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Ruins of Sardis..."safe and secure"“Like Sardis, we have become the ‘perfect model of inoffensive Christianity’ (G. B. Caird), ‘having a reputation of being alive, yet being dead’1 …. Like Sardis, we have so come to terms with our pagan environment that we provoke almost no opposition and make virtually no impact. And like Sardis, situated high on a mountain rock, we have felt safe and secure in this world.”
—Dr. Michael L. Brown
God’s word is not popular. It never was, and it never will be.
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The holy light of the Gospel Truth offends the eyes of a world held in captive darkness2 by the reality of sin. By design, God’s word grates on the conscience. It offends the ears of fallen man. The unredeemed and unregenerate world (ie., the heart of sinful man) will always thrash about in profound existential discomfort when it is confronted by the Light of God’s revealed Truth. We protest its message. We balk at its spiritual appraisal. We squirm under its insistence. We hide from its penetrating and immutable gaze . We protest. We evade. We resist….
And so, predictably, we find the Gospel being attacked from positions both inside and outside the Church. It seems we will do anything and everything we can in order to water the Gospel message down. We want to make it more comfortable, more palatable….more innocuous and non-threatening. We desperately want to make it something we can live with…….not something we would die for.
We’ll do anything and everything we can to escape the persistent and confrontational Holy Light that the Gospel shines into every sinful heart.
This is nothing new. The Gospel, after all, doesn’t come to ”fix us” and make us happier, better people. It comes to us primarily to kill us so that it can then regenerate and make us “new creations”… born again (spiritually) to Eternal Life.
The fallen Adamic nature within us senses the initial mortal danger it is in and will endeavor mightily to hide behind Idol Humanism’s triune natural impulses… evade, degrade, and compromise.
We’ll do it every time.
“Secular humanists of every type may ridicule the Bible, but they cannot escape it; and in their obsession with change, calls for reform, doomsday warnings, and utopian visions, they continue to steal from it.”
— Gene Edward Veith, Jr.
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Noffensive Gospel
Climb the Tower!...Share the Vision!
(Join the Straddle Battle Plan)
Look, this fence we’re on is shaky,
Watch the lukewarm3 water rise!
“Hey! Let’s compromise, why don’t we?”
Using Babel’s alibis….
Climb the Tower! ….Share the Vision!
We can see more clearly here!
There’s Utopia!....O, Glory!
Man! There is no God to fear4!
From up here we see our error!
Join the Straddle-Battle Plan!
Throw out all the fundamentals…
‘Cause,…at last!... We understand!
A NEW gospel is emerging5…
Yes, the old one was accursed!
Friend, this NEW good news holds promise…
Yes, the old one’s been reversed!
“Truth”, we feel, must be downgraded...
Yes!...Brought down a notch or two!
Change is progress, we’re quite certain,
Truth is,…. NOW there’s something new!
Revelation?....Overrated!
Prophecy?...Just doesn’t fly!
And we’re sure Christ hasn’t risen,
So, THOSE verses don’t apply.
This ain’t idol speculation…
Higher critics ALL agree.
Don’t impede the March of Progress!
We were blind, but NOW we see!
This ain’t idol speculation…
Now, that’s just the way things are!
No one needs The Great Commission,
It’s high time that it be barred!
This ain’t idol speculation…
Hollywood now swears it’s true!
Yep, we feel they’re on to something,
‘Cause we luv their point of view!
This ain’t idol speculation…
Trusting Scripture’s disavowed…
Put your Faith in Oscar Winners!
That’s how we “do” worship now!
This ain’t idol speculation…
It’s now how things have to be!
Father God heard from Big Brother,
Who in turn will set us free!
Lord, forgive us for ignoring
What your Word has said and done…
Lord, forgive us in the darkness
Where we always seem to run.
Give us Grace to know your Mercy,
Give us Grace to see the Light…
Give us Grace to bow before You,
Morning Star dispelling night.
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"I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star."
— Revelation 22:16
“The church was designed to be a light and a witness to a darkened world. But when the world enters the church and begins to censor its message, the church loses its prophetic voice. The church must be taught what the Bible says and then have the courage to uphold holiness while expressing compassion for all who fall short."
— Henry Blackaby
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