Church Has Lost Its Way

In Daniel we see that as he read the scrolls he realised that Jeremiah knew that Israel would be exiled for 70 years. So he was able to calculate when Israel would be returned to their land. He also realised why they had been taken from it in the first place.
They had lost God’s values. They had become filled with sin. Individually and as a nation.

Like the church today.
Recently I was discussing with a friend about how the Bible dates creation almost 6,000 years ago.
In fact, it’s fairly easy to make the case that according to the Bible, 2030 will be year 6,000 for the Earth.
So looking at the old scrolls, (the Bible), and the dates and times that are mentioned there, I was thinking it’s quite possible that the church age is almost over, and that the rapture is just around the corner. We may well be about to go home.

As we near the rapture of the church, where we will be removed from the Earth completely in the blink of an eye, we have to ask why. I always thought it was so God could deal with the rest of the world.
And perhaps there is something in that. But after reading that section of Daniel, I thought that more and more as I see the church take on worldly values, I think it’s just because the time for the church is over. It’s lost its way. Like Israel before it in Daniel’s time, it has become corrupt. It no longer supports the values of Yahweh. It has become sinful. It’s more of a social club than a church family of eternally related people, Yahweh’s representatives on Earth. And more and more I see churches run like clubs with worldly values, by people whom I honestly doubt are Christians at all.
Not all churches of course. There are still some great ones. But overall as a group. “The” church seems to me to have lost its standards. It’s lost its reputation. It’s stopped achieving the thing it was put here to do — to lead the lost to their saviour.

Churches are increasingly run like businesses, more about money than building healthy communities of Christian disciples, working together as a team to help and build each other, as they shine as an example and reach out to save the lost around them.
More and more I see churches caving in to the society views, like their view that homosexuality is a totally acceptable lifestyle. It’s not. The Bible is very clear that while some of us might have thoughts and desires to lust after people of our same sex, it is no more right to give in to that and act upon it, than it is for those of us who are attracted to the opposite sex to act on those desires with people we are not married to, or worse, with people who are married to someone else.
Adultery is a sin. So is homosexuality. We should be making that clear, not pretending it’s OK.

And our acceptance of the worldly view of marriage where two equal partners work together, both able to do any role, and neither dependent on the other, and our abandonment of God’s model for marriage where the wife submits to the husband’s leadership, and the husband sacrifices himself for the benefit of the wife. God’s model in the Bible is clearly that the husband and wife should work together as very different, but complimentary halves, but that the man should lead the family, and while he takes his wife’s opinions and desires into account, he is ultimately responsible to make the decisions and to show leadership.
But now women are encouraged to stand up against their own husbands for their right to make their own choices, and more and more the church is not only allowing women leaders, but also encouraging the feminist concepts where women take on leadership roles both inside the family and outside it, in business, and even in the church.

Or the Biblical model where children are respectful to adults, especially their own parents, and who politely realise that adults usually have much more wisdom than they do. And their opinions, and they, should be both heard and respected. Now children are told to speak up, and to take charge of things. Rebelling against the opinions of adults who are all full of old ideas and values that are no longer relevant. That any new idea is inherently better than whatever old idea existed before this one came along. And that “Boomers” are just old fools who are stopping the young generation achieving what it wants.

“My people have committed two sins:
    They have forsaken me,
    the spring of living water,
    and have dug their own cisterns,
    broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.”

The church has dug its own cisterns and is no longer relying on God for wisdom and leadership.
The church has lost its saltiness, it’s now no different from any other secular club or society.

It is time for it to be thrown out.

Soon.
Maybe even in the next year.
You ready?


	Church Has Lost Its Way
READING Jeremiah 2 Jeremiah 25 Jeremiah 29 Daniel 9 Matthew 5 1 Thessalonians 4 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.”	In Daniel we see that as he read the scrolls he realised that Jeremiah knew that Israel would be exiled for 70 years. So he was able to calculate when Israel would be returned to their land. He also realised why they had been taken from it in the first place. They had lost God’s values. They had become filled with sin. Individually and as a nation. Like the church today. Recently I was discussing with a friend about how the Bible dates creation almost 6,000 years ago. In fact, it’s fairly easy to make the case that according to the Bible, 2030 will be year 6,000 for the Earth. So looking at the old scrolls, (the Bible), and the dates and times that are mentioned there, I was thinking it’s quite possible that the church age is almost over, and that the rapture is just around the corner. We may well be about to go home. As we near the rapture of the church, where we will be removed from the Earth completely in the blink of an eye, we have to ask why. I always thought it was so God could deal with the rest of the world. And perhaps there is something in that. But after reading that section of Daniel, I thought that more and more as I see the church take on worldly values, I think it’s just because the time for the church is over. It’s lost its way. Like Israel before it in Daniel’s time, it has become corrupt. It no longer supports the values of Yahweh. It has become sinful. It’s more of a social club than a church family of eternally related people, Yahweh’s representatives on Earth. And more and more I see churches run like clubs with worldly values, by people whom I honestly doubt are Christians at all. Not all churches of course. There are still some great ones. But overall as a group. “The” church seems to me to have lost its standards. It’s lost its reputation. It’s stopped achieving the thing it was put here to do — to lead the lost to their saviour. Churches are increasingly run like businesses, more about money than building healthy communities of Christian disciples, working together as a team to help and build each other, as they shine as an example and reach out to save the lost around them. More and more I see churches caving in to the society views, like their view that homosexuality is a totally acceptable lifestyle. It’s not. The Bible is very clear that while some of us might have thoughts and desires to lust after people of our same sex, it is no more right to give in to that and act upon it, than it is for those of us who are attracted to the opposite sex to act on those desires with people we are not married to, or worse, with people who are married to someone else. Adultery is a sin. So is homosexuality. We should be making that clear, not pretending it’s OK. And our acceptance of the worldly view of marriage where two equal partners work together, both able to do any role, and neither dependent on the other, and our abandonment of God’s model for marriage where the wife submits to the husband’s leadership, and the husband sacrifices himself for the benefit of the wife. God’s model in the Bible is clearly that the husband and wife should work together as very different, but complimentary halves, but that the man should lead the family, and while he takes his wife’s opinions and desires into account, he is ultimately responsible to make the decisions and to show leadership. But now women are encouraged to stand up against their own husbands for their right to make their own choices, and more and more the church is not only allowing women leaders, but also encouraging the feminist concepts where women take on leadership roles both inside the family and outside it, in business, and even in the church. Or the Biblical model where children are respectful to adults, especially their own parents, and who politely realise that adults usually have much more wisdom than they do. And their opinions, and they, should be both heard and respected. Now children are told to speak up, and to take charge of things. Rebelling against the opinions of adults who are all full of old ideas and values that are no longer relevant. That any new idea is inherently better than whatever old idea existed before this one came along. And that “Boomers” are just old fools who are stopping the young generation achieving what it wants. “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.” The church has dug its own cisterns and is no longer relying on God for wisdom and leadership. The church has lost its saltiness, it’s now no different from any other secular club or society. It is time for it to be thrown out. Soon. Maybe even in the next year. You ready?