To My Facebook Brothers and Sisters in Christ….
The coach says to the baseball team: “Listen up!” The exasperated parent says, “Listen to me!” Jesus often said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” I say to my social media friends, “Read and heed.”
Many of my postings are messages that can alter your christianity – from meagre fruit to “much fruit”, from few “treasures in heaven” to many. Many of my postings are perspectives you won’t find elsewhere. My enemy is Christ’s enemy; Christ’s enemy is institutionalized christianity. I hear Him saying to institutionalized leadership, “Let My people go!”
Ask yourself, “Am I satisfied with the quality and quantity of fruit I am now bearing?” If not, perhaps your perspective, passed on by others also bearing meagre fruit, is askew. Do you agree that present-day churchianity is a mess? If so, you can’t follow the crowd and expect success. Amen? Make sense? A radically contrasting perspective is needed, one that emphasizes “the true vine” and His branches. So I humbly say to my FB friends, “Listen up!”…. “He who has ears to hear, let him hear”…. “Read and heed!”
Is my perspective, though often not mainstream, biblical and therefore carries the stamp of JESUS on it?…. or not? Jesus’ approval…. does anything else matter!?
I have often said, “Evangelicalism only makes sense to the one who realizes it is not based on the Bible.” For many, this matters little, so deep is their devotion to ‘the way it is’. Friends, you can determine for yourselves if your religion is ‘Bible’ or traditions of men, the rock of Christ’s “sayings” or the sand of man’s wisdom (see Matthew, chapter 7) by simply comparing its teachings with the New Testament.
But evangelicals are afraid to challenge evangelical teachings. Many evangelicals are even afraid to talk Bible matters, yes, even with each other. They have been stifled and don’t know they have been stifled. Religion has muzzled them. Pastor Whoever, the most religious person in the congregation, has captured the devotion they once held for Jesus alone. This salaried brother has created a team of loyalists of which he is the undisputed captain and overseer.
I solicit your comments. Religion will continue to reign if the church is silent. Tradition will trump Bible if evangelicals are afraid to reason, to challenge, to rebel against religious tyranny. Tear that muzzle off your face and speak out!