Not too long ago, I saw several billboards going up in my area. I never found out who put them there, but they read, "If my people will humble themselves and
pray, then I will heal their land.- 2 Chronicles 7:14" Every time I
drive by this representation of what the Christian church in America is
today I am reminded once again why I want no part in it and why I don't like to call myself a Christian. You may be a bit confused right now.
Perhaps this will help clear things up...
This is what 2 Chronicles 7:14 actually says: "If my people, which are
called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face,
and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will
forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
Enlightened yet? Maybe this will help....
"For I testify unto
every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any
man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that
are written in this book:
And
if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy,
God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the
holy city, and from the things which are written in this book."-Revelation 22:18-19
If God is that serious
about changing the words in the book of Revelation...would He not be
just as serious about the rest of His Word? And if He is that serious
about the whole of Scripture, how DARE we quote a verse for a whole city
to see and leave out the key point? How DARE we lie about what the
almighty God has declared?
This is the way the
church has gone. Our pastors don't preach the truth anymore. It's
their job to tickle our ears, keep us happy. Tell us just enough things
to change that we can pretend we've been convicted, but never actually
do anything about it. They teach a false Gospel that involves nothing
more than saying a few words and being "in church" the rest of your
life. You can live however you want because you have "freedom in
Christ" and He understands and will never forsake you.
Christians don't know who
Christ is anymore. They think that Christianity is just another
religion (only it's the right one and we don't like people who disagree
with us) and you know what? They are right. Christianity has nothing
to do with Christ and everything to do with making people think that
they're safe because they go to church and know all the right answers.
I don't have any idea who
put that billboard up or what they were thinking. But the way they
twisted that verse around puts words in God's mouth that were never
there. He never said that all men had to do was be humble and pray and
their land would be healed. No, He said that if men would "humble
themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways"
that then and only then would He heal their land.
Are there still
Christians left in the Christian church? I believe yes, that there are a
few left who are faithful. But the church as a whole is not only lost,
but MORE lost than those who do not claim the name of Christ. I am
standing here to speak a warning to the church in the U.S. Persecution
is coming. It will not come the way many of us think that it will. No
one will say that people are being persecuted for being a Christian.
Christianity will probably always be legal in this country. No, they
will throw in jail those who speak against evil and they will call it
"hate speech". They will secretly put to death those "terrorists" who
refuse to obey their laws because it violates the law of God.
May you be one of those
who refuses to compromise. May you never deny Christ by your actions as
you proclaim Him with your mouth.
"So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Because
thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of
nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and
poor, and blind, and naked:
I
counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be
rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame
of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve,
that thou mayest see.
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Behold,
I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the
door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
To
him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I
also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."-Revelation 3:16-22
I really enjoyed this post! This reminds me of the scripture that many people use around Christmas time: "Glory to God in the highest. Peace on earth to all men." They forget to add the rest of the verse which says "with whom He is pleased".
ReplyDeleteHi Abigail. You are right in saying that we shouldn't take out the "offensive" stuff in the bible for fear of the public. That is wrong. I do find it a little disturbing how you appear to stereo type the "church" and all pastors as having forgotten God. There are many MANY who have used religion in US as a safe guard, and that too is wrong, but you make it seam like there are only a handfull of people left that believe the truth. "Our pastors don't preach the truth" no, some/many pastors don't, but you don't leave the gate open for those who DO preach it. Are there still christians in the church? "yes, I believe there are a few that have remained faithful" No, there are a lot that have fallen, but a lot still remain. Should we realize that pursicution is coming? Absolutely. Should we warn those who are fallen to repent? Amen. But if I based all my knowledge of the church on this artical, i'd say we are a lost cause. But God protects His people. The heart behind the message was good/God fearing, but you must be very careful about how you word things.
ReplyDeleteHi Abigail, I think you should cut the billboard people some slack. It's called 'paraphrasing' - something which even the NT writers would do when translating and quoting from the OT. Maybe they figured to keep the message succinct to avoid people having to slow down or get distracted for too long while driving in order to avoid an accident? Their goal is not to teach doctrine from a billboard, but to remind people to get back to God, providing the verse no. if people want to look further into the message, perhaps even spending a few hours reading up on the textual criticism that would bring out a fuller meaning of this crucial passage.
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