The Epistle of Saint Laurence to the Frustrated Faithful1
The Epistle of Saint Laurence to the Frustrated Faithful1
To all who have been pressured, but not persuaded to attend a Promise Keepers rally, Grace and peace to you, and thank God there are a few of us left!
My brothers, these are dark days for the church. But many there be who call this darkness light. These are they who embrace what they do not critique, jumping on the latest evangelical bandwagon to Laodicea, not understanding that prosperity (of numbers) equals not piety. They are unable to see their spiritual nakedness, and are ignorantly proud of where they have set their thermostat.
Do not be discouraged. Engage your weaker brothers in scriptural challenge of their new found religion which holds not dearly the doctrines that our forefathers died for, spilling their blood, having their bodies burned, losing allthey possessed, rather than compromising that precious truth.
Have patience with the naive, realizing their entrance into the church was without violence, but most likely through a seeker-chili-cookoff, or bring-a-friend-to-Monday-Night-Football. Proclaim to them first the gospel, unadulterated and pure. For it alone is the power of God unto salvation. And most have not heard it. Remember, many of these have been brought into the church by the incorporation of secular marketing paradigms targeting and utilizing their primitive affections for major league sports.
Remind those that lead the church that biblical unity and ecumenical union are not one and the same. What harmony hath Elliott with Oprah? Or Bunyan with Goosebumps? Or Bach with Grant? Let not the arguments of pragmatism sway you. But be like those noble Bereans who carefully checked even the Apostle Paul as to the validity of what he preached, searching the Scriptures to verify that what he said was so. The shouting of the name of our Lord at any volume by any number of persons has no intrinsic value or power. Do not even the Charismatics do the same?
Let not the accusation of being "unloving" bother you. Rather, explain to your accusers that it is they who have misdirected their love. Our love for one another is based on the Word of God, not on the preposterous desire a few "Christian" leaders have to lead a baptized version of the Big Hairy Man Movement. If these imposters loved God as they claim, they would hold dear what He does. (2) Our brother, John the Beloved, dealt with similar problems in his day (3), encouraging fellow believers to stay within the ties that bind us regardless of what the "special knowledge" BMOC's (4) of their day said. So you see, our problem with these clouds without rain is that they will always be in the end times forecast.
Therefore my beloved brethren, my fellow soldiers against superficiality, warn your leaders of straying away from the teaching of the Word which is the only means of "equipping the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into him who is the Head-Christ-from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying itself in love' (Ephesians 4:12-16).
1. If you, gentle reader, have picked up this publication for the first time, understand that the author has written in a serious but sarcastic format purposely and claims no inspiration other than the pain and anger within his he@at.
2. In Bill McCartney's recent biography, Sold Out, he records how he told his wife and children that God had told him to do the PK thing and that they would just have to be patient when he had no time for them.
3. The MO of the PK leaders is gnostic in the sense that they are claiming to hear stuff from God which is contrary to the Bible. This was part of John's reason for writing I John.
4. Big Man on Campus