Pulling The Plug on God
a rant from
"My Search for the Real God"
a rant from
"My Search for the Real God"
There is a spiritual disconnect
that is prevailing in the land, and many seem to be unaware and failing to
address the issues. Many members of the pious
community at large is in a state of denial, refusing to acknowledge that the
Devil’s ministers have transformed themselves into ministers of light, they
have opened the gates of the sheepfold and the sheep of God’s pasture are being
scattered. Promises made in the name of
our Father are nothing more than deceitful attempts to persuade the scattered sheep
to follow the wolf in sheep's clothes. The unfulfilled promises made by these
leaders and members are the foundation for the lack of believability in Gods
word. The believability in the values of
old is declining, and too many preachers just keep on preaching superficial
messages with subjects but without content, and because the name of God is
invoked, we are supposed to be impressed and enlightened. Generations have become victim of this
disconnect because God is being redefined daily. I speak
of those who grew up in the church and when they became of age walked
away. The question of why should be addressed. The generations of today have failed to grasp
the message of old because the message has changed to make it relevant to our
causes and needs thereby rendering the message irrelevant. What are we doing to a message when we allow
it to be changed? Are we are destroying
it, or making it better?
As more and more people became aware of things happen to them, and
around them, they began a search for understanding. A message from God is supposed to impart
understanding, but there is little understanding in many of today’s messages. The young cancer ridden patient whose body is
riddled with cancer is not impressed with a message of, “Don’t give up.” He is aware of death and disease, he knows he
is going to die. There are those who spout the healing virtues of God, the
indoctrinated belief is, “God is a healer”.
True, God is a healer and God is a destroyer. God is a God of love and God is a God of
fire. In the days of the apostle, healing was almost a daily occurrence, but
today hospital’s are doing a brisk business and even church folks are
dying. Why? Is the answer to that question in the
Bible? Yes. In the Bible whenever God
did something he did it in such a manner that only he could get the glory. Jesus waited days before he raised Lazarus
from the dead and when he did it, he did it so that those who were standing
there might believe. When the job was done nobody could claim credit. Asking the God of our salvation to heal me of a headache or listen
to a testimony of how God healed a backache is not definitive enough to create believers. If it were so people would be flocking to
church. The fear of God is the beginning
of knowledge and understanding but they are teaching us not to fear God.
The polarization of denominations
and the failure to prayerful update our Biblical knowledge has created a vacuum
and a level of confusion that needs addressing.
Then there is the desire to be a superstar that has left the image of
many spiritual leaders tarnished. It is
imperative that we study to show ourselves a worker who is not ashamed to seek
to understand God's word. If it meets
the test of the Holy Spirit, who should be our teacher, we should embrace it,
if it do not, we should let it go.
One of the attributes of a good
worker is the ability to understand its coworkers. In the workplace, the understanding of one’s coworkers
is important to achieving the objective.
My way is right and your way is wrong concept would create a
non-productive work place fill with confusion.
We should be able to expect nothing less in the vineyard of our Lord.
Whooping and hollering an outdated
concept of the proper presentation of God word, a brainwashing technique, with a
holdover from the days of hardship, it is still effective because it invoked an
emotional response. This emotional
respond allowed the listener to escape his or her situation and experience a
state of euphoria that sometime mistakenly defined as the spirit of God. When James Brown, a well-renown singer preformed
on stage no one was concerned about the content of his message. It was the whoop, the holler and the beat. Once the ‘joint got rocked’ listeners entered
a state of ecstasy and left excited, emotional refreshed and entertained. When
the hometown football team scored the winning touchdown, the fans entered a
state of euphoria and ‘rocked the stadium’ then they went home entertained and
refreshed. When the minister toned-up
and hit the high note the audience responded with cries of acceptance, left
entertained, and rejuvenated. A good
speaker will accumulate a catalogue of
sound bites guaranteed to generate an emotional response, this seems to be more
important than searching for a deeper understanding of God word.
Jesus concept of delivering a
message seems to have been more content and less flair. Sacred solicitations in the quietness of the
soul, rather than emotional expressions, this was an effective mode of delivery. A story told that invoke thought mixed with
reflections on life that made an
impression on the inner self. The
difference is comparing rock and roll to country music. Country music singers always told a story in their
song. When listening to the message of
the song it is easy to overlook the music or the beat. When listening to the whoop and holler it is
easy to overlook the message.
Church services in many churches are becoming more emotionally. The ministers or pastors who do not want to
become irrelevant messengers have perfected their art of delivering the message. Thus, the era of the Mega-Churches began to
take shape, a man, a message and a profound delivery system. A great speaker can step outside of the
denominational quagmire and appeal to a mass of disenchanted and scattered
souls. A promise of prosperity,
longevity, and good health with the expectation of entertainment is enough to
fill any auditorium. If James Brown
could pull this off, then so can any good motivational speaker. Another prevailing aspect of some churches is that
of a night club, once the crowd has established
that it is the place to be, the people become like sheep led to slaughter. What does prosperity, longevity, and good
health have to do with salvation? The
answer is nothing. These are shaped truth, using scriptures out of context,
mislocating and misapplying the word of God, and within your Heart you know I
am right. If these new styled messages
were true, in the arena of common sense, with all of the praying we are doing,
sinners would be poor and Christians would be rich.
Having church is about
business. The business about serving God
has become big business. If it is your
desire to be in business, the church business is the easiest to get into. If it is your desire to be a leader, you can
be a leader without a vote or waiting for a confirmation report. In the church, you can be a leader without a
message or even special skills. Pick a
message delivery system, work at it, and then announce that God has called you. You gain the thrill of sitting in high places
looking down on a mass of poor struggling souls, at the end of the day you can
feel comfortable knowing you are doing God’s work. Many ministers following this path and some become
pawns of big denominations, whose chief function is to collect fees from the
congregations and pass it on to those who have positioned themselves higher up
the ladder. Is this the will of our
Father? The resources of the local
churches do not allow for works within the community in which they exist. Churches exist in communities where their
older members who have supported the church down through the ages, sit at home,
waiting to die with no support from the pastors or church.
Some churches have done a
disservice to many suffering souls by using God as a cop-out. Pastors who lack the ability to function as a
grief counsellor should seek training in that arena. Being able to counsellor those in need is
more than saying, “God is love,” or “prayer is the answer. “ There is truth in these statements, but when
used in an improper setting the message becomes an obstacle to those who are
suffering. The reliance upon clichés and
sculptured sound bites to address those who are suffering is a cold and callous
use of God’s word. There were two
prayers that went out when Jesus was on the cross. Luke 23:39 And one of the malefactors which were hanged
railed on him, saying, “If thou be Christ, save thyself and us”, the other one as he faced death said, Luke
23:42 And he said unto Jesus,”Lord,
remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.”
Common sense says Jesus ignored
the first request and answered the second.
Luke 23:43 And Jesus said unto
him, Verily I say unto thee, “To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.”
Jesus presented a parable of a man
lying by the side of the road in Luke 10:30-35.
And Jesus answering said, “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to
Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded
him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
Moreover, by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when
he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
Likewise, a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him,
and passed by on the other side.
However, a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was and
when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his
wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him
to an inn, and took care of him. And on
the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host,
and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spends more, when I
come again, I will repay thee.” No
doubt, the Levite and priest offered a prayer for the man. Would our leaders of today be guilty of
passing by and praying rather than stopping and rendering aid? One of the problems of Christianity is
thinking the answer to everything is prayer.
Ineffective prayer is being packaged and sold on television, the street
corner, and the church pulpit. Professional prayers whose message is, “Give me
some money and I will pray for you.”
Watch any Christian broadcast station and you will be amazed at how many
800 numbers God has. Prayer is a needed element
in our lives, but effective prayer should allow us to know when it is time to
act and when it is time to pray. This
illustration presented by Jesus tells us that there is a time to pray, and a
time to act and pray. Maybe it is time
we reestablish our connection with our Father and we could start by fearing
God.
