America Is Filled With Idol Worship and False Gods

Discouragement and despair are horrible taskmasters.

They wear at your soul.

The Psalmist David wrote:

“For the enemy has persecuted my soul. He has crushed my life to the ground. He has made me dwell in darkness like those who have long been dead. Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me and my heart within me is distressed” (Psalm 143:3-4 NKJV).

That must be how the prophet Elijah was feeling as he fled from Jezebel.

The events on the days before had been an amazing display of God’s presence and power. Yet, they had also been exhausting.

In his weariness and with the threats from the queen to take his life ringing in ears the man of God felt totally alone and ready to give up.

What had led to such discouragement and despair in this servant of the Lord, this great man of God?

His nation was totally backslidden and under the leadership of a weak and immoral man.

Israel had turned their back on the Living God and was worshiping the idols, Baal and Asherah, the Canaanite female deity.

Ahab was a pouting, selfish, and weak leader who allowed his wife to be the dominant influence.

The people living in Israel were in a moral free-fall because of the influence of the male and female prostitution surrounding the worship of Baal and Asherah.

The economy of the nation was in a landslide resulting from three years of severe drought.

These matters weighed heavy on the heart of the man of God when he heard the voice of the Lord calling him to go to the king and to call the nation to account. “How long will you falter between two opinions,” the prophet called to the king and the people?

“If the Lord is God, follow Him,” the man of God continued, “But if Baal, follow him.”

religion

2 Vital Steps to Avoid Deception

How will a person know if they are deceived?

If the only things they hear, or read, or see agrees with their deception; if the only influence on their thinking, reasoning, or opinion supports their belief system, how will they discover the deception?

If the only information permitted reinforces the misconception, how will they know that what they believing is a lie?

Following the death of Joshua, the elders of Israel continued to lead the nation in serving the Lord.

They remembered the teaching of Moses.

They had seen the mighty hand of God bring them victory over enemies who were greater and stronger than them.

They beheld the amazing miracles God performed on their behalf.

The next generation after the elders had not heard the teaching of Moses.

Whether their parents did not pass on the family faith or the Levites and priests failed to accurately teach and preach the Word, that generation of the children of Israel did not know the Word of the Lord.

They did not see the mighty working of God.

The spiritual leaders failed to nurture and cultivate the living presence of God.

Jehovah became a mythical being.

In their spiritual blindness and lack of knowledge of the Word of the Lord, they began to develop their own truth. “Every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”

The results were disastrous!

“Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals; and they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the LORD to anger. They forsook the LORD and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel. So He delivered them into the hands of plunderers who despoiled them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies. Wherever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for calamity, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn to them. And they were greatly distressed” (Judges 2:11-15 NKJV).

Listed in: religion

The Joshua Generation Needs a Moses

Listed in: religion

It Is Not a Political Problem - A Double Tragedy

Listed in: religion

How Should We Respond When the Foundations Are Destroyed?

Listed in: religion

Three Ways to Spot Apostasy In a Church

“Dean, how did you know and how did you know so early?”

That was the question several pastors asked me in the late eighties when a huge mega-church in the Kent area of Washington state was exposed for extreme moral failures.

I had begun warning people of the errors and spiritual apostasy three years earlier and had come under great criticism.

Three Ways to Spot Apostasy In a Church

The church was a lightning rod, drawing huge crowds to its “Holy Spirit-filled meetings.” I had been accused of being judgmental and critical of a new move of God.

The warning signs that I saw at that time, which others seemed to overlook, are very present in some circles of ministry today.

They are very popular circles, I might add.

1. The first sign is an over-emphasis on the humanity of Jesus.

Certainly, “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:14 KJV).

We know that Jesus was “tempted in all points as we are” that He might be found sinless and without fault (Hebrews 2:18; 4:15).

The extreme emphasis upon the humanity of Jesus Christ opens the gate for some of the forms of Gnosticism to make their subtle way into the teaching of the church.

The Apostle John couched his teaching of the humanity of Jesus within the clear emphasis of Jesus Christ’s deity as the Son of God.

The Apostle Paul confronted Gnosticism in the first century by clearly declaring the deity of Jesus Christ, “In Him dwells all the fullness of the godhead, bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power” (Colossians 2:9-10 NKJV).

Yes, Jesus Christ is one hundred percent God and He is one hundred percent man:

“[W]ho, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:6-8 NKJV). -->

Listed in: religion

The Offense of Jesus Christ

“If the spiritual awakening you are talking about happens would that mean everyone would have to believe in Jesus and would everyone have to follow the same beliefs?”

The questions were more rhetorical than they were authentic inquiry.

My affirmative answer was quickly followed by his statement, “That is communism.”

My surprise at his statement was heightened by the knowledge this person claimed to be a Christian. How could they have such a stunning offense of Jesus Christ?

That is rapidly becoming the line of demarcation inside the Christianity community.

Evangelical and Pentecostal movements are no exception. They too are experiencing the pressure of a culture marinated in tolerance and relativism.

Great offense is taken at the very idea of the exclusivity of Jesus Christ and the Holy Bible.

This is not new.

The crowds were offended at the new prophet out of Galilee claiming to be the Son of God. Although they were amazed at the miraculous healings and appreciated the food He provided, his teaching greatly trouble them.

He made himself equal with God. “I am the bread come down from Heaven,” He said.

They could not see past His humanity.

“Isn’t this the son of Joseph and Mary,” they asked? "Where does he come off saying God is His Father?"

They had watched him grow up. There was no way He had come down from Heaven. He was born and raised right there in Nazareth among them. They knew all of His relatives.

The Offense of Jesus Christ

Just as the people of Galilee, many today struggle with Jesus divinity.

How can God be in the flesh? It is the mystery of the ages, “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:26-27). “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the godhead bodily. And you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power” (Colossians 2:9-10).

The people wanted His miracles and they wanted the food He provided, but they could not accept His true identity.

Does that sound familiar?

The complaints about the presidential inauguration from inside “the beltway” and from the national media declared it was too Christian.

Listed in: religion

Who is Jesus Christ?

“Who are you,” they asked in a less than gracious tone.

Jesus had been in the temple area since early morning teaching a large gathering of people who had come to hear His words.

A group of religious leaders brought an adulterous woman into the middle of the crowd, right before him and said, “The Law of Moses says stone her.

What do you say?”

They were not seeking counsel but an opportunity to impugn His character and His teaching.

Jesus turned the tables on his accusers. “You, who are without sin, cast the first stone.”

Indignant and offended by His tone, convicted in their own heart, the men who had brought the woman slithered away one by one.

The woman remained before Him; no doubt humiliated, maybe very angry at the men and at the crowd around her.

Jesus looked at her with eyes of love, mercy and grace. “Where are those who accuse you? Is someone condemning you,” Jesus asked? “No one,” she answered. “Neither do I condemn you,” He answered, “Go and sin no more.”

Jesus continued teaching the crowd that had been with Him all morning.

Among them were some Pharisees who had watched this whole seen with great interest. They began to question the Lord. “Where is your father? Who are you?”

Who Is Jesus Christ?

Ah, there you have the great question that Lucifer has used for millennia to gain an entrance and establish a foothold in a person’s life.

He used that strategy on Jesus when was in the wilderness forty days fasting and praying.

The Lord was preparing Himself spiritually for the next three years of public ministry.

Satan came on the last day seeking opportunity to stop the advance of God’s Kingdom.  “If you are the Son of God,” he challenged the one born in Bethlehem’s stable.

When Jesus parried His attacker with “It is written…”

The Devil resumed the offense with, “If you are the Son of God…”

Jesus again parried His attacker with, “It is also written…”

Satan made a counter move with a more subtle attack on Jesus true identity, “All these things I will give You if You fall down and worship me.”

Je

-->

Listed in: religion

How to Live with Peace from the Inside Out

How can we live in this time of crisis, not only with COVID-19 sweeping across the world, but with the dire economic predictions, with a heart of peace and security in Christ?

How can we have such peace within us that it flows from us and influences the situations and people around us?

Is this even possible?

"Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way where I am going." Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way? Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him." Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us." Jesus said to him, "Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, 'Show us the Father ' Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it." John 14:1-4

How to Live with Peace from the Inside Out

There is a lot of confusion right now.

Media reports and data on COVID-19 are conflicting, and people are confused and experiencing anxiety.

But God's people can walk through times of crisis and not only have peace that surpasses all understanding, but they can be an influence of God's peace to all around them!

If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider leaving us a review. This helps the Foundational podcast reach more listeners. Be sure to tell a friend about the Foundational blog and podcast, and share with them about