Body count not working

[C.F.W. Walther]

"..........the Body of Christ in America is not growing -- either numerically or spiritually. It is, relatively speaking, shrinking -- burdened by crass commercialism, a lack of integrity, and the quest for power and glory of celebrity preachers. An all but inescapable second conclusion is this: the rest of us, if we do not speak out against the lies of those who practice "body-count evangelism," are standing by just as Paul stood by when he guarded the cloaks of those who stoned Stephen. We, likewise, are guarding this cloak of falsehood -- subjecting the Body of Christ to a modern stoning of its own."

http://www.onenewsnow.com/2007/02/perspectives_bodycount_evangel.php

[Jim47]

Very sad, but very true. I take comfort in knowing that all of The Lord's promises are coming true, even the bad ones. :sigh:

Godlessness in the Last Days
2Ti 3:1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.
2Ti 3:2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
2Ti 3:3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good,
2Ti 3:4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—
2Ti 3:5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.
2Ti 3:6 They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires,
2Ti 3:7 always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.
2Ti 3:8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth—men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected.
2Ti 3:9 But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.

[seajoy]

Very sad, but very true. I take comfort in knowing that all of The Lord's promises are coming true, even the bad ones. :sigh:

2Ti 3:7 always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.

That is a statement only Christians can truly understand. It is a comfort that all God's words are true. Thanks for the insight, Jim.

[Studeclunker]

"And this Gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come."
"Now learn this parable from the fig tree; When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.
"So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near, at the very doors."

Praise God! Come soon, Lord. Come soon.

I truely love this forum. It sparks insparation to search the good book daily. This has really been great fun and inspiring. Thank you all!:clap:

[Confess]

I really have been struggling over what to post on this thread. I am not in a good mood today so maybe I shouldn't post.

grrrrr

Well, lets see how this post sounds and I will decide whether or not to post.

My pastor said something interesting in his sermon last week. He said that he was approached by a woman in the congregation who stated that since he has been pastor a lot of people have come in and left the congregation.

He stated that those who came in and left never really were "in" as they rejected God's Word to find something else from another denomination or congregation.

Our culture really makes it hard IMO for people to take the Word of God for what it says. Our sinful nature is stroked from birth with luxuries. Accountability is rarely seen from children, and those children grow into adults who do not wish to be held accountable.

Jesus hit the nail on the nose (;)) when he explained how hard it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

Americans are very rich and struggling in the faith while the Gospel is growing by leaps and bounds in the poorer countries.

It all makes sense to me. Maybe my eyes are clouded (hope not).

As with the rich man and Lazarus. Even if one were to come back from the dead, the rich will not listen.

All I know we can do is to continue to pray for them and not focus on numbers, rather focus on always speaking the truth without getting emotional about it or getting upset.

When we speak God's word to others without getting upset then we take the focus off of ourselves and put it all on God. We need to remember not to get others upset at us because when we do, then they use their dislike for us as a reason why they reject the Truth.

[Jim47]

Very good post Confess. I live in a very rural community, but not too far from Toleod Ohio which is a pretty good sized town. Within 3o or so miles of me are probably a dozen or more mega churches, many of which have their services on TV. How empty their sermons are of God's Word :sigh: Most of these people do n't even know that they are sinners for they never hear the law and have no need for the gospil.

God has blessed our little church with some new members and we are very thankful for them. Its so nice to go to church and hear many voices singing together prasing God and their Savior. Even if there were only a hand full of us it would still be a sweet sound.

[Studeclunker]

Actually, the United States goes through these cycles every fifty years or so. We pass through a cycle of revival and decline on about a fifty or sixty year cycle. It has seemed, historically speaking, that the last two cycles of revival were weak and the current cycle of decline is much stronger. It seems like the incarnation of:

2nd Timothy 4:3

KJV:
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears. And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

Or as Phillips paraphrased it:
For the time is coming when men will not tolerate wholesome teaching. They will want something to tickle their own fancies, and they will collect teachers who will pander to their own desires. They will no longer listen to the truth, but will wander off after man-made fictions.


In otherwords, at this time people don't go to church to hear the good news, they go to church to hear that they are good. Exactly the message that most of the mega-churches are teaching.

Nearly two thousand years later, the Church is still having the same problems that it experianced in Paul's time.:doh: It's like things are working backward...:scratch: