“Beloved,
while I was
very
diligent to
write to you
concerning
our common
salvation, I
found it
necessary to
write to you
exhorting
you to
contend
earnestly
for the
faith which
was once for
all
delivered to
the saints.
For certain
men have
crept in
unnoticed,
who long ago
were marked
out for this
condemnation,
ungodly men,
who turn the
grace of our
God into
lewdness and
deny the
only Lord
God
and our Lord
Jesus
Christ.
But I want
to remind
you, though
you once
knew this,
that the
Lord, having
saved the
people out
of the land
of Egypt,
afterward
destroyed
those who
did not
believe”
(Jude
1:3-5).
As I sit
down to type
this
message, it
seems the
whole world
is being
given up to
a
reprobate
mind.
North Korea
has garnered
the world’s
temporary
attention as
it is
threatening
a nuclear
strike. Iran
is rapidly
approaching
the famed
“red line”
in its
pursuit of
becoming
“nuclear” so
they can
make “Israel
no more.”
Same sex
marriage is
gaining
momentum and
because of
it, now
pedophilia
is trying to
piggyback
its way into
the
mainstream
as a normal
way of
thought and
lifestyle.
Can you say
“gross
darkness?”
All across
the globe,
culture is
heading
towards a
time unless
God shortens
the days, no
flesh would
survive.
The day of
the Lord’s
wrath is
swiftly
approaching,
and the
nations are
being turned
into hell.
“When
the wicked
spring up
like grass,
and when all
the workers
of iniquity
flourish,
It is
that they
may be
destroyed
forever”
(Psalm
92:7).
“The
wicked shall
be turned
into hell,
and
all the
nations that
forget God”
(Psalm
9:17).
The time we
have left on
this fallen
planet is
ONLY for
reaping
those “ripe
unto
harvest,”
the ones for
whom Jesus
prayed in
John 17.9:
“I pray for
them. I do
not pray for
the world
but for
those whom
You have
given Me,
for they are
Yours.”
Author Paul
Washer has
said, “With
one hand God
is motioning
man to come
to Him. With
the other
hand He is
holding back
His wrath.
Soon He is
going to
drop both
hands.”
“The Lord is
not slack
concerning
His
promise, as
some count
slackness,
but is
longsuffering
toward us,
not willing
that any
should
perish but
that all
should come
to
repentance”
(2 Peter
3:9).
Yet despite
God’s
goodness and
His desire
that none
should
perish,
Jesus
exhorted in
Mathew 7.13:
“Enter
by the
narrow gate;
for wide
is the
gate and
broad is
the way that
leads to
destruction,
and there
are many who
go in by
it.”
“Nor is
there
salvation in
any other,
for there is
no other
name under
heaven given
among men by
which we
must be
saved” (Acts
4:12).
With that
being the
case…
Why are we wasting our breath?
“Church,” is
the golden
calf of
today.” Say
it isn’t so!
I’m becoming
more
and more
convinced
that one of
the greatest
deceptions
of our time
is “church.”
Why would I
say that? It
is because
of what I’ve
witnessed on
a very
personal
level over
the years.
“And
let us
consider one
another in
order to
stir up love
and good
works,
not
forsaking
the
assembling
of ourselves
together, as
is
the manner
of some, but
exhorting
one another,
and so much
the more as
you see the
Day
approaching”
(Hebrews
10:24).
It
is because
of our
obedience to
the Word of
God and our
love and
devotion to
Him
that we
should
assemble
together:
In the Name
of Jesus
and not by
any other
name or
person other
than Jesus
Christ!
“In My
Name,” Jesus
said!
This
generation
has become a
witness to
the “mega
church”
epidemic and
its
incredible
extravagance.
A mass
migration
of: Both
sheep and
goats have
been
“flocking”
toward this
movement and
it’s getting
down right
scary. In
the early
80s there
was a movie
called “Body
Snatchers”
and I can’t
help but
think of
that movie
when I see
what has
been
happening
all across
the nation
in which I
live.
Certain “churches” and ministries have “increased” in this “mega church”
apostasy.
All the
while Jesus
has
“decreased.”
How can this
be so?
Because we
have thought
it is a
self-righteous
act to “go
to church”
and that
righteous
act has been
exalted in
our minds as
an act of
tremendous
sacrifice of
our own
will, which
then
validates
SELF in the
eyes of God?
The great tragedy of this mindset is how it has devalued the cross. The
ONLY thing
that removed
my sins, or
yours, the
sins of the
whole world
was Jesus
Christ and
His
sacrifice on
the cross.
That ACT of
divine will
triumphed
over my
carnal will
and redeemed
a hopeless
“chief of
all
sinners”(me)
into a one
on one
(atonement)
relationship
with
Almighty
God. I am
crucified in
Christ and
FORGIVEN.
When we
realize what
the cross
was all
about how
desperately
exclusive
that act was
to our
eternal
existence...How
can we NOT
fall on our
faces and
esteem
Christ and
Him
crucified as
SUPREME?
It is NOT
for going to
“church”
that Jesus
died. It was
to reconcile
our lost and
totally
destitute
lives back
to Almighty
God as “Abba
Father.”
THAT is what
makes us the
“church!” In
order for
church to
decrease and
Jesus to
increase, we
must repent
and make
like John
the Baptist
and point
way more to
Him and way
less to us.
We must
yield from
self-glorification
and begin to
LIFT HIM UP!
[Jesus said,] “If I be lifted up, I will draw all man unto Myself.”
We who have been forgiven much, should, with incredible love begin to use
our voices
and our
energy to
lift up the
Name that is
above every
name
1,000,000,000
to 1 in
whatever
name that we
trumpet. I
know it
grieves the
One who sent
to testify
of Jesus
tremendously
that we tout
our names or
a churches
name when
the Bible
has said the
ONLY Name
given us by
where lost
man can be
saved is
Jesus
Christ!
And He does NOT need to be marketed. It is such a sad state of affairs in
our time
that we have
been “sold”
into
thinking
that selling
Jesus is the
call of a
people who
were lost
and now
found, who
were blind
and now see,
who were
dead but now
live again.
So many
think we
need to
market Jesus
in clever
ways so if
they like us
and where we
hang out,
then they
will listen
to us talk
about Jesus.
Talk about having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof!
There are
movements in
this country
that are
“ELEVATING”
(very much
like a
multi-level
marketing
scheme), and
because it’s
done in
Jesus’ Name
people are
eating it
up. They
hook you
with Bible
verses taken
out of
context,
selling you
that you can
have your
“best
blessed life
now” and yet
they are
“fleecing”
and making
merchandise
of the ones
they are
selling
their
watered
down,
cross-less
gospel to.
They
offer-up
strange
fire,
playing
satanic
secular
music to
attract the
crowds and
then have
them: Repeat
after me,” a
prayer of
tremendous
self-deception
and then
pronounce
it:
“Christian.”
I feel led to take a stand here that will have about as much chance of
success as
say, a sling
shot against
a giant. But
I’m going to
sling this
stone out
there. One
of the most
misused
words in the
English
language is
the word
“Christian.”
I wish it
would be
scratched
from MY
vocabulary
in
describing
anything to
do with me.
SAY WHAT? I personally think to say, “I’m a Christian” is such a
statement of
absolute
pride and
absurdity.
“You did NOT just say that?”
“YES I DID, but hear me out.”
The word “Christian” means “Christ-like.” It was first used in the book
of Acts: By
the people
of Antioch
to describe
the
disciples
who were
preaching
Jesus Christ
and Him
crucified.
But to say
that of
myself, no
way! I
promise you
I absolutely
love Jesus
Christ and
He is my
Lord and
Savior.
Flesh and
blood did
not reveal
that to me,
but My
Father in
heaven. I
follow Him
in my daily
walk and
life but to
pronounce
myself
“Christ-like”
that would
be so
over-promising
and
under-delivering
on steroids.
I’m absolutely destitute without Him and it’s only He that works in me to
do anything
“for His
Glory” that
is actually
authentic or
real. I am
crucified
with Christ
and yet I
live, yet
not I, but
Christ in
me. Yet
because of
my carnal
man, I’m
forced to
take up my
cross and
die daily.
To exalt
anything of
me is so
worthless,
but to exalt
Him who
would first
love me in
my utter
depravity
and yet die
for me,
anyway? Now
that is
amazing
grace!
Why am I taking such a stance? Because in its current context,
“Christian”
is being
used for so
much
deception
that it is
shocking.
Everyone
calls them
selves
“Christian”
today, using
Jesus’ Name
for selfish
ambitions.
Mormons call
themselves
“Christians”
and there
was a time
that the
sheep of
God’s fold
knew that
NOT to be
true!
Now there is this ecumenical movement afoot that is ascending in the name
of Christ,
not
preaching
repentance,
but
tolerance.
Despite all
the protest
to the
contrary
anyone who
signs an
agreement of
unity with
Islam is not
working for
the same
team. Anyone
endorsing
the new pope
and asking
for
“believers”
to unite
under a
common cause
using the
Name of
Jesus is
gross error!
It’s
downright
petrifying
to me how
many “big
named”
pastors and
leaders are
NOT
crying out
against
this, but
are
promoting,
defending
and blasting
those who
are
warning
against it.
The Golden Calf was a god of man’s own making. Of man’s own works. That
is very
similar to
the social
gospel being
espoused
today.
People are
boasting of
how much
they tithe
and how many
foundations
they have
established
and all the
reasons
their good
works should
validate
their use of
Jesus’ Name.
Just because
someone
comes in
Jesus’
Name...does
NOT mean
they are of
Him!
Judas was one of the 12 who walked with Jesus and ministered for Jesus,
even had a
“personal
relationship”
with Jesus,
but he was
not OF
Jesus. Judas
SOLD Jesus!
He was a
salesman
using Jesus’
Name for his
own
self-agenda.
Today,
shepherds of
self-serving
motives all
across the
globe are
using Jesus’
name to
fleece God’s
sheep for
SELF-agendas
of their own
making and
you can
recognize
this by the
words out of
their
mouths. They
put great
weight upon
their people
to build “a
church” but
since they
do it under
Jesus’ Name,
many
well-intentioned
people have
been yoked
with a
burden to
build a
monument
called
“church,”
which has
taken
preeminence
over the One
who died and
rose again!
I am absolutely sure that the apostle Paul would be shouting “WHO HAS
BEWITCHED
YOU?”
Having three kids in this very apostate and deceptive hour, how oh how do
I train up
my children
“in the WAY”
they should
go?
Especially
when Jesus
Himself
warned in
Mathew
24.4-5:
“Take heed
that no one
deceives
you. For
many will
come in My
name,
saying, ‘I
am the
Christ,’ and
will deceive
many.”
Who Do You
Say that I
Am?
“He said to
them,
“But who do
you say that
I am?”
Simon
Peter
answered and
said, “You
are the
Christ, the
Son of the
living God.”
Jesus
answered and
said to him,
“Blessed are
you, Simon
Bar-Jonah,
for flesh
and blood
has not
revealed
this to
you, but My
Father who
is in
heaven.
“You are the
Christ, the
Son of the
Living God”
“Flesh and
Blood did
not
reveal that
to you but
My Father in
Heaven”
(Mathew
16:15).
“For where
two or three
are gathered
together in
My name, I
am there in
the midst of
them”
(Matthew
18:20).
Is Jesus a
means
to an end or
is Jesus:
The end?
The apostle
Paul said
this in 1
Corinthians
2.1:
“And
I, brethren,
when I came
to you, did
not come
with
excellence
of speech or
of wisdom
declaring to
you the
testimony of
God.
For I
determined
not to know
anything
among you
except Jesus
Christ and
Him
crucified.”
Today, the
only message
that can be
used to reap
those “ripe
unto
harvest” is
the message
of the
cross! It is
“narrow
minded”
because it’s
the narrow
way. Jesus
said in John
15 that He
would send
us the Holy
Spirit who
would “help
us” and
guide us
into all
truth.
“But when
the Helper
comes, whom
I shall send
to you from
the Father,
the Spirit
of truth who
proceeds
from the
Father, He
will testify
of Me” (John
15:26).
“And when He
has come, He
will convict
the world of
sin, and of
righteousness,
and of
judgment:
of sin,
because they
do not
believe in
Me;
of
righteousness,
because I go
to My Father
and you see
Me no more;
of judgment,
because the
ruler of
this world
is judged. I
still have
many things
to say to
you, but you
cannot bear
them
now.
However,
when He, the
Spirit of
truth, has
come, He
will guide
you into all
truth; for
He will not
speak on His
own
authority,
but whatever
He hears He
will speak;
and He will
tell you
things to
come.
He will
glorify Me,
for He will
take of what
is Mine and
declare
it to
you (John
16:8-14).
IT IS ALL
ABOUT JESUS!
He is the
means. He is
the End. He
is the Alpha
and He is
the Omega.
“In ALL your
ways
acknowledge
Him and
He will
direct your
steps”
(Proverbs
3:6,,
emphasis
added).
“For
in Him we
live and
move and
have our
being, as
also some of
your own
poets have
said, ‘For
we are also
His
offspring’”
(Acts
17:28).
In the
simplest of
terms, “for
my
children’s
sake” John
the Baptist
came
“pointing”
toward
Jesus, The
Holy Spirit
was given
unto us to
do the very
same thing.
When I was a
kid we sang
that old
song in
Vacation
Bible School
that sums it
up: “This
little light
of mine, I’m
going to let
it shine.”
We were also
told, “Kids,
it’s like
this. You
are in a
very dark
cave with a
group of
friends. You
have a
flashlight,
and it can
definitely
get you and
your friends
out of the
dark cave,
lighting “up
the way.”
But instead
of using the
flashlight
to point the
way, you
take the
light and
point it
toward your
SELF. That
would be
criminal to
your
friends.
They would
be so ticked
off that in
their
“darkness
and lost
state” that
you would
take the
light and
point them
in a wrong
direction!”
I would be
shouting,
STOP FOOLING
AROUND, and
point me to
safety! You
can tell the
false or
apostate
from the
real by
where the
flashlight
is pointing!
Today,
ministers,
shepherds,
churches,
and
conferences
are using
the light of
Jesus Christ
to point to
themselves.
It makes you
want to
shout, “STOP
POINTING
THAT WAY!”
I don’t want
to see and
hear another
“shout out”
about your
churches
name, or
your
conference
name.
PLEASE will
you just
lift up
Jesus?
Stop using
Jesus to
promote your
sermon
series or
your
outreach or
your next
level of
self-elevated
greatness.
To hear all
the
testimonies
of churches
using carnal
and ungodly
means to add
numbers and
credit God
for their
“self
trumpeted
success” is
like
watching a
music awards
show hearing
someone who
paraded
themselves
in the most
vile means
to win an
award and
make a
gazillion
dollars, say
“I thank
God.”
I can only
imagine how
much that
“grieves the
Holy
Spirit.”
Hey, we
played AC/DC
at “our
church.”
“And you
think that
is a good
thing?”
“Thousands
have
baptized.”
“Into WHAT?”
“They gave
their lives
to Jesus.”
“The
biblical
Jesus or the
Santa Claus
you preached
and called
Jesus?
This is a
very dark
hour. And
for the
“love of
God” we need
to stop
fooling
around with
strange
fire! I mean
we are
dealing with
EVIL that
wants to
take aborted
babies that
survive and
kill them
anyway! We
are dealing
with a devil
that has
come in
great wrath,
to steal and
kill and
destroy. He
is elevating
in minds all
across this
globe to
accomplish
an evil
plan. He is
winning
souls to
hell at an
alarming
rate and
he’s doing
his best
work in a
place called
“church.”
He’s got the
flashlight
pointed in
the wrong
direction.
REPENT!
“Arise,
shine;
for your
light has
come! And
the glory of
the
Lord
is risen
upon you.
And deep
darkness the
people; But
the
Lord
will arise
over you,
and His
glory will
be seen upon
you.
This is how
dangerously
deceptive it
is” (Isaiah
60:1-2).
You
are nearly a
dead man
walking, and
you find
yourself
pointed to
an
unbelievable
looking
hospital
with a sign
out front
(flash
light),
which says
that IT is a
“life-giving”
place. You
walk inside
and they
greet you
with a
smile, they
prop you up
and bring
you tea and
play an
awesome
video all
about the
hospital.
For a little
over an hour
you hear all
about how
great the
hospital is,
talking
about the
“series of
treatments”
that you
need.
They ask
you, “Does
that sound
good?” You
nod your
head and say
sure, “But
I’m dying,
it’s stage
IV.” They
tell you
that you
have come to
the right
place but
instead of
giving you
the needed
treatment
(chemotherapy).
They decide
to save time
and insure
you that
you’ll like
the place
realizing
you might
NOT like the
actual
treatment
needed, so
they give
you a
self-deceiving
placebo,
plugging you
into a “feel
good”
experience,
and hey, you
do feel much
better about
yourself,
but you are
still
dying!
That is the
mode of
operation
taking place
in “Jesus’
Name” all
over this
planet!
But “Hey I
went to
church!” No,
you went to
a golden
calf. That
would be
like needing
open-heart
surgery but
going to a
foot doctor!
You’ve been
pointed in
the wrong
direction!
Lets get
this
flashlight
back
pointing in
the right
direction.
This world
is like a
dark cave.
People love
the darkness
and hate the
light
because
their deeds
are evil.
BUT those
who are ripe
unto harvest
are begging
for LIGHT!
“Please
someone,
anyone, IS
there any
hope?”
I’m
so glad you
asked!
Just over
2,000 years
ago, “For
God so loved
the World
that He sent
His only
begotten
Son, that
whosoever
believes in
Him shall
Not Perish
but have
everlasting
life” (John
3:16).
Jesus came
born of a
virgin,
lived a
sinless
life. He
performed
many
documented
miracles
healing the
sick,
raising the
dead. The
World saw a
GREAT LIGHT.
Evil people
who
hated His
testimony
came to
arrest
Jesus. He
joyfully
surrendered.
He was tried
and
convicted
but had
committed no
crime. He
was dying
because of
our crimes.
They took
Him and
stripped Him
and began to
whip Him
with a cat
of nine
tails,
lashing His
bareback 39
times. They
made a crown
of thorns
and placed
it deep into
his brow and
skull. They
then dragged
Him through
the streets
as people
mocked and
spat upon
Him. They
placed Him
on Cross and
drove nails
deep into
His feet and
Hands. They
then lifted
Him Up for
all to see.
He Cried out
“Father
Forgive them
for they
know not
what they
do.” He bled
profusely.
The earth
shook, and
the day
became as
night. They
buried Jesus
in a
borrowed
tomb. It was
like a very
dark cave.
They put a
security
force around
His tomb
because
Jesus had
said that He
would be
alive
again. Then
it
happened...there
in the midst
of the most
incredible
dark cave,
the Light of
the world
walked out
of that dark
cave and
grave,
conquering
death. He’s
alive and
His Word
lights His
way. “I AM
the
Resurrection
and the
life, He
that
believes
upon Me,
though he
were dead,
yet shall He
live.”
What is His
command to
you and me?
Believe and
Follow him,
If you don’t
repent you
will all
like wise
perish.
Why, oh why
would we
point in any
other
direction?
“This is all
the more
urgent, for
you know how
late it is;
time is
running out.
Wake up, for
our
salvation is
nearer now
than when we
first
believed”
(Romans
13:11).
In Christ,
Tim Cameron
timcameron@centurytel.net