General Articles

Celebrity Christianity or Christianity Compromised? :: By Holly Spate

Published on: by RR10

As we get closer to Christ’s return, we are seeing a greater rise in compromise within churches. So many have become the poster children (to a tee) for the Laodicean church the Bible describes.

Many today just want their ears tickled. Many are content to seek a place where they can socialize, grab a cup of coffee, listen to a feel-good message, and be entertained. What’s that called?… seeker-friendly? Not all, but more and more churches are looking more like the world and accepting its philosophies and ways.

Aren’t we called to be salt and light? Aren’t we told to be in the world but not of it… to separate ourselves? If so, why are so many so quick to want to emulate the world? Why are so many so enamored with mimicking what the world does? Christians should stand out from the world, look very different from the world, because we’re called to not be like the world.

1 John 2:15 says, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”

Something that greatly bothers me and grieves my heart is how “celebrity” has been ushered into the church. Worship services feel more like entertainment than true worship. It’s hard to get into the right mindset to worship the Savior when the worship leaders on stage seem more like they are performing and trying to soak in the limelight rather than fade into the background and point people to Jesus.

And, the loudness! So many churches crank up the decibel level so incredibly loud that even earplugs can no longer serve as protection.

How loving is it to harm people’s hearing so that the church can provide some “experience” that they deem important or that they feel they must provide to compete with other churches? Isn’t looking out for others important? Isn’t protecting one’s health and well-being important? Isn’t pointing others completely to Christ with every action and decision important?

One would think celebrity in the church and among Christians would be clearly understood to be wrong. Celebrity always casts a shadow… it elevates someone over God. It is IDOL WORSHIP!!! If we truly love God and want to obey Him, we have to reject all aspects of “celebrity” both in the church and outside of the church.

These verses are very clear:

Exodus 20:1-5 “And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.”

Romans 1:25 “Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.”

Matthew 6:24 “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

Matthew 22:37 “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.”

In a nutshell… the church is not called to compromise. Christians are never called to compromise, and everything we do should point to the Savior, not ourselves and not others.

There are some things in life that are gray and some that are black and white. There are things in life that may require a question mark and other things that undoubtedly require a period. Celebrity in the church is not a gray area; it’s clearly black and white, and it’s wrong… period.

It is very sad to see compromise creeping in. Because, with every compromise, the light we’re called to shine grows a bit dimmer.

Several years ago, I felt moved to write about the topic of celebrity and how it’s crept into the one place it should never be… the church.

https://www.raptureready.com/2019/08/03/servants-not-celebs-holly-spate/

I hope this article, shared many years ago, will stir your heart to pray for our churches. Because He, our great Savior, deserves all our adoration, awe and praise!

spate.holly@gmail.com

 

 

Sin Sucks… Your Joy, Your Life, Your Soul:: By Edwin Tan

Published on: by RR10

“Then to Adam He said, ‘Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying “You shall not eat of it”: ‘Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return'” (Genesis 3:17-19).

Had Adam not paid attention to Eve and stuck by God’s commandment to the letter, things would be so very different. A sinless world! But there we have it – humanity is born into sin and could die in sin. With sin, there is a plethora of curses. These translate into problems, be it at micro level where the individual is concerned or at a macro level which affects society as a whole.

It is not uncommon to come across people having a rushed meal while standing up. There is sweat on their foreheads. The food is close to tasteless; the tummy just needs to be filled. Does it not fit the rebuke from God to Adam and Eve prior to their expulsion from the Garden of Eden?

Toiling is an inevitable facet of human life. There are the masses across continents who toil for the purpose of making ends meet. Then there are those who sweat it out because they are chasing an elusive dream – a seemingly better life. There will be those who claim that they are enjoying every bit of it. Really?

Sounds like a half-truth. With the need to toil comes worry. Everyone will have worries; it varies by way of form and intensity. A lot of it could have little or no basis, but it is enough to suck the joy of living out of each and every soul.

There are those who profess that their lives are devoid of whatever worries. By their outward appearance, they look convincing. Same goes for their speech and demeanor. But these folks do worry, only that they cleverly disguise it. These folks are indeed living a lie. They are not honest with themselves, and they will struggle when it comes to sincerity with others.

It is all interrelated; the stress of daily living and the never-ending torrent of worries causes deceit to flourish. Deceit can take the form of blatant trickery or, in a more subtle way, show up as an excuse. Expect nothing good to come out of broken promises. Trust is in short supply; there is cause for cynicism, which breeds contempt and ill will. When these negatives get out of hand, anger, hatred, and even violence are the end results. The case for doing good is diminished; plotting and executing evil deeds appears to be justified!

“The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

All of humanity has the propensity to commit some form of evil. The boy or girl next door that appears decent could be in the front-page news for a violent misdemeanor. Everyone is capable of performing a diabolical deed at some point in their lives. No one is immune from this tendency.

“As it is written: ‘there is none righteous, no, not one'” (Romans 3:10).

The same goes for sickness and tragedies in life; no one is immune from these negatives. These are the thorns and thistles that plague the human race. No one has any clue when these nasties will strike, but they can truly be life-altering events. Perhaps as bad as a broken promise, if not a shattered dream turned upside down into a living nightmare. They suck the joy of living, but life with whatever pleasures that go with it will indeed come to a concluding moment. Death!

This is when flesh and bones return to the dust of the ground. Does all that pain and sorrow end there? It does not look that way for the bulk of humanity. Everyone is worried about dying; it becomes a psychological issue for some. Witnessing a fatality at point-blank range could be cause for poor appetites and sleeplessness!

“For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

It is truly not a pretty picture when anyone falls short of the glory of God. Without God, there can be no relief from the heartaches, pain, and sorrow of life on earth. It does not stop when the body goes to the ground. It only gets worse, and it will stay that way for eternity!

Humanity is therefore cursed for eternity because of the action of one forefather. It is the curse that separates the human race from the loving Heavenly Father. We know it as the fallen nature. The earth is indeed a fallen planet!

“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).

God is truly a loving Creator. Despite the seemingly inseparable gulf between Him and humanity, He provided an avenue for reconciliation. He did so in a way that many on this fallen planet have problems coming to terms with. But this is the Truth; He sent His only Son to die for all of humanity’s wrongdoings – past, present, and future!

The Son of God in the person of Jesus Christ did die in a manner that was seen as the worst possible through human eyes. With His Blood spilled on the woodwork of torment, He took the place of every sinner on this fallen planet. The iniquity of every human being was erased by his Precious Blood!

“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).

Because of what the Lord Jesus Christ did on Calvary, that separation from God the Father is indeed null and void, provided one believes that this is true!

Herein is an important thing for serious consideration. Are you happy living as you are in your fallen state? Does the thought of it only getting much worse in the end ever bother you?

You can only have a significant improvement in the quality of your life when there is no separation from God. The only way for this to happen is to believe in Jesus Christ. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Once He is in the driving seat, things will only get better. Challenges will be seen in a totally new light, and your joy will be complete. Make this a hundred percent commitment today!

“that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).

Blessings

Edwin

Contact me at edwinuk13@gmail.com