The false “gospel” being preached today says that Jesus came to save people from a lack of money, a lack of purpose, a lack of happiness, or from living a stress-filled and problem-filled existence, i.e. “Happy Church.”
In fact, Jesus said, “…In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (1 John 16:33 NIV)
In days to come, we must be rooted in the knowledge of a Gospel that is so pure it’s unchallengeable! The true Gospel sets sinners free who are destined for God’s wrath unless they come to the saving knowledge of the grace of Christ and His death in our place (John 3:16). This is the Gospel Paul and John and all the disciples preached.
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. (Romans 5:8-10)
False gospels are not true, have never been true, and will fail you in the days ahead. We have to understand that God will not be mocked with a false gospel. He did not send His Son to die so that we could live in luxury or be happy. Jesus died that our eternal souls might not perish if we believe in Him – period!
We must know Jesus as the Savior – the sacrifice that was given for OUR sin! We ARE sinners – we need a Savior!
And this Jesus who died to save us is coming again very soon! That reality cannot be minimized, diluted, or incorporated in some other agenda!
And when He comes, He is coming for those who know and receive His Truth – that God so loved the world, that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, will not perish but have eternal life! (John 3:16)
Jim I agree with you, the gospel needs to be pure and simple. As the apostle Paul declared, he was concerned that the believers minds were being corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ, 2 Corinthians 11:3. On the other hand if our eternal soul is God’s only concern, why stock up food in anticipation of coming disasters? Why not just die and go to heaven? Isn’t this the ultimate goal? As for being happy? I don’t know about you, but when I’m able to pay my bills on time with money earned from legitimate employment God has supplied for me, as well as feed my family, help the poor and pay my tithes and offerings, I am a very happy camper! Marvin.
Pastor Jim,
Unfortunately, American Christians DO NOT PREPARE themselves for real SUFFERING for the name of Christ in a “free” country such as ours. Many Christians in the United States – especially of the so-called “middle-class” – have been so SPOILED with their material gains and financial successes, to the point whereby they easily forget that following Jesus not only benefits them in receiving God’s material blessings; but also, following Jesus is supposed to bring on persecutions as well. In the Gospel of Mark, chapter 10, verses 29 to 30, Jesus says to his disciples “Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life”.
And because no Christian in America wants to be persecuted, many of them – especially in America – would rather try to “get along” with the World and be “accepted” by the World; rather than face the pain of rejection by the World and/or experience a possible financial loss – if they were to speak out boldly against the sins lying all around them. But as the Church desperately continues to make attempts at being “friends” with the World, there are many pastors today – across the United States – who are unknowingly subjecting themselves and their flock to CONDEMNATION by God.
Rarely in America, do you ever hear a minister point out the Biblical necessity of “suffering” for the life of a believer. Today’s churches place little emphasis on this aspect of the Gospel; that being, God’s “requirement” for the saints to suffer for His righteousness’ sake. Instead, the churches spend too much time focusing on the physical, material, and financial promises of the Gospel. While most churches PRIDE themselves on having a “full-Gospel” doctrine; that accordingly, what Christians really NEED, however, is true BALANCE in the way they present both the BLESSINGS and PERSECUTIONS that accompany someone who becomes a true disciple of Jesus Christ.
And by having the constitutionally guaranteed right for “freedom of worship”, Christians in America have life so comfortable and so “easy” whereby, oftentimes, we even selfishly forget the command in the New Testament – in Hebrew 13:3 – to pray for “other” less-fortunate believers around the world – i.e., those brothers and sisters who are suffering imprisonment for the Faith and who do not live in a so-called “free” society, as we American Christians do – where there is opportunity to worship the One and Only True God, Yahweh – The God of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
And for those American Christians who are well aware of the worldwide religious persecutions, some of these same believers are still not even willing to suffer for any lesser kind of persecution that they could hypothetically experience, even in a “free” and “democratic” nation like the United States. Their unwillingness to suffer – at all – would explain why the American Church today is so morally bankrupt. The reason why we find so many Christians in America who really don’t want to live according to God’s Word, but instead follow after this World – i.e., Satan’s World – is simply because, by going all out for Jesus Christ, these religious hypocrites would have to pay the unwanted price for giving total commitment to Him. The cost of complete submission to Christ would result in financial loss or entail undesirable suffering through constant persecution. However, Pastor Jim, as we already know; we are informed by the New Testament that believers are to be undeterred by divinely appointed hardships. As Apostle Paul says in 1Thessalonians 3:3-4, “that no man should be moved by these afflictions. For yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto. For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know”.
More so, we are commanded by Christ himself to endure all divinely appointed hardships – yes, even unto the “End” – whether that “end” be of our own natural physical lives or be the “end” of this present world system that is run by Satan. As Jesus had already spoken 2,000 years ago to his disciples in Matthew 24:13, “he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved”.
There are many Christians in America who are so DELUSIONAL as to think that they can continue taking “chances” on their lives, by not repenting for their ongoing sins, and continue to gamble on their lives that they will never have to be “JUDGED” by a holy and vengeful “GOD”. That is, there are many believers, in prosperous America, who love so much their comfortable, pleasurable, and materialistic lifestyle, that they will do almost anything – even sin if necessary – to keep or maintain those material things that they have already “worked so hard for” – for so many years. These believers do not want to LOSE for the name of Christ – if necessary, ALL – that they have GAINED through their precious hard labor. Having deep-seated LUST in their wicked hearts, many believers actually COMPROMISE the Word of God – or commit sin – in order to HOLD on to those “things” that they LOVE so dearly – i.e., those “creature comforts” that are so precious to them – or those “things for which they have WORKED so hard throughout their lives. Whether those things be physical objects or personal relationships, God’s people oftentimes AVOID the “cost” of Christian discipleship, by REFUSING to continually “stand up” for the Word of God; and RATHER, do whatever they possibly can – by sinning or compromising – in order to NOT lose their “precious” REPUTATIONS, or to not lose those same MATERIAL THINGS or “cherished” RELATIONSHIPS in which they have INVESTED so much time and so much effort to acquire or build up.
We so-called “Americans” need to stop exalting ourselves, as we constantly and selfishly try to “please” our own vile flesh, and try to please other people for our own vanity’s sake. We need to stop the idolatrous practice of worshipping our lucrative jobs, of worshipping our fat bank accounts, of worshipping our big houses, of worshipping our lustrous automobiles, of worshipping our exquisite clothing, of worshipping our expensive jewelry, of worshipping our domestic appliances, of worshipping our dazzling electronic gadgets, and worshiping all other “material things” that we inordinately cherish in the deep recesses of our greedy carnal hearts. We need to finally ELIMINATE the two-century-old hedonistic/materialistic covetous character of the greedy cut-throat American culture, in worshiping the false metaphoric “gods” of MONEY, MATERIAL THINGS, PLEASURE, TECHNOLOGY, and POWER – and get back to worshiping the true “God” of our Biblical spiritual forefathers – i.e., get back to worshipping “Jehovah God” Himself!! Therefore, Pastor Jim, is it any WONDER now; that God Almighty has finally decided to begin gradually TAKING BACK all of America’s liberty, economic prosperity, and military supremacy!!??
Therefore, the Lord wants the American People to stop walking in the lusts of her flesh, as they currently LIVE a worldly, hedonistic lifestyle. We need to get down on our knees and cry out to God, as we should be REPENTING of our sins – and dedicate our lives to Jesus Christ; accepting him fully as “Lord and Savior”. We need to get rid out of our HEARTS the major sins of our depraved souls, such as the LUST for illicit sex, as well as the LUST for money and for power. Or as the Apostle John calls all of these three major sinful desires, in 1 John 2:16, “the lust of the flesh, AND the lust of the eyes, AND the pride of life” [KJV].
Once the American People and the Church finally “get the message”, from God, and finally DROP their love for money – and rather, begin “loving” and serving God Himself; THEN – and only then, Pastor Jim, will the Lord’s provisions for prosperity, for sure, RETURN to our once-greedy money-loving/status-seeking nation. But, if NOT……………
Well then, just don’t be surprised if the Lord decides to NEVER EVER allow America to escape the JUDGMENT OF POVERTY upon this grossly wicked debaucherous nation of ours – and thereby cause it to sink to the very depths of Hell itself!!! Even thousands of years ago; as the Lord had already warned the Children of Israel, in Deuteronomy 8:18-20, as to where their “prosperity” truly comes from; that likewise, the Lord has also already applied to the United States this same warning, whereby this same scripture admonishes the people:
“But thou shalt REMEMBER the LORD thy God: for it is He that giveth thee POWER to get wealth, that He may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. And it shall be, if thou do at all FORGET the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish. As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would NOT be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God” [KJV].
The Christian “pulpit” in America has been most DERELICT in its duty to preach prophetic warning to America, for this nation’s ongoing unrepented rebellion against God. Tragically, today, the Church herself IS NOT serving as God’s “watchman” for the world. Sadly, today’s contemporary American Church is TOO BUSY trying to be “accepted” and “loved” by the world itself. And therefore, the Lord is now judging both the wicked BACKSLIDDEN American Church and the rest of her rebellious nation. In other words, the Lord is right now “JUDGING” the hedonistic/materialistic greedy Laodicean churches in America; as He is right now also “judging” the entire United States with “ECONOMIC COLLAPSE”, for all of her incessant love for MONEY – and endless LOVE for luxuries and creature comforts.
Therefore, Pastor Jim, let us PRAY that the Lord would “OPEN” all of our eyes; to awaken us to our own personal “secret” sins, or our own “hidden” sins, or our “unknown” sins; so that we may ALL get the “blessed” divine opportunity for getting our “spiritual houses” in order .
Yes, the upcoming worldwide ECONOMIC COLLAPSE is the Lord’s way of JUDGING the ultimate “GOD” of America – which is MONEY itself; just as He had, thousands of years ago, “judged” the very false gods of Pharaoh and Egypt!! Therefore, knowing just how much the hedonistic/materialistic American People eternally and unrighteously CRAVE after money, material things, status, and power; that perhaps the upcoming “Economic Collapse” will indeed be the catalyst for SPIRITUAL REVIVAL in America. We will indeed have to “wait and see” as to what the Lord plans to “do” to America and to His Church, in the not-too-distant future. At this point, all we can do is to PRAY and “SEEK” the Most High, and find out what “it” is that we must “do”, through Jesus Christ, in order for the Lord to bestow the necessary degree of “MERCY” that this country needs, for the purpose of holding off, for the time being, religious persecution, and being SPARED death and destruction by the angry and vengeful “hands” of God Almighty; as He fiercely “judges” Mankind with all kinds of economic, political, and deadly natural disasters across the globe.
Therefore, Pastor Jim, let us PRAY for God’s MERCY and GRACE to be continuously BESTOWED upon our undeserving wicked nation; so as for the Lord to give the American People enough “time” for them to finally COME to their “senses”, and to FORSAKE their unspeakable debaucheries, such as SODOMY itself; and to also FORSAKE their unbridled COVETOUSNESS; and rather, choose to serve Jesus Christ himself – and NO LONGER mammon!!
Surely, Pastor Jim, with the power of Jesus Christ resting upon us, we are ALREADY guaranteed the VICTORY within him!! We are all the more CONQUERORS in Him – and Him alone!! We can overcome our own vile corrupt flesh! We can overcome the wicked World itself! And most certainly, we can overcome Satan the Devil himself! AMEN!!!
Yours forever in Christ Jesus,
Charles Reece, of
Washington, DC
5/30/13
dear jim and lori i think the blog was very good about studying the truth to get ready for the coming of Jesus. it is important to study the word of God cause in the tribulation we will need the word. there will be persecution of the christian as well; according to this they that live Godly lives, will suffer persecution. how much is loris book about you and her life? love connie