FEEDING SHEEP OR AMUSING GOATS?...when righteousness is turned into recreation

Below you will find a necessary and timely word from a student of Spurgeon's, Archibald Brown. Often attributed to Spurgeon as author, this quote below is actually from a sermon AB preached called, "The Devil's Mission of Amusement."

WARNING: church growth experts; Emergent church adherents; Seattle sludge scatologists; political militants; ecumenical advocates; positive confession aficionados; contextualized cultural conversationalists; seeker-friendly pragmatists; psychological inner-child massagists; prosperity-health/wealth salesmen; and anti-Trinitarian heretics might find themselves challenged, frustrated, unmasked and shakened to real spiritual change as a result of Spurgeon's insightful words.

Because truth matters...

Still pounding on Wittenberg's Door,

Steve

Jude 3

An evil is in the professed camp of the Lord, so gross in its impudence, that the most short-sighted can hardly fail to notice it. During the past few years it has developed at an abnormal rate, even for evil. It has worked like leaven until the whole lump ferments. The devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than hinting to the Church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them. From speaking out as the Puritans did, the Church has gradually toned down her testimony, then winked at and excused the frivolities of the day. Then she tolerated them in her borders. Now she has adopted them under the plea of reaching the masses.

My first contention is that providing amusement for the people is nowhere spoken of in the Scriptures as a function of the Church. If it is a Christian work why did not Christ speak of it? "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.’ That is clear enough. So it would have been if he had added, ‘and provide amusement for those who do not relish the gospel.’ No such words, however, are to be found. It did not seem to occur to him. Then again, ‘He gave some apostles, some prophets, some pastors and teachers, for the work of the ministry.’ Where do entertainers come in? The Holy Spirit is silent concerning them. Were the prophets persecuted because they amused the people or because they refused? The concert has no martyr roll.

Again, providing amusement is in direct antagonism to the teaching and life of Christ and all his apostles. What was the attitude of the Church to the world? ‘Ye are the salt,’ not the sugar candy—something the world will spit out, not swallow. Short and sharp was the utterance, ‘Let the dead bury their dead.’ He was in awful earnestness!

Had Christ introduced more of the bright and pleasant elements into his mission, he would have been more popular when they went back, because of the searching nature of his teaching. I do not hear him say, "Run after these people, Peter, and tell them we will have a different style of service tomorrow, something short and attractive with little preaching. We will have a pleasant evening for the people. Tell them they will be sure to enjoy it. Be quick, Peter, we must get the people somehow!" Jesus pitied sinners, sighed and wept over them, but never sought to amuse them. In vain will the Epistles be searched to find any trace of the gospel of amusement. Their message is, ‘Come out, keep out, keep clean out!’ Anything approaching fooling is conspicuous by its absence. They had boundless confidence in the gospel and employed no other weapon. 

After Peter and John were locked up for preaching, the Church had a prayer meeting, but they did not pray, "Lord, grant unto thy servants that by a wise and discriminating use of innocent recreation we may show these people how happy we are." If they ceased not for preaching Christ, they had not time for arranging entertainments. Scattered by persecution, they went everywhere preaching the gospel. ‘They turned the world upside down’. That is the only difference! Lord, clear the Church of all the rot and rubbish the devil has imposed on her and bring us back to apostolic methods.

Lastly, the mission of amusement fails to effect the end desired. It works havoc among young converts. Let the careless and scoffers, who thank God because the Church met them half-way, speak and testify. Let the heavy laden who found peace through the concert not keep silent! Let the drunkard to whom the dramatic entertainment had been God’s link in the chain of their conversion, stand up! There are none to answer. The mission of amusement produces no converts. The need of the hour for today’s ministry is believing scholarship joined with earnest spirituality, the one springing from the other as fruit from the root. The need is biblical doctrine, so understood and felt, that it sets men on fire.

MARY WORSHIP ALIVE AND WELL IN ROMANISM...open idolatry by Benedict

One of my daily stops in the blogosphere is to my friend James White's blog. I found this jewel tonight written by Tur8infan on Mariolotry. 

Despite popular opinion beloved, Papa Ratzi is not an orthodox Christian leader/pastor. He is a lost, unregenerate false teacher (2 Peter 2:1) who preaches a different gospel (Gal. 1:6-9) making his converts "twice the sons of hell (the Valley of the Son of Hinnom) as he is" (Matt. 23:15). We need to pray for him. Pray earnestly that God would grant him saving faith; that by the kindness of God he would repent from his sins and from Rome's false gospel and doctrines; and that He would confess Christ Jesus as Lord and trust in Him alone by grace alone through faith alone for salvation by regeneration of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:4-7).

When you read below about the kind of heretical practice that Rome still engages in, it makes you want to shout SDG for the courage of Martin Luther in taking the monumental stand at Wittenberg in spite of being threatened with execution and excommunication. He fearlessly called a recalcitrant Roman Church back to the real gospel of justification by faith alone - and we need to do the same in our day. Rome's codified, semi-Pelagian, apocryphal doctrines (Matt. 15:6b-9) - and in particular here, the Fifth Marian Dogma - haven't changed really since the days of Trent.

Keep pounding on Wittenberg's Door; we need a new Reformation in our day... Amen?

Campius

2 Cor. 4:5

by Tur8infan from Alpha Omega Ministries

Benedict XVI is reported (link to report) as recently praying to Mary:

"We implore you to have pity today on the nations that have gone astray, on all Europe, on the whole world, that they might repent and return to your heart."

This is a prayer that is openly idolatrous. Mankind needs to turn, not to the heart of Mary, but to the Son of Mary, Jesus Christ the Righteous. The true and proper object of worship is God alone.

Matthew 4:10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Benedict XVI as praying to her,

"If you will not help us because we are ungrateful and unworthy children of your protection, we will not know to whom to turn."

This prayer demonstrates the underlying blindness of Catholicism. There is a place to which not only all of Europe in general, but Mr. Ratzinger in particular ought to turn for help, and whose protection should be sought: the throne of the Most High God, by the intercession of the Son of God, Jesus Christ with the aid of the Holy Spirit.

But though Jesus is the Son of Mary, and though Mary is greatly blessed to be the Mother of our Saviour, yet Jesus himself said:

Matthew 12:48-50 But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? 49 And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! 50 For whosoever shall do the 

will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

And again:

Mark 3:33-35 And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren? 34 And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! 35 For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.

It's as almost as though Jesus was concerned lest some might foolishly fall into the trap of worshiping his blood relatives! Indeed, here is Jesus' own condemnation of the error of adoration and veneration of Jesus' mother. They do not hold a special place in the kingdom of God, but are like all those who do the will of God. Yet Catholicism, as can be seen from this event, continues to elevate Mary improperly to the status of, in effect, a goddess to whom prayers are offered.

Benedict XVI did not even omit to provide a sacrifice to this de facto goddess. It is reported that, "In a gesture of filial love, the Pope then offered the Madonna a golden rose." One is reminded immediately of the similar offerings presented by the Philistines to the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament, particularly given Catholicism's claim (or at least the claim of her apologists) that Mary is the "ark of the New Covenant."

Finally, we should note that Benedict XVI is reported not to have left Jesus entirely out: "...The secret of Pompeii is the rosary: "This prayer leads us through Mary to Jesus." But, in fact, the Rosary leads men away from Jesus, as can be seen in the idolatry illustrated in the prayers above. Benedict XVI is reported to have claimed, "The rosary is a spiritual weapon in the struggle against evil, against all violence, for peace in hearts, in families, in society and in the world."

But, in fact, sadly it is an extra-Scriptural innovation: unknown to the apostles and unpracticed for centuries and centuries following Christ's ascension. The Early Church Fathers didn't say the Rosary, and neither should you: it is a tradition of men, not of God.