revelation 22 (the last chapter). So there is no dispute about the Sanctity, Sufficiency and Security of the Bible....to put it bluntly, you mess with it at your own peril!

Where I separate myself from my fellow Reformed brethren is on the issue of God speaking to us in these last days. By denying this as a fact, they stifle the Work of the Holy Spirit! God has always communicated with His two-legged creation - man! Even before Moses wrote the Aleph Tav of the Torah, God was speaking to Adam. Christ sent His Holy Spirit to live in saved people as Guidance Counsellor and basically, to be our Satellite to what the Father wants us to know.

If, as they say, God is not speaking in these past 2000 years, why do we pray? Why do we intercede? Why do we fast? Why? Why? Why?!!!!! If, as the Five Point Calvinists there is such a thing as "LIMITED ATONEMENT" why even evangelize to reach the Lost for Christ?!! Huh???!!!

I have lost several conservative friends (and there is no one more Biblically conservative than me) who try to insinuate that I am a sort of whacked out "charismatic" because I believe in the many experiences and encounters I KNOW I HAD with the Lord! One very conservative well known person, won't even communicate with me anymore because of this. He and I were great friends for years before my first book came out.

This is still the Time of the Gentiles. Christ has not returned yet. We are all in God's plan for man. Until He comes, He will speak to, communicate with and commission whom He very well pleases and no doctrine of man will ever change that fact!

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

GUEST BLOGGER: NIKKI HAHN!

FROM NIKKI'S BLOG : THE HAHN HUNTING LODGE

When The Storms Come...

on Monday, June 1, 2009

(published May, 2009)

"Everywhere there is the persistent and insane attempt to obtain pleasure without paying for it....'Let us have the pleasure of conquerors without the pains of soldiers; let us sit on sofas and be a hardy race.' ...All around us is the city of small sins, abounding in backways and retreats, but surely, sooner or later, the towering flame will rise from the harbor announcing that the reign of the cowards is over and a man is burning his ships." - GK Chesterton

The storm came upon me again. I did not see it coming because this morning the day dawned with clear blue skies. I even dug into my “piggy bank” and managed a second Starbucks this week. The morning gave no indication of a storm. In fact, my morning was stupendous. I would tell you about it, but I take pleasure in keeping some things off the internet between God and me. I knew He was smiling at me this morning. I felt His peace as I sang praise songs to Him all the way to work. Nothing could dim my mood.

The second Starbucks became my fuel for an unusually busy morning. How was I to know when I asked for more work that I would get a deluge? I am not complaining. Most people know I love a good challenge, and just for fun, God threw in a new challenge: get over 200 CD’s done before 3 p.m. Unfortunately, I only reached 170. It felt like running a race and everyone kept throwing things in my path in which to trip. The storm exploded shortly before I left work.

A relative of mine once professed a fear of storms. She had her own dark room underneath the stairs with a bed and lantern. Every time a thunderstorm rolled in, she rolled into her little room. Maybe I would be safer to hide in a dark room with a little lantern and a warm bed. Maybe I will lock the door as the storms rage around me. How would this look to the unsaved of the world? A Christian who runs when a storm begins to gather on the horizon tells a false testimony.

When Tony and I went hiking last Saturday, we were embroiled in a huge storm. We were standing on one big mountain and the rocky cliffs of the dry riverbed in the distance did not offer much comfort. The thunder exploding overhead and the lightning bolt that missed us by fifteen minutes, was a lesson from Jesus. He is watching and taking care of us. He is bigger than any storm. As Tony and I prayed together walking fast down the muddy road, I sang “Amazing Grace.”

What should I fear in my life except fear? Let me stand in the storm with my arms raised to Heaven. Let me have the faith of David and fling my stone at the giants who try to fill my head with negative and false thoughts. Let me walk among my enemies without fear, without causing harm, and still show the strength of my resolve and conviction. In every storm, there is a purpose.

The flowers bloom. The grass smells sweet. The smell of rain, earth, and trees arrest your senses and the damp ground quiets your steps. After a storm, beauty blooms and abounds in the high desert. After a storm in our own lives, beauty abounds because we persevered. Jesus is more than just about love. He is not a flower child. He is God. Every storm brings in the perfect plan and result. We may not know it, but there is reward in trusting. Moreover, a storm eventually passes quickly.

NOTE FROM BERNIE LUTCHMAN:

NIKKI IS ON STAFF AT FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF PRESCOTT, ARIZONA. SHE IS MARRIED TO TONY HAHN.