The Enemies Trojan Horse

DISCERNMENT: SPIRITUAL SURVIVAL FOR A CHURCH IN CRISIS
In this time of growing spiritual blindness and rampant apostasy the number of voices speaking Truth in the Lord continues to shrink. However, one teacher of God's Word that Apprising Ministries feels we can still listen to is Dr. John MacArthur.

MacArthur begins this important piece:
The conquering of the city of Troy is one of the famous stories of ancient history. Greek soldiers had laid siege to the city for over ten years, but were unable to conquer it. In exasperation Ulysses, a brilliant strategist, decided to have a large wooden horse built and left outside the city walls as a supposed gift to the unconquerable Trojans...
Throughout its history, the church has embraced many Trojan horses. Satan has effectively used enemies disguised as gifts to lure people away from the truth of God into destructive error. Today’s church is in a particularly severe state of confusion... Today's church is like the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, who could tell the difference between superficial things like pleasant and stormy weather, but not between truth and error (Matt. 16:1-3)...
You can read this article from John MacArthur in its entirety right here.

Me, the heretic?

Just the other day someone logged on and read through the blogs I have written about the present condition of the church. Instead of leaving me a comment (as I wish you would do) they simply emailed me and told me their opinion In response to the blog "Christianity Gone Wild" they said; "Brother John, I read through your blog on Christianity Gone Wild and while I do agree with a large part of what you say, I have some very strong reservations. Yes, we all need to grow closer to the Lord but what ever happened to love? What ever happened to the preacher who will be there for people when they fall? What happened to God's forgiveness and mercy? While you are right on a few things, I believe you are going about it in the wrong way. You need to be more loving, caring, and compassionate. Sincerely, concerned reader."

Now, you would think by reading this persons response that I was the heretic and that the other preachers who spew out the greed gospel and blessing with no responsibility doctrine were the true blue preachers! HA! Let me point out a few things to this concerned reader and to those of you who will read this blog. As I stated in my post "Christianity Gone Wild" we are a church spotted with the things of the world. We are, a long way from what we were years ago in the church of Jesus Christ. We are more sinful, more sensuous, and more arrogant than ever before. Our hearts are filled with all sorts of evil and the day is coming when we will face a severe judgment!

Now what I have just stated is the cold hard truth. But it is the truth of the moral climate of the so called church in general. I never mentioned the poor man who struggles with all his might to overcome that porn addiction. I never said anything about not loving those who face adversity. I never said God didnt love us, or have mercy upon us. Of course he loves us, of course he has mercy (without it we would all be consumed by our wickedness!) Of course I am a preacher who has compassion on the lost and hurting! But I am not a preacher who will shun the truth! I am not that preacher on TV who will sugar coat the gospel to appeal to the average crowd. I am not the sleeping watchman on the wall who allows the enemy to sneak right past the gates! Yet I am the one who is the heretic? HA! The word of God begs to differ with this opinion. The Bible clearly tells us that we are to stand up for what is right! The Bible says, we are to stand as watchman on the wall. We are to blow the trumpet! Sound the alarm! And warn those in need of warning!

Hear this my friends, if preaching the truth is negative, I am guilty. If preaching the facts is unloving, I am guilty. If preaching against the modern day feel good JUNK that is coming across pulpits all over America, I AM GUILTY! But I do not believe for one moment, that I am negative or unloving! As a matter of fact, a message of truth is far more positive than a message packed with sugar coated lies. As we look out, we hear such a watered down form of preaching today from people like Joel Osteen, Paula White, TD Jakes, Kenneth Copeland, and so many more who never mention Sin, Hell, The Rapture, Holiness, or Purity! And whats happened is, WE'VE HEAPED TO OURSELVES TEACHERS, HAVING ITCHING EARS! And guess what? I have become the heretic! I have become the negative, unloving preacher! HA! May God have mercy upon a church who cannot bear to hear of their own wickedness. And if not able to hear it, they will never change it!

The True Church

In a time of uncertainty and speculation in the church world, we now find the need to identify and call to arms the True Church of Jesus Christ. While much of the church world today is shrouded in mysticism and glamour, I believe that there is a True Church out there. I believe there is a remnant of believers who stand ready to defend the faith at all costs. While most are out chasing the greed gospel by giving their money to the prosperity pimps of God’s word, there is a True Church who longs for what is in the heart of God instead of what is in his hand. There is a body of believers who as the deer pants after the water brooks, their soul pants after the living God! These believers are the minority in the faith, yet they are the key to our faith’s survival. At this moment, I believe God is making a clarion call to the True Church! I believe the trumpet of war is being sounded from on high and the marching orders are being given. Right now, God is calling on every Preacher, Pastor, Evangelist, Teacher, Apostle, Intercessor, Sunday School Teacher, Youth Worker, Children’s Worker, and Church member, to make a stand for our faith! In the church today, we are at a crossroad. On one side we have the modern form of man centered Christianity, while on the other we have the true church that adheres to the teaching of God’s word. On one side, it’s the easy path, it’s the wide road, but on the other side it is the narrow road that demands dedication and sacrifice.

This is where we are today! We have the choice! Our destiny lies in our own hands! We as individuals or as a church body must choose this day whom we will serve! I’m not sure about you, but believe in a true church. I believe in a church where dedication, sacrifice and the Spirit of the living God is. I believe there is a remnant of freshly anointed preachers who will preach the truth without compromise. I believe there are intercessors out there who sacrifice their fleshly desires to lie on their face before God for hours at a time. I believe that the true church is called to do great exploits for the Kingdom of Heaven! I believe that there is an anointing, there is a power, there is a revival waiting just over the horizon that will be unleashed upon this end time church when we choose to make the stand! Right now, God is calling out! Right now, he is looking for men, women, and teenagers who will answer the call and say yes I will stand!

We must fight the onslaught of evil upon our world
We must fight against the apostasy that has invaded the church
We must fight against an ungodly government that insists on pushing God out
We must fight against complacency, and self satisfaction

WE MUST FIGHT!