by Paul Proctor
Have you heard? There's a new Jesus in town and he brings with him a NEW gospel message. It is a message that teaches a permissive kind of love...a love called "tolerance"...a love that hears no evil, sees no evil and frankly never brings evil up for discussion lest the offenders become the offended. Discussing the evil in our world, that is the sinful nature of man, is a risky venture nowadays, especially for any Christian or church seeking to be loved and accepted BY that world. But then that's not really the great commission, is it...that you and I go out into the world and seek its love and acceptance in the name of Jesus? No, the bible assures us that because of Christ the world will hate us.
John 15:19 says: "If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you."
We cannot pursue both the love and acceptance of the world and be the "living sacrifice" God calls us to be. That's two entirely different agendas. If we try to carry out both simultaneously the two will eventually conflict forcing us to choose between them. Today's seeker-sensitive church growth movement is, in my estimation, the unfortunate result of such choices. A healthy church simply preaches repentance and faith in Christ and trusts God for the outcome.
"And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." (Mark 16:15)
You see the great commission involves a good news/bad news kind of message. To preach repentance we have to make perfectly clear what it is God expects man to repent of. We can no longer assume that the lost know they are sinners, especially among today's adolescents who are growing up in an increasingly scripture-free environment. Yet, more often than not, that is exactly what we do. We forget that today's young are coming of age in a much different world than most of us did...a country where biblical instruction like the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount have been strategically replaced with a multicultural value system. Multiculturalism basically means almost anything and everything is permissible.
So, how can one repent of sin if he or she is never taught what sin is? This is the bad news part of the message we are called to proclaim and more often than not what makes being a faithful witness for Christ in this day and time such a challenge. After all, there's really nothing that dangerous or difficult about telling someone "Jesus loves you", especially if you're talking about the NEW Jesus. But, those who endeavor faithfully to present the bad news concerning "the wages of sin", as well as the good news about "The Way the Truth and the Life", will likely be marked and marginalized as narrow-minded extremists who "promote negativity" and intolerance.
Unfortunately, these accusations come not just from secular society but from those who embrace the new Jesus and preach the gospel of tolerance. This, I believe is why the church is in such a decline today, because we don't want our relationships, our reputations and our rosters to suffer over an ugly little three letter word called "sin", even for the cause of Christ.
Unfortunately, without the bad news the good news has little or no effect. That is the primary reason for the Law and the prophets and men like John the Baptist who preceded our Lord's coming with stern and intolerant warnings like, "Repent ye, for the kingdom of God is at hand!"
Those warnings and commandments from God were given to prepare a lost world to receive the Lamb of God and must continue to prepare His way in our sermons, our Sunday schools, our bible studies and our personal witnessing so that the Good News of God's forgiveness in Christ Jesus will be recognized for the Amazing Grace that it is. Like my pastor says, "you can't know you're saved until you know that you're lost" and it is those intolerant commandments that have become increasingly ignored over the last half of the 20th century that show the lost just how lost they really are.
This is why we have such insanity in our schools today and why Jesus is mocked by the MTV generation. Young men who commit heinous crimes like those of Littleton, Colorado have no fear of God because the world around them has no fear of God even though the bible clearly teaches that "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge" and "the beginning of wisdom." So, they act on the values or lack of values that the WORLD has taught them. In most cases, commandments like "Thou shall not kill" are nowhere to be found anymore for young people like these to refer to.
The bottom line is; they're simply not exposed to anyone or anything that provides moral boundaries and statutes for them to follow and learn right from wrong, which probably explains why we see so little grief or remorse on their faces when they turn schoolyards into killing fields. Life is just meaningless entertainment to them...an interactive game of mock survival where right and wrong simply doesn't exist.
As most of you know a concerted effort was made decades ago to remove the Ten Commandments from every schoolhouse and courthouse in America? There was an agenda at work. It wasn't to stop legalism or uphold the separation of Church and state. That was merely a front. It was to undermine the gospel and make the grace of God IRRELEVANT so that one day when generation X Y & Z came along and someone from your church walked up to them and said God loves you and wants to forgive you, they'd respond by saying "FORGIVE ME...FOR WHAT? I didn't do anything wrong. I'm no worse than anyone else! You're just being intolerant!
But, Proverbs 14:12 reminds us: "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."
(condensed from an online version at:
">http://news.christiansunite.com/news.cgi?cid=69)
--- Begin Message ---================================================================== Christian Web Life Friday November 8, 2002 <a href="http://christiansunite.com/ ">http://christiansunite.com/ </a> ==================================================================IN THIS ISSUE: 1.)... The New Jesus and a Love Called Tolerance 2.)... Link Between Abortion Clinics and Child Predators 3.)... Change of Subscription Information Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! Psalm 133:1 ================================================================== ================================================================== +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ Sponsored by Blessed Hope Communicatons <a href="http://lists.christiansunite.com/ad.pl?328";>http://lists.christiansunite.com/ad.pl?328</a> ATTENTION! * MCI provides 57% of porn numbers. * SPRINT has donated over $200,000 to gay causes. * AT&T has given over $3 million to re-elect liberal politicians. THERE IS NOW A BETTER CHOICE! Blessed Hope, America's fastest growing Christian long distance company! 4.9 cents / min., 24/7, no monthly fees! CUT YOUR PHONE BILL IN HALF NOW! Visit our sponsor for more information: <a href="http://lists.christiansunite.com/ad.pl?328";>http://lists.christiansunite.com/ad.pl?328</a> +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 1.) The New Jesus and a Love Called Tolerance by Paul Proctor Have you heard? There's a new Jesus in town and he brings with him a NEW gospel message. It is a message that teaches a permissive kind of love...a love called "tolerance"...a love that hears no evil, sees no evil and frankly never brings evil up for discussion lest the offenders become the offended. Discussing the evil in our world, that is the sinful nature of man, is a risky venture nowadays, especially for any Christian or church seeking to be loved and accepted BY that world. But then that's not really the great commission, is it...that you and I go out into the world and seek its love and acceptance in the name of Jesus? No, the bible assures us that because of Christ the world will hate us. John 15:19 says: "If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." We cannot pursue both the love and acceptance of the world and be the "living sacrifice" God calls us to be. That's two entirely different agendas. If we try to carry out both simultaneously the two will eventually conflict forcing us to choose between them. Today's seeker-sensitive church growth movement is, in my estimation, the unfortunate result of such choices. A healthy church simply preaches repentance and faith in Christ and trusts God for the outcome. "And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." (Mark 16:15) You see the great commission involves a good news/bad news kind of message. To preach repentance we have to make perfectly clear what it is God expects man to repent of. We can no longer assume that the lost know they are sinners, especially among today's adolescents who are growing up in an increasingly scripture-free environment. Yet, more often than not, that is exactly what we do. We forget that today's young are coming of age in a much different world than most of us did...a country where biblical instruction like the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount have been strategically replaced with a multicultural value system. Multiculturalism basically means almost anything and everything is permissible. So, how can one repent of sin if he or she is never taught what sin is? This is the bad news part of the message we are called to proclaim and more often than not what makes being a faithful witness for Christ in this day and time such a challenge. After all, there's really nothing that dangerous or difficult about telling someone "Jesus loves you", especially if you're talking about the NEW Jesus. But, those who endeavor faithfully to present the bad news concerning "the wages of sin", as well as the good news about "The Way the Truth and the Life", will likely be marked and marginalized as narrow-minded extremists who "promote negativity" and intolerance. Unfortunately, these accusations come not just from secular society but from those who embrace the new Jesus and preach the gospel of tolerance. This, I believe is why the church is in such a decline today, because we don't want our relationships, our reputations and our rosters to suffer over an ugly little three letter word called "sin", even for the cause of Christ. Unfortunately, without the bad news the good news has little or no effect. That is the primary reason for the Law and the prophets and men like John the Baptist who preceded our Lord's coming with stern and intolerant warnings like, "Repent ye, for the kingdom of God is at hand!" Those warnings and commandments from God were given to prepare a lost world to receive the Lamb of God and must continue to prepare His way in our sermons, our Sunday schools, our bible studies and our personal witnessing so that the Good News of God's forgiveness in Christ Jesus will be recognized for the Amazing Grace that it is. Like my pastor says, "you can't know you're saved until you know that you're lost" and it is those intolerant commandments that have become increasingly ignored over the last half of the 20th century that show the lost just how lost they really are. This is why we have such insanity in our schools today and why Jesus is mocked by the MTV generation. Young men who commit heinous crimes like those of Littleton, Colorado have no fear of God because the world around them has no fear of God even though the bible clearly teaches that "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge" and "the beginning of wisdom." So, they act on the values or lack of values that the WORLD has taught them. In most cases, commandments like "Thou shall not kill" are nowhere to be found anymore for young people like these to refer to. The bottom line is; they're simply not exposed to anyone or anything that provides moral boundaries and statutes for them to follow and learn right from wrong, which probably explains why we see so little grief or remorse on their faces when they turn schoolyards into killing fields. Life is just meaningless entertainment to them...an interactive game of mock survival where right and wrong simply doesn't exist.� As most of you know a concerted effort was made decades ago to remove the Ten Commandments from every schoolhouse and courthouse in America? There was an agenda at work. It wasn't to stop legalism or uphold the separation of Church and state. That was merely a front. It was to undermine the gospel and make the grace of God IRRELEVANT so that one day when generation X Y & Z came along and someone from your church walked up to them and said God loves you and wants to forgive you, they'd respond by saying "FORGIVE ME...FOR WHAT? I didn't do anything wrong. I'm no worse than anyone else! You're just being intolerant! But, Proverbs 14:12 reminds us: "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." "...If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed" (Galatians 1:9) (condensed from an online version at: <a href="http://news.christiansunite.com/news.cgi?cid=69) ">http://news.christiansunite.com/news.cgi?cid=69) </a> +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ Select the following link to discuss this article, or any other issue, in the ChristiansUnite Discussion Forums. <a href="http://lists.christiansunite.com/a.pl?157 ">http://lists.christiansunite.com/a.pl?157 </a> ================================================================== ================================================================== +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ Christ in His Parable Teachings Real Disciples Needed Jesus Publishers had produced a brand new video, Jesus Parables. Jesus Parables is a 1-hour TV special presentation narrating the 40 different parable teachings of Christ in the King James Version, while watching glorifying, high-end scenic video from around the world. Jesus said, "Come follow me" and immediately they did. Jesus Publishers is looking for distributors who are willing to live by all the teachings and commandments of Jesus Christ. For further information on obtaining a complete Jesus Kit, Jesus Publishers can be contacted at 1-800-224-8040. +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ================================================================== ================================================================== 2.) Link Between Abortion Clinics and Child Predators Life Dynamics (<a href="http://www.lifedynamics.com/)">http://www.lifedynamics.com/)</a> has compiled evidence that American abortion clinics and family planning organizations are knowingly violating state and federal laws that require them to report the sexual abuse of children. The investigation was conducted by a team of investigators and researchers at the Texas based pro-life organization led by founder and president, Mark Crutcher. The problem Life Dynamics uncovered is much more widespread than they had anticipated when the project began. Today, among girls 15 and younger who get pregnant, at least 60 percent are impregnated by adult men. In fact, the data shows that a junior high school girl is now more likely to become pregnant by a grown man than by a boy near her own age. Life Dynamics conducted extensive research into this issue and has assembled a mountain of evidence showing that a primary contributing factor is the cover-up being perpetrated by Planned Parenthood and the National Abortion Federation. Crutcher says Life Dynamics plans to educate the public about this widespread illegal concealment of child sexual abuse, while also educating victims about their legal rights. Ultimately, Crutcher says, they intend to see those individuals and organizations that are responsible for this criminal failure to report child sexual abuse hauled into court and held accountable. "No matter how someone feels about abortion, most people will agree that the abuse of these young girls needs to be reported. The fact that these incidences are not reported is bad enough, but the fact that they are not being reported simply to protect a financial and political agenda is even more reprehensible." --Mark Crutcher, President of Life Dynamics Incorporated. WB-33 News @ Nine (KDAF) is scheduled to air a three-part series called "On Target" on Life Dynamics� (<a href="http://www.childpredators.com/)">http://www.childpredators.com/)</a> Child Predator Project on Monday, November, 11 through Wednesday, November 13. In the next few weeks WB-33 plans to continue this special report on abortion clinics and child-predators by interviewing the newly elected Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, and the current Texas Attorney General, U.S. Senator-elect John Cornyn. ================================================================== ================================================================== +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ See the latest additions to the Christian Family Links search engine at <a href="http://www.christiansunite.com/newsites.shtml ">http://www.christiansunite.com/newsites.shtml </a> +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ ================================================================== ================================================================== 3.) Subscription Information You are currently subscribed as: *** [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** Removing your email address from this list is easy. Simply follow the link below to change your subscriptions. <a href="http://lists.christiansunite.com/unsubscribe.shtml ">http://lists.christiansunite.com/unsubscribe.shtml </a> ================================================================== You may forward this list to anyone you feel could benefit from it. Send your feedback and comments to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Copyright 2002 ChristiansUnite.com, but feel free to use whatever you want. Just don't take anything out of context please. Article, 'The New Jesus and a Love Called Tolerance' courtesy and copyright 2002 Paul Proctor. ================================================================== For information on sponsoring this newsletter, or for other promotional opportunities, please visit the following pages: <a href="http://advertising.christiansunite.com/ ">http://advertising.christiansunite.com/ </a>--- End Message ---
