SPIRITISM! IS THE CHURCH BEING ENGULFED (Reloaded)
"Today, the temptations that the ordinary Christian youth goes through are far more sophisticated than it was for youths even in the last century."
The following is a quote from Franklin Akwaah on page 20 of the maiden edition of the Success Mission Magazine.
The paragraph from which this quote was taken from continues as follows ". . . the more perplexing phenomenon is not the social or moral decay, but the compromise on spiritual growth among Christian youth. . . ."
When I was prompted to put my thoughts on this subject into writing, I was wondering what I was going to write as my first, seeing I am very passionate about the subject of false teachings, this is because even though I am not new to the art (of writing), this platform of interest is something I consider a privilege and not a right, considering that very few men of God are in this corner of the vineyard. Apologetics is dreaded even by some Generals and many turn to be vapid when it comes the subject. I therefore am grateful for the opportunity to pour out my passion here.
The quote above gave me the momentum and inspiration I needed to tow the line I am about to. With the kind of passion I have for the youth, I have chosen to get into an area that very few people will.
For your information, what you are about to read is highly flammable. It has the potential of putting fire in your bones. In case it does, don’t hesitate to reach the publisher. He will be good friend.
I intend to irritate you on being alert and on the lookout for a "thief".
In Acts 19:24 – 28, we see Apostle Paul confronting Demetrius on the worship of Princess Diana.
"Today, the temptations that the ordinary Christian youth goes through are far more sophisticated than it was for youths even in the last century... the more perplexing phenomenon is not the social or moral decay, but the compromise of spiritual growth among Christian youths. . . ."
My aim is to incite you to begin to get interested in that which is engulfing the youth of this century, especially in Ghana and sweeping the adults along. No one has been spared, not even the intellectual believer whom you would expect to know better.
Until we begin to get into this track, we will be like an adult on a balcony of a story building watching a little boy running into a pit and refuses to shout to the boy's rescue. Our inaction in the world makes us as guilty as this adult. Our inaction to "thieves" of the Gospel puts us in the same category as these thieves.
There are several reasons why we are not seeing much from Christendom in this regard. My aim is not to provide a "one stop shop" answer but to awaken in you that anger towards the spreading of another Gospel and the preaching of another Jesus. Gal 1:8
Exactly what am I talking about? Simply put, there are too many cults out there stealing souls into hell and it’s such a slow occurrence that it is almost unnoticeable. The waves of the sea are so obvious, but that of River Volta is such a deceptive sight to behold. This is how cults work.
The scriptures are their reference point. Jesus is at the center of their message and a prosperous life is their promise.
It sounds so biblical that it is as the waves of River Volta, until you are helplessly in it, you won’t notice that its current can carry you away. I watch in awe why our pulpits are so silent on these issues, our Christian statesmen won’t even mention it, yet every day, hour and minute that passes by, one of these "spiritual thieves" is at the doorsteps of vulnerable believers and many of them are becoming victims.
Spiritual growth should certainly include this area of spiritual warfare.
Let’s get into the reasons why there is so much silence on this issue.
Six generations of Christendom have passed (I stand to be corrected) after the early church era. I have actually excluded the early church era in the six. We had the Orthodox era which I call the first generation. They basically preached salvation by faith, and then came Protestantism; this came out with some more "heat". They stressed on the "born again" effect and experience.
Thirdly, we had the Pentecostalism who focused everything on Jesus. Jesus Christ, our savior, baptizer, healer and our soon and coming king. We were always reminded of and were being prepared for heaven.
The soon and coming King seems to be too long in coming, so the fourth generation came up with the fact that we have to prosper here while waiting. This was the Charismatic movement that swept across the globe. The movement stressed on the fact that you can succeed here on earth. They preached systematically with points and principles. With time, we saw quotes which were from unbiblical and unchristian sources. Mostly, tried and tested Entrepreneurs especially from the East.
The fifth generation stormed the world with the New Charismatic movement which introduced Deliverance, "Pigs in the Palour"? and books by Dr Rebecca Brown?" These became the “manuals for deliverance” those days. I remember reading them through and through like the Hawk and Hen story in the class three reader.
They stressed on the fact that, "we have to get to the roots" we must find out why you are not ….." "Is there any curse in your family?"
This era has given birth to the Prophetic which says that, beyond Deliverance, which brings you out of your past, we must also get into the future to see what lies ahead of you. And this is where we are. Very soon, when Christendom believes that this era has reached a plateau, we might move on. Don’t ask me where we would go because I honestly don’t have an idea where and what that would be. One this that is imminent is that, we certainly shall move on to a very daisy era and it has started casting its shadows already. The watchers have noticed!
Now, my aim of boring you with all this is to draw your attention to the bitter truth that, none of these have confronted these "Princesses and Princes" like the Apostle did. They preach and win souls. These souls are to be established and grounded so stand and partake in getting into hell to draw men out. Not even the gates of hell are to be able to stop us from achieving that aim!!
But we are somehow limited to the extent that sometimes we run away from "battle"; we also sit unconcerned and watch others spread false gospels.
The six generations have all contributed to Christendom, but have failed in the area of preparing their generation to confront preachers of a false gospel and another Christ…….
Perhaps they don’t see why we should, after all, it is enough to just preach Christ and leave it there. Why worry your head about something that is not true, truth will prevail anyway. This reason, I have found not to be strong enough, wait till you are confronted with a though question from your own church member on something a Jehovah Witness told him or her and you would agree with me.
The second reason why we see little of this confrontation is that Our Bible Colleges equip our Pastors-in-training with all this knowledge but you wonder what for.
Members are not exposed either because they (the members) are not prepared to learn or the Pastors think it is not for their ears. Everything else will be preached at the pulpit but very little is taught even at the ministries level on how to do close combat. All of the warfare that is done is more of snipping at the devil. We would bind, uproot, destroy, bombard and torpedo all demons, principalities, powers and witches that are tormenting our lives. But we would hardly pray to destroy the work of religious demons that are causing confusion all over the place; we would hardly intercede for those who have become victims of false doctrines.
My point is simple; our Pastors should begin to spend time with the young ones, engage them in spiritual, intellectual teachings on how to do close combat with these thieves. Dr Walter Martin puts it this way, "a man who will not stand for something is quite likely to fall for almost anything”. Also, "What we need is a religion that is not only right where we are right, but where we are wrong. Only the Word of God provides that corrective" 2 G.K Chestern
We have a generation of young boys and girls who are able to comprehend "hard meat" and sometimes "bone", why not gradually expose them to the "thieves of the Gospel".
If your Pastors study all the Apologetics and keep them in their libraries, we are only gambling with the souls of men. What more? We stand the risk of losing the very elect not because Jesus is not able to hold on to them firmly, but because we failed to equip them enough to do intellectual battle against false teachings, so they too can hold on firmly to the hand of the Lord.
Anything that appeals to a man’s intellect and is logically true has the ability to knock him off the very foundation of his belief system and thought pattern.
The third reason is that, There are no blacksmiths in the camp: I Sam 13:19 The strategy of the Philistines was a simple one, kill all the blacksmiths, make sure they don’t have people who manufacture weapons. In this way they would not have any weapon with which to fight.
To do close combat means you are well equipped not only with your weapon but also with skills. We find ourselves in an era where we do not have people who manufacture weapons. Weapons that arm one with scriptural accuracy that can logically dislodge all false teachings are absent. Men with passion to protect and defend the Christianity the Apostles left us are scarce.
Let blacksmiths arise, manufacture weapons and equip the young ones with skills on how to use these weapons. We then shall be ready not only to snip at the enemy, but do close combat. We shall not only be on the offensive but also defend that which we belief.
These blacksmiths would arise in the form of the Apostle Paul, equipped with Biblical Knowledge, filled with the Holy Ghost and with discernment and lastly with a passion to train more young ones in the area of Apologetics.
The last reason why the church is being engulfed without a reply is crave to outwit each other in the prophetic ministry.
The prophetic ministry no doubt brings the power of God to the knowledge of the listener. What has happened with time is that, stomach preachers have gotten into the vineyard, and not satisfied with what “they can do” turn to want to do more.
Instead of waiting on the Lord to move them into more of the miraculous, they force themselves, like the little boy who thought the cocoon was not becoming a butterfly on time and who took a knife to bring it out, they find themselves consulting religious demons and soon, they themselves are compromised. How can you fight something you practice?
These “stomach preacher” start to challenge each other, soon, sorcery enters the church and before you say jack, the spirit of the dead are invoked during ministration.
As this compromise on Biblical standards spreads, those who are themselves compromised can’t speak against it, soon, the silent ones are multiplied and the numbers grow! How pathetic!
To end, let me tell you of a story on the return on Jesus back into heaven. The story says, when the Lord got to heaven, one little angel asked him. "Master, now that you have returned, who will continue the work you started over there on planet earth".
Jesus replied, "Those who believed in me will continue with the work".
The little angel after seconds of silence asked again, "What if they don’t?"
The Lord said "Well, if they don’t, then my work would be in vain"
Question: Do you see yourself as a sniper or as a well equipped close combat soldier?
Are YOU a defender of what has been passed on to us? Selah!
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