It’s a blustery February Thursday here in Central Indiana but God is still on His throne and He has great plans for the days ahead! This is a long read but well worth it! We ran across the article below from a Pastor in California and we began praising God for His Holy Word! You don’t have to look far to see the “Truth” in what this Pastor has written about how some churches are indistinguishable from the world. You can even tell the ones who attend those places by the lives they live. In and out, up one day and down the next, in fact, 2 Timothy 3 says it very plain.

3:1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 6 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, 7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 8 Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; 9 but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.       10 But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, 11 persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra—what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me. 12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. 13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work                                                                                                                                                            

Think about it, “Always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Babies grow up and so should Christians! When you have been loved and nurtured for years but just can’t get past wanting things your way, then your problem is with you, not with God or anyone else! The danger with being a “Carnal Christian”, as some may call it, is that you can become so deceived into believing that “it must be OK because everyone is doing it” or “a little bit won’t hurt”. But remember Eve took only one bite and look what it cost her, Adam and all of humanity! Get the point? Don’t be led astray now! We are too close to the finish line! Hold on to Jesus and watch what God has in store for us who do! He has never failed us and He won’t fail you! Hope to see you Sunday at 10am at Uniontown Indiana Baptist Church! If you belong to another church and haven’t been in a while, why not surprise your Pastor and show up in person! You just might get a blessing by blessing someone else! 

Now for the article:

On Religion: The danger of moral compromise                                                                   

More times than not, churches die from the inside out. And one of the culprits is a silent killer: moral compromise. Pastor Dane Davis

“There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin.” – Revelation 2:14

When we hear of a church being “under attack,” we tend to think of it being assaulted by an outside force. Critics are slandering. Atheists are picketing. Or the landlord is threatening to evict the church from its building. But more times than not, churches die from the inside out. And one of the culprits is a silent killer: moral compromise.  A pastor gets caught in an act of indiscretion. The treasurer helps himself to the church’s donations. The small groups become gossip groups. The members become cold and self-absorbed. And little by little, the church becomes indistinguishable from the world.                                                                                                      But moral compromise in the church is far from new. It was just as much of a danger to the Christians in the church at Pergamos, and in Revelation 2, Jesus calls them out for it. After praising the Pergamos Christians for their loyalty and courage in verse 13, Jesus rebukes them for two things. The first rebuke is in verse 14: “You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality.”                                                                                                        In the Old Testament, Balaam was a pagan prophet and sorcerer who believed in God and, to some extent, worshiped and obeyed God. In Numbers 22-24, he blessed the Israelites four times when he was hired by the evil King Balak to curse them. But a few chapters later, we learn that Balaam cooked up a plan to send Moabite women into the Israelite camp to seduce them into sexual sin and idolatry (Numbers 31:16).

Basically, Balaam told King Balak: “I can’t curse the Israelites. God won’t let me. But there’s another way that you can get God to curse them. It’s a back-door approach. If you send your hottest, most alluring women into the Israelite camp to seduce their men into having sex with them and joining their pagan worship, God will HAVE to curse them, because He can’t turn a blind eye to that kind of sin.” From that point on in Scripture, Balaam’s name becomes synonymous with moral compromise.                                                                                          So, when Jesus tells the Pergamos Christians that some of their people “hold to the teaching of Balaam,” in essence, He’s telling them this: “Christians in Pergamos, although you’ve stood strong against threats and attacks coming from outside the church, you’ve started to give in to moral compromise inside the church. And it’s not okay! I have called you to a higher standard, so I expect you to raise your moral standards … not lower them.”                                                 In verse 15, Jesus rebukes the Pergamos Christians for allowing some of their church members to “hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.” Since the Nicolaitans aren’t mentioned outside the Book of Revelation, we don’t know exactly what they taught. But the word “Nicolaitans” literally means “conquerors of the people.” So, in one way or another, the Nicolaitans were infiltrating the church, convincing young, impressionable Christians to be soft in their convictions and to be soft on sin.                                                                                        Together, the Balaam followers and the Nicolaitans in the Pergamos church were corrupting their congregation. The church was supposed to be holy, separate, and distinct from the sinful culture surrounding them. But as the weeks passed, they were becoming more and more indistinguishable from their culture.                                                                                                Jesus’ message is loud and clear: It’s not enough to stand strong against the soldiers from outside the church who come to arrest you for your faith. You have to stand just as strong against compromising Christians INSIDE the church. You have to stand strong against carnal Christians who are trying to get you into bed with them. You have to stand strong against lukewarm Christians trying to get you to drink this or smoke that. You have to stand strong against Christians who live like the devil outside the church building and try to get you to live the same way. They want you to be like them—to live lives that are indistinguishable from the world around you. Jesus tells the Pergamum Christians in verse 16: “Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.”                          However, in verse 17, Jesus makes a wonderful promise to those who resist the allure of moral compromise: “To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna.” In other words: “If you overcome the temptation to eat the bread of sin, I will bless you with the bread of life.”            So, don’t jump on the bandwagon of moral compromise, even when your fellow Christians are going for a joyride. Your refusal to compromise your morals and your integrity will pay off in the end when you successfully cross the finish line of your Christian race and receive your heavenly reward. What a mighty God we serve!                                                                        This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press