Wednesday, August 21, 2013

How to Dsstroy Faith

The Minor Prophets Speak to Today

My People Are Being Destroyed Because They Don't Know Me!


What the priests do, the people also do.
    So now I will punish both priests and people
    for their wicked deeds.
____________________________________________________________________________________


What is it that the people also do?

You have forgotten the laws of your God.
You have exchanged the glory of God
for the shame of idols.
You are glad when the people sin
_____________________________________________________________________________________

  So now I will punish the people of the congregation
 for their wicked deeds.

1.   They will eat and still be hungry


The worship service, the teaching times, the fellowships, the small groups will never find satisfaction and contentment in their spirits. The promises of God will melt away into legalistic approaches on the conservative side and misapplication of the truth on the liberal side. Both will be co opted by the culture and politics of the day, but never satisfied. Their goals will be frustrated and unfulfilled. All of this is from the Lord for he is punishing them with hunger in the inner man. And if repentance does not occur at some point in time the nation will collapse and physical hunger will come as well. 

2.  They will play the prostitute and gain nothing from it


As seen in last week's post, playing the prostitute means pursuing the false beliefs, false cultural expectations, and false instructions of the culture of the day. Yes, for some this will mean adopting false worship. Many others have already adopted the teachings of the false prophets who parade as sheep but are ravaging wolves teaching a false gospel that attracts many, corrupts even the more careful churches, and all too often enriches the deluded, sometimes unscrupulous, prophets.

Many people in the church are upset because their spiritual, political, or economic efforts are not reaping the promised rewards. Other -- financial or power-wise -- are advancing only to find they have lost their own souls. They are trapped in systems and institutions which take stands against God's ways and devastate the poor, the alien among us, and the widows and orphans.

Others have come to me upset because they have not reaped the rewards promised by the false prophets even though they have slavishly followed their systems, beliefs, and teachings. It sounds so right to them -- even seems connected to scripture -- but they are coming away with nothing but unhinged emotions, expended effort, ruined children, collapsed relationships and marriages, and, yes, too often financial ruin to go with it.

They, perhaps unwittingly, have played the prostitute with culture, politics, and false teachings and have gained nothing. May they not someday find they have lost heaven as well.

IN GOD'S VIEW:

THEY HAVE DESERTED THE LORD

TO WORSHIP OTHER GODS.



Photo Credits:


KAC 40th pot-luck some rights reserved by bowler1996p @ flickr.com


Small group work at the EFANS water WG meeting, May 2010 some rights reserved by esagor @flickr.com

Worship some rights reserved by Jos a Jr3  @ flickr.com



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