A LIFE LIKE AN EVER-FLOWING STREAM

..."let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream (Amos 5:24)

This sounds like a beautiful kind of quote, doesn't it? It could even end up as a meme or in a Daystream greeting card that sells at Hobby Lobby or Walmart. But one look at what precedes it should send some shivers down the spines of many church attendees; faithful believers and even the growing number of "nones" these days. (The "Nones" being those who believe in absolutely nothing and they are the growing number of millennials and generations X, Y and Z).

Look again at the Lord Himself said in the preceding verses:

"Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!  Why would you have the day of the Lord? (verse 18)

"Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light,  and gloom with no brightness in it? (verse 20)

"I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies" (verse 21)

"Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them" (verse 22a)

"and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them" (verse 22b)

"Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen" (verse 23)

Now let's look at the words highlighted in yellow and check their meaning:

Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! - Are you really ready for Judgment Day? It begins the split second just before we die, and when heaven or hell becomes real. if you are not certain of your eternal standing with God, do NOT wish to leave this life right now, no matter how difficult you and I may think it is, how tough it is or how financially broke you are. This is nothing compared to the eternity a person faces in hell, FOREVER, away from the presence of our Holy God. Those who believe in nothing, especially, should beware that coming day, because as sure as the sun rises in the east, that day is fast approaching.

Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light - all through the Bible, there are ample warnings of what the "Day of the Lord" really means. It is even called "terrible day of the Lord" in Joel 2:31, Zephaniah 1:14-15 and Acts 2:20. In case some Christians are wondering what that means, Jesus gave a preview which should scare us all. In Matthew 7:21-23 He warns that not everyone who calls Him "Lord, Lord, will be allowed into Heaven"... Not everyone who teaches Sunday School, goes on Missions Trips, feeds the hungry and even preaches from the pulpit will get into heaven. Why? Because they were never forgiven or repented or born again.

Therefore the Lord says this of those whose service in the church is all about what they do, how they feel and what they get out of their "Kingdom Word". God says:

I hate, I despise.....I take no delight (in your "work for me" in verse 21). He says "I will not accept them......"I will not look upon them" (verse 22b)

"Take away...I will not listen" (verse 23).

Those are hard words, and while many today do not, will not and have no interest in finding out if they are even true or not, if we could, ask those who have lived before us and are now forever separated from God. The great (in terms of man's greatness) French author Voltaire lived around the time of the French Revolution. One of his primary goals in life was to do away with not just the Bible, but Christianity. He predicted Christianity will be dead within a hundred years of his life. He hated Christ. He disputed the divinity of Christ and called for the abolishing of Sunday, so Christianity could be gotten rid of. On his deathbed, the priest in attendance asked Voltaire one more time, to renounce the devil. Voltaire's reply was "this is not time to make new enemies"! His house was later sold to the French Bible Society.

After the Lord gave all those warnings to His people through the ancient prophet Amos, one which still is in effect today, He gives an opening for us, if we can JUST SEE IT! Our Heavenly Father exhorts us to "let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream". In other words, if we just live right, according to the teachings and precepts of the Lord Jesus Christ, our lives would be like an "ever-flowing stream". This stream is like ones we see rushing down the side of a crisp green fertile mountain, where the cool clear water just rushes over the rocks down to the valley below....and never stops. It flows forever.

The Christian whose identity is found in Christ, who is redeemed, sealed by the Holy Spirit and living in the fruits of this Same Spirit, Who is God, will always be a constant source and font of peace, love, joy and grace to all around him/her - day afer day, night after night - year after year. This is the choice we have. The "Nones" and those who play games with God will face ALL of those things highlighted in yellow above, because they are written as a last warning for them. Those who fully rely on God, in Christ, will reflect His Justice and His mercies and love, which endures forever.

REVIEW: GOD'S NOT DEAD 3 - HIS LOVE CONQUERS ALL

In an age where an increasing number of young people under 30 are now starting to walk away from the One True Faith, it is fitting that those of us with a large megaphone, speak up with solutions. This is precisely, one of the major takeaways from the brand new movie (released March 30, 2018) - GOD'S NOT DEAD 3 - A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS. 

In a sense, one of the major solutions reminds us that the old must become new again. That particular solution is Love and a great message coming out of this new movie by David AR White and his Pure Flix production company. We live in times of extreme hatred, bullying, permanent division and upside down morals. GND 3 attempts to address some of this division, in light of everything else, with the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and some strong human emotions from both sides of the conflict, in the movie.

At the end of GND 2, released in 2016, the scene was set for this sequel at the end of the credits. David White, as Pastor Dave, was taken away in cuffs because he refused to submit his sermons for review by an oppressive city hall. At the time, this issue was heavy in the air with the overreach of the former Houston Texas Mayor, in real life, who had subpoenaed the sermons of five Houston preachers in 2014, over the pastors teaching directly from God's Word. This unconstitutional act backfired nationally, as it should.

However, GND 3 - heads off in a completely direction. The arrest of Pastor Dave brought up another issue, which while related to the freedom of religion and to preach the Bible, tested the limits of the so-called "separation of Church and State". Religious liberty is still a potent issue with atheists attempting to remove chaplains from NCAA football teams in recent years, in the Bible belt of all places. Here in this movie, the increasingly liberal and narrow thinking of an anti-God society led to the accidental burning down of a historic church on the "Hadleigh" college campus.

The secular staff, of this once Christian school, used that tragic occasion, which resulted in the death of a visiting African pastor, to kick the burnt out church (St. James) off campus for good. This, obviously, did not sit well, with Pastor Dave and his congregation or friends.  He decides to travel to Chicago in his Prius to seek legal help from his brother, Pearce, who is a social justice advocate. Pearce is not a believer even though both he and David grew up in the same home with dad as the pastor of St. James. Pearce is played by John Corbett, who just a year ago, had the lead role as the real-life Pastor Michael Spurlock, who became renowned for rescuing a Tennessee church, which he was assigned to close down. Corbett is one of the well-known star-studded cast of God's Not Dead 3. 

The amazing thing, from the casting point of view, was how all cast members appeared in sync with both the screenplay and the execution of their roles. Christian movies with controversial themes are difficult enough for an authentic Christian to bring off the role with believability. David White did this perfectly here. I have seen his movies from the early evangelical short films of over 20 years ago, up to now. This role was his best ever, as all the nice happy church days of God's Not Dead 1 and 2, disappeared with the reality of late 21st Century American attitudes towards church and God.


This movie is full of drama with a well-written screenplay, which was obviously keyed in on current real-life events, and how it affects both the Church and young people. One particular scene involves the coed lead Samantha Boscarino (Keaton) telling Pastor Dave off about the reason millennials are not interested in Faith (Christianity) anymore. While Keaton character has a point, this did not happen in a vacuum. The "NONES" - the increasing number of people who do not believe in God etc. - got that way because of school indoctrination, parents who did not raise them with the Bible and THEN a church which is still playing games, instead of reaching souls and making disciples of their members. 

All of us in strong ministries which focus on discipleship, prayer, and families should go see this movie.  It will also remind us in ministry, especially the pastors and church leaders among us, that the Church of Jesus Christ is NOT theirs to do as they/we please. It is God's and He will do as He pleases. It is also a good one to take an unsaved friend to, because those who doubt or walk away, need to come around to the Truth that is an old-fashioned concept like Love, is still answer. However, more importantly, this Love has only one Name - and His Name is Jesus! His Love is victorious over all.

MOVIE WEBSITE HERE
PURE FLIX WEBSITE HERE

PSALM 103: VERSES 14, 15 AND 16 - "HE KNOWS MY NAME"

For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust. As for man, his days are like grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes. When the wind has passed over it, it is no more, and its place acknowledges it no longer (Psalm 103:14-16)

The brevity of life, life at any age, is never more evident as one day seems to roll into the next into the next month, and into the next year. Time is fleeting at warp speed. It used to be that only senior citizens thought life was moving to a conclusion too fast. It is kind of like when you get to the end of the roll of paper towels, where the final few sheets coming flying off the cardboard roll, faster than newer paper towels. Nowadays, however, even younger people complain that time is moving too fast…and who can blame them?

There are so many distractions in all our lives that there are not enough hours in the day to pay attention to even, 35% of it all. There are only so many hours in the day to get work, sleep, have family time…as well as do all the things millennials think they have to do be relevant.  Sadly, of the latter, none of it has eternal meaning and/or benefit to those who live like this. We know from practically every survey that most of the last two generations can be classified as NONES – that is, people who have no faith. Even worse, a vast amount of those who do, think you can practice “Cafeteria Christianity”.

Cafeteria Christianity will send a huge population of self-professing “Christians” into outer darkness, where there is eternal separation from God. Because of horrible preaching, teaching, discipleship of the Post World War II generations and the Baby Boomers, the glide path to perdition was opened up wide for the destruction of the generations we see today. Scripture, and the Holy Spirit Who guides all who are redeemed, DAILY, is more than extremely clear.

Consider the following facts:

• We are created in the image of God.
• We were built for eternity and relationship with God.
• Adam and Eve forgot that God says they will “surely die”, and brought sin into the world.
• Because of sin, our life-spans are shortened.
• God knew us not just before He formed us in our mothers’ wombs, but before the foundation of the world.
• We were appointed to be born into the family, location and time period by God, Who then decides how long we live on this planet.
• We can be as healthy and strong as an ox, like Moses was at 120, but when God is it is time, it is time!
• Our lives can be full of beauty and good deeds, and just a joy to others. In the affluent western world, and especially in the younger generations who were not taught Godly values and morals, they think this is supposed to last forever with no pain, suffering or hard times.
• Reality is real. This means accidents will happen. Tragedies will claim the very young and even vulnerable. Nothing but the present is promised.
• God will bring all actions and beliefs into judgment. (Ecclesiastes 12:12-14) Remember the Lord in the days of your youth because most times, there is no time for death-bed conversions.
• When we were young, we wanted to be older. Now we are older, we wish we could be young again. Therefore, begin with the End in mind, because the End is within view.
• It is appointed for man to die once, and then the Judgment (Hebrews 9:27).

God knows everything about us. If a person has a real relationship with Abba Father through Christ, you know exactly that of which I speak. He created us, no matter what the pagans of the world teach or believe. He knows us intimately – when we hurt and when trouble (or good things) are heading our way. He prepares us for these things if we would only listen and pay attention.   This is the essence of these three verses from Psalm 103 (14-16).

We are as easily disposable as the “grass of the field” or the beautiful flowers therein.  If this only sounds like poetry, then look at your own backyard or front lawn. The grass can be beautiful and green after the Spring rains and in the summer. But look at it when the drought hits or when the Fall and Winter deprives it of the ability to grow. Then, ignore the dandelions and weeks and then look at it. Even after it is cut, it soon becomes unruly. This is the metaphor for us. If we do not remain on the alert as Christ warns us, or stay close to the Flame by daily repentance, reading or worshipping through the Word or prayer, we too will be like the chaff, which the winds driveth away.

The entire point of examining the Word of the Lord so in-depth, on this site, is to discern the Mind of God and how He wants us to live. He has told us right here about the fleeting nature of our lives. Let us them make them count, to the beauty and glory of His Name and for the benefit of others. This way, we will enter Eternity and Life in the Presence of God, with peace, joy, and contentment, in Jesus Strong Name, Amen.

2000 YEARS LATER - WHERE IS THE PANIC?

Oh that some of our modern day appointed ‘shepherds of the flock’ would be troubled and panicked, for the right reasons rather that sit and waste the Good News or even worse, treat the church of Christ like some small business to be managed, with these men as their  “CEO’s”.  In Matthew 2, we saw that Herod and all Jerusalem (meaning his “co-conspirators”) – the religious leaders – were in a panic (or troubled) when they discovered the prophesies had come through after hundreds of years and the Promised One was here.  I am sure if you asked any of those religious leaders – the Pharisees (priests); theologians and others – they would all claim they were eagerly awaiting for the Messiah.  Yet, when it finally happened,  we know from history they did not want to give up their power, prestige and possessions.

Well, the Messiah is getting set to return again, and we have almost the same principles of turf-protection, instead of proclamation of the Wrath which is to come, and therefore, the Wonder and Willingness of the Wonderful Savior to forgive all who seek after Him!  We know not the hour or the day or year, but each day is one day closer and Jesus DID give us a command for such a time as this. We are “go and make disciples”.  A disciple is first someone who is saved and born-again into the family of Christ. You know the saying: “born once, die twice but born twice, die once”. This is the main and only qualifying entry point to becoming a disciple.   You are either born again and know it, or you ain’t.  You and I, in our mortal state, cannot just “trust” or convince ourselves that we are saved into eternal life. We have to KNOW that we know that we know and lately, that is not going too well.

Barna Research just released (in early December 2014), some staggering figures as to the state of the unchurched in America and it is worse than ever. Who is to blame? Well – who else? The church and its leaders are to blamed first of all, and then those in America who call themselves Christians, due to the fact that they were born here.

The Ten Facts about America's Churchless - courtesy the George Barna Research company can be viewed and studied HERE.  Just briefly, here are the 10 main headings:
 1. The number of unchurched people in America would make the 8th most populous country in the world.
2. In the past decade, more people in the U.S. have become churchless than live in Australia or Canada.
3. The vast majority of America’s churchless have attended a church.
4. While the churchless are primarily men, the percentage of women in their ranks is on the rise.
5. The unchurched in America tend to be less educated than the churched.
6. The Pacific Coast is home to the largest percentage of churchless per capita.
7. The unchurched are more likely to be unmarried.
8. The younger a person is, the less likely he or she is to attend church.
9. Unchurched adults are more likely to be white.
10. The majority of the churchless in America claim Christianity as their faith.

While the numbers are obviously important in this new paradigm as we see them steadily declining, what should concern us is the reason behind the decline. Just looking at these major headings, which Barna's people went deeper into (click the links above and read), we can note some really troubling things.

Brief Analysis of the Barna Survey Results:
-  Re: Item #3: many of the churchless (or "nones") used to go to church.

-  Item #4: men, especially mostly married men, walked away and left their wives to take care of the spiritual "needs" of their children. We know from multiple surveys, studies and just plain facts, that if the father in the nuclear family leads mom and the kids to church (a real bible-teaching church, that is), the chances of the children being saved and living a life of faith is still currently over 60%. If it is only a single mom, with the father of those children just walking away from her, in spiritual cowardice, that percentage drops down dramatically to below 15%!!! This is where the western hemisphere is caught in a slide towards a bottomless pit of despair.

-  Item #5 of Barna's findings of this intensive multi-pronged survey found that the least educated a person is, the more likely they are to be unchurched! This flies in the face of the liberal charge that a Christian is an ignoramus to "believe all the stuff in that 'old book'"!!! First of all, this finding proves that Christianity is the only religion which is transparent, can be debated without violence and the only belief system where the Spirit of the Living God indwells a true believer to confirm this Testimony! Are there uneducated who are being saved? YES - by the droves! What I suspect is driving this discovery is the decline of the urban church due to crime, hopelessness and politically motivated preachers, combined with the rise of the suburban church - where the majority of the Christian population resides. This has been so for over 50 years and just stayed that way.

- Finding #6 which discovered that the left (or Pacific) Coast of the USA is the most unchurched area in America does not surprise anyone. The land mass from Oregon to Orange County is home to the New Age movement, the amoral high tech and basically anti-Bible Silicon Valley region, the Hollywood elite and the cultural extreme left as well as the horrible pornography capitol of the world, in the San Fernando valley.  There is not just ignoring of Christianity here, but outright hostility against the people of Christ. As always - there is a huge remnant due to the sheer size of this population, yet these churches stand out as they are so few: Shadow Mountain (David Jeremiah) and Grace Community (John MacArthur) Churches come to mind. 

- Findings #7 and #8 are so sad and troubling, each one of us who are committed to Christ for eternity should first weep, then pray for these people. Because the society has devalued the nuclear family (mom, dad, kids) and holy biblical marriage, with the help of married and divorced people, the percentage of young unmarried people is climbing to staggering numbers. They are not only not getting married,  they live in sin (shacking up) and if they do go to church, they hear nothing from these modern preachers, which convict them of their positional transgression against Holy God.  An education pastor of an area mega-church told me that was their biggest problem in their church, yet nothing is done to address it. Compounding this is the lack of parental leadership in training up a child in the way he/she should go so he/she would not depart from it when they grow older.

-  Number 10 has to be the funniest thing ever....if it were not so sad! Previous Barna (and the secular Pew Center Research poll) confirmed that only between 9%-11% of so-called evangelicals have a Biblical World view. Then over 57% of young evangelicals, showing the shame of political correctness), have said publicly that "there is more than way to heaven, than Jesus Christ". Yet, in any national survey, these same people will describe themselves as "Christians" when asked.  To these folks, Christianity is a label which applies only to those who are native born Americans, and therefore, since their grand parents were saved and/or went to church and were therefore, Christians, these people consider themselves "Christians" by extrapolation. One thing they are not aware of - God does NOT have any grand-children. We are either sons and daughters of the King or not.

These terrible facts are heart-wrenching about the present state of "Jerusalem" which is troubled about wrong things, just like its predecessor as recorded in Matthew 2:3 ("When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him."). These are the results of the modern day equivalent of the religious leaders who are more in line with the times and its culture, than the Christ and His pending Return. Can this be turned around? With God, anything is possible, but the scale of revival needed to turn this titanic of a spiritual destruction around requires leadership. Where would the leadership come from if not the under-shepherds of Christ - American pastors? Is this really going to happen? Time will tell, because as long as there is life, there is hope.  However, it can actually come from the prayer warriors of America and evangelists who study the Scriptures and weep for the lost souls, (as we just saw represented in this new shocking Barna survey). So, let's get to work - now!

HOW DID WE LOSE THEM? (PART 2)

There is a new phenom called the "Nones" - that is, people who identify as having NONE when asked what their religious preference is. Now, you and I know that a personal relationship with Creator God and the Lord Jesus Christ is NOT a religion, but for the sake of argument, let's remain on the pollster's choice of word for now. Between 1950 and 2010, the amount of those "NONES" increased from 2% of the population to 16%! This is a huge, but not surprising swing in the wrong direction.

While the 1950's and 1960's saw some great crusades and many movements to Christ, due to the solid preaching of Billy Graham and the flaky Jesus Movement, America and the west were already heading in the wrong direction. It was during the 1960's that the Supreme Court kicked God, the Bible and School Prayer out of schools. When God is kicked out of anywhere, by man, we know who moves in - the god of this world, Satan. There is no need to talk about the downward spiral since the US Supreme Court did that. We see the evidence. 

What should be concerning us is that today, some of these same Nones are the children of so-called "Bible-preaching churches" who grew up sitting next to us but have no clue Who the Real Jesus is. 
They have no clue what the Cross means. 
They are biblically ignorant.
They never pray.
They may go to one of these modern churches and raise their hands and experience who knows what, listen to some mindless pap by a just as lost "preacher" and when you look at the trends today, and the move towards same-sex "marriage",  you see the fruit of all that lack of grounding in Word of God and True Truth. More so-called "evangelicals" - and I don't mean christians - believe there are more than one way to heaven than through The Way, the Truth and the Life. Yet, as George Barna just told us a few weeks ago, these people are in the majority of a group he calls "The Exiles.

The increase over 50 years of the Nones is not a surprise, but the increase of our young people losing their faith should be. In his just released research three weeks ago, Barna discovered something that should trouble us as deeply as the large amount of Nones in our midst. We know there will be a falling away from the faith in these last days. What many church leaders and parents are completely oblivious to is the effect the upbringing they allow to slip by them in church, could lead to their kids completely losing their way. It could lead to their children thrown into Hell on Judgment Day and these same parents and church leaders will have that to answer for!

This is not a joke, me being mean or judgmental. Study the Scriptures and see what the Lord has to say about all of this. In Part 3, we will look briefly at who these young people or Millennials (those who are currently 18-29 years old) are whom Barna surveyed and what they believe. For now, this group of 46 million Nones should be a clarion call for Evangelism - not raising money to go on a self-serving jaunt called a summer missions trip. It should be a clarion call to start sharing Christ, our testimonies and the way to  Heaven now...and let it start with the person down the hall with whom we work...or even live with.