Tuesday 15 December 2015

Christianity under assault from within

Christianity under assault from within?
         Jesus said,
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.  
By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?  
Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  
A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.  
Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  
Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. 
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  
Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’  
Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” 
                                                                                                                      Matthew 7:15-23
We as Christians live in dangerous times. Many Christians believe we are in the so called end times. That may be so. But Christians need not worry we’ve read the book and it ends well for believers in Christ in the end.
However in this multimedia world Christianity is under attack and not so much from the outside but from within.
Most Christians tend to be on their guard when it comes from attacks from outside their faith. However they are less cautious about the attacks from within.
There are many ministries in the media and many Churches today who call themselves Christian but are far from God. They are perverting the word of God to suit their own way of thinking.
Back in the seventies there was an excellent example of this. Jim Jones a very charismatic preacher in the United States said things that sounded very good but led people astray.
The end coming when he and thousands of his followers who had gone down to south America committed mass suicide. A thousand or more died.
Today’s preachers and evangelist who are leading people astray are not leading people to commit mass suicided but they are misguiding people in other more subtle ways.
They are preaching the prosperity doctrine. Saying give to God and he’ll give you back a hundred, or a thousand fold. This has led people to give money they could not afford to give. With the resulting tragic financial consequences.
There are preachers out there claiming to heal people but are failing to show proof of any actual healings.
Some churches and ministers have abandoned at least in part the Bible. They pick and choose the parts they believe and dismiss the rest.
Others simply preach a feel good doctrine that people want to hear. After all who wouldn’t want to feel good?
The apostle Paul writes,
“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  
They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” 
                                                                                                         2Timothy 4:3,4.
As Christians we need to be on guard for the enemy within the Christian community. Men and women calling themselves Christians who are not.
In this day and age when the media blasts us from every angle we must read the Bible for ourselves. We must pray and ask God to guide us and not rely on evangelist and preachers in the media that we know little about other than what we see in the media.
We need to be attending a Church congregation that studies the Bible in context and strives their best to obey the word of God in spirit and truth.
Please think about it.

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