“I’m Not a Practicing Christian”

Whenever I’m confronted by someone who says they are a Christian but not a practicing Christian it really makes me cringe. I don’t know where that phrase first came from, but after studying the Bible for years my first thoughts go to what Jesus taught about those who think their saved. “Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.” Matthew 25:11. And also “Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.” Luke 13:26-28.

I recently received an email from a lady, who is a fairly new believer, who had a complaint against a friend of hers. She’s known this friend for 30 years. When this lady told her friend that she had become a born again believer in Christ, the friend told her that she, too, was a Christian. For 30 years they had known each other and had enjoyed a close relationship, but the friend had never brought up Jesus Christ in conversation.

If we are truly born again, Jesus is our best friend and we love Him more than anything. Is there any chance we would live thirty years as a follower of Jesus Christ and never mention Him to others? If we are truly living the Christian’s experience, the lost will take notice of that fact. That’s our opportunity to discuss the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them, unless we are no longer a practicing Christian.

If someone who at one time considered themselves a Christian but no longer has a desire to practice Christianity (live a Christ centered life) then they will have no desire to promote the truth of God’s word, and so the question arises are they really born again? Are they following Jesus’ commands? “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.” Proverbs 11:30. Certainly if anyone makes the claim “I’m not a practicing Christian” they aren’t standing up for Jesus Christ by winning souls.

When someone admits to no longer being “a practicing Christian” it tells me they are much more concerned with the world and with all of its tentacles than with Christ. This concern for the worldly pleasures will result in a thorough neglect of the truth of God’s word. They will quickly revert back to their old way of life. They want little or nothing to do with other believers. This, in itself, is quite telling. Think about it, just where is Jesus in their heart? And, of course, reading their Bibles becomes non-existent.

When Christians stop associating with likeminded brethren and become embroiled in worldly affairs and with worldly folks who have no use for God and certainly no regard for His word, they will begin to renounce Christianity, and the following mantra will become their phrase of choice “I’m not a practicing Christian”. It’s offensive and discouraging to be confronted by someone making that statement. You’re either a Christian or you’re not. “They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.” Titus 1:16.

Recently I came across an old friend from high school and began an email correspondence with this person. I knew my friend had attended a Christian elementary school until entering high school. We talked about our families and the old days in school. Before long, my emails began to include Jesus and what He has done in my life. As I broached the subject of Christ with my friend, I also began sending this person my commentaries. Almost immediately I was asked to discontinue our email exchange. Why? Because the views I now hold are quite different than those I held as a senior in high school, some forty years ago. I had changed and this old friend had become worldlier. The last email I received from this person held almost exclusively these words, “I’m no longer a practicing Christian, and I do not agree with your conservative stance on things.” I was then asked not to email again. “He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.” Proverbs 5:23.

I may get a lot of email on this subject and that’s fine, but personally I see a huge gulf between a Christian, that is a true believer and follower of Jesus Christ, and a person who claims “I’m no longer a practicing Christian”. That gulf may very well span the same distance as Heaven and Hell. The chasm between these two concepts of being someone who is devoted to Jesus Christ and someone who declines to have an association with Jesus may very well span eternity. “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” John 14:15. Can anyone honestly love Jesus without keeping His commandments? “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.” 1 John 2:19.

To me the life of a Christian is not just something we practice but it’s a new way of life we’ve chosen to embark on. We live our new life in Christ daily; there are 24 hours in a day and 7 days in a week, and we are to be an active follower of Jesus Christ in every waking moment. Believers don’t turn on and off their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as the hour dictates. We belong to Him. He owns us. He gives us our marching orders and we follow His commands. Believers can’t walk away from everything Jesus teaches and still claim to be a born again Christian; it’s an obvious contradiction which has lead to open apostasy. (Here come the emails). Again, the question must be broached, was that person really ever born again?

I’m not trying to be judgmental with these observations. I am not God and I can’t see into a person’s heart, that’s God’s domain and His alone. Yet He tells us to look to a person for the fruit that they produce to determine their relationship with Him. “Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.” Matthew 12:33. Jesus made this statement while speaking to the Pharisees about blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. In God’s view there is no in between. Rejecting the message given us by the Holy Spirit is the only sin that will not be forgiven, either in this life or the one to come. Aren’t those who are no longer practicing Christians rejecting the message?

True born again followers of Christ no longer want to have anything to do with that old sinful life. We are filled with remorse each time we stumble and take a step back. Our lives as Christians are focused on our first love, our most precious love, Jesus the Christ. Everything is second to our Lord and Savior. Jesus wants to be where we know He should be in our lives – at the highest rung on the ladder of our lives. The reason the Bible warns us so vividly against apostasy and false prophets is because true conversion can only be measured by visible fruit. “Ye shall know them by their fruits...” Matthew 7:16a. Non-practicing Christians will find it virtually impossible to bear fruit for the Kingdom of God because they aren’t interested in doing so. They want their cake and to eat it too (they want to live like the world but inherit Christ’s promises).

Those who make the claim “I’m no longer a practicing Christian” wish to remain neutral. They are fence setters. From afar they see the path of least resistance and are able to change their colors like a chameleon so as to not be detected as a rival by whomever they see approaching. To be truly born again is not an easy road. Persecution can and will come into the lives of all believers, even from one’s own family and friends, and this, my brethren, can be daunting. But there is no neutral ground when it comes to following Jesus. “He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.” Matthew 12:30. Jesus Himself tells all those who would make such a statement as “I’m no longer a practicing Christian” they are in big trouble. Therefore one must weigh the cost to see whether or not following Jesus is worth the final prize.

Folks such as those who claim this status of “I’m a Christian but I don’t really want to live my life like you other Christians” can be easily manipulated by God’s adversary. They grow in their acceptance of the worldly influence and before long they can no longer see truth. They become adverse and blinded to the truth. What was once preached to them at church is foolishness, and now they put their faith and trust in what is preached to them from their television sets. Blindness to God’s truth turns the world upside down. Black is white, up is down, right is wrong, good is evil, love is hate, and on it goes.

I am a firm believer that once a person is born again, born from above, born from God, that that person is forever in God’s hands. It’s God’s responsibility to keep us that way. I can almost hear the computers being fired up and readied to bombard me with an onslaught of emails refuting my claim. Guess what? God’s declares it so. Of course I must agree with God. “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” Ephesians 4:30. Paul tells us that those who are born from above, born from God, have the Holy Spirit of God sealed within them unto the day of redemption. That’s God claim, His promise. Who am I do argue the point?

There’s an old movie that includes the following line “It’s not my fault, I only read it”. Those who were listening to him read from that particular news story tried to blame this guy for the bad news he continually read to them. In my case, though, it’s only good news; you can’t lose your salvation if you are truly born again, period. Here’s the rub, those who were once professing Christians but who now recite the statement “I’m no longer a practicing Christian” may not have the Holy Spirit sealed within them, thus they may be in for quite the surprise as they reach their eternal destination.

There are many people, especially here in America, who claim the title of “Christian”, yet haven’t a clue as to what that title encompasses, which in turn makes it easy to claim a position of non-practicing Christian. They have no comprehension of what it means to live a life devoted to Christ therefore they have no idea the consequences of that statement and how it puts them at odds with the Savior of the world. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” Galatians 5:22, 23. These nine characteristics will become evident in the life of a true believer in Christ.

How can anyone take the position “I’m no longer a practicing Christian” when they know the truth? Perhaps they never really believed and what they heard about Jesus was robbed from them at some point by Satan. Take a look at the explanation Jesus gives His disciples when asked about the parable of the sower. “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.” Luke 8:5-14. In this parable Jesus is speaking about those who would make the following statement “I’m no longer a practicing Christian”. They no longer hold on to the hope and joy of knowing who Jesus really is.

“These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.” John 16:1. Offended in the Greek is “skandalizō”. The complete meaning behind the rendering of this word is: To put a stumbling block or impediment in the way, upon which another may trip and fall, metaphorically to offend, to entice to sin, to cause a person to begin to distrust and desert one whom he ought to trust and obey, to cause to fall away. Jesus taught all things to His disciples and to us so that we “should not be offended”, fall way.

I’m continually being bashed about by my brethren for my biblical stance on abortion, homosexuality, same sex marriage and the fact that I believe Obama is the worst and most offensive Muslim to invade the U.S. in the last 233 years. Those who make the statement “I’m no longer a practicing Christian” will never feel the heat of persecution and maybe that’s why they continue to recite that statement. Perhaps it just got too hot in the kitchen. Those who make that offensive statement are most certainly at odds with the Creator of the universe.

Free speech under attack!

I remember many years ago telling the readers of my Daily Devotional that it would soon be legal in this nation for men to marry men and women to marry women. I still remember the onslaught of emails telling me that I was crazy, that it would never happen. Well, it has happened in 10% of our states and more to come. I have also been trying to warn you that our most basic freedom to proclaim the Gospel would soon be in jeopardy. Sadly, most people are so apathetic or simply out of touch that they don't even realize that day is now upon us.

We all assume that based on our Constitutional right to freedom of speech, we will never have to worry about having the ability to proclaim God's Truth and the Gospel message. My friend, the very first group who will be targeted in an attempt to stifle free speech will be Christians because we are the weakest! I realize that most people may think I am being paranoid and have lost my mind, but you haven't lived, breathed, and operated 24/7/365 the last 10 years preaching Biblical Truth and the hope of Christ in the marketplace like I have. I've not only experienced the attacks each day, but see clearly how the world wants to desperately silence our message.

Sadly, while Rick Warren was on his knees apologizing to the sodomite community for stating marriage was between a man and a woman, while Joel Osteen was delivering another motivational speech and hiding from the issues of our day that are literally ripping out the soul of this nation, a mere beauty pageant contestant was delivering a message that if you closed your eyes, you would have thought she was reading from an article such as this…

Carrie Perjean spoke eloquently yesterday on our need to stand for our faith in the marketplace regardless of the personal consequences, and that we have every right to exercise our free speech to state our beliefs as those who oppose God have to express their beliefs.

WHAT A SAD COMMENTARY ON THE VOID OF CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP WHEN IT TAKES A 21-YEAR-OLD MODEL AND BEAUTY PAGEANT CONTESTANT TO SHOW MORE GUTS AND COURAGE FOR OUR FAITH THAN does 90% OF THE PASTORS AND SO-CALLED CHRISTIAN LEADERS OF OUR DAY.

The fact is those who oppose God DO want to silence us. Now please understand me. As long as we stay inside our churches, as long as we stay in our own little Christian media world that NOBODY outside of a small minority of Christians pays attention to, we are fine. However, once we venture into the marketplace, into the mainstream media, we have problems.

The new hate crime legislation is designed for one purpose, and that is to silence anyone from speaking out on the sin of homosexuality, even when the words of condemnation are directly from the Bible. The case will be made that anyone who calls this act a sin is spewing hate speech designed to incite people to violence against homosexuals, even though there will be no proof of such hatred whatever. The tactic is the same that other groups like the Muslims, the baby killers, and others who oppose God use to silence those who take a stand for God's Truth in the marketplace. Calling hate speech the basic truths of the Bible is exactly how those who oppose God will seek to silence anyone who goes into the public arena to take a stand for Biblical Truth.

The reality is, we have nobody to blame but ourselves. We extracted ourselves from the marketplace a long time ago. Those who do venture into the public arena, are more concerned with being politically correct than Biblically correct. We have a generation of gutless pastors who have been weaned on these seeker/purpose driven/emerging church marketing strategies that are designed to put warm bodies in their pews at the expense of the Truth of the Bible and the Gospel.

It is no longer about sin, sacrifice, and service, but tickling ears, entertaining, and making people feel good. Church is no longer about preaching and teaching the Bible to equip the saints and save souls, but is little more than a social setting that is a big business fraught with politics and lots of flesh. The irrelevance of the modern church in the real daily lives of people is why you have the better percentage of two full generations who have never even been to a church in their life.

It is the weak, apathetic, and in many cases, apostate church that is largely to blame for the lack of courage most people have in sharing their faith with the world. The world is a bully. Like a classic bully, they smell fear and weakness. The world has intimidated most Christians into silence, and in so doing, has made it that much easier to now make a real move on taking away one of our most foundational rights, the freedom of speech.

This is a wake-up call today to all of those who love the Lord. You no longer have the luxury of being silent.

The reality is, it will soon cost you to speak out for Christ. However, regardless of the personal consequences, you have no choice. Sadly, we are at a stage in this nation's history where people of faith will pay a price for speaking out for their faith. It is a reality many of our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world face daily. Regardless of the price, we can't be silent and must speak out or the very rocks will cry out!

I pay a price daily to do what God has called me to do. I could have taken the same road most do, stay in the Christian trough, preach to the choir, build buildings and fly around in private jets. But that is the mindset that has put us in a position where in the very near future we won't even be able to preach from the Bible without repercussions. Our ability to freely share the Gospel will be gone one day very soon. We MUST make the most of what little time we have left. The window to turn this nation back to God and to His Truth, to freely bring the lost to Christ, is almost closed. Now is the time, this is the moment, while we still have it, we must exercise our right to free speech!

Thank you for taking your stand with me as we bring HIS Truth to this lost world and the hope and love of Christ to the lost and hurting.

Crashing Times of Crisis

Well we just past the 60 day mark for Obama as our president. I am amazed at everything he is doing, and not in a good way.

Many speculated, even myself that he would do the standard wait for his first four years to be over then push through what he wanted.

Nope, no waiting here.

Just in the last sixty days he has signed an Executive Order reversing Bush's stand on stem cell research.

He is spending this nation very quickly into a 4th world nation via his "stimulus" bill.

He and his democrat buds are trying to make gardening and raising livestock for one’s own use against the law HR 875, while all the time Michelle Obama plants her own little garden at the white house.

Create (reinstate with more regulation) a draconian gun ban; which almost outlaws everything except a black powder flint lock and musket.

Recanted the ban on abortions overseas and is now footed by the tax payer.

Sending millions to Israel’s enemies and helping them build a terrorist training camp.

This is just a short list, there is a lot more that could be covered.

He is doing a fine job of literally killing this nation. In fact I would be very surprised that this nation is still this nation by the end of his first four years and it is replaced with a Marxist socialist form of government.

Folks, I bring all of this up because most likely laws will be created to shut the mouths of Christians and in most cases make the Christian a second rate citizen.

On September 17 2003, Canada's House of Commons passed a bill that adds sexual orientation as a protected category in Canada's genocide and hate-crimes legislation. The bill criminalized public expression, including Sunday sermons, against homosexual behavior. Those convicted of violating the new law face up to five years in prison.

Canada has already been prosecuting pastors and Christians who are standing upon scripture.

Do you know that there was a time when the bible was banned and burned by none other than the Christian Church itself?

"Canon 14. We prohibit also that the laity should not be permitted to have the books of the Old or New Testament; we most strictly forbid their having any translation of these books." - The Church Council of Toulouse 1229 AD Source: Heresy and Authority in Medieval Europe,Scolar Press, London, England copyright 1980 by Edward Peters, ISBN 0-85967-621-8, pp. 194-195

The Council of Tarragona of 1234, in its second canon, ruled that:

"No one may possess the books of the Old and New Testaments, and if anyone possesses them he must turn them over to the local bishop within eight days, so that they may be burned..." - The Church Council of Tarragona 1234 AD; 2nd Cannon - Source : D. Lortsch, Historie de la Bible en France, 1910, p.14.

Pope Pius IV had a list of the forbidden books compiled and officially prohibited them in the Index of Trent (Index Librorum Prohibitorum) of 1559.
This is an excerpt :

"Whoever reads or has such a translation in his possession... cannot be absolved from his sins until he has turned in these Bibles...Books in the vernacular dealing with the controversies between Catholics and the heretics of our time are not to be generally permitted, but are to be handled in the same way as Bible translations..." - Rule IV & Rule VI Die Indices Librorum Prohibitorum des sechzehnten Jahrhunderts (Tübingen, 1886), page 246f. Source: The Reformation, by Hans J. Hillerbrand, copyright 1964 by SCM Press Ltd and Harper and Row,Inc., Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 64-15480, pages 474, 475.

Can you imagine the seeker sensitive church today, which stands with Obama and the rest of this pluralistic world, turning against bible believing Christians?

I can and as I have pointed out above, it has happened before.

J. Vernon McGee, one of my favorite pastors and a student of Bible Prophecy stated that eventually the Christian church in America will have to go underground and that the attack against them will come from denominational churches.

With all the modern versions of the bible out there, I can honestly see the powers that be out law only one bible, the King James Version. The KJV is what I use and what I stand upon and I have many issues with modern versions. Some of you may disagree with me, but the way God’s word speaks to me through the KJV is like none other. There is power and conviction in the KJV that I do not see in any other version of the bible out there.

I do not know if you really realize something. The enemy has done a very good job of watering down the truth and has caused millions to say “hath God said” and even caused many to not even have the need to pick up God’s Word at all anymore.

It amazes me how many pastors no longer ask their congregation to “open God’s Word with me and go to___________”

Why should they when they have everything on an overhead projector.

What amazes me more is how many pastors use multiple versions to get their point across.

Want to make homosexuality ok, use the “gay bible.”

Want to make paganism and goddess worship ok, use the “gender neutral” bible

Got a pet sin, there is a bible out there that will help you condone that sin before man.

The church is in very bad shape, and they have forgotten their first love.

But those who have not forgotten their first love are now being persecuted and some are now giving their lives for the Lord all over the world.

How much longer do we have here in this nation before it is against the law to own and read God’s Word and be a bible believing Christian?

But what really stands out in my mind, how many people who claim the title will capitulate and go along with it?

That is what frightens me.

AIDS Rate Takes Off in China

China’s state media said HIV/AIDS took the lives of approximately 7,000 people in the first 274 days of 2008. The human immunodeficiency virus became the top cause of death among infectious diseases, surpassing tuberculosis and rabies, apparently the first time this has occurred.

According to the government’s Ministry of Health, the number of victims was fewer than 8,000, until three years ago.

“In China, the disease is mainly transmitted sexually, but the virus initially spread because of unsanitary blood plasma-buying schemes and tainted transfusions in hospitals. The first reported case of Aids in China was in 1982. Three years later, the government announced the first death from the disease. Yet concerns persist that local officials are under-reporting the figures. The United Nations’ health and Aids bodies, for example, estimate that, by the end of 2007, 700,000 people in China were HIV positive. Local officials are thought still to be fearful of recriminations if their localities buck national trends. In the old days, sexually transmitted diseases were officially eradicated—the Communist Party’s grip on personal behaviour, as well as the gathering of statistics, was absolute” (Independent).

Education campaigns help inform citizens, especially those who are at a much greater risk of contracting the virus, particularly homosexual men and sex workers.

Obama to End Military's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Policy

WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama will allow gays to serve openly in the military by overturning the controversial "don't ask, don't tell" policy that marred President Clinton's first days in office, according to incoming White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.

More on that story here.....

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,479952,00.html

Will Gay Believers Be Raptured?

Q. Your response to the woman whose sister was gay but also a believer gave me pause…I guess I always have read 1 Cor 6:9-10 to mean that those who engage in such activities will not inherit the Kingdom of God. So I’m wondering how one who is living as a homosexual and is convicted but not repentant ,as she seems to be, would still be included in the Rapture of the Church? Doesn’t repentance mean literally, turning away from one’s sin and walking in a new way? Which leads me to now wonder if the Kingdom of God is different from the Kingdom of heaven. I’m having a very hard time reconciling your response to this woman’s question…and please understand, I’m not coming from the perspective that homosexual sin is greater or worse than any other sin. I hold fast to the fact that none of us is perfect and it’s only by His blood and His grace that any of us are saved..but I also believe I have some responsibilities in walking out my salvation with fear and trembling. I know salvation is not about works but shouldn’t our lives be expressed in Christian living that continues to look more like Christ and not like the rest of the world we’re living in? Would you please clarify?

A. Please forgive me in advance, because I’m probably not going to appear as diplomatic in answering your question as you have been in asking it. I’ve been asked about this several times and want to make certain that I’m absolutely clear, for you and for the others who’ve asked.

In 1 Cor. 6:9-10 the key phrase is “the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom”. Paul followed it with a partial list of behaviors that are exhibited by the unrighteous. The problem is that believers often exhibit this behavior too. You only have to read a little bit of the Sermon on the Mount to see that. How can this be? Because our righteousness is imputed to us by faith, in spite of our behavior. In God’s sight the old us has already gone and the new us has already come. (2 Cor 5:17) Accepting the Lord’s death as payment for our sins made us as righteous as God is (2 Cor. 5:21) We’re no longer part of the unrighteous who won’t inherit the Kingdom.
The writer said her sister is born again, and recognizes her behavior as sin. If so, that makes her repentant because to repent means to change your mind. It doesn’t mean to stop sinning. If it did then the Bible’s admonition to repent and be saved wouldn’t make sense because if we could stop sinning we wouldn’t need to be saved. Even Paul confessed that he couldn’t stop sinning, but was grateful that when He sinned, the Lord saw it as the sin nature living in him, and not he himself. (Romans 7:20)

And working (not walking) out your salvation with fear and trembling (Phil 2:12) means to come before the all powerful Creator of the Universe with absolutely nothing to your credit, and ask the one who has no reason at all to save you from your sins to do so anyway. Remember the word “therefore” in verse 12 ties it to verses 9-11 that preceded it. They talk about Jesus being the one before whom all will bow.

All through the New Testament we’re admonished to behave in a manner that pleases God as a way of saying thanks for our salvation, but nowhere are we threatened with the loss of it if we don’t. This woman is not living a victorious life on Earth and will miss out on blessings because of that, but the loss of her place in eternity is not one of them.
And if you’ve fallen for the heresy that some will be raptured only to spend 1000 years in the outer darkness, weeping and gnashing their teeth, then you’ve been misled by some of the sloppiest scholarship I’ve ever seen.

If the writer’s sister is born again then she’s already guaranteed a place in the Kingdom (Ephes. 1:13-14) and she’ll be taken in the Rapture. When she gets there she will be in a new perfect body and all her sins will be part of the dark and distant past, just like yours and mine. Until then the only difference between us is that her sins are more obvious to us than ours are to her.