In Mr. Robertson’s fine article below he begins by writing;

“Someone once said that if you took the Holy Spirit out of the Western Church, 90 percent of what we do would carry on as if nothing had happened.”

I think that percentage is low all things considered. I’d kick it up about another 5%.

Western churches have become entertainment venues. Not where the Living Holy Spirit dwells and the people entering in call upon that Holy Spirit to lead them, teach them. Almost every pastor and minister work off prepared notes and illustrations and past sermons. Oh, they might in a prayer, in the rare 5% to at most 10% of the ALMOST LIVING professed Christian churches say, ask, for the Holy Spirit to guide their words. Then they quickly refer to their notes or an illustration from an author, a poet, a songwriter, what have you.

Would any dare walk out onto the raised stages, stand behind the lecterns, and truly in their hearts pray the Holy Spirit guide their words and then speak, faithfully, upon reading the Word of God placing their trust in the Holy Spirit? Do sans notes? Sans jokes? Sans illustration and story after story? Parables are one thing. They are not the illustrations and stories and entertainment, the attempt to lighten things up, crack some jokes, work the room as occurs in many, more and more so-called Christian churches in our time.

And I haven’t even touched upon the rock-oriented, rock music roots music played in almost every professed Christian church in the West these days, and for many decades now. Under the lie, the pretense if they don’t play such music they can’t attract young people to the church.

How can I write such things? For a few years, I traveled a large radius from where I live visiting churches in the hope of finding one to make my home church. I’ve written about this in the past. For some this will be repetitive, to them I apologize. I’ll keep this brief. I visited no fewer than half a dozen churches. Only one of those did I only visit one time. Once was enough. Today’s churches, in general, are social clubs. Entertainment destinations. A feel-good resort where many spend an hour, perhaps more. And then return to the world, no different from most people in the world.

Why? Because they are experiencing hollow, dead in the Spirit, worldly places. Where much unsound doctrine is being spoken. The church I visited once and knew I didn’t need to give more time? The pastor stood up after some contemporary music deemed Christian praise to God. And he stood at a lectern without a Bible (In an assembly of about 200 people my wife and I were the only people in the place with a Bible). And the pastor proceeded to tell stories. One illustration and story after another. With breaks between stories attempting to tell a joke transitioning to the next story.

No Bible-teaching. At all.

The saddest part? People there quizzed my wife and me as to why we were there. Prior to going into what passed for a Sunday morning service. I replied to them, “We’re praying and hoping to find a Bible-centered, Bible-teaching church.”

And the people who had gathered around us and had asked the question said, “Well, you’ve come to the right place!”

Do those calling themselves Christian in these times even know what is in the Bible?

Again, where’s the faith, the trust in the power of the Spirit of God to work in people? Where’s the faith in the Holy Spirit to do things beyond our comprehension in the hearts of any person? Do you really think rock-based music takes cold dark dead hearts to the truth of Jesus Christ and transforms those hearts and minds? Renews them? Or could it be the Word of God in conjunction with the work of the Holy Spirit and an individual finally hearing, finally seeing, and repenting?

It’s all about Jesus, all about the Holy Spirit, all about the complete whole inerrant and infallible living and active Word of God.

Where is the turning to the Holy Spirit to gain insights, understanding, grow in the Word and spiritual wisdom? Where!? In fewer and ever father between places in these last of the last day’s dear brothers, sisters, friends, and those who might be here who have not yet become renewed of mind and spirit, transformed into a new creature by the power of the Spirit of God to work in them by the person of the Holy Spirit.

Has the Western church forgotten God?

The Western church has embraced the world, thinking they can mold God to their terms and definitions rather than understanding God is the molder and they the clay to be shaped and formed by Him. Not the other way around.

The Western church has embraced and approved of every abomination under the sun. Forgotten God?

It reveals they most likely NEVER KNEW HIM! Nor His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, nor the Holy Spirit, nor the Word of God!

It doesn’t have to remain this way. But it can only begin to change when individuals recognize their sin, their being lax, their being complacent, their being lukewarm or downright dead inside and each individual repents. Seeks the Lord openly, boldly, continually. Eating from, drinking from the life-giving Word of God! And turning dead worldly spirits and lives into godly ones truly renewed, transformed, and serving the Lord Jesus Christ. Obedient to God. Trusting in the Holy Spirit. Living in and living the Word of God.

Period.

Nothing else. Nothing other than that. No show. No entertainment. No false teachings. No delusions. No more pretending.

Because it’s very real and serious no matter how people are playing around. Stop the playing around. Get deadly serious. Today because today is all we are given.

 

Ken Pullen

Thursday, February 18th, 2021

ACP — A Crooked Path

 

Has the Western Church forgotten God?

 

17 February 2021

By David Robertson

Reprinted from Christian Today

 

Someone once said that if you took the Holy Spirit out of the Western Church, 90 per cent of what we do would carry on as if nothing had happened. As I reflected on recent sad events, and how the Church has reacted to them, it struck that there is a great deal of truth in that. And then I noticed in the Bible just how often God warns his people about the danger of forgetting Him:

“They forgot the God who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt.” (Ps 106:21) “Then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” (Deuteronomy 8:14)

“You have forgotten God your Saviour; you have not remembered the Rock, your fortress.” (Isaiah 17:10)

“Does a young woman forget her jewellery, a bride her wedding ornaments? Yet my people have forgotten me, days without number.” (Jeremiah 2:32)

We don’t really think about forgetting God. We will instinctively say “of course we remember Him”. We use the language of God all the time. But should we be so quick to dismiss the divine charge. What if it is true?

Take the horrible situation with Ravi Zacharias. He taught about God but surely, he forgot Him. He forgot that God is omniscient, seeing and knowing all things. He forgot that human beings are made in the image of God; therefore to abuse them, is to abuse Him. He forgot the Day of Judgement, and the atoning sacrifice of Christ. He forgot that those who are teachers will be judged more harshly. He forgot the warning of Jesus, that on the last day there would be many who will say “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, and in your name have cast out devils, and didn’t we do many wonderful things in your name?” and be told by Christ “I never knew you. Depart from me you that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:22).

It’s easy to preach what we have forgotten and no longer feel.

Or what about the hope and trust that so many professing Christians put in Donald Trump (and some now in Joe Biden)? Have we forgotten that we are not to “put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save” (Psalm 146:3)? Have we forgotten that the Lord works by His methods, not ours?

There have been many words and declarations from Church leaders about Covid. But I suspect far more of them have just been echoes of health advice, political statements and vacuous spiritual truisms than they have been God speaking. Those who ask, ‘Is there any word from the Lord?’ are met with a deafening silence. Our priests are more politicians than prophets!

Then I read Brian McLaren’s fascinating interview with CT on his new book “Faith after Doubt”. We heard a great deal about white supremacy, American evangelicals, global warming, authenticity, belief and church – but precious little about God. Oh sure, we were given two caricature versions: the nasty controlling Deity who sends people to Hell, or the nice God of love and liberation who cares for all people. But these are more reflective of Brian’s perception of right-wing vs progressive than they are of the God of the Bible. God has been reduced to a bit player in our politics – a supporting actor for our views. We doubt Him (even if He exists) but we seem to have enormous faith in ourselves and our political views.

We have so forgotten God and his precepts that we have become near-sighted and blind, forgetting we have been cleansed from our past sins (2 Peter 1:9). It was astonishing in the blame game that followed the Zacharias debacle how we struggled to mention God. David, after his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband stated, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight” (Psalm 51:3). David had forgotten this and thus was able to excuse even the harm he had done to others – until he was creatively reminded by the prophet Nathan just who he ultimately had sinned against.

We seem emotionally, if not intellectually, to have bought into Rousseau’s version of God – “Of course he will forgive me, that is his job”. We are far too quick to say, “they have sinned” rather than “we have sinned against the Lord” (Lamentations 5:16). As a result, we not only blame others, but we think we can fix it – with our inquiries, words, restructuring, courses and consultations. Who needs the Cross?!

We have forgotten that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Proverbs 9:10). We are not wise but there is a wise word from the Lord, and it is the same that was given to Jeremiah:

“I have listened attentively, but they do not say what is right.

None of them repent of their wickedness, saying, ‘What have I done?’

Each pursues their own course like a horse charging into battle.

Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons,

and the dove, the swift and the thrush observe the time of their migration.

But my people do not know the requirements of the LORD.” (Jeremiah 8:6-7)

And to Isaiah….

“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;

we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you;

for you have hidden your face from us

and have given us over to our sins.

Yet you, LORD, are our Father.

We are the clay, you are the potter;

we are all the work of your hand” (Isaiah 64:6-8)

It is because we have forgotten God that we don’t know the seriousness of sin. As Richard Sibbes in preaching on Jeremiah 8:6-7 points out: “Sin defiles our souls and takes away the sweet communion with God. It puts a sting in all our troubles, grieves the Spirit of God and does more harm that everything else in the world – nothing hurts us but sin, because nothing but sin separates us from God.”

God does not tell us this to condemn us, but to cause us to flee to Christ. When the Holy Spirit tells us that “God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have”, He gives us the reason: “because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:4-5).

It is only when we forget God, forget his Word and reduce him to a tame god made in our own image, that we then turn away from Him and become shallow, self-obsessed, super spiritual hypocrites. If we paid more attention to what God says then surely that would do us far more good than all the pontificating of men? It is only in losing ourselves that we find ourselves.

In the Western Church today there is a famine of hearing the words of the Lord (Amos 8:11). Maybe it’s time for us to remember, repent and be restored? The Lion has roared!

David Robertson is director of Third Space in Sydney and blogs at www.theweeflea.com