When I was a child, I spake as a child, thought as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
Well, y’all, it’s me, Della again sharing my thoughts on the culture we live in. I don’t know if you read The Lunatic Spin Cycle I or not, but if you haven’t you might want to give it a spin–sorry, couldn’t help myself! Here: Has the World Been Thrown Into a Lunatic Spin Cycle? What is wrong with people?
What’s wrong with people? Where is all this lunatic vagueness coming from. In Lunatic Spin Cycle I, I shared where I thought it hailed from. And I gave some thoughts what we could do about it. We all know that it has gotten so bad, so toppsy-turvy in our culture out there that bad has become good and good is now bad. And don’t you dare speak any real truth, especially Godly truth, or you will be vilified, called names, shut down on social media, and some have been killed! And, some of our family members have kicked us to the preverbal curb! Yeah, it’s bad.
Why is this happening? Why, why, why? Well, it has gotten so bad, and deep that no one solution will stop it, or even hinder it. We are in a long road of hard work to bring back Godly righteousness into the world. Everybody and his brother now has their own “my truth,” whatever that means. We all know that judgement begins at the house of God, right?
1 Peter 4:17 For it is time for judgement to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
Let’s talk about that for a bit. First; the house of God. What is that…exactly? A building or a body of believers? We do know this: The body of Christ Jesus is a group of people that have repented of their sins and invited Jesus into their hearts; they are the true Church, Ekklesia. Church means this: The Greek or Latin term for the Christian Church as a whole.
So, if this is the meaning of Church, what does it mean to ‘go to church’? Some say this is it: Hebrew 10:24-25 And let us consider one another in order to stir up the love and the good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much more as you see the Day approaching.
Okay, so according to history, for over 300 years after Christ died, all believers assembled, gathered together, or met at a believer’s house, their own home, not a building off to the side somewhere that nobody knows who really owns. What changed? I’ll tell you what did not change…God, Jesus or Holy Ghost! What did not change was the gospel according to Jesus, the center of the gospel. What did not change was prayer and following Christ Jesus, even through persecution.
So what changed? Without going into a lot of historical detail, I can tell you that the first “church building” was given to the believers in Rome, Italy when a man called Constantine became the ruler. Before him, only pagans worshiped in an offset building, besides the jews who had worshiped in Solomon’s temple or Herod’s rebuilt temple that was torn down after Jesus was crucified, just as he said it would be, by the way. Does that imply something to you about the growing body of Believers, at that time. One worship place destroyed; another growing by becoming believers in Jesus, the Messiah, bodies whose hearts are now filled with Holy Spirit; the body of Christ. Our bodies now have become the temple, the covenant now resting in us, through the forgiveness of sin.
Why am I saying all this? Because I want to ask you one question, and it is this: Do you believe that going to Church on Sunday is how you truly serve the Lord as a Christian? Do you believe that building is the true “house of God,” the true “Bethel,” which means house of God?
We have to assemble ourselves…right? Let’s take a look at what that verse doesn’t say. It doesn’t say what day of the week, or how many times a week or month to assemble. It doesn’t say where to assemble. It just says assemble yourselves together. It doesn’t say to assemble to serve the Lord. It says to exhort one another. Exhort means to lift each other up and strongly encourage someone to do something. When Paul wrote this scripture about assembling, believers were assembling in each other’s homes encouraging each other by talking about Jesus, the gospel, and how wonderful he was in their lives. Assembling with other believers, encouraging each other is great, but the rest of the week is where the rubber meets the road. Are you following Jesus with your cross on your back the rest of the week?
What does this all have to do with the Lunatic Spin Cycle of evil in today’s culture? I’ll tell you. I believe that pressing people to come to church and allowing them to believe that this is serving the Lord, has left us powerless and wide open to Satan’s evil, persuasive spin on serving Jesus. He put Adam and Eve in the Lunatic Spin Cycle by spinning God’s commandment, His word to them in the Garden and caused them to sin. They knew what God had told them, but he, Satan, that old Serpent, gave them an alternate choice that sounded really good…but wasn’t, was it?
Want to learn more about our choices and who is behind them? Click here: Do we call God a liar with our choices? What choice of fruit are we picking?
Here is what Jesus said about following him: Matthew 16:24 And Jesus said to his disciples, “If any man will come after me, he must deny himself, pick up his cross, and follow me.
Jesus doesn’t live in a church building, but in the hearts of his believers/followers. We are now the temple of Holy Spirit. Jesus said this: John 16:33 “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
In most churches today, not all, but a good percentage, they sweet-feed the sheep. They do not teach about sin or hell. Most are seeker friendly and condone certain sinful lifestyles. There is a slackness about keeping the real word of God, the gospel being preached, so there is no conviction of sin, and therefore no salvation being given and the true gospel is put on a shelf to gather dust.
On a side note: When my daddy used to stall a calf or steer, (lock him in a stall or stable) he gave him sweet feed to fatten him up before he took him to the slaughter house. Let that sink in.
Why am I saying all this? What does this have to do with the Lunatic Spin Cycle of this crazy culture? How can we fix any of it?
Because of such lax morals today, many now take the broad, easy way of life, even if they go to church. Fighting the good fight of faith is left out on many levels of Church. Is anything wrong with going to church? I would say no. I love going to church, but for the right reasons, to be exhorted and to exhort others. But that is the easy way. So if it is, what is the hard way?
It is not as hard to go to church now as it was 50 years ago. Why? They don’t preach the gospel. When the gospel was preached, the power of God was there. When the gospel was preached, people became convicted of their sin beneath the power of God. As a result, a lot of people did not want to go. Being under the conviction of their sins was very uncomfortable. They wanted to keep the comforts of their sin. But many who heard the gospel eventually came to Christ because they did not want to go to hell.
Church in today’s Lunatic Spin Cycle culture is all about self-centeredness, what God can do for them, not how to pick up their cross and follow Jesus. Jesus is not the center of churches anymore. It is all about what Jesus can do for the individual and how he is supposed to answer all their prayers, give them money and position and power to live their life their way in all the comforts the world can provide. They make no pretense about it. They believe that is what Jesus is all about, doing for them, following their thoughts and ways. They believe that if you are persecuted and not receiving a wealth of material blessings you aren’t living right for God somehow, when in fact, it is the other way around. As it is plainly written in the Bible. If you are persecuted it is because you ARE living for Jesus, preaching the gospel and witnessing His truth to people, aka, the lost. And if you pick up your cross, which is your life, and deny yourself and follow Christ Jesus, you will be persecuted. Satan will see to it. On this I can testify. You will be called names: hate filled, non-inclusive, religious nut, racist, xenophobe, homophobe, too hard, too blunt, blah, blah, blah, and etc., etc., etc.
We can only stop the lunatic spin cycle one person at a time. Not growing in Christ is not growing up in the spirit to become a spiritual adult minded person. A spiritual adult can eat the meat of the Bible, the truth. We no longer have to drink milk. Remember: “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I thought and understood as a child; but when I became a man, I put childish things aside. Only a child thinks he is supposed to get what he or she wants all the time.
We must put aside the childish notion that going to a church building a few times a week is serving Jesus or God. We must begin to follow Jesus as the rock, the cornerstone of our Christianity and take to heart living a life based on God’s truth, not what the culture says. There is no truth is this lunatic spin cycle culture that we live in. We have to grow up and put aside childishness and be spiritually adult people and parents to set an example for our children and grandchildren. We must stand up, and stand our precious Godly ground and be able to speak God’s truths anywhere to anyone he, the Lord Jesus, wants us to. We have to get back to serving Jesus as the Bible says, and not the ultra modern churches of today who are a willing part of the lunatic spin cycle culture.
Grow up, stand up, stand your ground, and speak God’s truth into a lost, hurting and loveless world. These may even be your own family who are in the spin cycle. They are starving for God’s truth and love and don’t even know it.
Jesus said this: All authority in heaven and on earth has been given unto me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even unto the end of the age. Matthew 28:18-20
I will tell you this, going to church is not the number one way to serve Jesus or God. Sharing the gospel, just as Jesus commanded them to here in Matthew, is number one! Going to Church on Sunday is easy, and in a lot of ways good for God’s people. Don’t believe that you are serving God by going there if you are not sharing the gospel with as many people as you can, and growing into a spiritual adult outside of these meeting called, “Going to Church”.” Outside of the church walls is where you will do most of your growing as an adult, spiritual person who can not only eat the meat of the gospel, but you will be able to share it to those who are spiritually starving for it. This is how you become the person God’s wants you to be. If you pick up your cross and follow Jesus, he will grow you and give you direction.
This is how we overcome the Lunatic Spin Cycle of the culture; by overwriting it with the gospel, saving as many souls as you can, and teaching them the real truth; to obey everything Jesus commands us to, just as he told his disciples right before he ascended into heaven on a cloud of God’s glory in front of them. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given unto me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even unto the end of the age. Matthew 28:18-20
When I was a child I spake as a child, thought as a child, understood as a child, but when I became a man, I put childish things aside.
We must choose not to follow Satan and his childishness in this Lunatic Spin Cycle culture. Let us put childish things aside. God is and always will be the adult in the room! We must choose to follow Christ, even in the face of persecution, or loosing the material things in this life; even loosing people that mean something to us. We must choose to let go of this world, culture and cling to Jesus. To learn more about our choices click here: Do we call God a liar with our choices? What choice of fruit are we picking?
To learn more about becoming a responsible adult, click here: Are You in the Pressure Pot of Responsibility? Parenting? Are you toiling and boiling and don’t know how to get out?
To God be the Glory! Great things he has done!
I love y’all! Thank you for sticking to the end of this blog.
With love, from Romance & the Homestead
Della
If you would like to see choices in action and the results of the difference between Godly choices and choices based on self and fear, you will thoroughly enjoy my last published book in my series, Snowflakes, Carolina Snowflakes, In Loving Katie Marie.
Pastor William Gallagher had just lost everything, through no fault of his own. But he vowed he was not going to lose his daughter Katie Marie. So he ran with her. Was it the right choice? If they found him he knew he would lose her too. But what choice did he have? And why couldn’t he forget the beauty, Lilly Noel who had been so kind to him and Katie Marie?
Lilly Noel had been waiting on the right man all her adult life. When William entered her life, she thought he was the one. But when his truth came out, Lilly found herself in a heartbreaking position. If she stood with William’s enemy, as she felt God was leading her to, she would lose him and her heart would break. But if she stood with William, she would have to go against her faith, and her heart would break. What choice did she have? What choice did she choose?
Come find out the choices both Lilly and William made that would spin things around. Could they find their way to love and keep their true faith?
Come find out, In Loving Katie Marie. You will love the ending.
Find it here now in both eBook and paperback.
In Loving Katie Marie: Snowflakes #5
One review: For me, this was a page turner. I was up most of the night needing to see how it would all end.
For more life choices, romance, and love, you will also love To Love Thine Enemy, in this series.
In this love story, LaBelle, Lilly’s sister, made a hard, life changing choice that she thinks may have cost her the life of her husband, Chase, and their son, Charlie Chase’s, a father. As the guilt beat at her every day, she prayed and needed God to answer her question: Did I make the wrong choice, Lord?
Enter in John Paul Emanuel, Chase’s ex-military buddy. LaBelle knew he could have her answer. Only one problem…he hated her and blamed her for Chase’s death.
John Paul knew he should give LaBelle Chase’s letter, but chose not to because he did not believe she deserved it. But was his stance softening as he heard her sweet voice singing?
What will the outcome be from their choices? Will LaBelle’s prayer be answered? Can love find a way as these choices drew them together on a battle line both were not willing to lose?
Can Chase, her deceased husband, have the answer to their battle because of a choice he made?
Come find out in, To Love Thine Enemy:
Author Della M Strickland 