Watch out

Watch out
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 thorn bushes, 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
In this day and age it can be hard to spot the good from the bad within the Christian community. There is no real oversight especially when it comes to Evangelical Christians.
If a Christian pastor or evangelist has a disagreement with the denomination they are with all they have to do is set up shop as an independent congregation. Then the only oversight there is, comes from a board elected by that independent congregation usually from suggestions made by the pastor.
Now don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with most independent Churches. Most are doing a good job and staying true to the word of God. Still there are some that are not.
The apostle Paul warned.
“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.
It is these people we must be aware of. There are many charlatans out there claiming to be Christian, claiming to perform miracles and doing other wonders that are not.
Discovering who they are is very difficult in this multi media age. All too often we only see what they want us to see in the media.
These people string scripture together that sounds good. They even deliberately misinterpret scripture to take advantage of unsuspecting believers.
They make wild claims saying they have proof of what they are doing is true yet when pressed for that proof they say its confidential or make some other excuse. This should not be so.
Every church, every pastor, every evangelist should be open to scrutiny by those who support them.
If they make claims of healing they should be willing to give proof of the healing.
My pastor set the example for our congregation. He had colon cancer. When they went to operate on him they found the cancer was worse than they thought. They cut out what they could and told him, that had they known before they went in the extent of the cancer they wouldn’t have gone in. Now at best he had two years to live.
He believed God would heal him. Our church prayed for him and today five years on they cannot find the cancer. Our pastor was cured. The doctor told him it should be there but they can’t detect it.
It was proof God had healed him. All of this he shared publicly with our congregation.
This is how it should be with all who claim to have healed someone. The healing should be verified, preferably by a reputable independent source like a doctor.
Likewise when it come to handling of money contributed to the ministry. Every penny should be accounted for.
By law in Canada all charities and that includes churches have to give an accounting. Our congregation is given an accounting every year that includes not only what was paid out in expenses for various events and equipment for the church, but how much the pastor and staff are paid and how much was spent on travel by them.
It is a very transparent process that keeps everyone honest.
Thus it should be for every ministry. Christians need to hold all those whom they support to an accounting not just as to how the money is spent, but a spiritual accounting also.
If a miracle takes place it needs to be verified preferably as I said, by an independent source.
Even what the minister or evangelist is preaching needs to be checked periodically to see if it lines up with the scriptures. If it doesn’t the person needs to be spoke to.
The apostle Paul wrote,
“What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?  
God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.” 
                                                                                       1 Corinthians 5:12,13.
Simply put we are not to judge those outside the church. Instead we are to keep our own house clean and expel those who are not properly administering the word of God from among us.
The apostle Peter said,
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.  
Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 
Dear friends,
 I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.  
Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.’ 
                                                                                      1 Peter 2:9-12.
This is what we as Christians should be doing ourselves and should be expecting our Christian leaders to live up to.
Please think about it.

Do not Judge

Do not Judge

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  
For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” 
            Matthew 7:1,2
“What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?  
God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.” 
                                                         1 Corinthians 5:12,13
Here is a simple Christian truth. Christians are only allowed to judge those who call themselves Christians. We are allowed to judge them because they claim to be proclaiming the word of God.
Those outside the church should be of no concern to the Christian with respect to judgement.
As Christians our job is to reach out to the world in love not judge them. We are to present the salvation message of Jesus Christ. Jesus makes it clear when he said,
“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” 
                                                         Matthew 28:18-20.
The apostle Paul writing to the Corinthians said,
“What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?  
God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.” 
                                                            1 Corinthians 5:12,13.
Put simply Christians are to keep our own house in order. We are to remove from the body of believers those who are not following the teachings of Christ.
The apostle Paul writing to Timothy said,
“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
Paul also said,
“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.  
People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God"
                                                                                                                                        2 Timothy 3:1-4
These are the people within our church congregations, denominations and in the media we need to watch out for. We need to expel them from among us.
Please think about it.

judging

judging

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  
For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  
How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?  
You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. 
                                              Matthew 7:1-5
Christians here are told not to judge others. We are not to judge especially hypocritically.
This is not the same as discernment.
I’ve heard people say well you shouldn’t judge what the priest, minister or evangelist says because it’s judging. Not so.
The apostle Paul writes,
"What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?  
God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.” 
                                                                                              1 Corinthians 5:12,13
There is nothing wrong with questioning the teachings of anyone ministering the word of God, be they a Sunday School or Bible study teacher, a pastor, evangelist or whoever is ministering God’s word.
This is discernment.
When we question what we are being taught this is a good thing it helps us get to the truth of the matter. Especially if what is being said sounds suspicious.
An honest teacher of the Bible will not object to being questioned about his or her teaching.
What Jesus is telling us here is not to judge other people be they Christians or non-Christians for what they are or what they do. Especially since we may be doing or have done similar things before we were prompted by the God to change our ways.
We cannot tell what is in someone’s heart.
All Christians grow in the Lord at different rates and it is up to the Holy Spirit to convict someone of any wrong they are doing.
When it comes to non-Christians this is especially true. Judging them may very well turn them away from God.
The Talmud tells a story about Abraham it goes like this,
“An aged man, whom Abraham hospitality invited to his tent, refused to join him in prayer to the one spiritual God.  Learning that he was a fire-worshipper.   Abraham drove him from his door.  
That night God appeared to Abraham in a vision and said: ‘I have borne with that ignorant man for seventy years: could you not have patiently suffered him one night?
                                                                                                              The Talmud 
Judging someone especially outside of the church is dangerous. What Jesus says is true,
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  
For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
People around us are aware of what we do and say. They are aware of our short comings If we judge them they are going to judge us in the same way.
It is not the Christians place to judge sin. That is God’s no one else’s. Only he knows the heart and mind of anyone.
The job of the Christian, the only Job of the Christian is to present the Gospel to anyone who will listen and let God do the rest.
Think about it.