We've Made It Very Clear To God......We're Not Seeking Any......'Old Paths'

                 Jeremiah's ministry of warning.....primarily to Judah....lasted over forty years. This is only one portion....the sixth chapter....from one prophet....from one testament!

Verse 10...."To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me? Their ears are closed so they cannot hear. The word of the LORD is offensive to them...."

This is evangelicalism today....God is warning us....but we find it offensive.

Verse 13...."All are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit."

This is what MAGA has done to us. We fought to keep our church doors open during a pandemic....in no small part.....particularly the bigger churches.....because with twenty or thirty pastors....the weekly monies have to come in.

Verse 14...."They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. 'Peace, peace,' they say, when there is no peace."

The pulpits do not warn us....not of greed or judgment or Trump or anything.

Verse 16...."Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls....."

God told Judah and us to look to the old paths....the old way of doing things.

continuing...."but you said, 'We will not walk in it'."

No way....We're going MAGA instead.

Verse 17...."I appointed watchmen over you and said, 'Listen for the sound of the trumpet!' But you said, 'We will not listen'."

God gave us Billy Graham and many other faithful preachers.....over many decades....all of them warning us....but we did not take heed.

Verse 20b....."Your burnt offerings are not acceptable; your sacrifices do not please me."

We can have all the prayer breakfasts and days of prayer that we want. We can show up by the thousands to church in our finest....laughing and talking of our plans....but God....here and in other areas of His Word....tells us that He does not want to hear our pious praises....and receive our lame sacrifices....the similitude of which....we would not give to others in this world….for they would recognize that the gift wasn't the best we could give.

So Why Is This Coming Up So Often In My Life As Of Late

 Preface: Maybe it's a parent.....or an adult child....or a spouse....or a sibling. They may go to a church....they are probably nice people....but they never....and I mean ever.....volunteer any concern for the gospel....or the bible....or mention Jesus....and this over probably many years if not a lifetime. Now....we say that we love this person.....and indeed we might even give our own life for them. That's love....but we would never....once again ever.....question them in any way to see if they show any outward evidence of being a Christian. We just don't do that to we people that we....love....for it might offend them. I would not make the charge that the person in question is not loved....but I would question if the son of the parent....or the parent of the adult child....etc....understands how a person becomes.....saved.....and what born again means. The above is not an isolated example.....for it is pervasive in the church today. If one does understand how a soul goes from deadness to eternal life.....how the dead heart begins to beat....how the name is then written in the Lamb's book of life....etc...etc....and still ignores the danger to their loved one's soul.....then yes.....I would then question whether the person loves themselves.....more than their parent or adult child or spouse or sibling. We may not know for certain if a loved one is saved or lost....but if they are truly loved ones.....then we do not ever take the chance. We observe and question and butt-in....or at the very least pray until the tear ducts are bone dry....until it appears at least probably that our loved one will not be told by Jesus...."I never knew you, depart from me..."  

                  I have to use the analogy of my own mother and father. I don't want to get this personal....but it is the most powerful way to make the point. My father died in 1979 at the age of 58 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. He was....to use this often used phrase....the nicest man you would ever want to meet. I was 29 when he died....and not a Christian....so I was totally unable to help him on his eternal soul....or even know that he needed help. I am not aware of any attempt made to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to him in his last days....although I do not know of every minute that he spent in the hospital....so there will always be that hope to cling to. My mother died in 2015. I shared the gospel with her for over three decades. She showed no inclination to believe....until the last year or two....and that was in that all the hardness was gone. So that is my hope....and I cling to it!
                 I'm not sure why this is coming up so much in my life right now....that one has to be....Born again.....born anew....born from above.....regenerated....but it is....the most recent time only about two hours ago....in a telephone conversation with a good friend. I really do not like this battle. It should not even be necessary among Christians....but somehow it is. It seems that we have compromised the gospel on this. Oh it's not blatant. No genuine Christians deny that one has to be born again....but because they do not fully understand it....and because it is a difficult concept.....they avoid talking about it....and thus....in effect....deny it!
                This issue can be addressed from many directions. One argument is that....since we cannot do anything about a loved one's salvation....that we just leave it in the hands of God. Hard to argue with that....the problem is not in that we have to realize that there are things along this line that we cannot do.....but that in the process we can deny the existence of the problem.
                Another argument is that ultimately we cannot know the spiritual state of another person. Only God knows. This is true in many cases but not all cases....but beyond that....when we think about any loved one.....the grid that that love should always be on....should be their eternal salvation.
               Martin Luther described justification by faith alone as that article upon which the church stands or falls....and that is essentially what we are looking at here also. No one is saved by their own works.....or how nice they were....or how bad they were not. We certainly do not have to comment upon whether someone who had died had been born again....but we had better at least ponder it in our heart....or we are putting ourselves in danger of compromising the gospel of Jesus Christ.
               So why is this issue coming up in my life so often of late? Nothing has changed in my understanding of this gospel truth. I've posted on it often! I don't know the answer to that question....but I know this....we do not change on proclaiming that one has to be born again....and we do not alter it to be more palatable to the modern church....and we do not even avoid it. This may very well be the issue....or at least 'a' main issue....that will soon bring a winnowing in the church.

Note: You may want to Google a John Piper sermon on this subject....titled....What Happens In The New Birth.

Christian Fiction.....What Our Habits Have Been....How Did They Evolve....And What Have Been The Results

                  It's a book that the Christian really needs to read.....Reading Evangelicals....How Christian Fiction Shaped a Culture and a Faith.....by Daniel Silliman. A selling point is that the author did not have a bias....and then spend a year or so trying to put together a book legitimizing that bias. He admits that he didn't know what an evangelical was when he started.....although he probably was one....and still didn't know when he finished. That on the face of it does not sound good....but the author is giving evidence and facts....and some pretty credible opinion..... and although few if any will say after reading the book that they now know what an evangelical is....just about all the readers can say that evangelicalism is a mess.

                 My wife and I owned a Christian bookstore about twenty years ago....for two years. I post a lot here on Christian bookstores.....and how with their demise our supply lines to growth in the church have been cut. Silliman's book is about half on the history of Christian bookstores and publishers....how they became a powerful influence....and how the brick and mortar stores died. The other roughly half of the book is on popular Christian fiction. It zeroes in on five books and the authors.....the authors being.....Janette Oke....Frank Peretti....Tim LaHaye.....Beverly Lewis....and William Paul Young....but each one of those author's works are tied to other well-known Christian authors of their time period.....so the reader gets a fairly complete history of what we Christians were reading for the past fifty years.
                If you are not at least in your fifties....with four decades in the church....then you will not know first hand what Daniel Silliman is describing. If you are that old.....particularly about seventy....you will recognize everything he describes. Silliman is an editor at Christianity Today. He is not that old....but he did his homework....and what he does....he does very good.
                I've done a lot of book reviews in these 13 1/2 years of posts....but I changed in how I do them. I find myself having no desire telling readers everything about a book or a movie. I'd now rather give an opinion on what the reader can learn from the book.....and if they want to learn bad enough....they'll put the effort in to read the book. Most today are not interested enough to read....and not particularly willing to spend the money.....but concerning the habits of the evangelical that Silliman writes about....back then....they did spend the money.....and they did read.
               I will say this. You will not like what you read about us. I can attest that Silliman is correct in his descriptions because I lived it. He has it down pat. It's not a pretty picture. I'll say this also....Silliman weighs in on why Donald Trump became a favorite of evangelicals.
               Where Daniel Silliman comes up incomplete.....is that he only writes about our fiction reading habits. Billy Graham is mentioned in one sentence....MacArthur or Sproul zilch. The author proved his point on the effects that our fiction reading had on the church.....but without the non-fiction.....which is what his book is....we get at the very best....half the evidence.....but still....if you acknowledge that in advance....Reading Evangelicals is more than well worth the read.....it's almost necessary.....to anyone who really wants to discern how we got where we are....in the church....and in America.