Alright, is it just me, or are we being sold a bill of goods on a bunch of stuff in our churches these days? All I've been hearing about recently is being faithful to God with your money/time, and he will provide, and people will make it through the economic recession/depression. Now, I'm not saying we shouldn't honor God with our money and our time, because we should. And I'm also not saying that people won't make it through, but I don't know that EVERYONE will make it through. Also, just because God doesn't allow someone to make it through difficult times, doesn't mean God is evil, or any less God. God is in control, and everything that happens, whether because he caused it or he simply allowed it, happens for a reason, including death. It's just that I think there are more important things to be talking about, like the fact that the day of judgement is approaching, and I don't mean death, I mean Armageddon and the end of the world. I know, a lot of people feel like the church and the world have been saying that for centuries, but the church had no clue back then. How could judgement day be approaching, if Israel wasn't a nation, Babylon had not been restored to power, and there was no movement towards a one world government, just to name a few biblical prophecies? Where are the sermons about revelations 22, which states that we will be rewarded according to what we have accomplished for Christ? Where are the sermons about sanctification, for crying out loud? The bible does say, after all, that knowing and believing in God and Christ are not merely enough, because even the Devil and his legions of Demons do that. Repentance is required, and feeling sorry is not the same as repentance. Repentance is a complete turning around of your life, it is handing over every single area of your life to God, it is basically becoming a slave to Christ, as the Greek word translated as Lord in the new testament says (kurious, meaning master of slaves). As Charles Spurgeon himself said, "All sin must be given up or else you will never have Christ. All transgression must be renounced or else the gates of heaven must be barred against you. Let us remember then that for repentance to be sincere, it must be entire repentance. True repentance is a turning of the heart as well as of the life. It is the giving up of the whole soul to God to be His forever and ever. It is the renunciation of the sins of the heart as well as the crimes of the life." Note, however, that he didn't believe that you had to be perfect, only that you stop justifying your sins. The Bible says that on the day of judgement, many will say "Lord, Lord," but God will say, "depart from me, for I never knew you." So my question is, where are the Sermons about feeding the poor, protecting widows and orphans, visiting the sick and those who are in prison, and clothing and providing shelter for those who don't have any? WHERE? Because, quite frankly, I'm tired of being sold a bill of goods, about how God wants people to be happy, and how God wants people to be successful, and if you're faithful, God will provide. I mean, he already sacrificed his son on the cross to save your soul and grant you eternal life when you didn't deserve it, and you want him to make you happy here, too? He's already provided by sacrificing Christ on the cross, and whether as Christians we live or die, are killed or continue living, die in poverty or live in a Mansion in Beverly Hills, everything we have, from our money to the clothes we wear to our very lives, is provided by God. Happiness is fleeting, joy is based on hope and faith that we will go to heaven and that God is in control, and I'm tired of the bill of Goods that is being shipped to us in some (but thankfully, not all) of our churches.

I've been noticing recently that the church is supposed to be a place where people can come and let their guards down, where they don't have to put up a front. You know, a place where people can actually admit that they don't have all the answers, a place where people can ask difficult questions, where people can agree to disagree, and above all, where people can share each other's suffering, pain, happiness, or whatever emotions people are feeling. Instead, the church is often the place where people have their guards up the most, and as a result, make others feel the need to put their guards up. Also, I find it odd that most modern day Christians go to church, listen to the preacher speak, go to bible study, listen to the teacher speak, and then go out to lunch, and they have the nerve to call that BIBLICAL FELLOWSHIP! I don't know where they get that from, quite honestly. Biblical fellowship is supposed to be about sharing each other's burdens, about being able to admit to weaknesses, about conversation, interaction, and pouring your lives into each other's; pouring your heart out, and knowing that the other person wants to listen, not just because they want you to think that they care, but because they DO care, and the reason they care is because Christ loved the church, and set the example. When are we going to wake up, people? When are we going to finally realize that the church has been asleep for the last 2000 years, and it needs to wake up? I think the time should be now, because if it's not now, it might never happen. There are broken, hurting people in our church's, and people don't even know about it, because we've turned a deaf ear on the homeless, and the needy, we are afraid to allow the prostitutes, the deviants into our churches, afraid to dine with them, afraid to share in the suffering of others, and it's time we bring a stop to all of this foolishness. Notice that I say "we" instead of "you", because I too struggle in this area. I think, above all else, it is time for the church to rise, and wake from it's sleep. And it starts with you and me.