songsofjesus.com

Hold fast to Jesus and His Word

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In “Whatever Happened To Jesus?” I give a call to return to the “old paths” of faith in Christ as well as a call to return to our “first love” of Him.  I wrote the song early on in my Christian walk (about 3 years after being born again) and  noticed at that time that the church-at-large seemed to be embracing the surrounding culture rather than rejecting it.  As a brand new believer I couldn’t understand this since Jesus had just delivered me from “the world” and it’s influences- why would I want to return to the life I’d just left behind?  The amazing thing is that some in the church believe that the way to revitalization is by embracing the surrounding culture!  “If we are to be relevant to the surrounding world we must be like them”, they would say.  Being culturally relevant is seen as a way out of our lifelessness- and so we see a church today that in many ways now looks exactly like the world it was supposed to come out of.

Dead lifeless churches are obviously not God’s desire, but neither is a worldly, culturally driven church the will of God for His people- we need a return of authentic life in Christ.  An authentic walk with God does not need worldly hype and fads to produce life.  Instead of having more of the world in the church, we need more of the life of Jesus in us!  I believe we need to get back to the “old paths”- repent, return to Jesus, and get back to Jesus and the Word of God as our supreme source for life and truth.

Whatever happened to Jesus?  Isn’t this supposed to be about JESUS?

I’m as tired of dead, formal religion, as anyone else is because it keeps people from Christ rather than leading them into an experience of Him-  Jesus is alive, and if we’re not experiencing that, there’s something radically wrong.  But how did we go from wanting the church to be “alive” to somehow thinking that the way to this “life” is by embracing the world?  One of the most disturbing trends is how God’s Word is now thought of as antiquated- this belief is bringing about apostasy in the church.  

Apostasy is basically a falling away from God’s Word and departure from His truth, which leads to a falling away from Jesus.  When God’s Word is downplayed, denied, twisted, referred to as antiquated, and relegated to a place where the church prefers the words of men over the Word of God, we have full blown apostasy.  The Word of God should be the litmus test for our belief and practice, but it is increasingly being tossed aside as outdated and irrelevant.  One of the most insidious departures from God’s Word is when  biblical terminology  is thrown out and replaced by new language that often has a radically different meaning than the original- this deconstructing and reconstructing of God’s Word has again been done in the name of being “relevant”.  The whole notion that we need to change to reach the times and culture we find ourselves living in is spurious- We are the ones who have eternity in Christ; it is not we who need to become like the surrounding culture in order to change it, rather we are to “shine like stars in the universe” as we “hold out the word of life” to a “crooked and depraved generation”.

This world- it’s lusts and it’s culture- are ALL passing away, “but the man who does the will of God abides FOREVER”.  The Emergent Church (as well as those who hold to it’s obsession of being culturally relevant) are missing this important truth:

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him… everyone who listens to the Father and learns from Him comes to me.”  (John 6:43-45)

It is NOT our identification with culture that wins people to Christ, rather, it is the work of our Father who draws people to Christ.  Our obsession needs to be with our Father and with His Son, not with the latest cultural fad.  The Spirit of God points to JESUS, not to this world’s culture.

 

Where can I find authentic life in Christ?

Some have seen the downward slide in the church and have decided they will leave it completely.  They believe they are to “come out and depart“ from the church and leave it all behind. But is this God’s answer?  Does He want you sitting home alone, no longer gathering with other Christians?  I don’t think sitting at home alone is the answer- God may call you out of a specific church for various reasons, but do you really believe His intent for you is to spend the rest of your time here on planet earth alone and cut off from gathering with other Christians?

The fact is, we are told that in the last days there will be a great apostasy, and we are seeing it.  There is no quick fix of church structure or form that will solve the problem and sitting home alone disconnected from other Christians is no solution either- we must hold fast to Jesus and His Word and stay connected with other Christians.

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