Day 107
Matthew 12:25-29 And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then can his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils; by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has come unto you. Or else, how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? And then he will spoil his house.
This passage honestly causes me to be somewhat concerned for our Nation, albeit not in a sense that it instills fear, but rather one of the reality that many will miss the mark. If we look at the Church in America, and by the Church, I mean those who call themselves believers, there are many that have strayed completely away from the Word and are basing their belief upon the charisma of a person. Yet, when the media portrays them, we hear words like, "the ______ Church," "God told us to do _____," or "Our religion allows us to do ____," and, unfortunately, we are all being portrayed often as a bunch of nut jobs. Before I go on, let me say that I very much believe in the need for Churches to be diverse, as long as they follow the Word of God in its entirety and don't twist things up for personal gain, and, of course, they must preach Jesus as the way, the truth, and the light. After all, are we not all different?
The use of spiritual gifts openly makes some uncomfortable: some like topical teaching, and others prefer just the Word. Should not the Christian Church in the world be as diverse as the people God created? However, many of you, I'm sure, have heard of the Baptist Church (I am only quoting; I am not against Baptists at all) who show up at funerals for fallen soldiers and protest against the soldiers, saying things like, "Rot in hell baby killer," or "God hates killers, your son is in hell." Statements like these do nothing but damage to the true believers and followers of Jesus. This is how satan divides the Church, and the media loves it! I was equally appalled as I watched Jeremiah Wright rail on about America and how our government planted drugs in the colored neighborhoods. And he even went on to say that God should damn America over our racism. Without going into great detail, I can honestly say he did more to damage the Church in America and more to divide blacks and whites than he did to draw us together. I'm sorry, but this man does not follow the same Jesus I do: my Jesus is one of love, grace, mercy, compassion, and understanding, and yes, judgment. But, He is not a hatemonger.
People such as the ones I have mentioned today, these are men who are not interested in building the Kingdom of God (at least their actions don't seem to say so); they are people with an agenda, and they are a small portion of those who are out there doing more to divide the believers than they are toward drawing us together. We need to pray for them, and if they continue, we should, at every turn, distance ourselves from them and try to heal the wounds they have caused.
Daily Prayer: Father, I pray God that you would rescue your children from those who would use Your name to lead them astray, and, Father, would you bring false leaders to judgment and protect Your Church? In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
"Love is the sign of a true believer."
Pastor Gene Burroughs
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