DISCIPLINE #7 OF 12 - COUNSEL

 THE BMIC BLAST - JUNE 2025

ROCK SOLID FAITH FOR TROUBLED TIMES - PART 1

THE CONDITION WHICH COMMANDS CONTRITION

The parallels of Scripture with corrupt Modern American cultural Christianity are stunning.  You can find those in the debased Corinthian church; the legalistic Galatian church or the easily swayed Colossian church, just to name a few.  As King Solomon once said “there is nothing new under the sun”. Indeed, the calendar year changes but people remain the same. This is true in 21st century America as it was in Colosse.

In this New Testament Epistle, the Apostle Paul shows the obstacles facing the pure teaching of the Gospel by the various and sundry corruptions of it, then as they are now. Paul, under the Power of the Holy Spirit, gives three warnings in Colossians Chapter 2 which are worth looking into, in light of what we face today in Modern Christianity. There is a serious reason for a very much needed look at these warnings, because the direct fruit of deviation from the Word of God is with us now. We see it in the rise of the “None’s” – most of whom are increasingly people in their teens, 20’s and early 30’s who have not just walked away from our churches but believe in absolutely nothing. The Pew Research Center and Christian Pollster George Barna have both confirmed that over 1/3 of people under the age of 35 believe in nothing, and that means nothing higher than themselves. As for any "religious" affiliation, they have "none". Hence the name.

In a sense, some of them have a point if their only encounter with Christianity are dead or judgmental churches or those who sing and shout on Sunday and then sin every which way to Saturday. Those are called “hypocrites”.  However, while none of this will protect the “None’s” on Judgment Day from the Wrath of God, we must never stop warning them and all our Christian sisters and brothers out there, who can be blinded by this stuff in Colossians chapter 2, because it is so slippery and devious.

What we are attempting here in this short series on “The Indescribable Christ”, from the Book of Colossians is to point out the pitfalls, stumbling blocks and bear traps out there for the unsuspecting Christian who may not pay attention to this stuff.  The smart folk in theological seminary call this “Christology”!  

In the next few posts, we look at the warnings from the Apostle and Emissary from Christ, and take his words seriously. The reason is that Paul was specifically chosen by Jesus to warn all people of all time, through his teaching, to point everyone, even church going people, away from even their own churches and to Christ alone.

Here is what the initial warning is, before we look at the three main ones in Chapter 2. In Chapter 1:21-22 "21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight— 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister".

Christ is pleading with us, as He did through Paul in these two verses, to NEVER forget from whence we came and secondly just WHO He - Jesus Christ - really is. Look at the darkness and death from which Christ redeemed us....from Colossians 1:21-22...(see below):
 1. We were alienated (as far from God in body, mind and soul as possible).
 2. We were enemies - in thought and in our wicked works.
 3. But, in spite of that, God (through Christ) reconciled us fully to Himself.
 4. He not only did that, but cleaned us up so on that Day, we will be blameless.
 5. CAVEAT - our sanctification will only be complete if we stay close to Him.
 6. Our maturity in Him depends on standing FIRM on the Gospel in this life.
 7. This same Gospel will be the plumbline against which we will be judged.

THERE IS COMING A DAY.....(as the old Gospel song says)

Some Church Signs say it all!

A whole lot of Christians have been feeling like second or third class citizens in the greatest country in the world - America, founded as it is, on Christian principles. It does not matter if the country was founded, constitutionally, as a Christian country or not. The fact remains that the Foundations of America had its roots in the Gospel, Evangelism and the Bible. The country did not gain independence with just a war, but it was the great preachers and the Great Awakenings of the time which fired a new birth of Freedom.

The great George Whitfield, the British spirit-filled Methodist, who preached the Doctrines of Grace and Freedom in Christ up and down the Thirteen Colonies, leading thousands and thousands to Salvation and the famous Jonathan Edwards, were the catalysts. The numerous churches that benefited from these men's crusades and open air preaching, brought the message to villages and towns and even cities. This was actually the Christian fuel which energized the colonists and THEIR own preachers - the men who would later become known as the "Black Robe Regiment" (BRR). The BRR were the preachers of the American Revolution, who influenced their congregations (most of whom were in the rag-tag Continental Army) and their families into thinking that this cause of Freedom was in accordance with God's Will. Indeed, the British Red Coat Army was virulently anti-Christian in function and had no compunction about burning down a church or three if they got in their way during this American War of Independence.

There is a whole lot more about the rich Christian history and background of the American Experience from which we can learn. There are so many viewpoints on the US Constitution and its interpretation. However what matters most to us even more,  is not just the historical aspect of the Great American Christian Experience but what God says. 

Here is where the seeds of the movement to separate God from His people began in this country - with Paine and one of his fans, Jefferson. In fact, Jefferson's letter to the Danbury Baptists, in response to the lack of protection on the Connecticut Constitution for religious liberty, which was used to promote the idea of "Separation of Church and State", which is now accepted. 

Just like the created right to an abortion, the notion that Thomas Jefferson was promoting the "separation of Church and State" is an overreach derived from a poorly constructed sentence, exclusively extracted from his reply to the Danbury Baptists: "I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature would "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church and State." What that letter implicitly implies is the government would not create a state religion as existed at the time in England, from whence the Baptists came. What the secularist, atheists and their sort used was the last portion of the sentence "building a wall of separation of Church and State".

Now there has been an extremely troubling mindset for decades, if not the last two centuries, which may have overflowed from one of the founding fathers himself. That man was Thomas Paine, the "conscience" of the American Revolution and drive for the freedom which created the greatest country which ever existed - the USA. After the War was over and the new Republic was in full swing, under President George Washington, the British-born Paine went over to France to fully indulge in his lifestyle - Atheism! His work "The Age of Reason" (1794) set Europe ablaze in furthering their rejection of the Gospel and Christianity and became popular with deists in the US like Thomas Jefferson, Ethan Allen and Benjamin Franklin - all heroes of the War of Independence. Jefferson and Franklin were not averse to religion in public life as they saw it as necessary for the public good. However, while the elites loved the atheists and his venom against Scripture and Jesus Christ (just as they do today), there was a backlash against Paine. He was called a "demi-human arch beast", "a loathsome reptile" and "an object of disgust, of abhorrence, of absolute loathing to every decent man except the President of the United States (Jefferson)". (Source: Wikipedia).

Charles Darwin took Thomas Paine's Age of Reason to heart and those in the evolution theory movement took his atheism to the extreme. Darwin's immediate family was so stunned that they created a story around this death that he died a Christian. Those in the secular humanist and atheist movement also took Jefferson's seemingly innocuous words to the extreme and are attempting to shut down any mention of Jesus in public life; the Bible and its moral/spiritual truths. It is always the case when a leadership movement in any sphere, conducts himself in an unworthy manner. His descendants and followers take it to the extreme of evil. Such was the case with King Solomon whose 1000 plus wives and concubines were mainly pagan and idol worshippers. Solomon's sons saw how he lived and worshipped the devil more than their father did, resulting in the Kingdom of Israel splitting into two with ten of the twelve tribes eventually being wiped off the earth, by the Assyrians in the 8th century BC.

It is against this backdrop which we find ourselves in the 21st Century. It is against the backdrop we get signs like the one above, where Christians and students of the Word of God - the Bible - know what is eventually coming down the pike. In a sense, this church sign pictured above is absolutely correct. 


In the next post, we will examine what the Rapture is, is not and why this sign addresses a truth which many would rather sweep under the carpet. 

VLAD THE INVADER & THE AMERICAN SOUL (New Poll Reveal Decline in Beliefs)

Back in 2001, a famous American leader said he looked into the eyes of Russian President Vlad "The Invader" Putin. Then that American politician declared that he "found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy. We had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul; a man deeply committed to his country and the best interests of his country.” This is what happens when people look at spiritual things with completely humanistic eyes.

Putting aside the spiritual and theological folly of that, the question remains - can you look into a person's eyes and see their soul? Yes and no...as an evangelist who has encountered maybe thousands of people in the past two decades, from witnessing about the Gospel to handing out gospel tracts in massive parades, I can state for a fact that a spirit-led Christian CAN discern the lost nature of a person. 

If you first set your mind on God and pray as King Solomon prayed in the beginning (1 Kings 3:11b -  but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right), God WILL grant you that extra dispensation to see things the average person constantly passes over.  It is absolutely scary to look into the dead eyes of scores of wasted twenty and thirty somethings in front of bars at 11 in the morning of a St Patrick's Day Parade...or a stinky tavern during the three mile long State Fair Twilight Parade or witnessing to this current lost generation. It should scare the daylights out of people like you and I, because we do something more about it, these people are all going straight to hell as more and more people do not seem to care. It is almost a reflection of the American soul! 

What is really the true state of the American soul? Can a nation have a soul, in the first place...or....a continent...and western civilization? The answer is yes. However, when taken as a whole, facts are starting to show that we have lost our way. Briefly, here are the latest relevant numbers from the Harris Poll on what America believes: 

--68 percent believe in heaven, down from 75 percent;

--68 percent believe that Jesus is God or the Son of God, down from 72 percent;

--65 percent believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, down from 70 percent;

--64 percent believe in the survival of the soul after death, down from 69 percent;

--58 percent believe in the devil and hell, down from 62 percent

There are a lot more numbers, but these are just a sample from just two months ago and every single important category is down from an already declining number in 2005. (Read the rest of the Harris Poll here)

The main draw from this is to examine the Spiritual Condition of the Country. The diagnosis is CRITICAL. Second and third opinions have confirmed this. Instead of wondering about wondering about Vlad the Invader (of Ukraine etc) and his soul; we had better wake up from the self-induced soul sleep which the powers of darkness have successfully lulled this country into!

While we are losing scores of unsaved people to eternity daily, the corrupt leftist culture of sleaze from music, film and social media is extending its tentacles into formerly safe homes and churches. We are losing the very future - our precious millennials and our grandchildren to the world, and no one seems to have a clue or a passion to do anything about it! Citizens of the wealthiest and most blessed nation in the world care more about using their electronic gadgets and temporal self-aggrandizement than eternal things.

To combat that, the western church (England, Europe, North America etc) in a sign of their theological background gone soft, has been discovering more and more that they're now part of the cultural landscape. Sunday morning in too many of our top churches in most of the major population centers of the west (and that includes Australia) have become entertainment centers with rock star preachers...some with multi-campuses on the jumbo-tron TV screen and everything else that goes with their multi-media industry. 

As a result, they spend so much time trying to maintain that level of whatever-they-call-that kind of ministry, they have almost no time for the real work of the true church - raising up disciples; outreach and true service. The upshot of all of this is - the church is now mirroring the culture! Divorce, pornography addiction, alcohol and drug abuse and all the junk of society are playing out inside the walls of the church building. Is it any wonder we get the poll numbers of the rapid Decline of the Faith in the God (and therefore Christianity) we just saw being released by Harris and other polling outfits?

It is so bad now that the sign over the door of the church of our fathers that used to read "YOU ARE NOW ENTERING THE MISSION FIELD" is now inside the church sanctuary. So what is the condition of the American soul? - SICK!

NEXT: WHAT SHOULD WE DO?

HOW DID I BLOW IT?........Part 1

"There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death"...Proverbs 16:25

From now until Father's Day, a series of messages will focus on the Life God has called us to, and how some of us just blow it! It is impossible to think of a man who was more blessed, anointed and showered with goodness than King Solomon! He was called the wisest man who ever lived! When God asked him to name anything he would like to have, unlike most today, Solomon asked for "biyn". Biyn is not the Hebrew words for simple wisdom, but a powerful expression of discernment.

The great son of King David, which came out of his marriage (and adultery) with Bathsheba, chose wisely. Because of that God said to him "“Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, and have not even asked long life, but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may govern my people over whom I have made you king".

This man spent years studying, writing proverbs and judging with expert precision. Kings, queens and rulers worldwide came to see and bow down to this amazing man, who had everything. His wealth, fame and more became legendary. Solomon was in demand far, and near. He shared bountifully with those who asked and gave of himself to the good life. The problem was - Solomon began to believe his own press! The wisest man in the world, never took his own advice....and Solomon began his spiral into a life of hedonism, sexual conquest, grieving the Holy Spirit and leading an entire nation into degradation. Solomon became the opposite of what he preached.

Tomorrow: "What happened?"

(Image courtesy Google)