RELIGIOUS ENTERTAINMENT

Religious Entertainment!

(A.W. Tozer - 1955)

A great company of evangelical churches have already gone over into the area of RELIGIOUS ENTERTAINMENT, so that many churches are tramping on the doorstep of the theater!

The tragic results of this spirit are all around us:

  shallow lives,

  hollow religious philosophies,

  the preponderance of the element of fun in gospel meetings,

  the glorification of men,

  trust in religious externalities,

  quasi-religious fellowships,

  salesmanship methods,

  the mistaking of dynamic personality for the power of the Spirit.

These and such as these, are the symptoms of an evil disease--a deep and serious MALADY OF THE SOUL.

RELIGIOUS MISUNDERSTANDINGS

“Religious” misunderstandings, from both sides, stem from a lack of knowledge by believers of the TOTAL Word of God, and a general lack of knowledge of basic scriptures with non-believers.

Point #1…. One would understand and believe there IS, indeed, one God if one would STUDY His Word, not just casually read it. This is called head knowledge. Then one could decide whether one wants to accept His Son for their life or reject Him. If one chooses to reject Him, one would then be like satan… he believes in the one God but rejects His Sovereignty. So if you have made your choice - allow us ours.

I THANK YOU FOR THAT

Dear Father,

Here am I, again needing You to talk to,

1925 - 2011

because You listen, and care, and 

I thank You for that.

Lord, we have talked, it would seem, 

many times about everything there was 

ever a need for. Sometimes You needed 

to talk to me, and other times I needed 

to talk to You. Often, in our conversations, 

I was redundant; frequently I was bold; 

seldom was I selfish. Always You were patient; without wavering You were attentive; never 

were You dismissing. I thank You for that.

CHRISTIAN EXAMPLE

“…And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch”  Acts 11:26
The word “Christian” may have intended to mean, those who believe that Jesus is the Christ, or it may mean those who ARE like Jesus the Christ. With the former, one would not necessarily be demonstrating what it is to live as a Christian. With the latter, there would be no doubt.  If Jesus were physically among us (as then), I presume He would still be as controversial as He was.  But, as with those who then heard His Word and understood His Gospel message, and were enlightened to Him being the Son of God, and saw His convicting example, so the world, too, today would recognize the example of a Christ-like life. The reality is that the responsibility of example falls on true believers. I do not say “the Christian community” because as a whole, ecumenism has messed things up. The world of Christianity today is just that…The World IN Christianity! It is a mortal compromise.

1 THESSALONIANS 1

[Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians is considered to be one of Paul's earliest letters, and yet rich in the great doctrines of the faith, namely: Election, the Holy Spirit, Assurance, the Trinity, Conversion, the second advent of Christ, the believer's walk, Sanctification, the Day of the Lord (Jehovah), the Resurrection, the tripartite nature of man.] ~Scofield Notes

1 Thessalonians 1
1 Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;
3 Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;

GO AND SIN NO MORE

John 8:3-11

3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst,

4 they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.

5 Now Moses, in our law, commands us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?”

6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.

7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”

8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.

9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”

11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her....

FREE INDEED

“If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” John 8:36.
What a beautiful dialogue Jesus has with scribes and Pharisees here in John chapter 8. They are often referred to as "the Jews", almost derogatorily.

You are free…sin no more!
The chapter begins with “the Jews” (scribes and Pharisees) bringing a woman to Jesus who had been caught in the very act of adultery. It was a set-up. The scribes and Pharisees probably already knew this woman and what she “did”. It is not good for me to speculate but, do we think this is the first time an occasion with this woman came up? They conveniently “caught” this woman in an act of adultery and confronted Jesus to trap him. The Law of Moses, of course, commanded that she should be stoned. They said to Jesus… “What do You say?”.