MODERN DAY EPHRAIMITES? - WESTERN CHRISTIANITY & COMING JUDGMENT

A stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not prepare its heart and whose spirit was not faithful to God. The sons of Ephraim were archers equipped with bows, yet they turned back in the day of battle. They did not keep the covenant of God and refused to walk in His law. (Psalm 78: 8a-10)

This passage, in context, from Psalm 78 describes the Tribe of Ephraim. God

Himself was angry with Ephraim, one of the tribes of the northern kingdom of Israel which sold out to false pagan gods until they were finally wiped off the map by the Assyrians. Hosea 5:9-10 says "Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke; among the tribes of Israel I declare what is sure...on them I will pour out My wrath like water". People in the west, who have 3-10 dusty bibles in their houses have no clue what any of this means. Even so, the question most people of Christian-life faith would have is "what does any of this 'Ephraim' stuff have to do with me, anyway?"

As we will, right as rain, find out on Judgment Day, it has everything to do with us. We are a people born for such a time as this, when the possibilities and potential of reaching the 'ends of the earth' are greater than they ever were. The Apostles and disciples from Bible-writing days would have longed to see days like these. These are times when we have Bibles galore in all forms - electronic; audio, video, book form, even magazine form. We have super-star multimedia ministries all over the place. Rock star preachers and "worship singers" and television empires masquerading as ministries all over the place. Still, the Body of Christ, in what was once the most Christian nation in the world - the United States is feckless, reckless and void of any passion, courage, knowledge or biblical discernment. We don't pray, study the Word and worse, those who know the Word of God and even spout platitudes to their millions of viewers worldwide weekly, would NOT even stand up for ANYTHING at ANY TIME. 

The number of church leaders and clergy who stand for righteousness outside of the leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) and some Independent Bible (John MacArthur etc.), Assemblies and non-denominational churches may number less than 20% of the church in America. Credit men like SBC president Drs. Ronnie Floyd, Johnny M. Hunt, Robert Jeffress and power evangelists like Franklin Graham and Greg Laurie for standing up for Jesus, regardless. Christians around the world are being dehumanized and religious cleansing is happening over and over before our eyes, yet, apart from these courageous men, not one word of encouragement, or prayer or concern from the guys with the big national Christian TV shows etc. who have the reach and influence to ask millions to pray for Iraqi Christians, or the families of those left behind when Christian villages are burned in Nigeria or people are thrown into the Mediterean by the 'religion of peace', because they were praying to Jesus, the Savior of the World. The silence from those who can do something about it is deafening and in this way, they are exactly like the Ephraimites of Psalm 78:9. God has equipped them with everything at His disposal. The church in America and the west could not be more blessed with riches, buildings, electronics, comfort and good food. Yet, we do nothing with it. We pack up our picnic baskets, dust off the blanket, say we would "pray for ...(fill in the blanks), never do...and walk over to Starbucks for a latte. God help us.

It is time to stop writing books about "Your Best Life Now" and starting preaching repentance, prayer and perseverance of the saints. Any real Christian knows our best life is not NOW, but the one to come!!! 
It is time to stop worrying about $65 million state of the art jets and $5000 suits and start reading the Book of Romans to get your mind back on the sinful nature of man, and why Grace is all we need and actually have.
It is high time to stop being ashamed of the Gospel as if it is something to be twisted and manipulated to conformed to the corrupt debased culture of the day.
it is also high time to stop worrying about what political leaders ought to do because why are we surprised when lost people act like lost people? We need to worry about what WE are not doing for which we will answer one day!

Should we ignore the warning, which Hosea went on to give to Israel in Hosea 6:1-2, the church in general will face a terrible time when the Books are open on the "day of Rebuke" (Hosea 5:9). There is still time, but it will require the men and women of God, who are all in for Jesus in these last days, to stand up and say:
1 “Come, let us return to the Lord.
For He has torn us, but He will heal us;
He has [a]wounded us, but He will bandage us.
2 “He will revive us after two days;
He will raise us up on the third day,
That we may live before Him.
3 “So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord.
His going forth is as certain as the dawn;
And He will come to us like the rain,

Like the spring rain watering the earth.” (Hosea 6:1-3)

BOB WARREN, GOD'S FORWARD - A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS

Everybody has come across that one person in your life who has made a HUGE difference and even changed the direction of where they were heading. One such person, was prime among the very small group of Godly men who mentored me in Ways of the Lord. The Bible – the pure and powerful Word of God – is an integral part of me, now more than ever. It was not always so until I understood – from that same Bible – what victory Christ actually won for me at the Cross….and not just me, but all mankind for all time.

I would not have understood that victory or where the written proof was, were it not for a man named Bob Warren. Bob is my most unforgettable person in life. When he passed from this world on Monday morning, August 25, 2014 – he left behind a legacy which touched thousands of men, women and young people which most American preachers would give their big salaries for (maybe). The last time I saw Bob a couple or so summers ago, he was asking permission to pour his teachings into my oldest son, who showed an interest during camp and stayed up late for Bob’s late night mega bible studies. That was the kind of man he was. He reached into the inner city and the poorer counties and gave youngsters (boys and girls) a chance a summer camp experience they could never otherwise have .

He deeply affected both my sons’ lives because his BASIC (Brothers And Sisters In Christ)

The last leadership training for Summer Camp at
 Bob Warren's THE HILL, this past July 2014

Training was all about the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bible and walking it the Christian life. The sadness I saw in them trumped the deep loss I felt at the passing from the scene, of this hero of the Faith. So who was Bob Warren and why did he mean so much to those who knew him?  The lanky 6 ft. 4 inch athlete from Hardin, KY grew up on his folks hog farm and rose to such prominence in the late 1960’s in the South East Conference (SEC) in basketball, at Vanderbilt University, that he was drafted by both the NBA and the NFL! (Hardin, Kentucky, is just to the east of Paducah and the home of Murray State University). The SEC was well loved at that time, since the New York Jets had scored big with a quarterback named Joe Willie Namath of the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Bob turned down the NFL in New York (Giants) and chose the National Basketball Association, where he ended his career with the San Antonio Spurs, current reigning NBA Champs. To those who knew Bob, his stellar basketball career was not his biggest accomplishment in life.  He always talked more about the Lord than the guy he used to be who "put a round piece of leather through a round piece of iron"!! When the Lord Jesus Christ delivered him from the dominion of darkness and saved him, Bob entire life went straight into a whirlwind. At once, it was both his biggest victory and the most critical time of his life. As he told the intimate groups he spoke to, being born-again into the Kingdom of God cost him his marriage. His unsaved and non-believing wife immediately left him and Bob never dated for 25 years after that. The great athlete spent the next quarter century alone, but he was not alone. (He remarried later in life. His wife is Kimberly and his only son is Benjamin).

Bob Warren (1946-2014)

Bob Warren moved back to his dad’s farm after retiring from the NBA and immersed himself in the Word of God. He studied the Bible so much, he wore out a new Bible every two years. Bob knew the Bible so well, the Lord revealed more and more to him which he selflessly shared and passed on to anyone who asked.  I became acquainted with Bob Warren through a good brother in Christ – Bryan McKenzie, who was also our church youth pastor over a decade ago. He was injured while playing for the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons and completely at a loss about what to do next. Being from Kentucky himself, Bryan sought out Bob who was now well known as the premier Bible teacher of the Bluegrass State!  Bob told him to read the Bible four times and then come back and speak with him. Bryan read it once and went back to Bob.  Thus began an association which then spread to Illinois and hundreds of coaches, high school kids and athletes over the past 15 or so years. McKenzie went on to found the Central Illinois Chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) which is now the largest FCA in the state of Illinois.

One year, a long time ago, he handed me a set of cassette tapes of teaching from Romans chapters 1-8, by Bob Warren. Then he told me not to give it back to him until “I got it”. I did not know what that meant…i.e. “got it”. So I listen to the friendly southern preacher Warren explaining every verse of every phrase of eight chapters of Romans. I listened once – did not get it, even though I understood it.  The second time through – I can still remember the moment it hit me! I GOT IT! I got why this Book of Romans was not only the Book that launched the Reformation, but explained my Redemption!  I was free at last, just like Martin Luther! I was saved 13 years before, but I did not understand the Victory until I got through Romans 6 – 8 (twice) and felt myself completely living in the victory! If you think this was good news of the revelation of the Victorious Christian, this same study led a good friend of mine to being born-again just before I had gone through the study.

“PM” grew up in the ritualistic Greek Orthodox tradition and did not Christ as Lord and Savior  - until Bob’s teaching on Romans 1-8 opened his eyes. When he gave that testimony at a men’s breakfast several years ago, there was not a dry eye in the place. These are just a couple of the countless other such testimonies. More and more, Bob’s amazing revolutionary teaching from the Word reformed many, such as the guy who had his light come on while driving and pulled over to the side of the highway after listening to Bob, and knelt by the side of the road to give his life to Christ! My next step was asking myself “what more was I missing”? If I had just gotten the same revelation as Luther, Warren and McKenzie, there had to be more in that Bible – like 64 and ½ books worth more! Sure enough, I discovered Bob had a teaching on how to study the Old Testament!

Like most Christians, we tend to avoid the “Old Testament” as, well, “old”, not knowing that almost ALL the End Times prophesy were delivered from Heaven by the Old Testament prophets! By the time I had spent several weeks almost daily, stopping and playing those old cassettes, I was so familiar with the period of the Kings, their doings and How the Lord moved through human history…I sought out a local Messianic congregation to find out more about Hebrew roots of the Scripture. I am still friends with many in the national messianic Jewish movement, who look to Yeshua as Savior. My hunger and thirst for the Word of God and love for the Savior and Kingdom work, and primarily to connect the dots to such an extent that I can explain it to someone else, is partly the legacy of this great man – Bob Warren….and not just me, but God alone knows how many others!

On learning of the passing of such a great influence and friend in my life, the shock turned to joy once I overcame the grief, knowing that Jesus was giving him the rest and reward he truly deserved. The man who taught kids at his annual weeklong summer camp, the value of not just the Word but application (all kids had to go help a local farmer with his chores or repair projects) was now finally home, in the Abode of the Master.  His last book series, which he never got to finish was called “God’s Heart” and it was on selected topics of the Faith – from predestination to living in Hope. But while he will never finish writing them, he did not really have to – the lives of those whom he influenced and loved to Jesus,  are already living examples of God’s Heart to a perishing world. Thank you, Bob Warren, formerly of Hardin, Kentucky! Walk on, brother – as you always said – walk on in the streets of Gold, where you are now, for all eternity….until we meet again! Amen.

BobWarren’s website: “LIFE ON THE HILL”
Click here to purchase the Life-Changing teaching on Romans 1-8 from Amazon.com
The only known video message from Bob is an amazing testimony to a man whose walk was closer than most! You have to watch this: