I have been thinking about moral relativism all day after reading some more foolish comments and statuses on Facebook about people’s opinions about God and the Bible.  I notice a steady stream of people posting their opinions about doctrinal or theological topics based on nothing but their opinion.  This is a concern of mine because if someone calls themselves a Christian, then they are called to stand on the Word of God as their foundation.  Their opinions should be biblical and will continually be refined in such a case as to be better imitators of Christ.

Instead, what I tend to get as a response when I post what the Bible actually says (usually by quoting it) is resistance and more opinions.

Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:16: “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.”

Doctrine also means teaching.

How can Paul tell Timothy to watch doctrine closely and persevere in it if the Word of God (the Bible) is not a book of doctrines?

How can one love Jesus as their Prophet, Priest, and King if they know not what he has taught, which is recorded in the sovereign, Spirit-breathed Word of God?

One must not only think they are good and do good things or splatter their opinions willy-nilly all over for people to congratulate them about or to be accepted, but people must realize they are sinners.  Without faith in Christ, nothing they do is “good”.  One must be called by God and believe and be in the Word and prayer, standing upon the law of God and striving to imitate Christ instead of ignoring all of the above and thinking they’ll get on by just fine.

Further still, I see foolish, prideful statements like, “The Bible is not a book of doctrines” and “Jesus take the wheel” (as if he’s some co-pilot) get accolades.

Recently, I had someone tell me that they think things are ok as long as it is making someone happy.  When does God ever say to think like this?  He says that what we should find joy in is Him and his accomplish work completed through his son, Jesus Christ.  Not say, “It’s ok cause they are happy,” even when the happiness is found in worldly things.

If what you say and do and think does not match up with what the Bible says to say and do and think, then you’re in sin.  Once you’re corrected and respond with opinion again then it’s no longer a person you’re arguing with, but God himself.

After thinking on it throughout the day, I began to formulate a poem in my head (which is my default thing to do).

The Worst I’ve Ever Seen

By Tim Young

9/30/2010

You’re dead following the dead

With no thoughts in your head

This is the worst I’ve ever seen it

The worst I’ve ever seen

Your opinions are facts

You’re elative in the way you act

This is the worst I’ve ever seen it

The worst I’ve ever seen

You prayed a prayer and think you’re saved

But can’t believe the destination

At the end of the path you’ve paved

This is the worst I’ve ever seen it

The worst I’ve ever seen

This is the way of the lemming

The way of the proud

You think you’re going to heaven

Cause you speak real loud

And do good things

But there is nothing in your words

Containing the grace that faith brings

This is the worst I’ve ever seen it

The worst I’ve ever seen

— Psalm 32:8-9

I know that it is not I that lays the tracks.  I’m a caboose, hitched to the back of an engine fueled by the Word of God.  Jesus is the conductor of my travels.  Yet, sometimes I gripe that I don’t think the train is moving forward and I am stalled in a desert.

I have told a chosen few godly men my story about how God led me to where I am now.  For a few years, I told the story simply to vent.  I was bitter and I was complaining.  Now, I know that what happened was God’s providence.  I don’t know exactly why God allowed the things he did to happen, but I do know that I am wiser, more prepared for opposition, and a bit more tempered.

After each successive event that I suffered through, may it have been a trial or a test, God kept me.  He pulled me back to himself.  He still wanted me.

How awesome is that?  Yet, I find myself at another crossroads and I have a lot of questions to ask.  I need men wiser than I to give council as objectively as possible and leave their subjective desires at the train station before joining as a passenger on the train.  I also need the passengers with far too much baggage on the train to get organized and show a little discipline in the way they pack their belongings.

When I ask questions, I often get generic answers that only fluster me more, such as, “God will point you in the right direction” and “Pray and he will answer.”  These answers are true, but there is more to it.  I know full well and believe that God will answer my prayers and point me in the right direction.  However, he’ll probably use other men and women to do it.  There is more to discipleship than giving generic answers.  Unless God attaches strings to me like a puppet or decides to give me direct revelation, I must act with council.  Without action, or without forward motion, then there is no servant-hood.

I desire to be a long-term missionary, but not the long-term missionary other men wish me to be.  Meaning, if I mention I desire to be a missionary, that doesn’t mean I should have to hear straightaway that there are needs in Cambodia, or China, or Africa.  First, there comes a time when I need objective answers about how to prepare and make a discerning decision of my own as to where I may serve God to my fullest capabilities according to the spiritual gifts he has so graciously granted me.

At a point in my life when I’ve begun to be taught to own up to my sins and hold myself up to the standard of Christ, it frustrates me when those that Satan uses to hinder me are my brothers and sisters in Christ.

There are multiple ways this happens, but I must pause to address myself.  I cannot and will not ignore my own sin.  For a long time, I was a “grass is greener on the other side” kind of thinker.  No matter where I was or what I was doing, I was never happy with the results.  I tended to make myself out to be a victim so often, people stopped listening.  This is still something that I struggle with because I am weak in this area and easily allow my own displeasures and sinful standards to root themselves in my heart in the form of impatience, resentment, and bitterness.  It is easy to see the faults of others while continually neglecting the plank in my own eye.

So, how is this time any different?  Am I not acting the same way as I have before and griping about a situational issue?  After spending months cultivating my desire to be a missionary and because of the current contextual position that I have been placed in, I do not believe so.

In response to other missionaries:  I understand the need to reach the globe with the gospel and be doctrinally sound in word, action, and deed.  However, it must be understood that your vision may not be my vision.  Your calling may not be my calling.  Objectiveness should be a part of discipleship in order that direction outside of your own vision can be realized.  Not allowing for any leeway outside your own ministry to answer a question like, “How do I speak to my home church about my desire to be a missionary” with an answer like, “I suggest meeting with the missions committee over coffee” instead of answering, “You should come to China with me!” is a disservice and hindrance to individuals like myself that don’t even have their feet on the ground yet foundationally, let alone being at a point of deciding what country to minister to.

It actually makes it easier for me to make missions ministry my idol when I can’t get straight answers from my spiritual authorities.  I end up pushing harder to find the answers and end up doing it on my own.  Pride comes into play and it’s game over.

In response to my general brothers and sisters in Christ, as well as spiritual authorities:  Is it loving and graceful to continually gear most things to the lowest, undisciplined common denominator within our ministries?  I have seen it far too often when leaders spend too much time speaking in the name of love covering a multitude of sins and bestowing grace on others, but tolerate destructive behavior within their ministries for far too long.  Yet, I do not believe it is loving or graceful to reward consistent sin and discipline problems through consistent micro-management.  In fact, I believe that further steeps passive aggressive people in their passive aggressiveness.  Those who continually receive mercy need to repent and change.

To gear things continually to the lowest common denominator or to the least disciplined individuals is very similar to what public schools have done in the last few decades.  When my parents and grandparents went to school, curriculum in schools was held to a high standard to educate the smarter children.  The mediocre students were pressed harder and learned more and the students who did not have educational abilities were taught to the highest level possible.  Now, schools lower the level of challenge in their curriculum so as to not offend anyone.  Thus, smarter kids are manufactured dumb and dumb kids stay dumb.  In church bodies, if all levels of ministry are lowered to a standard as to not offend anyone (which is impossible in and of itself) then those who persevere in the Spirit and seek out spiritual meat to feed upon are left lean and forced to suck down bottle after bottle of spiritual milk straight from the teat of the pulpit and ministerial meetings.

I began by quoting Psalm 32:8-9, in which God says not to be a horse nor a mule that needs a bit or bridle.  I believe that this applies to myself and to what I have spoken about up to this point.  You may be wondering where and how I got sidetracked and began speaking about micro-managing undisciplined brothers and sisters in Christ after spending ample time addressing my desire to be a long-term missionary.

I am a horse (in some areas) surrounded by mules.

Horses run ahead and mules stubbornly stand still.  I have a tendency to run ahead of others and then look back at the mules and think to myself, “What’s their problem?”  That’s pride talking, cause being a horse compared to Christ is like being less than a mule.  Nothing compares.  I now have an added amount of horses who act like mules by giving me generic answers, standing still when they should be running along side of me, teaching me how to pace myself and to not try and buck off the one who holds the reigns (Jesus).  I must pace myself when others need to begin pacing.

God calls extreme mules and horses babes who are drinking spiritual milk, but should be eating spiritual meat.  In this case, I do not think it is prideful to say that I am striving to not be a horse to trample over others.  I know I will never be perfect, but it is my calling as a Christian (as it is all Christian’s calling) to imitate Christ.  I am called to stay near to God and not be a horse he needs to bridle too often.  I know he will have to pull back the reigns at times, but I should work to get to a point that I can regularly stay on the right path.

In pacing myself, I will have to return to the pack of mules and nudge them along the path at times.  However, they need to allow me to come aside them and begin to pick up their pace, otherwise it becomes a burden for me to always have to nudge them along.  At the same time, if other horses continually decide to stay out in the fields grazing and never help me seek out greener pastures, they too are burdening me.

If a mule does not carry any weight and a horse does not work, then what good are they?

At this time, I am seeking out answers.  I need the support of the mules around me.  I need them to pick up the pace.  I also need other horses to guide me on the right path and not grow lazy in the green pastures that God laid them in.

Lately, I spend much of my time right now leading those that are told to lead me and receive resistance in return.  I also spend time waiting on answers that never come from men that I wait upon constantly.  It is at these times, I wrestle with God’s providence.  Yes, God is sovereign.  He does, at the same time, call us to action.

I long for leadership that leads and helpers that help.  I need understanding in order to become a better servant of God as I pray to become a long-term missionary.  I have the Word in front of me, but who will guide me through it and when I learn, who around me will listen to what God has taught me and follow it also?

God says that he will instruct me and teach me where to go.  I know that he will do this because God always keeps his promises.

It is now that I will ask for prayer.  I need prayer for someone who will not gloss over my desires and nurse them with wisdom and guidance as I prepare to serve and I need prayer for those who I know now that hinder me by acting like mules.  I also need prayer for myself in that God continues to temper me, grow me in patience, and see to it that I grow in grace.  It is easy for me to get quickly frustrated with the mules as I run ahead of them as a horse, ironically making a bigger ass out of myself as they are naturally.

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Too often I have encountered what I believe to be a problem within the Church.  It’s probably not a matter of greed.  It could be a manner of pride.  It surely is a problem of ignorance wrapped within the comforts of human subjectivity, rather than God’s final objectivity.

The problem lies in the misinterpretation of the word “mission,” which I think has become synonymous in the hearts of many Christians with the word “humanitarianism.”

A mission is a specific task with which a person or a group is charged to accomplish.  One can charge them self, while others are charged by another.

The charge to missionaries came from Jesus and is to be enacted upon at all times.  The mission is, as Jesus stated, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

(This is the calling of missionaries.  To those who speak about their “callings,” I ask you to think about how God has already called you.  His revelation has been completed and is canonized in the Bible.  The mystical idea of “calling” needs to be done away with.  No one has special antenna on their heads that are able to tune into callings from God.  However, we do have God’s Word, filled with his laws.  If someone is gifted to be a missionary and striving to imitate God, then why not plan to do missions?  Instead, many people stand in the corner and prepare indefinitely, himming and hawing about how they are waiting on an answer to prayer.  If support does or does not come in and doors do or do not open along the way as a mission is being planned out, then there are God’s answers.)

Humanitarianism, or rather to be a humanitarian, is a person promoting human welfare and social reform.

There is a difference between being a missionary and being a humanitarian, yet I think many people don’t know or are unable to understand the difference.  The difference between the two is the lack of the gospel in a call to worship of God.  It is the lack of an absolute truth, i.e. Christ crucified.  This Truth is what brings about changed hearts, changed groups, changed nations, and a lifetime spent imitating Christ, the antithesis of world views.

Another difference lies within the phrase put forth by Christ himself when he told his disciples they should be “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”  The ‘them’ in Jesus’s statement is anyone that missionaries evangelize to and the ‘all that I have commanded you’ is what is recorded in Scripture.

Jesus talked about works righteousness vs. faith.  He commanded his missionaries according to how they should accomplish work, saying that anything good is from the Lord God and not from us.  There is nothing good in us.  To think we can make plans, accomplish the plans, and let that be enough as so called servants of God is wrong.  We must realize that our works should stem from our faith, otherwise they are worthless.  Faith in Jesus brings about righteous works.  Without him, works are dead.

Humanitarianism is works righteousness.  Missions is faith.  Humanitarianism is the world view.  Missions is God’s will, temporary in that it is only needed until Christ’s return.  Humanitarianism is nice, but not soul-saving.  Missions is righteous, and can be soul-saving.

I do not discredit or take away from the possibility that true believers in Christ are called by God during short trips, however there is a concern that comes into play based on the parable of the sower and the seed and the types of soil that exist.  Building relationships with people, accepting their culture, and gaining their trust like Paul did by spending huge amounts of time in the marketplaces is what allows missionaries to follow Christ’s commission.

Short-term missionaries can, at specific times, aide long-term missionaries with the spiritual disciplines of giving and serving.  However, they should be educated of the culture before arrival and work under the authority of the long-term missionaries already present.

Short-term trips or ministry trips or short-term missions or humanitarian trips (all names that have been made inter-changeable) can lay the ground work for long-term missions to come in and spread the gospel.  They can be planned to do so in such a way.

Personally, I have heard plans for one-week, two-week, sometimes summer’s trips to far off countries be coined a “missions trip.”  I do not, in most cases, think that such trips are missions.  Things get grey and people begin to make accusations that judgments are being placed on their hearts when there is disagreement in coining a short trip like this a missions trip.  However, I believe there are stereotypical points that can be made that show that such trips should be deemed humanitarian trips, rather than missions trips.

Ask a returning member of such a trip about their experiences.  Most often comments are made about how life-changing the event was and how eye-opening the trip was, but like being on a roller-coaster, the “changes” fade quickly.  Pay attention to what is deemed life-changing.  The long flight, seeing how impoverished people were, the difference in clothing, how different it was than the U.S., and the like.

Now, take into account suffering.  Is there not a difference between sight and action?  Seeing how different things are and how impoverished they are is different than doing anything to change these two points.  ”We did dig a well” or “We handed out medical supplies” or “We gave people food” are regular answers meant to justify the trip.  Seeing that someone is feint from hunger and giving them food is much different than giving them the food and spending time with them while talking about Jesus.  One is temporal, and the other is pressing and eternal.  One can give hope for a day and the other can give eternal hope.

This reminds me of stories I have heard from missionaries in other countries who stay long-term and have spoken to me about groups that have come in for a week or two and do more damage than good.  The groups do not take into account the culture.  They have no interest in the culture, but much interest in making memories.  They have no idea that the locals have begun to think that if you’re a Christian, that means that you have to give them something like a modern-day Santa Claus.  They do not know that leaving incomplete work in their wake leaves more problems for the long-term missionaries than problems solved.  They don’t know that telling someone about Jesus once doesn’t work in countries where they accept multiple gods or have learned to say, “I believe” so they can fill their mouths with food.

I think it is also important to use biblical, wise discernment in the amount of money that it will cost for short trips in light of the needs of the local community and within the body of your immediate church family.  How many thousands of dollars does it take to send one person to another country for a short time?  Now think of how that amount of money will help spread the gospel of Christ in a country where God is being made more and more generic and 70% of people entering college never return to the Church (the U.S.A.).  Think of those things and of the great needs in most communities that have their own peoples that need financial help, food, and/or clothing.

Case in point, it is costing me $4,500 to live in Louisiana for one year and administer the gospel to the surrounding community through rebuilding, relief, and visiting people on a regular basis.  That’s about the cost to send one person to another country for one week.  Now add the fact that the majority of missionaries from other countries like China and Africa are now sent to America and Europe because of our lack of faith in Christ and our tendency to put our faith in our dreams.

After spending a year in South Korea teaching ESL, I only just began to understand the effects of reverse culture shock when I returned to the United States.  I can’t help but think that people have no idea what they are talking about when they return after short amounts of time in other countries to the United States and tell their churches and friends how weird it is to see so many stores, buy fast food, etc.  Not enough time went by for these people to learn the culture they visited and understand it.  Not enough time went by to be truly shocked by what they are blessed with when they return home.

In conclusion, as someone who has began to prepare himself to possibly be a long-term missionary through reading and signing up for preparation courses, I believe it is important for people to prepare themselves.  Anyone can raise a couple thousand dollars and go to another country, visit people, and do a few things like dig wells or hand out food or medicine.  However, is that truly the Godly thing to do?  Is it what Christ speaks about in his commission to missionaries?  People should ask themselves what is going to be accomplished with the time they probably are taking according to available vacation days to go on short trips and ask if what they are going to be doing is heavy on humanitarianism or is it something that truly will affect God’s kingdom long-term, growing it, and teaching others how to worship in Spirit the true and only Lord and Savior of this world, Jesus Christ.

There is a glossy shimmer to the idea of going somewhere other than your own country, but there are plenty of people in need in the U.S. that are starved of truth (and literally starving).  There are many that believe in the promise of change promised to them by powerful men.  I believe all of these things should be taken into account and applied before thinking short, expensive trips are taken.

This country is a missions field, riper than ever for harvest.  Full of churches, but dying in spirit.  Full of consumers that consume everything but the Word of God.

If you don’t understand any or parts of this blog, pray about it.  Get out your Bible and look up the verses in the second half of this blog and pray that God gives you understanding.

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Fear of Man: Dead, Blind, Lost, and Condemned, a short story:

Born blind and with the iniquities of his father etched upon his heart, and his mother’s sin-tainted milk upon his lips, Fear Of Man did not stand a chance.  He was conceived rotten; a seed planted and fertilized in his mother’s womb that could only produce poisonous, vile fruit.

In fact, Fear Of Man was born spiritually stillborn.  The wages of his sins would someday result in his actual, physical death.  How pitiful it was to see him condemned before he could utter a single intelligible word.

Unable to see, Fear Of Man could only see images within his own inward reality based on things seen through the eyes of other men.  Yet, like him, other men were born with the same problems.  They too were blind.  They too were condemned before uttering a word.  They too were born with the iniquities of their father’s etched upon their hearts.  All that anyone could see was darkness.

The entire world was blind.  People were consistently getting lost without anyone with sight to develop and design anything.  The world was in disarray.  In fact, there was nothing anyone in the world could do to save themselves or help anyone else.  No one could do anything good.  No one could seem to do any work that would result in a good outcome.

The thought of sight became so foolish that eventually the world stopped talking about sight altogether.  Life became a life of everyone for themselves.  People stumbled in darkness, always searching for ways to survive.  The world was in chaos.

Yet, Fear of Man was different.  As a child, he began to ask where things came from.  Where did all the things he couldn’t see come from?  Even Fear’s parent’s scoffed at him and said, “How would we know where things come from?  We can’t even see!  Where do get these silly ideas of yours?”

Fear didn’t know where he got his silly ideas, but he continued to ponder, “How could something come from nothing?”  In his heart, he knew that there was something wrong.  He knew that something was missing, but he kept quiet because he was afraid of what his parents would say.  He didn’t want them to make fun of him anymore.

Many years went by and one day, Fear heard a voice.  ”Hello, Fear.”

Fear answered, “Hello.  Who are you?”

The voice answered, “My name is I AM.  I have observed you patiently for a long time and it has caused me much suffering to see you be afraid of what others will say even though you know that something is wrong.”

“But, I am afraid of punishment and ridicule.”

“Do not be afraid.  There is a place where the blind see.  A place where men have sight and are not condemned to a life lost in darkness.  There is a place full of new life.  Follow me, Fear Of Man, and come and see.”

“How can I see, for I am blind!”

“You have little faith.  Are your ears as deaf as you are blind?”

Fear replied, “I must go,” and left I AM.

When Fear found his parents, he asked them why they brought him into a world that was so bleak.  If they thought that there was no purpose behind anything and everything was so terrible because they were blind, why did they stay with each other and have him.

His parents could not answer.  Instead, they became defensive and told him to go away.  Why should they care about anything, just as long as they survive.

Yet, Fear of Man would not give up.  Suddenly, he raised his voice and told his parents, “Stop it!”  After much argumentation and yelling, Fear of Man was able to tell his parents what he meant.  If things just randomly happened, he asked, how did they exist?  He thought their idea that they must have come from another place or other things did not make sense.  How could they develop to a point in which they could survive, but still be blind?  If there was no purpose other than to reproduce and survive, then why try surviving at all?

Could there be a place where men see and were not condemned to a life lost in darkness that left everyone feeling dead?

Again, Fear Of Man’s parents were speechless for a time before telling him yet again to go away.  They exploded in anger, saying there is no hope.  They will always be condemned to a life of blindness.  This time, he obeyed and left their presence.

Again, Fear Of Man heard a voice, “Hello, Fear.”

“I recognize your voice.  I AM, what must I do to see?”

“Do you truly believe, even without sight, that there is something more than what you currently have in your life.  That there is a place where men have sight, are not condemned to a life lost in darkness, and are given new life?”

“Yes.”

“Then open your eyes and see all that I have for you my son.  My father, God, sent me to you.  Through me, he created all things in the heavens and on the earth.  Many do not believe as you do, but God called you to himself and you will now be called Faithful; for you believe in things you have not seen.  There are others like you.  Within you, I have placed My Spirit.  Now you will see the world for what it truly is and understand the things you have not seen.”

It was then that Faithful received sight and could see the world, filled with color and light.

“Thank you, I AM.  Forgive me.  I will turn away from my fears and will not turn back to darkness.”

I AM replied, “Go and tell others of what you now see so that they too may see.”

(Written by Tim Young, “Fear of Man: Dead, Blind, Lost, and Condemned”, 2010)

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Here’s the part where I ask people to get out their Bible’s and look up the verses and actually think about them.  Not just for 2 seconds after reading them, but meditate on them.  Learn them.  Pray that you understand them.

One lesson that I must learn continually, like the Israelites in the times of Judges, Kings and as they walked through the desert for 40 years is that I am called to repent daily.  I am no longer blind (2 Corinthians 4:3-4), condemned (John 3:18), lost (Luke 15), and spiritually dead in my sins (Ezekiel 18:4, Romans 6:23) .  I am called to be light to the world and no longer live in darkness.

We are spiritually dead, blind, lost, and condemned to eternity in hell without belief in Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

Jesus says, ”If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ³⁵For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.”  (Mark 8:34-35)

We are called to lose our sinful life, as we are saved by Jesus Christ who died for us on the cross.  We are to follow and imitate Christ, growing in the wisdom and knowledge of God through his Word.

Our good works do not matter.  In fact, without belief in Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul calls good works cow dung (Philippians 3:8-9, meaning in the Greek) and Isaiah the prophet called them menstrual rags (Isaiah 64:6).  Doing “good things” won’t get you into heaven.

In fact, have you ever asked yourself the question, “What is God saving me from?” or “Why is there a hell?”  The fact is, God is saving you from his just, righteous wrath against sin.  The reason there is a hell is because everyone sins and the only people to get into heaven, and justifiably so, are those who believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior (John 14:6).  God is perfect and just.  He is holy.  That means there is nothing sinful about him.  Sin literally dies in his presence (Think about it.  In the Bible, no one can see God and live.  It is why different people in the Bible are fearful when God comes in a different form.  They think they will die in his presence.  It’s why God told Moses to turn away when he gave the 10 Commandments.  Moses would have died if he saw God.  If Moses wasn’t good enough to see God, then you surely are not).    Therefore, without having faith in Jesus who lived a perfect life and died so that men like you and me could believe in him and be forgiven, there is no way to be justified and deemed righteous before God.  God will say, “I never knew you, depart from me” (Matthew 7:23).

If anything anyone says or does, even in church, does not match up will the sovereign will of God that is taught in the Bible, then we are to stop it.

But how?

Simple.  Stop it.

But how?  It’s hard.

Stop it.

But how?  But my sin is very terrible.

Stop it.

Are you getting it yet?  There is no magic way of not sinning.  You just have to stop it.  Strive to not do it again.  Turn away from it and go in the opposite direction.

Repentance is a spiritual 180 degree turn from your sin.

To live a life of faith, grow in the Word.  How?  Read it.  Meditate on it.  If you don’t understand something, study it.  In this way, you will be able to know what stuff you hear or read does not match of with Scripture and toss it out.  Needless to say, traditions and opinions are not equal as God’s Word.

¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,¹⁷so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.  — 2 Timothy 3:16-17

No matter how traditionalists twist it, it still says that scripture alone is all-sufficient to equip us for EVERY good work.  Not some good works, EVERY.

Check the traditions and teachings of your church or even the opinions you have against Scripture.  Be like the Bereans in Acts 17, weighing what is taught against what God has said in Scriptures.  Why?

3For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. — 2 Timothy 4:3

Do not get trapped in a spiritual famine.  Do not be discouraged when others do not listen.  It is God who gives ears to hear, eyes to see and is the potter, making some vessels for noble purposes and some for destruction (1 Corinthians 2:6-16, Romans 9:21-22).

“Behold the days are coming,” declares the Lord God,
When I will send a famine on the land—
Not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,
But of hearing the words of the Lord. — Amos 8:11

And if you don’t already get it, watch this video.

Apostasy is rampant, especially in western Christianity.  If you don’t know the definition of apostasy, then you, too, probably believe a whole mess of bogus, “contemporary” refuse.  (What is called “contemporary” now was predicted by God in his Word 2,000 years ago.)  There is infinite amounts of circulating messages straight out of the pit of hell perverting the absolute truth that is Christ crucified and risen three days later.

There is so much apostate bologna being preached in America and around the world right now.  Why do you think that 2,000 years ago Peter, Paul, Jude, and others warned against false teaching to come?  Jesus said, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.”

In Korea, there was so much bologna being preached about prosperity, as if believing in Christ brings with it a goodie-package full of money, a house, a car, a wife, a bigger apartment, etc. that I could barely stomach even the search for a doctrinally sound church in order that I may attend services within a body of believers, following the “one-another” commands of the Bible.  The amount of bologna being preached could have fed all the hungry and starving people the entire world over, but beware, it would leave everyone with a bad case of the false-teaching runs.

The apostasy can be seen in the online article that I linked below.  In this blog, I will talk more about another thing that I do not care for in churches or individuals:  Those feel the need to shock people with their messages or titles or ways of presenting truth.  I don’t believe that it is a necessary thing to do and can attract people to listen for the wrong reasons.  To me, it is a form of bait and switch.

As I continue to grow as a man in Christ, I must digress for a short time to make clear that I am still learning not to judge heart motives under false, piecemeal assumptions.  I do, at times, get too excited and jump upon something without enough grace or patience.  I understand that this can be damaging at times and I wanted to address this now by making this confession.  I do want to reach a point in which my heart is so transparent that so many qualifiers do not have to be made.

When I recently read an article by Brett McCracken, author of the book “Hipster Christianity,” I decided to post one of the videos that was mentioned in the online article.  To make it clear, reading this article is a must in order to fully understand the context of my blog post.  Without reading it, it will be easy for anyone to take most of what I say out of context or not understand the point I am trying to make at all.

Brett McCracken’s online article, entitled “The Perils of ‘Wannabe Cool’ Christianity”:  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704111704575355311122648100.html?mod=wsj_share_facebook#articleTabs_comments

In this article is a list of wolves in sheep’s clothing and then some other individuals that use shocking headlines or push the envelope with their wording in order to make their point.  The wolves are false teachers and the others, like Mike Driscoll, I think are walking on thin ice by making things so mature and to feel the need to incorporate so much media into their sermons.

The video that I chose from the article to post on Facebook was “Biblical Oral Sex” by Mark Driscoll.  I took the video as an example to show the ridiculous state of many churches in America today.  Why does Mr. Driscoll think that he has to entitle a Q&A time after a sermon in such a manner?  (He says in the video that the people in the audience are mature adults, but it took me .6 seconds on Google to find the video on Youtube and posted on dozens of websites.)  Will not God give people ears to hear to those he wants to hear his words?  Why do individuals in the Church today think that they have to speak, act, and dress the same way as the world?  Is not the Bible the antithesis of the very world they try to act like in attempt to bring people to Christ?

I had to quickly take down the video because parents were showing concern for the mature manner of the video.  I had not thought of this before posting the video, yet why is it that in such an open media at the click of a button, the Church itself is talking about things that parents can’t let their children listen to without having to explain oral sex?  The topic itself, along with many others, are things that can be discussed in private and small groups, not out in the open in a venue for millions to see without keeping in check who sees it.  The “Mature Audiences Only” warning at the beginning of the video is like telling a toddler not to touch the stove.  The toddler is most definitely going to touch the stove.

I also realize the irony of posting a blog to the masses mentioning the kinds of teaching I don’t agree with, and in cases when the gospel is perverted no Christian should agree with, but also realize there is a difference in praise and caution, acceptance and disagreement on the basis of Scripture.

I had three people within a matter of a few hours, all of whom claim Christ and I believe are Christians, write comments saying how great the video was and that they thought it was cool.  However, is not the very fact that the title of the sermon is a “gotcha” title designed to grab peoples attention a sign of fear of man?  (Clarifier:  Assumption, not fact.)  Why can’t Mark Driscoll teach the Word without worrying about gotcha titles?

To go deeper:  Is not when the Church acts like the world in order to get people in the seats on Sunday then tells them to do live the exact opposite of the world not a huge bait and switch?  How can you get people to live in the world, but not be of it when you skirt the edges of provocativeness to convince them to listen to you in the first place?

My jaw should drop when I read that 70% of 18-22 year olds stop going to church services now.  But, my jaw does not drop.  Non-believers can also smell a pile of crap from a mile away, just like I can.  The world doesn’t need another world.  It needs Christ, unadulterated.

What’s stopping the Church from continuing to take things up more notches?  What’s different between the Church and the world?

I know that I am taking things to an extreme, but if you read the article, are not things getting pretty dang extreme already?

It was also suggested to me that if people are new Christians (or infantile Christians) or have never been taught the gospel, then you should teach them the Laws of God.

This is a misnomer and a half-truth.  It would be like telling someone to run a race and tying their shoe laces together.

Equipping a new or infantile believer or evangelizing to non-believers calls for explanation that we were once or still are, in the non-believer’s case, dead in our sin, can do nothing righteous apart from Christ, but in Christ are given new life, forgiven, no longer condemned, should grow in imitation of Jesus, will die justified before God, and be presented as holy and glorified .  That’s the gospel.  Not cherry-picking hip topics or talking about shock-topics.

The Times

I wish I were the law, yet I break my own laws.  I wish I were the judge, yet I bring judgment on myself.   I wish that my name was held on high, but my name is Venom.  My name is Viper.  My name is Satan.  My name is Master Complainer.

I am prideful.  I am without mercy.  I have no grace.  I would create a world with no one in it, full of things only to serve my own desires.

I am full of hate.  I am impatient.  My heart is black.  My head is as hard as stone.  I’ve created a life where I am nearly alone.  Yet, my finger keeps pointing.

I think I can do no wrong.  I laugh at other people’s humiliation.  I lose my temper within seconds.  I am the worst of sinners.

I am on a mission to serve myself.  I think I am better than everyone.  I am resentfully bitter.  I am all that is wrong with the world.

I am incapable of love.  I have no peace.  My dreams are nightmares and full of lust.  I am a snare.

I will prey upon your fears.  I will taunt you with laughter.  I will fain genuineness.  I am sick with sin and sick of sin.

I am not good.

So, how can I call myself a Christian?

I have no problem questioning the faith of others when they are not as well-read as I am or have not attended church in years, yet I act as if I have no faith at all.  I am the epitome of carnal Christian.  The only difference between myself and someone who does not believe that Jesus is their Lord and Savior is that Jesus is my Lord and Savior, God is my keeper, and the Holy Spirit resides within me.  God has mercifully made me a temple to have his spirit live within, in spite of all the things that I am.

The only good thing about me is God himself.  There is nothing I can do that is good without God.

God has broken me with his disciples and his Word.  I am crushed.  I have been exposed.  I have been brought to shame, wanting to hide my face as if I am a hideous leper.

Where can I go that people would put up with so much of my refuse?  Where can I go that people would both act like flames and actually want to help remove the dross, as I heat to a boil and overflow with resistance?  Where can I go that people tell me the truth, even if it hurts, for selfless reasons instead of prideful gain?

God has me exactly where he wants me.  There is no place better than the place that he has me at any given time.  There is nothing better that I can do if I am doing it for the Lord.  The people who are the flames that selflessly help remove the dross as I beat them over the head with their own sins are better than me.  They have the truth living in them and do not hide it, though imperfectly.

The fact is is that everyone falls short and no one is righteous (good).  Some people sin less than others, but they still sin.  This gives no reason for people to think they are better than others, which if I were truthful, I do often.

So, this is my confession:  I am not a good man, but Jesus died for me anyways.  He said, “I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.”

Then he asked, “Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26)

It has taken me far too long to realize I have failed to live up to the expectations and commands of God.  I will be reminded again, of that, I am sure.  Yet, the suffering due to my sins are “light and momentary troubles [that] are achieving for [me] an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Corinthians 4:17).

When the Apostle Paul wrote those words, he had been beaten, put in prison, stoned, bitten by a poisonous snake, shipwrecked, blinded for three days, etc.  If he was able to say that his troubles were “light and momentary troubles” that help achieve “eternal glory that far outweighs them all” then who am I to complain?

It was also the Apostle Paul who stated, “What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish (manure), that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8).

The fact is, I have nothing to lose when it comes to believing in Jesus.  Everything that I have will rot away.  I will die no matter what.  Everything will be lost to me.  Also, all the things I said about myself are true.  The things I do are rubbish.  I see “but a poor reflection” (1 Corinthians 13:12) of the things to come, so I willingly want to place all of them at the feet of Jesus and spend eternity in heaven.

Usually, when I get to a point when I start thinking to myself or vocalizing that things aren’t going well, it is because I’ve been out to “get mine”.  I mean, was I not raised as if I was a manufactured cookie in some industrial cookie factory, with massive cookie cutters designed to produce identical cookies?   I was told to go to school, get the best grades so I can go to the best university, to get the best degree, to make the most money, to buy the biggest house to surround with the tallest fence so that no one can partake in my “best”, and somewhere in there marry a trophy wife and produce a few kids to carry on the family name so that I can leave them at home to be raised by a nanny while both mommy and I work our tails off.   Going in, I would already know that I had a fifty-fifty chance of having “irreconcilable differences” and getting a divorce, which destroys the kids who then get put on anti-depressants for being sad, which in turn turns them into lethargic robots.  Yet is that all not “the dream”?  Am I not supposed to live for myself and get mine?

So why is it then that people can’t seem to understand that that “good feeling” they get when they put on a food drive, donate gifts on Christmas, or every once in a great while ride the roller-coaster high they get while working on a community project for a day is a normative feeling they are meant to have all the time because they are fully capable of serving others consistently?  Happiness does not come from within, but from outside ourselves.  Why do people fail to see that working for the man is not and never can be as fulfilling as serving men?

As if God is shouting the message, “You think you’ve got it bad, you whiny baby!” into my ear with a bullhorn, He continually reminds me that showing love for others by serving them in any way I can shows me that this world is full of disappointment because when everyone is trying to serve themselves, there is no one left to be a friend, call family, or love at all.

People are lonely and hurting.  I know this because when I, a complete stranger, visited three households today, I was greeted like a king, shown hospitality that I thought did not exist anymore and people may think of as “old school”.  I cared just a little and it was like floodgates were released, releasing a tsunami of stories full family strife, death, incarceration, hatred, malice, sadness, guilt, and bitterness.

After longing to evangelize and visit with those in the local community since arriving in Louisiana, God gave me a gift and it had nothing to do with me.  With the companionship of Dan and Matt from a crew of volunteers from Harvest Bible Church in DeKalb, Illinois, I visited the homes of Elcy and Elaine, Florida, and Danielle and Geraldine.

We three heard amazing stories, filled with struggle caused by hurricane Katrina, but we also heard more personal stories about the death of a husband, a son being put in prison, a sister who is so hateful that she has alienated all of her relatives and went as far as to admit she was trying to break up the marriage between her brother-in-law and sister, the death of a daughter/sister at a young age from breast cancer splitting apart a family of six, and feelings of guilt for wrongdoings.  One of those we visited even broke down crying and could not express herself other than to say she felt guilty.  Possibly the most in-depth and heavy conversation we had was about praying to deceased people instead of God.

To those who are reading it, it probably seems there is no hope and those we visited seemed very lost.  However, there was light and hope.  It came shining through during the conversations when all of those we visited expressed they couldn’t be more appreciative of Dan, Matt, and I simply visiting them and taking the time to listen to them and pray for them.  We were told, “You come back soon now, ya hear?” genuinely.  The gospel message was shared and the worthiness of the Bible was discussed.  One of those we visited is now thinking about hosting a Bible study so that we come back and visit and can invite her neighbors.

These people, with their broken hearts, guilt, and loss have experienced more hurt than I can possibly imagine, yet they sat and talked to us for hours, bought us lunch, cut us pieces of cake, refused to let us clean up our own dirty dishes, and let us inside their homes to talk to us for hours.  They told complete strangers about their lives and some of their inner-most struggles.

I am left feeling so touched and in awe of the power of listening as a form of servant-ship that I can barely write this blog post without coming to tears.   How should I, the master complainer, be so blessed as to be used to bring joy into the lives of strangers?  There are many any where and every where waiting for the opportunity in which someone will listen to them and give them answers that aren’t generic, but heartfelt and genuine.  There are many waiting to be told that they don’t have to live within their hurt any longer.

And that’s how I continue to learn why I have no reason to complain.  Ever.

P.S.  If you are interested in an evangelism-centered retreat, check out information about our Homeland Missions EPC Retreat option:  http://sghm.org/news/2010/06/20/epc-mission-trips/

When the spill first occurred, I don’t think anyone expected for it to spew 100,000 barrels (4.2 million gallons) of oil into the gulf daily.  The response from the Federal Government, especially President Obama, was slow.  President Obama was already running away from his responsibilities as Commander and Chief after sending VP Joe Biden in his place to honor fallen troops at Arlington cemetery.  Instead, President Obama decided it was best to take a vacation to Chicago, go out for some nice dinners and shoot a couple rounds of golf.

Since the oil spill began, there has been a continual track record of such social planning within the White House.  Not only that, the BP CEO, Tony Hayward, has taken vacation time on his private yacht.  Golfing and hanging out on private yachts seem extra appropriate when the entire Gulf of Mexico is being poisoned to death.

You can review for yourself the White House’s response to the oil spill here:  http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/05/28/disaster-gulf-days-counting/

BP has been holding “informational” town hall-like meetings around the state of Louisiana, even having the mayor of New Orleans and Senator Landrou show up for these events to “answer questions.”  However, most questions go unanswered, I and others are given the runaround, or the answers are insufficient.

I have now heard from four NOAA biologists, dozens of BP employees, the Coast Guard, and those who work for the company that is making the oil dispersants.  No one knows what the is going on.  No one has any clue what the effects of the spill will be in the long term.  Seemingly, most can’t answer many of the questions about the short term.

The NOAA biologists know that over 400 sea turtles have died and fish are dying and birds are dying, but they don’t know how many fish are dying.  It could be that they are dying off underneath the water and getting swept away.  Also, things seem hush-hush about things like birds and dolphins dying.  Many areas have been blocked off and censored.  I have seen on the news amateur videos of sharks of all kinds by the hundreds and hundreds along the Mississippi coastline trying to find more oxygenated water, not too far from Slidell, in very shallow water, an event that does not happen on such a large scale.

The effects of tar balls and oil that sinks to the bottom can last indefinitely.  I just read an article in the local newspaper, the Times-Picayune about oil from the Exxon-Valdez spill in Alaska.  One can dig a hole in the ground near the coast, and oil will rise from the hole.  BP employees and the NOAA biologists can only say that the water is warmer in the Gulf of Mexico and there are different kinds of bacteria that can help break down the oil.  They have no idea how long it will take or completely occur.

BP employees told me that dispersants are like dish soap and have short half lives.  However, I heard different numbers about the half lives.  Some said as little as 5-8 days, while others said that the amount of days was higher.  I was told that the dispersants don’t get rid of the oil, but make the particles smaller so that bacteria can break it down easier.  One BP employee said that they can only guess if the effects of the dispersants will be less than the oil itself and they are hoping as a company and are pretty sure that in the long term, it is better to use dispersants.  The BP employee said, and I quote, “We hope it is less bad.”

The Coast Guard has been hindered in their relief efforts.  I have heard some comments that booms have not been placed correctly by one NOAA biology.  Also, there have been articles in the press about the ignorance of President Obama, who refused the help of other countries that have better equipment to deal with oil spills.

Here are two articles about not using the help of other countries that actually have the equipment needed to combat the spill and clean it up:

http://www.globalwarming.org/2010/06/14/obama-blocked-clean-up-of-bp-oil-spill-by-friendly-countries-international-assistance-blocked-by-regulations-obama-had-the-authority-to-waive/

http://blog.heritage.org/2010/06/22/our-government-slowed-down-the-gulf-cleanup/

I heard the Chief of Police from St. Bernard Parish say that the fishing waters will be closed.  Once the oil gets into the marshlands, which are thousands of miles of the greatest fish hatcheries in the U.S., shrimping, oystering, fishing, crabbing, lobstering, and shrimping will cease.  It was nearly two weeks ago that news broke of a 32-mile wide oil slick, the biggest yet, being pushed into the fresh water marshes in Louisiana.

Tropical storm Alex created large enough waves that the oil was pushed right over any of the booms that have been placed in the gulf and further push oil into the marshlands.

As far as eating seafood, I have been told by NOAA that the FDA and other administrations have tested thousands of seafood samples from the coast, including fish, shrimp, oysters, lobster, and crabs and have not found a single sample that was affected by the oil.  However, many of the areas where fisherman can catch seafood had been shut down.  The amount of seafood being caught had drastically dropped and was being caught in designated areas where no oil was being found yet.  It is safe to eat seafood.

Most of the fisherman have been hired by BP to put out booms.  BP is paying well, but it does not make up for the damage that is done.  Those with boats are paid $1,500 a day, while those who don’t own boats are paid $16 tax-free per hour to work 12-hour days, 7-days a week.  All must wear special rubber suits.

The account of those affected can’t be fathomed right now as there are those who produce the ice for the fisherman, deck hands, people that clean the seafood, convenience store employees, grocers, immediate family of all of the above, etc. who are affected by the spill.  Those who work in tourism along the beaches are highly affected.  The coastal states are bleeding money from loss of tourism.

I’ve heard a lot of things and find it hard to write anything down at all because everything I’ve heard has been a “maybe” or an “I don’t know.”  I don’t know if the information I have received is misinformation, lies, confusion, ignorance, fear-mongering, and/or a combination of all the above.  I think that it is probably all of the above.

Please continue to pray for the coastal states.  As the tides turn, the oil may now go towards Texas.  As of right now, no one knows for sure.  The oil has already greatly affected Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.  Also, pray for the leaders and politicians from the local community all the way up to the White House.

President Obama has said that by the end of his first term the oil spill will be under control.  He’s a fool for even saying such a ridiculous statement. After only living here in Louisiana for 4 months and attending the meetings with some NOAA biologists, talking to the Coast Guard, and also talking to BP employees no one in their right mind would say such a thing. Why? Because no one has any idea what the long term effects of this spill will be, but everyone thinks that that they will be catastrophic and affect the area for a long, long time.   Please pray for President Obama and his ability to lead.

Through all this, God is sovereign and he will be glorified through the oil spill.  Pray that this spill and the effects will be as quick and painless as possible and God’s will will be carried out swiftly.

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ.

I have grown concerned for your spiritual well-being after reading the following post that I saw online yesterday:

http://www.citynews.sg/index.php/2010/06/lee-young-hoon-secrets-to-church-growth/

…and I could not allow the time to pass to exhort you and prove to you through Scripture, without a doubt, that wolves creep among you.

The article represents a large part of the kind of teaching I saw very widespread in Korea, even more widespread than in America (but not by much). It is worrisome that such teaching has wielded the largest “church” in the world.

(Please read the article first, then the rest of the message or it will not make sense.)

The article says, “for He has blessed us with the gift of imagination.” — Lee Young Hoon

Brothers and sisters, there is no such gift as the “gift of imagination”. It does not exist in the Bible. The time of Apostolic gifts of prophecy, tongues, healing, etc. has passed and no longer exists. Lee Young-Hoon is a false teacher. He is teaching a different gospel and tickling the ears of millions of people, according to 2 Timothy 4:3-4 which says, “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”

Anyone can get a crowd of people to listen to them if you tell them what they want to hear! The Bible preaches that men will hate you for preaching the true gospel of Christ in Mark 13:13, saying, “All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” If you go out and preach the lie that everyone will be blessed with wealth, constant happiness, no sickness, no disease, no marital problems, etcetera because they believe in Christ, then no one will be offended. However, if you preach the whole gospel, which is that “none are righteous, no not one” and that all are going to hell who do not believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior, but that Christ died on the cross as one who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf, then men will hate you and have murder in their hearts.

The blessings that are promised to us are not temporal, but spiritual. The greatest gift is eternal life. However, look at the deaths of all the disciples of Christ. They were cut in half, burned, crucified upside down, and stoned because they preached the law fulfilled by Christ on the cross.

Therefore, I warn you that if you are truly a brother or sister in Christ, which I pray you are, then do not fall victim to these apostate teachings of a foolish man, Lee Young-Hoon.

There is no such thing as the “the five-fold gospel” (salvation, true fullness of the Holy Spirit, divine healing, blessing and the second coming of Jesus Christ), YFGC went from strength to strength under the leadership of Dr. David Yonggi Cho.

There is only Christ. He is the center of the true gospel. We are all sinners, and God calls those he wills to faith in Jesus through reconciliation. We are saved by belief in Christ, are being saved our whole lives through the process of sanctification (becoming more like Christ), and ultimately saved from eternal damnation when we die and are justified before God by the blood of Jesus, of which without there is no salvation.

As Paul said to the Galatians, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!”— Galatians 1:6-9

What does this man, Lee Young-Hoon speak of when he talks of “blessings” and “divine healing”? Are we not cleansed of all unrighteousness by the blood of the Lamb, Christ Jesus? Are we not blessed through the propitiation of our sins through Christ on the cross? Where does this so-called Dr. Lee get his theology, because nowhere in the Scriptures is there such a thing as the Five-Fold gospel. There is only one gospel. There is only one truth. It is absolute and it has a name. Jesus Christ.

Cho taught his church the principles of “Fourth Dimensional Living” in a Three Dimensional world. Lee re-emphasized the four steps to walking in the Fourth Dimension: thinking, visions and dreams, faith and the proclamation of God’s Word.

True Christians must search the Scriptures daily, praying upon them and meditating on what they say. God promises knowledge and wisdom through his Word. We must be like the Bereans of Acts 17, searching the Scriptures against what men tell us and if we find out that they are preaching a different gospel than that presented in the one and true Word of God, then we must call these men out by name like Paul does in 1 Timothy 1:18-20 and 2 Timothy 2:15-18.

“18Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, 19holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith. 20Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.” — 1 Timothy 1:18-20

“15Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 16Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. 17Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some.” — 2 Timothy 2:15-18

Brothers and sisters, I am concerned for you and love you. It grieves me, just as it grieved Paul to see such deception knocking at your door. “3But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.” 2 Corinthians 11:3-4

Whose visions, thinking, and dreams did Cho have and does Lee Young-Hoon follow? The following verses tell us about visions and dreams:

“18Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, 19and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.” — Colossians 2:18-19

“8In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings.” — Jude 8

Does Lee Hoon-Young have special powers or antenna on top of his head to receive visions and dreams from the Lord? When his congregation speaks in tongues, who interprets for them? Fair warning: Such a man is “not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body [is] being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments (other believers) [and] grow[ing]…[in] God.”

Brothers and sisters, “8See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.” — Colossians 2:8

The article said, “Lee shared how his previous church was stuck at a plateau: it had 300 members, but the fervency of its members was waning.” Did Lee ever think to try preaching the true gospel? Does the Bible promise that if you do preach the true gospel, a congregation will be very large? No, the Word of God in fact preaches the opposite. Jesus himself says that people did not believe in him, even after he raised men from the dead! The crowds around Jesus were so large at one point, they stampeded each other! But then, after he began to preach to them hard, difficult things he was left with only a remnant of those men. Jesus himself was abandoned for preaching the truth! The truth is a narrow road and many will not walk upon it!

These men, like Lee Hoon-Young are part of “A wicked and adulterous generation [who] asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” — Matthew 12:39 All that they need is the Word of God that is already given to them. All the revelation they need has already been accomplished. Did not Christ on the cross say, “It is accomplished!”

Brothers and sisters, we are at war. “3For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 6And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.” — 2 Corinthians 10:3-6

Keep sharp by reading the Word and weighing it against what the so-called men of God around you are saying. Some of these “men of God” are wolves. This man, Lee Hoon-Young, seems to be driven by two things: numbers and money. A truly Godly man is only driven by the Holy Spirit, which lives within him. A Godly man presents the whole of the Word of God and does not hide any of it.

Lastly, 2 Peter 2 says much about false teachers:

False Teachers and Their Destruction

1But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
4For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; 5if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; 6if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men 8(for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— 9if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment. 10This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority.
Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings; 11yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord. 12But these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish.
13They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you. 14With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood! 15They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness. 16But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—a beast without speech—who spoke with a man’s voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.
17These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them.18For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. 19They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. 20If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 21It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. 22Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.”

Keep on guard! Be in the Word! Pray ceaselessly! Be like the Bereans in Acts 17! Do not allow yourself to fall prey to wolves that have snuck in amongst you! The Lord is your shepherd.

“As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one;” — Romans 3:10

“29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” — Romans 8:29

“20My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24″Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25″Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.” — John 17:20-26 (It is here that Jesus prays for future believers. This is an amazing prayer, and my hope is that what it says is not far from you.)

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” — John 3:16

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. — John 14:6