Sound The Trumpet : The Vanishing Gospel

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173

“The Vanishing Gospel”
by Extracted from Dave Hunts Internet Newsletter.
July 1st, 2006

One of the greatest sorrows for lovers of God is the fact that the vast majority of mankind selfishly and ungratefully live day after day without even thinking of the Creator to whom they owe their existence and who holds their eternal destiny in His hands. So it is even with many who claim to know Him. How often do you tell God you love Him, and thank Him for His love and grace and the salvation He has given you in Christ? When was the last time?

The miracle of our bodies, with their trillions of unfathomable cells and chance-defying organs such as the eye and brain, the ingenious design displayed in nature, and the mystery of soul and spirit loudly declare: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Gen 1:1) and He made man “in His image” (1:26-28). Yet most people embrace the outrageous fraud of evolution.

This world’s contemptuous disregard of its Creator makes me weep for His sake; and, as the old song says, “causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble” for the judgment that is coming upon mankind! “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God” (Ps 9:17). And forget God they surely have.

Paul declared: “even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind …[to] all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness … [They are] haters of God … inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents … without natural affection … who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death … do the same, [and] have pleasure in them that do them” (Rom 1:28-32). The connection is undeniable between the evil foretold for “the last days” (2 Tm 3:1-7) and the godless “lifestyles” popularized on trendy TV shows.

Hollywood has long glorified and exported all manner of ungodliness. The marketing of evil provides billions of dollars in profits through promoting youth rebellion; sexual “freedom” and wanton perversion; mutilation of the body; obscene, suicidal, and murderous lyrics; and gangland and satanic clothing. Could Sodom and Gomorrah have been much worse?

Homes are invaded and families destroyed by immoral, corrupting media, leaving consciences “seared with a hot iron” (I Tm 4:2). Many Christians enjoy what would have shamed and embarrassed them a few years ago. An estimated 50 percent of professing Christians have been attracted to internet pornography.

And to attract those thus corrupted; many of the largest and fastest-growing churches mimic the world in “seeker-friendly” and “youth-oriented” services that exploit sensuality and compromise the truth. The Christian Science Monitor (12/30/03) reported that “mega churches are good at reaching young people raised in an entertainment-saturated culture … Many have … a rock concert feel to them … [At the] largest congregation in the United States, with more than 25,000 attendants each weekend … Victoria Osteen steps to the podium in front of 16,000 cheering Sunday worshipers and proclaims: ‘We’re going to rock today!’ Worship Leader (Nov-Dec ’03).

Through “contemporary Christian music” and “contemporary worship,” the church has been converted to the “religion” of the world! Some of the largest presumably evangelical churches have designed their Sunday morning services based upon what the ungodly want. Missing are the fear of a holy God’s wrath against sin, trembling repentance, and grateful faith in Christ, the eternal God who became man through the virgin birth to suffer the full penalty of God’s judgment in our place. Seeker-friendly churches must not “offend” with the Truth, but pamper with the flattering “gospel” of self-esteem, self-love, and positive thinking – a “gospel” that cannot save. As Paul foretold, “they will not endure sound doctrine …” (2 Tm 4:3).

Creating large, rich churches is not new. In A Woman Rides the Beast, we show that the Roman Catholic Church – the world’s largest and wealthiest – grew out of a marriage between the Roman world and the church, making “Christianity” the state religion. Historian Will Durant explains, “… the world converted Christianity … [Paganism] passed like maternal blood into the new religion, and captive Rome captured her conqueror” (Caesar and Christ, 657, 672).

Roman Catholicism grew by wedding itself to the dominant pagan religion in Italy, Spain, Latin America, Africa, the Philippines, etc. Haiti is said to be 85 percent Catholic and 110 percent Vodoun. New Orleans, “the most Catholic city in America,” (Our Sunday Visitor, 10/15/95) is its voodoo capital.

And now, “Protestantism” is creating mega churches by merging with the “new paganism” in today’s culture – a culture that is becoming ever more anti-Christian and anti-Israel.

In blatant defiance of God and His Word, the nations have robbed Israel of most of the land God gave His chosen people as “an everlasting possession” (Gn 17:8). In further insolence, and sadly under the leadership of America’s Christian president, the world is determined to give more of Israel’s land to Arabs/Muslims as a reward for their hatred of Christ and religious vows to exterminate the Jews. And Islam intends to take all.

Today’s world doesn’t need more entertainment and “positive” messages assuring the “hurting” that God loves, forgives, “accepts them as they are,” heals their “inner child,” and has an exciting plan for their lives. Mankind needs the changeless convicting truth that leads sinners to repentance and salvation. God’s holy character has not changed; the separation between man and God caused by sin – and the judgment to come – have not changed; nor has God’s remedy in Christ been outdated and revised. On these basic facts the Bible is clear and uncompromising.

Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13