The evangelical church in America continues to wander almost aimlessly through this nation which was founded by God, but now has become as foreign a mission field as the deepest depths of the rain forests in Africa. An alleged Body of Christ searching for a Purpose as it morphes into an Emergent Church with so many today calling themselves Christians-who should be filled with His Spirit-but are instead considering many other paths for spiritual experience to fill a nagging emptiness. The sad fact is that the evangelical community, once a vibrant section of the Church of our Lord, long ago turned from the Bible unto the myths of the man-pleasers.

Religious Hothouses And Delicate Little So-called “Saints”

Prior to contracting the deadly cancer of the Cult of Liberal Theology, the evangelical Christian Church in this nation did have some strong preachers who weren’t afraid to tell the Devil where he could go, and just how it is that he can get there. Why even Billy Graham appeared to stand boldly for the Lord…in the beginning. Today however, this is simply not the case. Where once America had Christ-centered preachers the likes of R.A. Torrey and H.A. Ironside, but now in this pagan nation we have chosen to follow man-pleasers like Rick Warren and Erwin McManus, Rob Bell and Brian McLaren. A.W. Tozer is even more right now about too many of our churches today than when he wrote these words in the middle of the last century:

The contemporary moral climate does not favor a faith as tough and fibrous as that taught by our Lord and His apostles. The delicate, brittle saints being produced by in our religious hothouses today are hardly to be compared with the committed, expendable believers who once gave their witness among men. And the faults lies with our leaders. They are too timid to tell the people all the truth. They are now asking men to give to God that which costs them nothing. Our churches these days are filled…[to a large degree] with a soft breed of Christian that must be fed on a diet of harmless fun to keep them interested (Tozer On Christian Leadership, May 20).

As has been well stated elsewhere: Soft lights, soft music, and even softer sermons–that’s what people want today. Tozer then concludes – “About theology the [modern church-goers] know little. Scarcely any of them have read even one of the great Christian classics, but most of them are familiar with religious fiction and spine-tingling films. No wonder their moral and spiritual constitution is so frail. Such can only be weak adherents of a faith they never understood” (ibid). One hundred years before that Charles Spurgeon put it this way: I think most people who attend church today are merely sleepwalking worshippers of some unknown god.

And there is only one antidote to this increasing spiritual lethargy. Consider this from Tozer’s protégé Leonard Ravenhill–who in his day was England’s foremost outdoor evangelist:

People often ask [me], “Why do you insist on prayer so much?” The answer is very simple; because Jesus did… Jesus went on a mount and He was transfigured. There’s nothing more transfiguring than prayer. The Scriptures say that the disciples went to bed, but Jesus went to pray–as was His custom. It was His custom to pray. Now, Jesus was the Son of God; He was definitely anointed for His ministry. If Jesus needed all that time in prayer, [then] don’t you and I need time in prayer? If Jesus needed it in every crisis, don’t you and I need it in every crisis?…

People say, “I’m filled with the Holy Spirit.” If the coming of the Spirit didn’t revolutionize your prayer life, you’d better check on it. [Cause] I’m not so sure you got what God wanted you to get… Jesus the anointed of God, made prayer His custom (Prayer, Last Days Ministries, tract LD#39).

Beloved, so should you and I. And our Master says – “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in Me will do what I have been doing” (John 14:12). But be of good cheer fellow Christian, the effort to get to know God will be more than worth the time as you acknowledge the God of the [Bible], and serve Him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you – 1 Chronicles 28:9. How encouraging is that! All we who are chosen by Him have to do is to seek our Lord’s will with all our heart and He has promised to lead us:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6).

A Witness Worthy Of Christ

If we truly long to see the evangelical community in this nation once again become part of God’s Lighthouse to shine the light of His glorious Gospel into this putrid darkness of the spiritual wasteland we call America then it is vital for each of us to understand this truth. The Christian is required by the Lord to make the effort to cultivate his relationship with his God–just as Tozer’s illustration of the hothouse points out. And if you would claim to be a Christian but you don’t feel the desire growing inside you to really be witness for Jesus as this age comes to a close then you do have good reason to wonder whether you ever even became a follower of Christ in the first place. And this is what Jesus is tying to tell us when He says – “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me; and anyone who does not take up his cross [daily] and follow Me is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:37-38).

Now this is the Jesus of the Bible, which will come as a bit of a shock for those who have been slowly swallowing the seeker sensitive spiritual cyanide fallaciously fed to them by Rick Warren of the Purpose Driven pillar of the Ecumenical Church of Deceit and Brian McLaren of the Emergent Church section. Some say – “Well I witness by how I live. My lifestyle of Christian ideals and tolerance speaks for me–I’m a silent witness.” Really now? Actually the truth is as Dr. Walter Martin used to say: Yeah, you’re so silent–no one even knows you are a witness. There are all kinds of atheists, skeptics, and non-Christian cultists who live ethical lives; that proves nothing. Our word “witness” comes from the Greek word martyr, and no one would have lost their lives for Christ if they had kept their mouths shut.

Dr. Martin was so right; why I say to hear most Christians talk today you’d think it’s our “purpose” to live as comfortably as we can–with the least possible conflict–and then to enter our eternal glory to “rest.” I ask you; what exactly are you going to go to Heaven to be “resting” from? Yet even more rest? Think about this for a moment. What actually happens when a person gets too much rest? They become lethargic and even more tired. Now take an honest look at the results of the preaching of so many of our sallow Evangelical people-pleasing leaders. Can you understand now why the Church of our Lord in a narcissistic nation aimlessly shuffles along in sleepy self-centered opulence while sinners continue to ignore its worldly witness?

The Truth Turned Into Mythology

Or just maybe those of us who really follow Christ are rewarded with eternal bliss because of our life in this world of constantly striving for Jesus against the warfare of the Devil? Let me show you something interesting. God the Holy Sprit tells us in 1 Timothy 4:1 – that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. And then the Lord reveals in 2 Timothy 4:3-4 – For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. I find myself being brought to these Scriptures time and time again lately.

Now, let’s think about most people’s concept of God as portrayed in much of today’s Evangelical church for a moment. Here’s a little demonic inspired mythology for you:

Once upon a time there was this “loving god” who created a wonderful creature whom he called “delightful man,” because he was lonely and needed someone to worship him. After a few billion years of trying, loving god finally got a world good enough for delightful man to live on. But alas, delightful man caught loving god by surprise when he chose to “do his own thing” and delightful man made a few “mistakes,” thereby wounding his self-esteem. Delightful man then paid their loving creator virtually no mind–lest he intrude into their wonderful lives of fulfilling their “felt needs.” So this loving god then decided to choose the human man Jesus of Nazareth to live a kind of ideal life that delightful man could then try to live up to–if it didn’t seem too hard. So Jesus went and preached his message of the unconditional love and acceptance of loving god, but was crucified to cover up for delightful man’s mistakes. It was pretty sad, but then loving god resurrected the spirit of Jesus’ teachings of love and made it so that after enjoying all the creature comforts that loving god could possbly lavish on delightful man in this life–delightful man could then get to live in an Edenic paradise if he wants to.

Seriously, anyone who believes this needs to have their head examined. Why you’d have to edit more paraphrases of the Bible than even Rick Warren can if you want to pull off this Schulleristic fantasy! That’s because the Bible says those of us who are real Christians are to – Fight the good fight of the faith – 1 Timothy 6:12. Christ Jesus Himself clearly warned us that these purveyors of counterfeit Christianity would be coming when He said – “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. Doesn’t sound like we’re to follow the Pied Piper and his P.E.A.C.E. plan does it? No; the Church militant needs to arise once again – Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God‘s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed… – Romans 12:1-2.

Now what I’m about to say might come as a shock to some people–most people in this pagan nation apparently–but the truth often is unnerving. However, judging by how little concern they show for the lost, what I’m about to go into isn’t even believed by more and more of those who would be labeled Evangelical Christians either. But believers should know that one of the biggest lies Satan has ever foisted upon those on that broad road of “religion” is that God is too loving to send anyone to Hell. The truth is, these people are looking to a god of their own imagination–like the ficticious “loving god” we just mentioned–whom they’ve created in their own image. And they think that because they don’t punish their own children–due to their own misunderstanding of love–then God couldn’t possibly punish His, and/or, send anyone to Hell. Ah – yet another lie “flavored” by a little truth.

Highway To Heaven Or Highway To Hell?

Let’s go sit at the feet of the Master Teacher–Jesus of Nazareth–and see what He has to say on this subject. We turn to the Gospel of John, chapter 3, and verse 16. Arguably the most known and best-loved verse in the Bible, but this time we look at it very closely. For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son. Now, let’s stop right here for a moment and really let these words sink in. His one and only Son – the Greek here is monogenes – “one of a kind” – Christ was born with totally unique–one of a kind–nature. So how many children – by nature – does God have? The obvious answer is – mono – one. We, as human beings then, are not all children of God by birth.

We need to get this understood–once and for all–because this is the critical point at which to confront Satan’s lie that somehow there is this “brotherhood” of mankind, and that we are all God’s “children.” The Devil spreads this spiritual manure to keep us from evangelizing those who are hopelessly lost. You need to know that the poisonous venom of liberal theology and its so-called “God of Love” perpetrated by this unregenerate brood of vipers teaching their damnable heresies has already killed the mainline denominations here in postmodern America. And now its putrid poison has been injected into veins of evangelicalism through the so-called “stealth evangelism” of Bill Hybels and Rick Warren–both involved with the Institute for Church Growth of Robert Schuller. Did anyone just receive a wake-up call?

If not, let me further tell you the discerning among us already know that this “God of Love” preying upon those who are succumbing to the purpose driven paralysis is actually Satan himself masquerading as an “angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:13-14). In his book Hard To Believe Dr. John MacArthur was right when he pointed out that on the broad road leading to destruction these poor well-meaning fools are in reality following a false god of their own design toward a sign that says “HEAVEN-This Way.” However, when they arrive at this destination Satan will pull off his mask as this liberal “loving god” and point to the sign which reads “Welcome to HELL” on the other side.

Know That The Bible Says

But all we need to do to understand this is to return to the third chapter of the Gospel of John and read from verse 16 through to verse 18. Verse 16 – For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son – [this would seem clear enough] – that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. And the liberal says: “See, God loves us. He wants all of us to have eternal life. Besides, I do believe in God, and that’s all I have to do.” You may reply at this point: Wonderful answer; you’ve just now qualified yourself to be a demon! You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that – and shudder! – James 2:19. However, at least the demons are smart enough to fear God. So what’s your excuse!

Let’s keep going here in John 3–verse 17 – For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. “See,” says the unbeliever, “Jesus is all about love. He saves the world. Jesus never condemns anyone.” This is true, Jesus didn’t condemn people. But, do you know why? Look at verse 18 – Whoever believes in Him – [Jesus] – is not condemned – [but wait–there’s more] – but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the Name – [and that is to say the character–power–and authority] – of God’s one and only Son. And you’ll note the repetition of that phrase – God’s one and only Son. Oh, and by the way, this was also spoken by God’s one and only Son.

Can you see it now? The Apostle Matthew–one of our eyewitnesses–from his written account of the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth quotes our Lord as to the future of all those who have not believed in the Name of God’s one and only Son. Which means they do not totally commit their lives to Christ. How will you escape being condemned to Hell? (Matt. 23:33). The only answer to that blood-chilling question is – Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom. 7:25). For the Bible teaches – That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved – Romans 10:9-10.

Testing The Myth Of The Emergent Purpose Driven Man-Pleasers

And while I’m at it, let me clear up another false teaching that has been regurgitated time and time again in Evangelical circles. This new tradition of spiritual bile has been repeated so often that many think it is biblical–but it most certainly is not. This would be the modern Church Growth Movement’s myth that Jesus of Nazareth attracted these huge crowds of “converts” through His laid-back demeanor and His teachings of unconditional love and acceptance. So, they say–it follows that if we want to win people to Christ then we must be ever so careful not to offend anyone. First of all, I have no idea how they can possibly get this out of the Bible. And second, why in the world would anyone trouble to crucify someone like their mythical Jesus in the first place? Have they not read the actual accounts of the crucifixion; or is this too much of a “bummer” for these brittle little hothouse flowers? Even the majority of His own disciples–Christ’s own “inner circle” deserted our Lord at the cross. Surely–Joel Osteen–we’re not being asked to believe that this ragged rabble of “hangers-on,” who were simply with Jesus so He would give them what they wanted were actually converts! They were no more Christian then than the vast majority of people today who say they believe in Jesus, but can still readily embrace the myths of the man-pleasers like the Purpose Driven Life and the Emergent Church.

When you get a chance, read John chapter 6 and you’ll find out that virtually all of the shallow self-centered disciples following Jesus at that time turned back and no longer followed Him (verse 66) when the Master tested their faith by what He was teaching. I must tell you in the Spirit, Christ is going to begin testing the faith of His Church “soon.” And then we’ll see how many of those in the purpose driven emergent word faith church will be left! Know ye that God is going to “turn up the heat” in order to see just who wants to follow Jesus for Who He truly is–no matter what–and who is merely “hanging on” for what the Master may yet give them. I tell you the truth, unless you can take the heat, and you’re really willing to dedicate your life to Jesus–then you’d best get out of the kitchen in the Church of our Lord! For those who would dare play at being a Christian, be forewarned, God has said in Scripture – For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God. And the second part of this verse from the Bible is equally foreboding – “and if [judgment] begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the Gospel of God? – 1 Peter 4:17. If you actually are a Christian, this type of teaching, which glorifies God and His Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit will make your heart soar!

Now I am fully aware, however, that many people who would call themselves followers of Jesus don’t like it when we preach this way, but–contrary to much of what is being proclaimed in the contemporary church today–the Christian has not been left on this earth necessarily to please people. In Acts 1:8 Jesus tells His Christians – You are My witnesses, and that is to be our primary focus. I have pointed this out previously, but it bears repeating, while Romans 12:18 tells us – If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone, the fact is that this is just not always possible because the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing – 1 Corinthians 1:18. This is evidently a memo that “Evangelical” Christian leaders–so-called–Rick Warren and Brian McLaren have no doubt missed. When you do feature articles in secular publications like Ladies Home Journal and your man-pleasing message is making that much sense to the unregenerate, then it has ceased to be the message of Christ. Gentlemen, why do you think the Master Teacher taught in parables?

And listen to this – In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted – 2 Timothy 3:12. This really shouldn’t come as a surprise because Jesus tells us to expect the world to treat us unfairly at times (and even more-so now) – If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated Me first – John 15:18. Brothers and sisters, despite what the worldly man-pleasing false prophets say, our job is to be witnesses of Jesus Christ by living a God-filled life – be continually being filled with the [Holy] Spirit – Ephesians 5:18 (original Greek) and we are also to contend earnestly for the faith – Jude 3. I leave you with this word of encouragement. Whether people like what we have to say or not, whether they respond to the Gospel or not, is not in our hands – And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved – Acts 2:47. May those who are so enamored with the myths of the man-pleasers, and those who have attempted to bring this skubalon into our Lord’s Church awaken from their stealthy stupor–before it’s too late…

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches”…