It's the Church's Fault

"Brethren, our preaching will bear its legitimate fruits. If immorality prevails in the land, the fault is ours in a great degree. If there is a decay of conscience, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the public press lacks moral discrimination, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the church is degenerate and worldly, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the world loses its interest in religion, the pulpit is responsible for it. If Satan rules in our halls of legislation, the pulpit is responsible for it. If our politics become so corrupt that the very foundations of our government are ready to fall away, the pulpit is responsible for it. Let us not ignore this fact, my dear brethren; but let us lay it to heart, and be thoroughly awake to our responsibility in respect to the morals of this nation."

Now, although I would love to take credit for this piece of literary genius, I cannot, and, although this quite clearly could have been ripped from today's headlines, it was not. It was written by Charles Finney, December 4, 1873 and is titled "The Decay of Conscience". I just happen to agree with him, WHOLE HEARTEDLY, all these 140 years later. The only differing opinion is, where Mr. Finney lays the burden on the pulpit, I believe the entire Christian church has to own this. And .... where I will admit, not every church in America has fallen off the path, they are still equally as guilty; because, they haven't done anything to stop it, correct it or speak on it. Sins of omission, as opposed to sins of commission by the churches, who currently subscribe to a watered down version of a greasy gospel that promotes half truths, and, in some cases, no truth at all.

Here's my point. At some point in time, the American church decided we needed to become more like the world to appeal to the world. I guess maybe the thought was that if we become more "fun"or "hip"or something, sinners would come to hear the Word, and THEN, we could tell them who Jesus is. Well, the only thing that happened was we invited the devil in and he's eating us alive. We have turned into Christian social clubs that don't resemble our Christ AT ALL! We are so enamored by our own works and everything we do for the Lord .... that we have absolutely made the Word of God AND the Works of Christ of no effect! (Mark 7:13 and Galatians 5:4) Works! Works! Works!

You know ..... when Jesus was asked what must we "do".... what "works".... Jesus replied in the singular:

Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.(John 6:29)

So ..... Jesus response was that IT IS NOT ABOUT US! Yet, we expend so much effort on works, that we have completely lost sight of that fact that church, life, the breaths we breathe, from creation to Revelation is ALL ABOUT HIM! Our only responsibility in the life is to believe on Jesus and live. There is nothing about "do"anywhere in what He said. Yeah, but faith without works is dead .... so what are you talking about? Faith without works is dead IS in the Bible! Agreed! Indeed it is. Spoken by Jesus' brother in James 2:20. Yet .... I highly, very highly doubt, that James was negating what Jesus, Himself, spoke in the Gospel of John. 

So, what if what that actually means is my belief in HIS FINISHED WORKS on Calvary? James said, you show me your works (self-effort) and I'll show you my faith (Jesus' finished work) and you show me your faith (in your works) and I'll show you my works (eyes on the cross). It's ALL about Jesus! It always has been. It always will be. Jesus told Martha, who was working her behind off, for Him LITERALLY, that Mary, who was doing nothing but sitting with Him, had chosen the needful part. The problem with churches today is that you have to go for weeks to hear any mention of Jesus, the Cross or the Resurrection.

We have turned into free self-help, with power points, life principle notes, how to guidelines and spiritual guidelines that have absolutely nothing to do with the Ministry of Reconciliation that the Bible clearly tells us is the post resurrection message. Christ died on the cross, reconciled men unto God, and imparted His righteousness to us AS A GIFT because of our faith in His finished work (He even said It Is Finished - ALL sin forgiven and reconciliation with God, the Father, complete). Yet, we refuse to agree that ALL sin was forgiven. We haggle over past, present, future ..... how could he possibly forgive me for a sin I haven't committed? Because you're going to, and, for the record, ALL of our sins were future sins when Christ died!

We have some denominations preaching Christ was fully man, but not divine. We have some preaching Christ was divine but not really human. We still have entire congregations fighting for the Ten Commandments, which were NEVER God's will, and were NEVER written for anyone other than the Hebrew children with Him in the desert. We cause more damage than anything else. There is no "Good News"in the condemnation the Old Covenant and Mosaic Law burden people with. There is no "Good News"in fearing God and loathing in our own unworthiness. There is no "Good News"in constantly holding on to sin and thinking God is mad at us. There is no "Good News"in believing we have to wade our way through this life by our own effort. Jesus never asked us to anyway.

The world is starving for TRUTH! The world is starving for JESUS! And, the church can't help them, because WE ARE STARVING! Teaching Series should be reserved for adult Bible study and die from their appearances on Sunday morning! Preach Christ! Preach the Cross! Preach the Resurrection! Preach Reconciliation! Preach Grace! PREACH THE TRUTH!

The Good news of the Gospel is this: NO ONE goes to hell for sinning. If we did, God could wrap this thing up right now, because we are ALL bound for eternal damnation. When Jesus died on that Cross, He paid the penalty for every sin that would ever be committed throughout the annals of history, to include the sins of those who will never believe it. NO ONE goes to hell for sinning! AND ..... God does not condemn people to hell. There is one reason, and one reason ONLY that anyone would ever spend eternity in hell ...... refusing to accept the free gift of salvation Christ paid for! And, He paid for ALL of them nearly 2000 years ago. He doesn't keep jumping up on the cross when someone new accepts salvation, and He is NOT waiting for someone to accept the gift BEFORE He forgives them. All sins for all time were forgiven at the same ...... Calvary!

THAT is Good News INDEED!

Kalena in Grace

Then .... There's Phil Robertson

The Biblical definition of persecution is being hated or attacked for standing on the Word of God. Whether it was his intention or not, Phil Robertson has become the poster child, and, in reality, this isn't even about Phil Robertson. Now, although I'm sure he never saw it coming, God chose this particular man for this particular moment in time. My belief is it has something to do with the Spiritual strength of Phil and his certainty of who he is in Christ and who Christ is IN HIM! Nevertheless, the war rages.

Recapping: Phil Robertson is the Patriarch of the Robertson family, who have the most successful non-scripted show in the history of EVER! They bring in hundreds of millions of dollars for the A&E Network, to include a $400 million dollar deal with Walmart to A&E's financial benefit. GQ magazine runs him down to do an interview, and the reporter specifically asks Phil what he believes sin is. Now, although I wouldn't use the exact vocabulary he used, Phil proceeds to give an accurate account of what the Bible considers to be sin. Again, I wouldn't have used the same wording in the details, BUT ... when the moment came to back my beliefs scripturally, I would have said the same things he said; because, I read and believe the same Bible.

Now, there is NO WAY on the face of God's green earth that GQ reporter, A&E or any breathing human being who has watched even half an episode of Duck Dynasty, or listened to this man speak for even five minutes, who can honestly say they are surprised or shocked by what he said. It is all he ever says. The man has an agenda, and that agenda is Jesus; and, he doesn't split hairs or make excuses about it. He is one of the most recognizable faces in the country, and Jesus is absolutely the topic of discussion everywhere he goes .... whether it starts out that way or not. Everybody knows this  .... or, at least, they should. Well, apparently A&E didn't know, and they promptly rained down a politically correct indefinite suspension!!! Bravo A&E, right? Well, as it turns out .... they are nothing more than a corporate clan of hypocritical socially acceptables. They defended their actions by pronouncing their unconditional support of LGBT and marveled in their support for gay rights equality. Yet, that VERY night .... the scheduled Duck Dynasty episode to air in Northern Virginia was Phil and Miss Kay renewing their wedding vows!!!!! You know? One man, one woman, holy matrimony! Hypocrites!

As a side note .... I read the article .... the entire article, and I have watched the news media madness that has followed. I watched as the gentleman from GLAAD sat on the news the other night, and twisted and turned every sentence from the article into damnation on the LGBT Community. Quite clearly, this young man didn't have the benefit of a Caroline Sabo to teach him that a period after a word, not in an abbreviation, ends a complete thought and the next word beginning with a capital letter starts a new and separate thought. Because what he was accusing Phil of is NOT what he said. The words were the same, but the structure and thought were not.

So lets look at this ..... according to the Bible sexual sin or sexual immorality is ANYTHING sexual outside of the marriage between one man and one woman. You don't have to agree with it. You don't have to like it. You don't have to believe it, BUT, that's what the Bible says. As far as the Bible says, there are no BIG sexual sins and LITTLE sexual sins. Sin is sin is sin. We are the ones who categorize, not God. You can ask a thousand people what they believe is the worst sin, and they would ALL be correct! But, back to Phil ....

And, that takes us to Piers Morgan ....... The GQ article set to release in print next month is released online, A&E slams down the politically correct gavel ..... and Piers Morgan, who, best I can tell has done nothing but slam every freedom we have in this country for as long as he been given a platform, says that Freedom of Speech shouldn't apply to "vile bigots", aka Phil Robertson. That's hate speech. Should Phil be offended? Let me analyze this .... Piers Morgan, a foreign journalist working in America whose citizenship, at last report, is STILL Great Britain versus Phil Robertson, born and bred in Louisiana, raised in Louisiana, citizenship is American. Which one of these two men is really on the short end of who our Constitution and Bill of Rights applies to? Not to mention .... Freedom of Speech was written into our Constitution .... NOT to protect people for things we like to hear, but specifically to protect people for things we DON'T like. I suppose if Piers had been educated in American History, in America, like Phil was, he'd know that!

Here's my thing ..... I, too, have an agenda. Like Phil, my agenda is Jesus. As such, I believe the Bible. I believe EVERY Word of it. I also believe this. Although this is they way God introduced this moment in history, this really has nothing to do with Phil Robertson, Piers Morgan, LGBT or GLAAD, or that sad reporter at GQ, who opened Pandora's Box.

The Bible tells us that in the last days, there will be a great falling away from the church, and that there will be a time of separating true believers from nonbelievers. I believe this is the beginning of that move, and, if church folks are really paying attention, they will see it, too. It is time for the redeemed of the Lord to say so and MEAN it. Either God is who He says, or He's not. Either Jesus is who He says, or He's not. Either we believe Him, or we don't. These are absolutes. It is cut and dry, and it is time to take a stand. The days of feel good Sunday Service Christians are over. It's time to walk our talk! We are either on God's side, or we're not. The time to settle this IS NOW!

If we truly knew the price He paid and the love with which He loves, this would have been settled long ago!

Kalena

The Passing of Paul

I usually don't involve myself in things like this, but I am quite compelled that there is no denying the heaviness in my heart to do so this time. In truth, I have been avoiding this post for three weeks, and it just will NOT go away.

On November 30th of this year, Actor Paul Walker tragically died in a fiery car crash in California. In true Hollywood irony, he left this earth the exact same way he lived it on the silver screen. I remember immediately thinking "Lord, I pray that young man is saved". (Amazingly, the Lord affirmed through a Christian Talent Agency the following day that, indeed, Paul Walker had received Christ as his Savior.) The media frenzy that ensued was incredible and unbelievable. I read through post after post on my facebook page about how "hot"he was, and how all these women just "loved"him, about how he was the BEST actor ever! And, I thought how strange all of this was, because I know most of these people personally, and they don't know Paul Walker, at all, aside from his role in "The Fast and Furious" movie series. Twitter was blowing up. Facebook was blowing up. All the media outlets were all abuzz over this.

All the while, on the other side of town, Paul Crouch quietly slipped away to be with the Lord. He had been sick for a while, but there was nothing that would lead anyone to believe his sickness was unto death. He was an elderly man, and these things happen as we age, right? Well, though there should have been, there was no "trending"news of Paul Crouch's death. No facebook mania. No anything. I also paused to think how strange this was, as well. Actually, this seemed all the more strange to me.

Paul Walker, by all reports, was a great dad, a great friend ... a great everything. He was a child of God, and was very generous in giving back for all of the blessings the Good Lord had given him. Paul Crouch ..... well, who is Paul Crouch anyway, right? Paul Crouch, also a child of God, was the man who founded and ran Trinity Broadcasting Network. Now, while both of these men entered into heaven on equal standing, because they accepted Christ's finished work on Calvary and NOTHING more ..... on Kingdom terms, Paul Crouch went into ALL the world and spread the gospel ..... literally! and perhaps .... just perhaps .... for a moment those children of God who remain should recognize that we lost TWO brothers in Christ that day.

I had the same feeling earlier this year. The day Margret Thatcher died, Dixie Johnson also died. While entire nation's mourned the passing of Great Britain's "Iron Lady", Dixie Johnson quietly passed on to be with the Lord. Outside of my small family circle I suppose Dixie Johnson is nobody really. Yet, on that day ..... she stood EQUAL before God with a former Prime Minister and one of the most powerful women in the world!!! As she should have!!! Oh yeah, and who was Dixie Johnson? My Granny! The Matriarch Queen of the Johnson family! She was 99 years old!

Our priorities are out of order!

Kalena

New Normal

Oh, do I have a story .....

A story that has been thirteen long, long years in the making that I am busting at the seams to tell. Alas, the Lord has not yet released me with the gift of sharing.

BUT ..... I can share what I'm learning while I'm waiting.

First ..... I am ..... are the two most powerful words in the English language for a child of God, because whatever comes after those two words is absolutely beyond a doubt going to show up manifested in this life.

Yet ..... is a very close second to that on the list of the most powerful words in the English language for a child of God! Yet begets hope in any situation where we are waiting for the manifestations of the promises of God in our lives. It turns the downtrodden "it hasn't happened" into a hope filled "it hasn't happened YET", which strengthens faith to levels most folks never seek.

I started noticing the magnificence of the differences when someone posted a "new normal"post on facebook that was a big bunch of "it is what it is" events that had nothing joyful or uplifting in it, and I wondered why it seems to be that anytime someone mentions a "new normal"it's always bad news that no one ever wants but is forced to deal with because it has happened.

So ..... I thought about that ..... and I thought, ok ..... here's my definition of the Kalena New Normal ..... I am restored to the health AND weight of my youth ...... all restorations and renovations on our house ARE finished ..... our vehicles are upgraded ..... and we are billionaires.

Essentially what I have decided and set my heart and mind to is the expectation that every promise God has made to me, every promise Jesus died to gift to me, every promise the Holy Spirit has lead me to, IS going to come to me pass in my life in THIS life!!!!! Six thousand years worth of promises manifested on this side of heaven ..... IN MY LIFE!

I don't deserve it .... there's nothing I ever could do or ever can do to deserve ANY of it. All of it came as a gift to me when I received THE GIFT ..... the FREE gift of salvation with Christ's finished work at Calvary. All of these things are in my inheritance package, because of Jesus. ALL Him ..... NONE of me!

Glory Hallelujah!

Kalena Praising