“The individual is handicapped by coming face-to-face with a conspiracy so monstrous he cannot believe it exists”
J. Edgar Hoover
June 29 , 2011
Who are your enemies?
Mat 10:21NASB “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.
We call one another ‘Brother’ in the body of Christ. I expect betrayal. Jesus goes on to state; Mat10:36 NASB and A MAN’S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD.
History bears this out.
Throughout history, conflicts of major proportions produced traitors. The French and Spanish Inquisition were major problems for the body of Christ. Driven by the insatiable quest for power, the false religion of Roman Catholicism caused neighbor to betray neighbor, son and daughter betrayed parents and on and on it went.
The Nazi era was no different. Traitors abounded. Although there were heroic people who ‘did the right thing’, their efforts did not stop massive betrayal.
In the 1930’s, the US government declared owning gold to be a crime. Neighbor turned in neighbor. They were ratted out to government officials, reasoning that their neighbors were indeed, criminals.
It will be no different in the modern day church of today!
In past blogs, I have written about people in the modern day church having ‘Superstar’ heroes. Following a ‘Superstar Preacher’ or Superstar ‘Preacherette’ requires a sports team mentality. Woe to him who says anything bad about the Yankees in NYC!
The same is true for ‘Superstar heroes’ in the church today. There is nothing new about the ‘Superstar’ Mentality. Paul preached about it in the book of 1Co1:12NASB Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.”
A Difference of Opinion?
When a church member does not share the same opinion about another’s beloved ‘Superstar’, a conflict occurs. In today’s relatively polite society, this is not much of a problem. When persecution comes to the Church in America however, this will become a very big problem. A very big problem indeed!
What may seem like an opinion about a ‘Superstar’ becomes a deep seated animosity; (the old ‘You’re OK, I’m OK, game’)! It will become magnified during persecution. Brother will betray brother once more, just like Jesus said they would!
Hate Crimes
We would all like to think that we know what a ‘Hate Crime’ is. A so called ‘Hate Crime’ is punished with greater severity than an ordinary, ‘non-hate-based’ crime. Hate Crime legislation is the forerunner of persecution of the true Church of Jesus Christ.
Eventually, ‘Brothers and Sisters in Christ’ will turn each other in to the legal system!
The legal system will not charge us with ‘Reading the Bible’ or ‘Believing the Bible’!
They will accuse us of ‘Hate Crimes!’
I don’t hate anyone! You might say, but what you say matters little in this scheme of ‘Hate Crime. ‘Hate Crime’ is defined by others, not by you. If the law says you have committed a ‘Hate Crime’, then you have committed a hate crime!’
It’s that simple!
No one would do that, you say!
Ah, but it is happening around us every day. This is being foisted upon believers who ‘Pray silently’ on a public sidewalk’ at a Homosexual rally. All it takes for a hate crime to be committed is for a Sodomite to ‘feel threatened’ or to ‘feel hated’ and you will be summarily arrested and put in jail. I can prove everything I say because I got this information from published news articles around the US.
Silence Is Not Golden
The Apostle Paul named names!
He did this on several occasions which proves that doing so is biblical.
There is a ‘Good Ole Boy’ (GOB) unwritten law among church leaders today. It goes like this, “If I don’t say anything bad about so and so, then they won’t say anything bad about me!”
The point here is that they should not be doing bad things in the first place! That way no one could hold anything against them. Remaining silent about false religions and heresy is damaging to the sheep.
The bible is very clear; 2Thesalonians 2:3-4 NASB Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, (4) who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.
There IS a GREAT Apostasy taking place!
We see it happening right before our eyes. Entire denominations have gone the way of Sodom! Chrislam is a very misguided liberal attempt at blending Christianity with Islam. All this is happening now!!!!
It irritates me no end, when pastors pussy foot around naming names. (GOB mentality)
The apostate preachers and leaders are wolves in sheep’s clothing. There should be on a public list of rogues, the false teachers clearly named! It should be shown exactly where they deviate from the Word of God. This policy was good enough for the Apostle Paul, why not now?
Here is an example of the Apostle Paul, naming names, warning the flock!
2Timothy4:14-15 NASB Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. (15) Be on guard against him yourself, for he vigorously opposed our teaching.
Part of a pastor’s job is to guard the sheep. Many but not all are failing to do this.
Conventional Wisdom
The conventional wisdom of not naming names goes like this.
“I want to preach the authentic word of God so well and thoroughly that the sheep will recognize a phony right away!’
How well does this work?
If it worked at all, the sheep would not be following a bunch of ‘Superstars,’ would they!
Superstars abound! ‘Christian Radio and TV’ are full of them. Pastors are often quick to name some of the more outlandish superstars but they refrain from mentioning others who are more subtle but none the less still damaging to the body of Christ. Pastors do not even mention the ‘Emerging Church, or Contemplative Prayer, Centering Prayer, Mystical Practices’!
Each of these categories contains its own cast of Superstars! Sadly, the average church goer does not have these terms in their vocabulary. They have never heard of them so they could not possibly know the great danger that the false teachers of these kinds of things pose to the ‘Body of Christ!’
The sheep willing follow false teachers, thinking that these Superstars are legitimate followers of Jesus Christ. The sheep become agitated when anyone shows these Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing in the proper light, the light of scripture.
The sheep don’t want anyone to upset their Idol Worship! Nothing upsets the sheep more than when their favorite Superstar is revealed as Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing!
They just don’t want to hear it!
A man in my church told me that the phrase “What would Jesus Do?” is found in the Gospel of Luke. People spout this phrase so often that some of then think it is actually in the bible!
People believe what they want to believe, even in the face of enormous opposing evidence! It cannot be repeated often enough, the sheep must be warned, and warned often!
Conventional wisdom continues; “If I warn the flock about every false teacher out there, I’d spend all my time doing that and not preaching the word!”
Balance
Clearly, there must be a balance here. I am well aware that the Pastor’s job is not easy. Sheep have a tendency to stray, they must be warned about the ‘Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing’!
Completely omitting the naming of names is not doing the sheep any good. They are sheep! Sheep get themselves into trouble regularly. They must be warned about false teachers, false religions, and heresy within the church itself. All this is biblical and there are numerous examples of it for all to read.
Therein lay the problem!
The sheep don’t read the bible as much as they should if they read it at all. Some think that attending Sunday school and studying a reader, booklet, or some such thing, is reading the bible. Reading a booklet that contains a few verses among the photographs and heart warming stories is not reading the bible!
Sheep are easily distracted. Jesus did not pay us much of a compliment by calling us ‘Sheep’! People do the same thing that sheep do. Good thing He loves sheep, huh!
Good supplemental reading on this subject can be found in this book; “A Shepherd Looks At Psalm 23.
It is written by W. Phillip Keller
Summary
The Great Apostasy is Here!
Jesus Christ should be ‘Our ‘Superstar’.
Psalm 118:8 NASB It is better to take refuge in the LORD Than to trust in man.
Naming names is biblical
Pastors should protect the flock by following the example of the Apostle Paul, naming names and clearly warning about false teachers and false religions!
There will be treachery in the End Times Church.
Prepare yourself for it. It’s later than you think!
John 16:2 NASB “They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God.
Closing
Not all big named preachers are false teachers. There are sheep, (Christians) do not follow them or idolize them. These people are not deceived by false teachers because they focus on Jesus Christ and his Word.
How will the sheep know the difference if they are not warned which ones are which?
lethimbeholystill 