December 8, 2007

The Problem

First of all – who is doing the conditioning?

"And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience" (Eph. 2:1-2).

The prince of the power of the air, a.k.a. the spirit of antichrist, a.k.a. the god of this world and his invisible co-conspirators – the devil himself. He is finalizing his plan to abolish the faith once delivered to the saints and replacing it with his own scientific sounding modernized form of church repackaged for the modern world – the new Zeitgeist. The new enlightened ones can prove scientifically that they have tapped into the truth and can teach others how to benefit personally by following their principles. It is a popular faith that can be accepted by today’s intelligencia without requiring them to believe in an all-powerful Creator but instead see God as the collective oneness of all that exists and themselves as little gods – small pieces of the whole that is God.

Decades ago, these concepts were known as "secular humanism" which later evolved into the "new age movement" but now that the paradigm has shifted in both culture and the professing church it has given birth to the new faith. The debates in the church during the 1980s over whether we are little gods has now taken root in the "collective consciousness" of a major portion of Christendom.

Recently, I debated the little gods doctrine with John Copeland, son of TBN heretic Kenneth Copeland, on a charismatic discussion board. He seemed to accept this falsehood a priori exactly as his father had programmed him, without questioning it. His understanding is similar to the typical TBN viewer that has accepted the idea that Christians are of the same species as God since we are His children.

It isn’t a big leap from there to believe that we are all of the same species as God whether we’re born-again or not based upon the brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of God idea that has always been held by secular humanists.

Leaders of the Prophetic/Apostolic sort are confirming that idea by teaching that prophets have the same gifts as psychics by virtue of their birth. And others within the same movement are accepting the scientific sounding verbiage used by the occultists in their "quantum theory" propaganda that the mind has power over matter in creating one’s own reality. Occultists like Deepak Chopra have shown "scientifically" that sick people who have prayers going forth on their behalf recover quicker than those who don’t. This idea dovetails off the contemplative prayer advocates today who see prayer as some sort of power that can be harnessed rather than the Biblical definition of prayer as praise, worship, and petitioning God.

All these threads create one ugly false religion of which the Apostle Paul warned Timothy:

"O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: Which some professing have erred concerning the faith" (1 Timothy 6:20-21).

The new religion that is gaining ground in every corner of what is called Christianity has common ramifications:

• All miracles can be explained away by virtue of what are called spiritual laws – therefore, the word "miracle" no longer means something that can only be performed only by the God who has power over the laws of His universe, but is subject to them;
• Prayer and believing are tools to change reality by the power of our thoughts and godlike attributes;
• All religions have a part of the truth and it is arrogant to think that your truth isn’t filled with errors like everyone else’s;
• Transforming this planet into one more peaceful and kingdom principles are the order of the day is the new goal.

The Bible calls this a form of godliness, denying the power thereof.

And then there is dead orthodoxy that systematizes Bible teaching in such a highbrow way that sterilizes it and zaps it of its power and glory. How do you say "amen" to statements such as:

"The textual hermeneutics of this eschatological historic narrative transcends the apocalyptical exegesis of the ecclesiological paradigm. By way of recapitulation, contemplate the grammatical-historical implications of the soteriological induction of the homiletics that infallibly presuppose its interpretive dogmatism."

The Solution

Jesus is not a mere teaching or philosophy – He is a reality. We must commune with Him from the depths of our being. We need to get back to Jesus – to remember His love for us and love Him back with full devotion and commitment. Go back to your first Love!!

Pastor John Duncan of Calvary Chapel Lake Elsinore put it into perspective when he reflected upon the Table of the Lord. Here’s a partial transcript:

"Ex 3:5 And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.

"There is something shocking about the fact that any moment one might step on Holy Ground and not know it. For some people there is no sense of the sacred left in the world. They think the key is in understanding and explaining everything they see, it to the finest detail."

• Moses didn’t ask which shoe to take off first.

• He didn’t ask just where the line was where the ground wasn't holy.

• He didn’t take a little dirt in a jar to show others the holy ground.

• He didn’t ask if the ground would remain holy after he left.

• He didn’t ask why this ground was holy, and the ground  next to it was not. He did hide his face. And Listened.

"Now we are not given a single reason as to why that particular Ground was Holy. And we are not told why taking ones shoes off was the right thing to do. When it comes to take the bread and the cup, It reduces me to tears. I can’t explain it, because the Bible doesn’t explain it. He just–took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you."

"Here we are given a reason. I suppose it is because we are so forgetful that he asks that of us. There is something sad to me, that he had to ask to be remembered. But I know what life is like, and every time I come to that table, my life stops and I remember."

"I guess when it comes to the Lord’s Supper, there are those who walk on holy ground and never know it, there are others that find great wonder in the possibility of miracles that happens on that Holy Ground. For me, God meets me with a Miracle every time I take of that bread and of that cup The miracle I speak of is the miracle of seeing a little bit more that I saw last time, and walking away with a fuller sense that my sins are forgiven.. I mean FORGIVEN."

That truth cannot be dissected into theological sounding words without taking away from the wonder of Christ’s love for us. It just needs to be accepted and reciprocated. Jesus said that those who have been forgiven much, love much. We love Him because He first loved us.

♥♥♥