I have read some bad books in my life. One particular comes to mind. The year was probably 1973. I was fresh out of the army....and at Pitt....where I did most of my thinking in the popular college bar. (this from recollections of the time period) Friends and I would sit around the table....over pitchers of Budweiser....and discuss the latest popular books. The book in question was the 1968 supposed anthropology book....The Teachings Of Don Juan....A Yaqui Way Of Knowledge....by Carlos Castaneda. As I remember it....a UCLA student in anthropology met with a Yaqui sorcerer....over a few years....peyote I believe was their Budweiser....and thus the student was taught the Yaqui Way of knowledge. Phew! I have to own up to that one.
Well I think that I just finished the second worst book....a Christian book....where the author was once nominated for a Pulitzer Prize....and a blurb on the back is from a nationally known megachurch pastor....prolific author and televangelist....and a Baptist nonetheless!
I'm not even going to give the title of the book because the contents of the book....(about as biblical as Don Juan's peyote induced knowledge)....is not the focus of this post. Trust me though please....it borders at times on the occult....and makes Jonathan Cahn's books look like the Westminster Standards.
The focus in this post is on Paul's letters to the Thessalonians. The church is experiencing persecution....and remaining faithful. Paul mentions the Second Coming in all five chapters of the first letter....and two of the three chapters in his second letter. You will remember these verses in the first letter....
"But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, 'peace and safety!' then sudden destruction comes up on them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. and they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in the darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore....(did you catch that....'Therefore')....let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober."(NKJV)
But my focus is on the "falling away" that Paul warns of in the second chapter of the second letter. Both of the epistles are particularly for us today. What did the Steelers do yesterday? I don't know....but you probably do know....and that is why you do not know that Jesus is near....that is why you want the Steelers in the playoffs more than Jesus to return! The verse that I want to highlight is 2 Thessalonians...chapter 2....verse 11....
"And for this reason, God will send them strong delusion, that they shall believe the lie."
We understand things like fake news....and the deep state....and the New World Order. We can orate on a global warming hoax....or vaccines....but we have spent little to no time on this existential warning from God....to us! Jesus gave us the same warning in Matthew 24:24....
"For false messiahs and false prophets arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect"
That's us folks! There are hundreds....at least....of people running around in Charismatic evangelicalism right now claiming to be prophets! That book I just read....the one that the national megachurch pastor endorsed....talks about nonsense like this....and worse. It's like Nostradamus....evangelical style. "If possible, even the elect"....should that warning alone not send us to our knees? Right now....in American conservative evangelicalism....we are in worship mode.....big time....and it is not Christ we are worshipping!
This that we worship is in effect a false messiah....and a false prophet....with great signs and wonders evidenced. This is part of the "falling away" that we are warned about....but true to Scripture....the 'elect' are not buying it. We see what is going on. That in itself though....doesn't mean that we all handle it in the same way. Some of us see it more clearly than others.
My comment on the Steelers may be true....it is absolutely absurd to be entranced or even partaking in such nonsense as the Lord of Glory is at the door....bringing with Him judgment....but it is only one of the temptations attacking us from every side today. I have my own idols that cloud my vision. This is a process that we are going through. We learn the hard way on some things....I certainly have....but nonetheless these distractions have to be weeded out. We are slowly by necessity coming out from the world....and slowly but surely a threshing and winnowing is taking place. We can rub each other the wrong way as the grain is separated from the husks....and tumble aimlessly as if tossed from a winnowing fork....but the final result is that we will be together in Christ!
