Where is that Church today?

Last week, I went to the residential children’s home to visit the nine year old child I am mentoring. I was shocked to discover that she is unable to read. She tries to mask her illiteracy with her eloquent speech, but it is obvious that the child cannot read!

Ephesians 6 starts off with instruction to various groups of people. Children are instructed to obey their parents in the Lord. Parents are encouraged to teach their children godly discipline without provoking them to anger. Slaves are instructed to obey their masters , and masters to treat their slaves with dignity for all are servants of Christ the Judge.

Ephesians 6:12 then states: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood , but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” The Bible makes it very clear that we are not to squabble amongst ourselves. Our enemy is not the people around us, Christian or not. The prince of darkness and his host are our enemy.  We do nothing but weaken our resolve when we fight among ourselves. When we let disharmony and discord infiltrate our ranks, the enemy rejoices. (1 Pet 5:8)

As much as the battle is a spiritual one, it also affects the physical realm in which we find our current existence. The enemy has thrown poverty against us. He afflicts the minds of our youth with boredom, violence and the scourge of illiteracy. It is our duty to extend compassion to those who find themselves his captives. Christ’s mission did not keep Him in the synagogue. His mission extended to all the world. He mingled among the people as one who desired their highest good, extending to them the right arm of fellowship and compassion. His ministry was a practical one.  The Bible tells us that He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil for God was with Him.  (Acts 10:38)

Christ has given us the same mission. What have we done with His command to go into all the world? We are living in the time of the end. We say it over and over, yet our actions and the way we live does not reflect this reality. Time is of the essence, yet we find ourselves unable to re-group and strategise an effective onslaught against the enemy. We are like King David who, in the time when kings were meant to go to war, was sitting in his palace daydreaming, thus giving the enemy the foothold in his life (2 Sam 11:1-4). Outreach is not about singing beautiful songs about Christ to people ravaged by poverty, alcohol and abuse. A song does nothing for them except perplex them more. Where is the God who supposedly loves them when they suffer day and night? How can you show them His love?

While Satan is on a rampage because his time is running out, while he threatens to destroy our children and families, the Church slumbers on and has potluck. Spiritual warfare is about the Church reclaiming territory. This is the Church of whom Christ spoke when He said that the gates of hell would not prevail against it. Where is that Church today? 

Main Scripture refs:  Eph 6:1-12, Matt 16:18-19, Rev 12:12

The Pursuance of Novelty -Part 2

Jesus made a startling statement in Luke 17:26 by drawing a parallel between the times that will mark His return, comparing it to the days of Noah. We therefore need to study the days of Noah in order to understand the times we live in today. Our antediluvian ancestors also lived life in the moment, thinking that they were invincible. Jesus describes their carefree and frivolous existence until the day of reckoning came suddenly upon them. To them it seemed sudden, yet there was ample warning given to them to repent and turn to God-Noah witnessed to the wicked generation for 120 years, but his appeals were largely ignored. We face the same dilemma today. When no one seems to be listening to your message, what do you do? Well, Noah kept on preaching regardless!

Sometimes, it seems like the world is looking for something new when the gospel of grace is right in front of us. The gospel is the old, old story that makes new hearts yet many people refuse to surrender and let God change their hearts. Instead, they seek the thrill of chasing after relative truth that evades them like a stealthy phantom that can never be caught! God made us creative beings, but He never intended for us to be so busy chasing a novel existence and getting bored with everything, that we have no time to spend in His presence and learn of Him. Our pursuance of novelty extends even into the arena of Biblical doctrines and truths. We are in grave danger when we think that we have heard it all before, and we go seeking after a message because it seems new and interesting. There will no doubt be many false prophets and false Christs out there, who will use their own private interpretations of the Scriptures to make things sound very different and attract the attention of those who are not grounded on Christ, the Rock. Jesus Himself warned us about this in Matt 24:24.

Satan’s ploy is to use the same old vices and sins to trap us. The Old Testament records for us the tragedies and triumphs of key figures in Bible history and we notice that the same sins that were their downfall, are ours today! Murder, adultery, licentiousness and immorality abounded then like it does now, yet in our pursuit of novelty we have blinded ourselves to the effects of these heinous sins. We have been desensitized to them to the extent that they are a normal feature of the landscape to us. Human beings, despite their God-given intellect, are slow learners. Just like the Israelites who fell into idolatry over and over again, we repeat the insanity of following a pattern of sin that gets us nowhere but we refuse to relinquish our old ways because we are terrified of change and of total surrender to God. Then, to add insult to injury, we claim that reading about the lives of others in the same predicament as ourselves is boring and not necessary! How can a person understand the New Testament without having a strong foundation in the Old Testament? How can someone appreciate the redemptive work of Christ if he does not first understand the origin of sin? Our neglect of the Old Testament is precisely the reason why some Christians cannot reconcile the justice and mercy of God, as revealed through Christ. Our understanding of the Gospel is incomplete without both the Old and New Testaments.



"But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction." -2 Pet 2:1


 "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." -1 John 4:1