Preface: The following is from late November....(the first paragraph)....and early December....(the second paragraph)....of last year. Today we will defend our church....or our pastor....or our favorite national ministry....or our politics.....it's the gospel of Jesus Christ that we no longer defend. I bring this back for this week's Lord's Day post. Please.....pray with me for those entering the pulpits in just about twelve hours from my posting this:
We are in denial. I've seen a fair amount in my seventy-two....almost seventy-three years now....but what is happening today should have sent the men in our pulpits to their knees....pleading with God for discernment to adequately warn the saints....but it has not....but it will. Verses like the one in the title to this post are obsolete in the evangelical mind of today. The whole Bible is up for grabs as for interpretation. There is no cost to discipleship anymore. No one has to be 'born again'....whatever that means....even our adult children. Absolutely everything is about us today....our desires....our future....our families....our liberties and freedom. Church is a good time.
"The World Cup begins in Qatar in less than 48 hours....just about the time that men will be entering their pulpits here in our Eastern Time Zone. Most of these men live in fear of finding out that they really do not know what is going on in the world. They have not adequately fed the sheep....not in the glories of Jesus Christ....nor man's need to be born again....nor with any warning to prepare for what is ahead of us. Here in Pittsburgh they probably know more of what the Pittsburgh Steelers need than what their own soul needs. This will change....in God's time.....for He is merciful....and many of these men will awaken when they can deny no longer that these are not normal times....but that still leaves us with today. May God begin to have mercy upon us this Lord's Day! May His Holy Spirit begin to awaken pastors and restore in us....the great blessing of the fear of the Lord! May He move in our hearts towards repentance and humility! May He move in my heart....and forgive my many vain and pitiful attempts to warn of that which I also need warned of....and may His judgment....which has already started and continuously increases in severity....come also with mercy and compassion....knowing the weakness of our frame!"
The title verse is from 2 Corinthians 6:17
