“The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”

Part One

Part Three

Part Two

Now, let’s see, where were we when last we were together? That little sleep has made me stuporous and hazy headed. Oh yes, now it is coming back to me. We were speaking of our dear beloved Stultitia of whom we have all bowed the knee. In a rare exhibition of her generosity she has paraded all of mankind onto the stage of our delusionary life and given us a peep behind the curtain. Here we also met her propmasters and helpers Anoia, (lack of understanding or ignorance), and Lethe, (obscurity, or forgetfulness), with whose help she prepares the costumes and prints the script. It is not at all unusual to find one of her actors totally involved in his or her part, believing that they are the epitome of fashion, the defenders of the faith, masters of their own destiny, the most brilliant, the most beautiful, able to perceive dark mysteries, leap tall buildings with a single bound, or prevent the train wreck that portrays man’s life, teetering on the brink of that great death, the oblivion of outer darkness. The plethora of foolish imaginations and the creative genius of their dementia have provided the gods with infinite hours of entertainment.

We also discovered just how necessary foolishness is to the successful exploitation of our miniscule part in the grand play. Why, without Folly, her children pout and become bored, peradventure some benevolent soul should cross their path with news of life outside the cave and the hope of something more serious strike a root. Yes, yes, foolishness is what makes life worth living, proven by all of her children. From A to Z it is Folly who opens the doorway to bliss. Now, just think about it, remove all the foolishness from this dismal existence and what do you have left? Complete boredom! Veracity occupies only a fly speck in the overall production that only a minutia of mankind are ever likely to recognize it; but Folly, on the other hand, is fruitful and can be found and favored anywhere anytime, and requires but one resolve, i.e. ignore the fable in some ancient moth eaten manuscript, and get on with the show.

Folly has been generous in her perusal and desires to go beyond the general to the exalted. The common person will most readily admit of their foolish life, replete with redundant misdeeds, and ever anxious to test some new life strategy, like Lotto or investments in depreciating commodities. But, let’s go on to those who are the “wise” in this world, and who profess to shun foolishness. It is these worldly wisenheimers who have raised foolishness to an art form, and who have perfected stupidity while thumbing their nose at the common duncical lot of humanity.

Bear with me awhile as we venture into the realm of well-mollified madness. Madness tranquillized and normalized, Insaneness promoted to the status quo. Think not that Stultitia has been relegated to the State Department only; it simply is not true my fellow fool; if Folly is prolific anywhere she is prolific in the pulpit. Now we will pass from the general to the more specific.

Delusions of Grandeur, the Breakfast of Champions

Folly declares that she is so much more tempered and not like those other gods and goddesses who send curses and lightening, draughts and plagues, and all kinds of suffering when improperly recognized. She demands no temple or sacrifices. “Why should I require a goat or a wafer when men everywhere pay me homage in their minds and manners continually.” She would be the first to remind us that even the Christians follow this rule. How many of them do such foolish things like burning candles, even during the day when they are not needed, or becoming a wholly different person with a completely different persona on a certain day of the week, sometimes twice a day, and practice rituals, doing this, that, and the other, then revert back to their common everyday self for the conduction of business and life outside their religious building. And especially, those Catholics with all their sacraments, pretending to be holy by doing certain things certain ways and invoking the names of Apostles and mere men, weeping at scratches on walls, worshiping the virgin Mary instead of Jesus through so many Hail Mary recitations and bead counting, and believing they are accepted of God by these, and never actually imitating the Apostle’s holy lives with selflessness and humility. “Good lord, why would I want a temple, the whole world is my temple, dedicated to me, Folly?”

And, those Protestants, they are no better. Thinking they made great strides with Luther and Calvin. Their followers through time set up whole institutions of religious practices, dampening the light and darkening the path with the leaven of foolishness. Even the Peasant’s War, although the product of the madness of a malicious sort reflected the same folly as Popery, promoting vanity, pride, and the conceit of selfish-fulfillment, and rang the death knell for many local Catholics. Calvin also, with his great influence, was unable to forgo the sentence of death, for the poor fool Servetus, by his own followers. What was it that the Protestant church protested anyway if it wasn’t the complete foolishness of corrupt popery with its thousands and thousands of butchered humans because of their differences in beliefs on thousands of possible points? Madness never ceases. Christ’s command for them to go back and do their first work over again was translated by the Reformers as only going part way back to maybe the third or fourth works, which allowed faith and foolishness to remain a mixture.

Having taken a peek into the vortex of madness, which is madness of the grossest sort, Folly now fast forwards us into our present foolishness. Today the word “Protestant” is rarely used, and this is due to Folly’s apt assistant Lethe a.k.a. forgetfulness, which she administers with sophistication; a quality of which the whole world belies. Pray tell, what is there to “protest” today, aren’t we all becoming one. What better unity and ecumenism than the universal adoration of Folly? I, Folly, am the fulfillment of all the hopes of Hippies, the existential hinge on which the whole world turns; the universal, ecumenical, experiential focus point that every generation has sought; I, Folly, am above all gods, beloved of my children. To wake-up into my sleep is eternal, blessed, bliss.

The Reverential Face of Folly

Folly is often found in the pulpit imitating the “divines” who are confident that they have risen to Lordship, Father-hood, Reverend, or Most Reverend, or some other self-ingratiating title, and let’s not forget our esteemed Doctors.

Certainly, though no one is less willing than our religious leaders to recognize my good will toward them, but they are still obliged to me for no little benefit of importance. Who, but I, have blessed them with so much selflove that they are wholly persuaded that they are dwellers of the third heaven, looking from their lofty perch, declaring mere recipients of revelation as only kitchen table theologians, and not fitted for understanding the deep things of a Schoolman? And, those of popish persuasion declare proudly of their ability to see meanings of words not apparent to the vulgar cut of mankind; projecting penance for repentance, indulgence for grace and free gift, or judging Jesus’ own words “it is finished” to mean that it is not finished. Do you see the absolute foolishness of this? and it goes on and on, and they are lucky enough to find whole troops of gnats and flies to believe them, never questioning this popish poopery. What total moronity and my own foolishness exceed even me, in their own declaration and separating out of venial and mortal sins. Why, this madness alone accounts for the complete blessedness of millions to enjoy booze, bingo, and casino night for the price of a few good deeds. Little do they know, because they are held by an inebriated elation, that venial sins are a mere fantasy and are not to be found anywhere in all of creation. What they don’t know is that all sins are really Mortal, and there is nothing they can do to get rid of them, so “eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” Yes, yes, oh for the joy in it all that even Jesus has been reduced to a wafer and taken captive in a bird cage. Please, let’s not stop this joy fest just now; please indulge me this further foolishness. Truth has been so far forgotten that men dressed in black open their mouth and gnats and flies fall prostrate licking their feet insisting that they have fulfilled the rule and deserve “forgiveness” from the authorized divine, according to the mandate of men. The Protestant crowd is no different; they just haven’t had as much practice.

Oh what vanity my dear prelates in Rome have, fools of the highest order, creating a schooled system of salvation by works. It offers salvation on the installment plan, and then ensures that the pathetic evildoer is perpetually behind in his payoffs, so that when he croaks there is a prodigious unpaid balance, and he must continue payments by sufferings in purgatory, or until the debt is paid by the prayer, contributions, and sufferings of his living relatives and friends. Oh, what thumbs must have become sore, sucking this from their deepest innards. The whole system and plan calls for blindness, merit, and moolah, from the cradle to the grave and even beyond. Surely the sapience that drew such a plan of salvation is from Stultitia. These foxes have so many holes they can run to that their joy is never ceasing, and their blindness never healing. If boredom sets in then a mere question is set in their mind, like “is it possible for the Father to hate the Son?” Or “could it have been possible for Christ to have been born a woman, or a devil, or a donkey, or a cucumber, or a rock? Then how the cucumber would have preached, performed miracles, and been nailed to the cross? Or, will it be permissible to eat and drink after the resurrection, seeing how much we love to eat and drink? And, the Apostles, they all knew Jesus’ mother, but which one of them could show how she was preserved from original sin as well as any of the learned Catholic theologians of renown, or how she could remain a virgin after having other offspring? The Apostles cannot hold a candle to these puffed-up beetles with all their volumes of publications and prescriptions, their holy robes and clerical collars, setting them off as excellent vessels of the Lord. And, “it is hardly clear how it was revealed to them that a charcoal sketch on a wall should be worshiped with the same worship as Christ Himself, provided that the picture has two fingers extended, long hair, and three rays in a halo stuck on the back of the skull.” Only the immense education, (the Apostles being ignorant, naïve, and uninitiated) of elite men with keen brilliance and intellect have achieved such insight. Little, will they admit, that it is Folly who has awarded these dustballs with crowns and gowns.

Pleassseee, give me my credit in this madness, the whole crowd draws it pleasure from me. The deliciousness of Stultitia’s spiritual concoction, a little holiness, a little profanity; nectar and naughtiness, mixed by pope and pastor, with an open invitation to belly up to the bar, and experience the emergence of euphoria with its new relaxed dress code. Catholics and Evangelicals coming together, pondering the last great social question; the question of human solidarity. It was my idea; give me a little credit; the conjoining of all in one. The whole idea is so exciting I get a little goosey. The world’s most immoral governing body (the Vatican) leading the way in social justice. Only Folly could have empowered the most notorious trull, wenching with kings and princes, to coach the world concerning chastity; and cover it in the vesture of charming words, “Caritas in Veritate,” charity in truth.

Imagine with me for a moment the potential of being driven by this purpose. Whole worlds of possibilities are opened up. Baptist taking vows of silence and monasteries created for no other purpose than to paralyze the tongue. Methodist stuck to the top of a pole like a sponge, not eating or sleeping, the epitome of sacrificial righteousness; protestant pillar saints; what a concept. They could even have some fun with the flogs; rent them out right next to the coffee bar and have Wednesday night workouts while contemplating how much I love them. I am beginning to sound like a mother, am I not? I am so pleased with them all; all except for those others; they refuse to play along. They are not mine, neighbor children, but I have succeeded in getting some to come over and play; funsuckers, that’s what we have nicknamed them. We can’t have them spoiling the party, can we? Our motto is “Come along, to get along,” catchy wouldn’t you say?

I could say so much more if I weren’t dancing, jostling, juggling, and joking. Why should life be so “straight” after all, it’s unnatural; and black is never black, or white, white; statutes were made for statues, stone men, and laws were built to be busted, they’re all cracked from the get-go anyway; foolishness is never cast in concrete.

Well, children, it is past my bed time. Tomorrow we will embark on an adventure to the abyss of the absolute; a field trip to the house of absurd relics: truth, holiness, perfection, and eternity, to name a few; they’re all party favorites, so come dressed-up if you like. It should be a fun time, so let’s all get a little rest; you’ll need it.

Coming soon to a Blog near you………….

The Christian Fools Paradox, Black Is Black? and White Is Actually White?

An offering of bliss, or an intolerant assault on insanity?

The false prophet Harold Camping (see my article Harold Camping proclaims the Lord’s return will be in May 21, 2011) has put up billboards across the nation advertising his belief that the Lord will return for His Church on 5-21-2011, one such billboard is in Indianapolis. Harold’s heresy has been matched by the American Atheists who have put up their own billboards mocking, not Harold Camping, but all of Christianity. My question is, what will Harold be doing on May 22?

Establishing the Fact

Why is it that every "Christian" thinks he or she is going to go to Heaven? The Bible is very plain concerning the fact that that isn’t going to happen. Everyone who says "Lord, Lord" will not make it. But, it doesn’t matter, wherever you go, or who ever you talk to, they’re all going.

Now, we have a little problem; either the Bible is incorrect or a whole lot of people have been deceived into thinking they have their ticket purchased and their trip all squared away, and they’re just waiting on the bus. Of course the idea that the Bible is not the final word and not totally correct is becoming more popular, and the issue of “having it all squared away” is becoming less controversial; there is a general consensus that that particular point is settled and we’re O.K., but the other idea, deception, ends up being the more realistic problem.

Deception, trickery, ruse, sham, fraud, con, cheat, what interesting words. Is it conceivable that so many Christians are deceived? Who is doing the deceiving? The preachers? The devil? The government? God? Maybe it is ourselves; Paul says, “…let no one deceive you…” as if we can only be deceived if we “let” ourselves be deceived. I can understand deception in the area of un-believers, but we’re talking about “Christians.” Ask anyone who has raised their hand during a worship service and they can assure you that they have followed procedures and that their bus token, regardless of how “straight” or hard the gate is to get through is valid. Who is it then that the Lord was referring to when he said in Matt 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven…” Paul, interestingly enough, encouraged Timothy to “lay hold of eternal life,” creating the notion that it might slip away, or tear itself loose from its mooring, that even he might be deceived. Deception, a very interesting concept indeed, and one that needs to be comprehended, after all, it could be soundly stated that we are living in the age of deception, at the end, when all the chips are on the table and the great contest of wills and wit comes down to “the Lie,” the bluff that will win the ranch away from so many deceived Christians. But it isn’t just salvation that is at stake here, it is the whole body of Truth. This is a dangerous time, a time when we must be able to think clearly,  to cut through the haze and fog, and discern Truth.

The Bible instructs us to comprehend the “signs of the times.” Even professional poker players, gamblers in this world, make their living knowing how to read signs or “tells” that enlighten them on how to stay in the game. The overriding principle of winning the game of poker is to “put all the odds in your favor,” so studying the cards, being able to read the other players, having discipline, and being consistent, are keys to winning. No professional poker player thinks poker is a game of chance; if he puts “all” the odds in his favor he knows he can win. There is something to be learned from their technique. We can put the odds in our favor by knowing how to read the signs of the times (discernment Jn. 16:13), by studying Jesus (Heb 12:2-3), looking for the “tells” which expose false teaching (Matt. 7:20), living a disciplined life in the Lord (walking in the Spirit Gal. 5:16), and by being consistent (faithful Jas. 1:6). We can not allow our salvation to become a game of “chance;” we must not be deceived.

Re-discovering the Path

Things have been going the way they are at present for an extremely long time. If we are deceived, when did the deception sneak in? We should be able to look into the past and discover the point at which the path was departed. At the point of exit is where we must return. We need to begin with a firm foundation, of belief and doctrine (1Tim. 4:16), from which we can establish a boundary marker or a base, and then we can determine if those markers have been moved or tampered with. Once we see where the boundaries belong we can alter our heading to resume the correct path. Getting back to where we belong will mean an exercise of extreme faith and discipline, saving ourselves (Phil 2:12,13), and becoming a beacon of light for those who follow. The laws of inertia have a cementing effect on men, especially men who have become weak and at rest, and much effort will be involved to get them moving again, effort directed by the Holy Spirit.

First, we need to establish the fact that it is conceivable that the masses of mankind can be deceived. If this fact cannot be firmly established then we are wasting a lot of time looking for something that may not even exist. We talked about discovering the old surveyor’s marker that determines what the standard should be, the boundary marker that tells us that we can go this far and no farther. Now we are at the spot where we have to ask ourselves, “Will I believe what the marker says or will I be enticed to move the marker and break through the wall into areas I’m not permitted.” The Bible is our standard; it is the ancient boundary stone that we are forbidden to move at our own hurt. Hos 5:10 says "The leaders of Judah have become the lowest sort of thieves” as those who move boundary markers to steal property from their brothers and from the Lord (see Dt. 19:14, 27:17). The truth is we have moved it many, many, times over the past two thousand years and that is why we are wandering and confused, desiring Agape (Divine love), Koinonia (fellowship and sharing), and Ecclesia (the gathering of the saints) but knowing deep inside it is more our imagination than reality. We get the sense of it, the scent of it, like a flower we can’t see, and we know it exist because we can smell it. It is genuine and it is that yearning, for the real thing, not the “replica,” which demands that we press forward; it is the smell of our Lord that we sense and it is He that draws us to Himself. It is Jesus who is the boundary marker, the standard, and it is He that the Bible speaks of, from beginning to end. Jesus can be trusted and He Himself cautioned us to, “Take heed that no one deceives you for many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many”( Matthew 24:4-5). “Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many” (v. 11.) “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (v. 11). Note the words Jesus used: ". . . Many will come . . . and will deceive many . . . Many false prophets will rise up and deceive many." The Greek word polus, translated "many," means "many, much, great" (Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, 1985, "Many"). This deception is clearly massive and widespread. Who is the real mastermind behind this worldwide deception?". . . Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works" (2 Corinthians 11:14-15).

Satan's Modus Operandi, DECEPTION  

"But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!" (2 Corinthians 11:3-4.)

"I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ" (Galatians 1:6-7).

Jesus Christ predicted that some would take His name and claim to represent Him—but those same people would be deceivers. They would claim to be Christian but would bring a different message and a counterfeit Christianity. In Paul's day this movement was already well under way. Some were already preaching "another Jesus" and "a different gospel." Most churches in our time focus on a gospel about Christ while ignoring the focus of His teaching. Obscuring His intended message, they preach a gospel that is different from "the Gospel of the kingdom of God"  that Jesus taught (Mark 1:14, 15).

What is the extent of this deception?

"… that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world" (Rev 12:9)

“…and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while” (Rev 20:3).

“Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea…” (Rev 20:7-9).

“Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth” (Rev 13:14).

Who is involved in this deception?

"For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:13) .

Within only a few years after Jesus Christ's death, people began to distort and misrepresent His message. When two decades had barely passed, the apostle Paul warned congregations about "false apostles," telling them that he had already suffered at the hands of "false brethren" (2 Corinthians 11:13,26). These deceivers came in Christ's name, but they led many astray with their distorted message. By the time we reach AD 68 Jesus is telling John, in a vision, that if the Church did not do its first works over their candle stick would be removed. The social gospel had been born and was gaining a life of its own, a child of deception, and the offspring of Satan. The social gospel was no threat to Rome because they were of the same family. These corrupted believers could worship their god without the risk of persecution, just like the church in America and Europe.

In the face of  persecution, that followed closely, the genuine “Body of Christ” grew at an astounding rate. Within 300 years nearly the whole known world had been Christianized. All of this took place as Satan and his demons were lighting up the Roman Empire with the bodies of Christians, turned into human torches; while hungry lions gorged themselves on the members of Christ’s body; while Christians hid in caves and catacombs and fled for their lives into the vast reaches of the then known world, carrying with them the news of God’s immense love, His Kingdom come to earth, as exhibited through the living Body of Christ, the Church.

In A.D. 311 the Emperor Constantine declared the Roman Empire a Christian nation and established Christianity as the state religion. Did you catch that? Now, believing became easy, as the cost was reduced and persecution stopped. The doors were swung wide and the pews became packed with unbelievers anxious to partake of this free lunch of "Christian" importance. The numbers grew steadily, for awhile. Today, in this same area of the world, Christianity has been reduced to just a handful of believers and persecution is on the rise again. With Constantine, building the church was something men did. Men sanctioned it, men sponsored it, and men built it, with earthly materials. It was decided by men that building, maintaining, and spreading Christianity was something best accomplished by trained experts. Jesus was no longer the living head of the church body but rather the absentee landlord who has become a symbolical figurehead of the new church organization. The Body of Christ had become an organization instead of the living organism that characterized the early church of the Book of Acts. Only rumors and spotty second hand accounts remained to identify this new church with the power of the Holy Spirit displayed in the form of gifts and miracles and supernatural love. The church, as warned by Jesus Christ, was now in the hands of its captors, with miracles, healings, dreams and visions, and prophesies, all of another sort.

An historical account taken from Schaff’s History of the Church

\Volume Three – From Constantine the Great to Gregory the Great (A.D. 311-590)\NICENE AND POST-NICENE CHRISTIANITY (A.D. 311-590)\1. Introduction and General View. – §

1. Introduction and General View.

“From the Christianity of the Apostles and Martyrs we proceed to the Christianity of the Patriarchs and Emperors.” “The third period of the history of the Church, which forms the subject of this volume, extends from the emperor Constantine to the pope Gregory I.; from the beginning of the fourth century to the close of the sixth. During this period Christianity still moves, as in the first three centuries, upon the geographical scene of the Graeco-Roman empire and the ancient classical culture, the countries around the Mediterranean Sea. But its field and its operation are materially enlarged, and even touch the barbarians on the limit of the empire. Above all, its relation to the temporal power, and its social and political position and import, undergo an entire and permanent change. We have here to do with the church of the Graeco-Roman empire, and with the beginning of Christianity among the Germanic barbarians. Let us glance first at the general character and leading events of this important period.”

“The reign of Constantine the Great marks the transition of the Christian religion from under persecution by the secular government to union with the same; the beginning of the state-church system. The Graeco-Roman heathenism, the most cultivated and powerful form of idolatry, which history knows, surrenders, after three hundred years' struggle, to Christianity, and dies of incurable consumption, with the confession: Galilean, thou hast conquered! The ruler of the civilized world lays his crown at the feet of the crucified Jesus of Nazareth. The successor of Nero, Domitian, and Diocletian appears in the imperial purple at the council of Nice as protector of the church, and takes his golden throne at the nod of bishops, who still bear the scars of persecution. The despised sect, which, like its Founder in the days of His humiliation, had not where to lay its head, is raised to sovereign authority in the state, enters into the prerogatives of the pagan priesthood, grows rich and powerful, builds countless churches out of the stones of idol temples to the honor of Christ and his martyrs, employs the wisdom of Greece and Rome to vindicate the foolishness of the cross, exerts a molding power upon civil legislation, rules the national life, and leads off the history of the world. But at the same time the church, embracing the mass of the population of the empire, from the Caesar to the meanest slave, and living amidst all its institutions, received into her bosom vast deposits of foreign material from the world and from heathenism, exposing herself to new dangers and imposing upon herself new and heavy labors.”

“The union of church and state extends its influence, now healthful, now baneful, into every department of our history.”

“The Christian life of the Nicene and post-Nicene age reveals a mass of worldliness within the church; an entire abatement of chiliasm with its longing after the return of Christ and his glorious reign, and in its stead an easy repose in the present order of things; with a sublime enthusiasm, on the other hand, for the renunciation of self and the world, particularly in the hermitage and the cloister, and with some of the noblest heroes of Christian holiness.” “Monasticism, in pursuance of the ascetic tendencies of the previous period, and in opposition to the prevailing secularization of Christianity, sought to save the virgin purity of the church and the glory of martyrdom by retreat from the world into the wilderness; and it carried the ascetic principle to the summit of moral heroism, though not rarely to the borders of fanaticism and brutish stupefaction. It spread with incredible rapidity and irresistible fascination from Egypt over the whole church, east and west, and received the sanction of the greatest church teachers, of an Athanasius, a Basil, a Chrysostom, an Augustine, a Jerome, as the surest and shortest way to heaven.

It soon became a powerful rival of the priesthood, and formed a third order, between the priesthood and the laity. The more extraordinary and eccentric the religion of the anchorets and monks, the more they were venerated among the people. The whole conception of the Christian life from the fourth to the sixteenth century is pervaded with the ascetic and monastic spirit, and pays the highest admiration to the voluntary celibacy, poverty, absolute obedience, and excessive self-punishments of the pillar-saints and the martyrs of the desert; while in the same degree the modest virtues of every-day household and social life are looked upon as an inferior degree of morality.”

Today we have reached the pinnacle of pride and human glory in the man-made church and it is identified with a totally outward appearance but utterly lacking of inward substance. In the preface to his book The Knowledge of the Holy, A. W. Tozer says the reason for writing the book was “called forth by a condition which has existed in the Church for some years and is steadily growing worse.” “Modern Christianity is simply not producing the kind of Christian who can appreciate or experience the life in the spirit.” “…The churches are more prosperous than at any time within the past several hundred years. But the alarming thing is that our gains are mostly external and our losses wholly internal; and since it is the quality of our religion that is affected by internal conditions, it may be that our supposed gains are but losses spread over a wider field.”

When we look for the church today it can be found in these outward characteristics of architecture, religious symbolism, or the increase of knowledge and intelligence. Mans seeking “his own” glory is at the root of the problem. Their earth bound desire to unlock Holy Scripture reflects a similar incident, involving the Pharisees, related in Matt. 22:29 “You error, not knowing scripture, or the power of God.” If we are not seeing God’s results from God’s Word then we are in ERROR and deceived. Even the disciples, after three years of teaching had to be rebuked for their unbelief. It wasn’t because they didn’t understand what they were told; it was because they did not believe what Christ said. “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken” (Lk. 24:25-27). All the theological schools and universities and man made churches are filled to the hilt with deceived “Christians” trying to determine what God means in His word. Almost ninety times in the New Testament alone, an appeal is made to readers to just believe what “is written,” as if everything was simple enough to understand if you wanted to. Pride, self-will, self-deception, and rebellion against what “is written” are the causes of the Bible being hard to understand.

The Body of Christ today has become the invisible church, only to be found by very few. Today, as never before, it has become very apparent that all the building of our modern Tower of Babel has failed. The sheep of His flock have scattered and are lost and hungry and listening for a voice from heaven. Jesus promised that His sheep would hear His voice and would follow Him. The Good Shepard’s voice is being heard now, even though faintly, calling His sheep out of the dark.

“My sheep know my voice….”

I have written repeatedly in the past about how the end-time delusion, predicted in the Bible, is no longer a prediction, but a reality.

 Lighthouse Trails has been a valuable source of documented evidence, warning those who are concerned about the dismal failure of organized Christianity, spreading the light of truth in print and across the airways. This is not a case of, “the boy who cried wolf.” Contemplative Prayer is a visible sign of a malignant disease consuming the Christian conscientiousness, and Lighthouse Trails is doing what every soldier of the Cross should be doing.

 Because Christians want to have a “spiritual experience,” or feel the “high” associated with something like yoga, which is another sibling of eastern mysticism, they will deliberately ignore the clear Biblical teaching to discern the tricks of the Devil, to lead Christians out of the narrow path. This end-time infiltration of evil is so complete that virtually every congregation of every denomination has been effected.  

 The Devil knows that a frontal assault only leads to Church growth, as it has in the past, but now the subtlety that was so successful in “the Garden,” “. . . has God really said. . .” is once again having great success. If you are at all concerned about truth, your family, or about serving God, you must give this article your full consideration, and investigate its claims.

 Steve Blackwell

www.IndyWatchman.com

Here are a few of the truths we all should be in agreement on as Christ followers…

Romans 14:17 For the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Mark 12:28-31 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

“The most important one,” Jesus answered, “is this: Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.

Matthew 6:7-14 And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. ⁸ “So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
⁹ “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
¹⁰ ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ ‘Give us this day our daily bread. ¹² ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. ¹³‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’] ¹⁴ “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ “But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

And finally Jesus prayer in John 17, and the key passage of all of us being one as He and the Father are one, so the world may know Him

John 17:2 That they may all be one; even AS You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.

I am all over that stuff and by His grace and through His Spirit, I seek to live in those ways. It is much easier when we are led by Him, to love as He does, and have grace as He does, but also live in His truth, as we should…

Now we come to the point of this pondering… And this is not easy, and I pray you will hear my heart on this.

One concern I have today is for the seemingly abundant pursuit of experience over content. Many in their hunger for God are being seduced into trends that do not breed sound doctrine or a sound mind. Many subjective teachings from charismatic leaders especially, are becoming doctrinal to some, and it seems in some situations it has become a completely wrongful focus. Now that does not take away from the real supernatural and unexplainable ways of God, but it calls to question the hype, manipulation, and deception that comes in the guise of something more, something different, fun, frenzied, and with a “wow” factor kick.

It seems like the more “extreme” the experience the more audiences it is capturing. So we now have a segment of people getting addicted to these experiences, waiting for the next “extreme” opportunity. I have seen several people, families, and churches drawn into this and though it has brought forth some numbers, in most cases it has been counter productive in bringing forth fruit that remains.

Father has deposited everything we need in each one of us to live in His supernatural presence and engage with Him in miraculous ways as He leads us and gives us grace to do so. In everyday life, most of the time He operates in powerfully practical ways, as He is motivated to flow through our lives as relevant witnesses of Himself to the earth.

Jesus was practical, supernaturally practical… What is it you need? And then He would answer the need in miraculous ways… We are now going around as the needy. A part of the Body of Christ is hungry and thirsty for self-pleasing excitement, manifestations, “glory realm” experiences, and often missing the real opportunities of relevant service and love to those who need it the most.. I am all for experiences and supernatural transformation when God’s glory brings them, but it should not be our pursuit, and shame on those that lead others to chasing frenzied experiences rather than the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness.

One woman was so thrilled as she had traveled to 3 conferences in a row that had gems seemingly appear on the floors of the church, (the leader is known for having gems in their meetings). I asked her what it meant to her when she saw gemstones in meetings, and she said that it meant that God loved her. I do not pretend to think I have a lot of answers, but I am always good with the questions, so I asked her. “Can you feel God’s abiding love when you do not see gemstones?” Could it not be severely compromising to seek after a sign for proof of God’s love? Later it was found out that an assistant to this speaker had planted the fake gemstones in the church before the meeting began.

Matthew 16:⁴Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign, but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah ⁶ “Watch out!” Jesus warned them. “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

Now keep in mind, I have experienced as well as many others the unexplainable miraculous power of God, but we were not seeking after the signs, but the signs follow believers as they follow after Him. I do not doubt that God can do whatever He wills, but they it will be real, and not staged. I had heard of another church that found dozens of these gems. This is a poor church in another country. I asked if they were able to sell the gems and feed the poor, and the answers was no, because they could not identify the stone. They said experts claimed it was from another planet, so they had no value on earth. I asked if it were possible for me to get a sample to do my own test and they declined.

I have a lot of questions. I don’t have all the answers and only the Father can show you His way for you. I am not sharing this out of experience, and I am also not sharing this for any other motive than to encourage the very best for the Body of Christ. If it is not His best or His intent, will we embrace change. Will we go after His best in CHARACTER, integrity, love, mercy, holiness, and all the good God stuff? Can we begin to embrace the “BE ATTITUDES” of His word, and allow Him to bring the experiences of His glory that we need as we worship Him in every day life?

I am simply asking all of us to consider what we are engaging with. What are our motives? What is Father doing? What does He desire for us through our relationships, communities, and experiences? Is there more that He desires from us in our pursuit of HIM?

Lord, help us pursue you alone, and not chase after signs or wonders? May we allow You to bring your signs and wonders as You see fit to follow our obedience to You. Lead us towards your agape love and pursue those who need your love. Help us to not get caught up in feel good phenomena’s in order to serve You and others more. Help us to think less of self as we are busy about your business in doing more good to others. When your presence overwhelms us, many awesome and wondrous things begin to happen. We desire to pursue You, Your presence, Your will, Your love, and expect the supernatural to occur in everyday life. We know that as we allow You to lead us into Christ-likeness, the gates of hell will not prevail against us and Your beloved church.

I’m sorry but this has nothing to do with the 1991 movie, The Silence of the Lambs, but it does have a lot to do with the silence of another kind.

One of the craftiest things that the Devil has pulled on an entertainment, experiential, existential, and empirical driven church is that he has effectively voided out “faith” as the Churches means of pleasing God. Faith has now become only a religious word used to signify to the “brethren” that they are connected to the spirit world. It is not something that they actually practice or can explain, but just another word like: apostasy, atonement, blasphemy, confession, eschatology, testimony, repentance, or sinner, that confirms to everyone listening that they are a member of the lodge or club. Why is this? Why is it that there is such a move to be creative in our approach to God? Is it to get God’s attention or applause? Yes, that is it! It is because of the silence of the Lamb that we are making such a commotion! It is because of a Satanic prescription that we must “raise” God’s awareness that we are here. We will not admit that this is the case, but it is. This is nothing new; it was the whole idea behind idol worship in the first place; it was a lack of “FAITH.” The Devil doesn’t require that we exercise faith to worship him, he only requires action, creativity, and intelligence. When the silence becomes deafening we take matters into our own hands. We have read of the outward manifestations of God in the Old Testament, and the confirmation of the Spirit in power, sealing the New Testament, then silence. . . . I have a friend who never shuts up, if there is silence he feels that something must be wrong, so he talks, not realizing that everything is O.K. It comes from a sense of insecurity, or guilt, or some other fault in his reasoning, so he is always trying to fix something that isn’t broke.

Whether we want to admit it or not, one of the characteristic marks of the age of Grace is silence. Whirlwind, earthquake, and fire may create awe, as in the days of the old Prophet Elijah, but God is not in these, He is in the “still small voice” 1 Kings 19:11,12. This still small voice speaks of Grace and Mercy and Trust, and seeks to win lost men from the power of darkness that broadcast itself, and is loud, and is the tasteless showiness of men in all their desperateness and creativeness. This very silence is an expression and token of God, that His throne is now a throne of Grace, through faith. The only noise we hear is the noise of men projecting their god, because the silence threatens their religion. But, that very silence, of God’s grace, is appealed to as the crowning proof that God is but a myth. This is the favorite trick of the blasphemer in tempting God to show Himself, and declare Himself, to be all powerful through some manifestation, but only silence. . . . Do not fear, in days to come, God will take up the challenge, and death will seize upon men who in days past demanded signs.

We have a God who will not remain silent, and when He speaks the world will know it, for there is coming a great shaking, and men will desire forever death at the sound of His voice.

In this age of God’s grace we need only faith to trust Him; His word is enough. He has shown Himself mighty. Is that enough for you? Then obey Him! No more excuses. Be done with the leaven, be done with the signs and wonders, be done with the lust for things of this world, be done with the flesh. Hold tight to Jesus, and believe Him, and trust Him, and obey Him. Don’t fear the silence of the Lamb, fear the ROAR of the Lion.

Steve Blackwell

People everywhere love a good miracle, it doesn’t matter that it is bogus as long as it is accepted by  a lot of others, who are themselves looking for miracles, and that it is done in some religious context which gives it validity. Miracles today are not the private property of Christian Charismatics who, in times gone by, claimed an inside track to experiencing God. The doors of “experiencing” God have been thrown wide open to virtually everyone now.  No holiness required just a thirst for some spiritual action. Never mind that the Bible prophecies that in the end days we are to expect these things; never mind that there are those who are sounding the warning; and never mind that the miracle sideshow has been shown time and again to be a mere performance for the parishioners. The thirst has been created, now it must be satisfied, and every actor on the stage has a unique product to quench that awful thirst, and to pull the applause. As to be expected the world has entered the fray and become prominent with its own tangled web of action figures, and entered the, once sacred, priesthood of Christian ministry, speaking to, and being listened to by “Christians.”

What could be better for the miracle industry than to have a respected magazine do a spread endorsing miracles and extra Biblical experiences. The following Link to Market Watch ,which is a part of the Wall Street Journal digital network, ran this article by Share International about the return of Maitreya, the World Teacher, with miracles.  “British futurist Benjamin Creme, foremost spokesperson for this message, has for 30 years been preparing the way for Maitreya’s emergence. He is the author of 12 books, translated into numerous languages, and editor of Share International magazine. Maitreya, the World Teacher, has not come alone, but with a group of wise Teachers who have long guided humanity from behind the scenes.”

This would not be a cause for alarm if it weren’t directed toward Christians. Christians have long known that the world possessed many unusual deities and forms of devil worship. But with the advent of “Emerging,” “Mega,” and the general apostasy of the Protestant Church the flood gates to the sanctuary have been opened wide, and every foul and unclean bird is seen as a harmless canary.

I have said several times in past post that the intent of my articles is not to convert the world to my position, or to even turn apostate Christianity to repentance, but to simply warn those who have been given the ability to hear and to see, and provide needed light for the next few steps.

Multitudes are being led to their doom by the craftiness of flimflam men dressed in pretty clothes with pretty words, having hearts filled with darkness. These men know you are hungry and thirsty but they don’t offer you food or water, only promises. They know that you are wandering from shore to shore in search of food and drink, but the food they give will kill, and the water they hold out to you is polluted and stinks of the pit it came from.

The Bible states that God would, in the last days, send a strong delusion “that they should believe the lie.” That day has arrived and the general Christian population is rapidly becoming deluded.  Today real Christianity appears so bland next to the exhibitionism of the modern church and the slick marketing of tabloid Christianity, and throw into that mix the latest guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show, God’s direction to “be ye holy even as I am Holy” seems kind of boring.

Just as Jesus’ life and appearance had no slick marketing appeal and there was no great desire stirred by His simple life, so the true Church today is overlooked in favor of the extravagant and conspicuous behavior going on at every level of the organized church.  Granted, some will say that Jesus had a great following, but where were they on the day of His execution? There were many then, as there are now, who love a good show, and hang around for the fish and the loaves, but the Church, on the day of its execution will be few in number, compared to the vast “following” it boast of now.

There is a truth to all that exist now, and there is a truth as to the true nature of the Church, and can only be known to those who have sold out to It. Truth does not lay on top of the ground like so much trash, it has to be mined and every ounce hidden as a precious treasure, a commodity purchased with your whole life. Solomon instructs us to “buy the truth, and sell it not.” Today we have bought the “lie” and at a bargain price, but in the end we will find that it was only fools gold, and worthless.

There is an alternate plan to holding onto the truth, and here it is. Ignore everything you have ever heard about who Jesus was and is. Stop what you are doing and make a list of what it is that makes you feel good, the things that get you high on life, and go after them, at any cost, and as fast as you can, because, you see, you only have one chance to enjoy life, so get all you can, ………………………………….THEN IT IS OVER.

Steve Blackwell

Things Which Will Be Shaken
by T. Austin-Sparks

With this last issue of the paper for this year (and it will not reach many of you until very near the end of the year) I feel a strong desire and urge to look back and on with you. For myself, it has been a very full year. So far as movements are concerned, the fullest year of my life. I have travelled by air alone twenty-six thousand miles, and quite a bit in other ways. This has involved many conferences, meetings, etc. so that there has been a very great deal given out. To this must be added all the ministries and labours of my colleagues and fellow-workers. This is not mentioned just as news or information, although it will show that “a great and effectual door” is opened to us. But I mention this because it will indicate that we are not spending our time up in some corner, imagining things, and ministering to hypothetical situations. We are in immediate and direct touch with the spiritual and actual situation as represented by a very large area. We have no hesitation, though much sorrow, in saying that the situation spiritually is very, very sad and deplorable. It is our well-considered and deeply-rooted conviction that some great and drastic judgment from heaven of Christendom is absolutely imperative. We are equally convinced that it has commenced and is moving obdurately and inflexibly across the world. Just as the Assyrians were the instrument under the sovereignty of God to sift Israel in the last dispensation, so it is most likely that the power moving over the earth today – a combination of Satanic forces with human instruments – is going to test the whole of Christendom as to its real spiritual measure. This may very well be the counterpart of what took place is the year 70 A.D. when Judaism was shaken to its foundations and fell. The Scriptures quite definitely foretell a tribulation coming upon “the whole world to try them that are upon the earth”. This is something much more than Jewry.

The words quoted from the prophet seem yet to be capable of a fuller-ranged fulfilment than even the above-mentioned ‘shaking’. “Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also the heavens “. (Hebrews 12:26,27).

There is no doubt that the Letter to the Hebrews was a supreme effort to get Christian believers detached from an earthly form of Christianity, and attached to Christ in heaven. That effort had as one of its strong reasons the fact that a great shaking was foretold, foreseen, and imminent. That shaking was to be in two parts, an earlier and a latter; an entirely earthly, and later an earthly and heavenly combined. The effect of the shaking, and, indeed, the purpose of it, would be to test everything as to abiding values. The former and earthly shaking was Jewish, but it had all the elements in principle and type of the latter.

In the destruction of Jerusalem – toward which the Letter pointed – the whole earth was shaken so far as Jewry was concerned. The Temple, as the focal point of that whole world, crashed even with the ground. The priesthood, as gathered up in the high-priestly order, passed away. The temple service ended, and the nation ceased to be an integrate and unified people.

These were things capable of being removed. And yet how long they had stood! What forces they had withstood! What confidence there was that they could never cease to be! How assured they were that God was so bound up with it all that it could never be destroyed and cease to be! How they fought and clung to it to the last terrible extremity! But it was of no avail. God was no longer wanting the framework and earthly system, which had taken so much room, and energy, and expenditure, before the really spiritual was reached. The percentage of spiritual value was so small after all, and spiritual interests lay so far along the labyrinthine ways of religious machinery and tradition, that it was not worth while. The means to the end was not immediate, that is, there was far too big a distance between the means and the end. There was no immediate touch with the real Divine requirement, and there was far too much that was intermediate. And so it had to go, and, rather than preserve it, God Himself shook it.

What remained after the shaking was just that, and that only, which was Christ in a spiritual and heavenly way: Christ in heaven, and here by His Spirit, the gathering point, or occasion of assembling; Christ in heaven the High Priest and Sacrifice; the order of God’s house here a purely spiritual and heavenly one – not formal, arranged, imposed, imitated, or material. Order grows out of life, and if that life is Divine, and unchecked, Divine order will be spontaneous.

The amazing thing is how blind and unbelieving Christian people are, and therefore how unwilling to seek to know the way of the ‘unshakable’. In a very small part of our lifetime the phrase ‘world evangelization’ (from one part to another) has been rendered unusable, and all that mighty machine is having to be revised. Countries which were until quite recently the greatest spheres of ‘missionary’ activity are now closed as such. There is a feverish race to try to move ahead of the flood in other countries which are already encircled and undermined. In those overrun countries nothing but a true and living knowledge of the Lord is stemming the tide. The framework and organized structure of Christianity is gone. Deeply, stealthily, and irresistibly this sinister work is paving the way for swift and paralysing movements in all the rest of the world, as much in the West as in the East. The result will be the same everywhere, little as it may seem possible because of long traditions and strong establishments. It seems a terrible thing, even to think, but as we have touched so very much of what is called ‘Christianity’ we are bound to believe that, because vast numbers who call themselves Christian are in an utterly false position, and the system itself has become so largely an earthly, traditional, formal, and unspiritual thing, this world-wide shaking is quite necessary and will be eventually justified. If we were writing a treatise, we could show that what is called ‘Christianity’ is really the greatest enemy of Christ.

It will be seen that it is not a matter of substituting another and better system for an old and poor or bad one. Some people seem to think that it is all or largely a matter of the order, technique, and form, and if we returned to the ‘New Testament’ form or order of churches all would be well. The fact is that, while certain things characterized the New Testament churches, the New Testament does not give us a complete pattern according to which churches are to be set up or formed! There is no blue-print for churches in the New Testament, and to try to form New Testament churches is only to create another system which may be as legal, sectarian and dead as others. Churches, like the Church, are organisms which spring out of life, which life itself springs out of the Cross of Christ wrought into the very being of believers. Unless believers are crucified people, there can be no true expression of the Church.

This brings us to our particular point. What is the pressing imperative in view of this oncoming flood of testing, which has already carried away very many of those who were called Christian, and even evangelical Christians?

Surely there is only one answer:- On the one hand, a ministry which has as its substance and object the “rooting and grounding”, the establishing, the building up, of believers, the real increase of “the measure of Christ”. This must get behind evangelism, so that the work is deep, not superficial; enduring, not transient; intrinsic, not general! On the other hand, believers must really take stock of their Christianity. Is it just a tradition, an assumption, an external system, the thing which is common acceptance – more or less? Or is it really “by revelation of Jesus Christ” in the heart? A real walk with God, and a growing knowledge of Christ, a life in the Spirit? God has said it: the things which can be shaken will be. What have we got that, being unshakable, will remain?

So, with our review and outlook, we gird up the loins of our minds, and feel that the small bit of this ‘building’ ministry committed to us must be pursued with greater devotion. How we wish that it were possible to gather the people of God together in every country and minister Christ to them, and more than we have done!

Dear friends, let us away with suspicions, prejudices, misunderstandings, and fears; these things which are such successful means and methods of Satan to defeat God’s purpose in many lives – His purpose of the fulness of Christ; and let us pray much – as Paul besought the saints to pray – that “a door may be opened to speak the mystery”; that a mighty new movement of the Spirit of God will take effect in the direction of spiritual purity, strength, and reality. Oh, that such a movement might begin before this year closes, and the critical year – 1953 – be marked by a deep movement of the Lord’s people toward Himself!

Make this a matter of prayer as to yourself, and then for all His own.

Pray also for us that we may be very truly and faithfully led as to what the Lord wants of us, and where. Calls and needs are so many; our burden is so great! We do want to do that which will have the greatest measure of intrinsic spiritual value. You know that it is not a ‘teaching’, a ‘movement’, or any ‘thing’ that we are interested in or concerned with. It is truly “the measure of Christ” in His members and Body.

The Lord continue to make this ministry effective to His end.

First published as an Editorial in “A Witness and A Testimony” magazine, Nov-Dec 1952, Vol 30-6