Where is your
kingdom?
by Paul
Proctor, February 15, 2006
www.newswithviews.com/PaulProctor/proctor88.htm
If our little speck on the globe, by the grace of God, becomes a little
more tolerable for a time through the courageous and benevolent efforts of the
brethren, then praise the Lord; but should that be our primary objective? If we
become fixated on this world and how we might change it for the better, do we
not do so at the expense of the world to come and those who, as yet, have no
hope or desire beyond the flesh?
Shall we Christianize the old to make it homier for our family, friends and
countrymen or point to the new? Where is our focus - on the horizontal here and
now or the vertical to come?
Is there any scriptural directive calling us to renovate the Land of the Lost
into a facade of faith so that it will appear to be Christian owned and operated
when our Lord returns, even though it is clearly stated four times in scripture
that Satan is the "prince of this world?"
Considering that Christians become better disciples and experience their
greatest spiritual growth under hardship and persecution, wouldn't the seemingly
honorable goal of making this a "better world," in reality, be as
counterproductive as trying to make soldiers out of recruits by turning their
boot camp into a day spa? What is the eternal value in this?
"Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in
persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I
strong." - 2nd Corinthians 2:10
We criticized Jim & Tammy Bakker 20 years ago for sweet-talking their followers
out of millions of dollars to build the infamous Heritage U.S.A.; but aren't
local churches around the country today doing much the same thing to finance
pleasure palaces and amusement parks full of worldly music, theater, dance,
recreation and refreshments, catering to almost every appetite imaginable; and
even worse, marketing it to the rest of the world as "evangelism?" It is no
wonder that so many from the postmodern church have a hard time believing in the
Rapture. With a kingdom like this in the works, who needs Heaven?
"For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes,
and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world
passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth
for ever." - 1st John 2:16-17
...Compare today's earth-centered values with those of the Apostle John who
wrote:
"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love
the world, the love of the Father is not in him." - 1st John 2:15
I find it particularly disturbing that Christians who have been called out of
this evil world by the Lord they claim as their own, have so dismissed the Word
of God and His command to "Come out from among them and be ye separate" that
they've fallen madly in love with it; becoming seduced and entangled in its
affairs, calling it a "ministry," a "career" a "pastime" or their "patriotic
duty" as if that somehow justifies their love of this life.
"No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he
may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier." - 2nd Timothy 2:4
"He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this
world shall keep it unto life eternal." - John 12:25
See
Our God-given Purpose